Koji Project 1: Death to Smurfy

[Archidamus-R]

NM.

[Butters]

im interested in knowing the EXACT paint your using on the interior vynil crap. i have a super dark blue interior its ALMOST black but since im going to getting black seats and seweing up some black door panel pieces i want the rest to match... its just i actually use my armrests and dont want it to flake off from use

i redid my trucks dash in duplicolor vynil paint because the dahs was a PITA to try and get it out and its flaking already and no one touches the dash so im kinda well PISSED lol.

[Servin]

Originally Posted by koji

I pretty much didn't know that existed till you posted it so I didn't really know I was "copying" anything. But thanks for playing.

Your taking it wrong, I was letting you know there was a factory option for what your trying to do.

[koji]

[QUOTE=Butters;504746]im interested in knowing the EXACT paint your using on the interior vynil crap.[QUOTE]

Here you go:

Mar Hyde&reg Trim Paint Black Satin 12 Oz. Aerosol (TSL3811)

I get it for $6.99 at my local Schucks/O'Reiley. I've cleaned them out though - guess I need to move on to the next store.

[Butters]

thanks koji. does that stuff stand up to like ive i paint the center console or the door armrest and i actually lean up on it constantly?

[koji]

You know, the key with any paint is the prep, buy it's holding up well on high-wear surfaces in my WRX. The problem is you'd have to talk to me in about a year to know if this really, really works.

[PureStreetPhoto]

hey koji, its awdshenanigans from nasioc. had to join over here to see more DIY madness

[koji]

Been busy the last couple of nights so I haven't done much other than the following.

I pulled the dash support and surrounding pieces. They're covered with surface rust. I'm probably being a bit anal about this but I've worked on/around enough older cars that I have an instinctive reaction whenever I see rust.



Basically I cleaned them up with some wire brushes/rotary tools. Strictly speaking if you're using the right kind of paint you can just paint over this stuff, but again, I'm being anal.



Couple of thick coats of rustoleum, and they're ready to go back into the car.



More to come shortly.

[koji]

Another quick update tonight. I had to spend most of my time cleaning up my tools (which can be seen arranged neatly in the background) because I invariably end up with crap all over the place at some point in a project and need to spend time cleaning up. This typically ends up being a project in and of itself.

I really should work neater. It's a growth opportunity I suppose...

Anyway:

Got the other door pocket glassed up.



Also got the rear panels finished. The white piece is from my local lowes, and was originally intended to be a recessed ceiling light mount. It was exactly the right size. Basically there's a cup that goes inside of the white piece which will allow me to stretch some fabric over it to give the appearance of an OEM type speaker cover. Sweet.



Once those were done I got them painted up.



They're between coats as I write this. They need about one more and they'll be completely done.

That's it for now - next up are the dash, building a sub box, wiring a sub and amp, then doing some more work on the doors.

More to come!

[deucethemoose]

NWIC Represent! (This is rexosaurus from nasioc)

Just picked up my 91 N/A this weekend, and I'm thrilled that I can come over here and still get the same awesome DIY action as I can on nasioc. Great progress thus far.

For some interior bits, have you tried calling "all toyotas" in Buckley? They typically have some good stuff over there.

And if you require help (not sure you will, as you are koji) just let me know. I'm just a few miles south.

BTW - in the Subaru community, there is a DIY mod that EVERYONE knows of - and its called the "koji mod". Google it. Koji is a household name for us.

[koji]

Sweet! Congrats on the new car. I don't necessarily need help, but that's not why most people stop over at my garage. Most times they stop over to learn how to do something with me showing them the ropes. Teaching is fun for me as long as the person helping isn't a complete retart, and it's nice for the "helpers" because there's zero financial risk to them if the screw up. If you want to learn paint and body work - that's my next project.

I haven't called "All Toyota's" but I'll put them in my vendor list. I actually did find some black salvage seatbelts (finally). I was going to go with some Weseco units, which are about 1/3 the price of OEM belts but still federally approved but it turns out I won't need to.

[koji]

It's been a slow couple of nights in project land because I spend Sunday and Monday night looking at a potential V6 donor car. Unfortunately Alex and I couldn't get it to run. Turns out that some jackass who pulled a couple of parts out of the car previously also cut the body harness and therefore the fuel pump wasn't getting any power. Ooops. Guess I'll be looking at other donor cars.

Anyway, here's where I'm at/what I've gotten done.

I got the speaker surround bits and associated cloth pieces finished.







I also pulled this rats nest of a non-factory alarm out.



It turns out that other than a vampire clamp going to the ignition that none of the wires routed through the firewall actually went anywhere. Nice.

Also used my neighbors table saw to build out most of a sub box.

I decided to put the front at a slight angle...just because. As such I'll need to trim up the top a bit. I didn't feel like doing that tonight so I assembled the rest of the box and I'll take care of attaching the top and cutting the hole for the speaker tomorrow. I know I'm supposed to do the speaker hole first, but whatever. I wanted the thing completely done before I started screwing around with that as I didn't want the sub to line up incorrectly.

Also (not pictured) got the dash support in and the amp for the sub wired up. Tomorrow I should be able to test out the sound system and start putting things back in the car.

More to come!

[lsgheero]

Your level of energy and the timeframe in which you complete things is outstanding... you have nearly redone the interior, etc in a month or less lol.

[koji]

Slightly more interesting night last night.

First up, the passengers side of the dash was peeling away from the support. Basically the adhesive (cause that's all that's holding it on there) gave up the ghost so I put in a crap ton of extra strength silicon adhesive and clamped the crap out of it:



Also re-started on the center console pieces.

I cut this piece to use to fill in the din slot. Not pictured is the fact that I made some reinforced pieces on the backside of the OEM piece to hold this in place, flush with the front. I haven't glued in the pictured bit yet, but that should get done today.



Also encountered another problem. The shifter surround piece cracked on one side, and the opening is also too large for the surround piece I'm in the process of making.



I therefore cut some plastic pieces to reinforce the thing, and also close the gap so that I can use some filler to smooth out the piece.



I should have both the center console and the shifter surround completely glued up today so that I can add some filler (at the same time). It's simpler to do that way and less risk that you mix up more filler than you can use. The stuff is expensive.

After looking it over from multiple angles, I determined that it would be impossible to replace the door insert without completely recovering the things. So...I stripped off the OEM vinyl.



Somewhere people who like the blue interior are crying.

That's it for now. More to come!

[mk1doridori]

great progress so far! looking good.

as far as the door panels. what you can do is to cut out a rough shape of material that u wanna use for the insert. use spray adhesive on both the panel and the fabric, lay it on and smooth it out, then use a tucking tool to get it into the edges, after that just take a nice new razorblade and cut along the edge.
that what it appears from the pics anyways.

i know its a little different from aw11 to sw20, but i do uphostery for a living.
anyways so far so good! keep goin with the pics!

[koji]

The issue is that the cloth piece is glued down to the backing, whearas the vinyl is just stretched and stapled. I tried to cut out the insert and then pull around but it stretched the vinyl so I just kept pulling. You'd need to take an inordinate amount of care getting the insert out to not damage the vinyl.

[Butters]

what are you planning on re-wrapping the doors in?

i want to redo the isnertsi n my door but ive encountered the same problem you have...

also my dash is doing the same damn thing yours is... how much of a pain is it to get the dash out of the car?

[koji]

Alex pulled the actual dash so I can ask him. The problem is that you have to pull pretty much EVERYTHING at the front of the car to get at all the bolts, screws, etc. You could potentially lift it up, insert some glue, then put like a 10lbs weight on it and get the same effect without having to actually pull the thing. I'd personally try that first.

I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do with the doors. I may glass over part of it, re-wrap the whole thing in different vinyl, or some combination of the two. I'm trying to finish some of the other stuff first. The doors are the last thing on my list to do so I'll probably noddle on it a bit more.

[efx]

Hey Koji, when you get to the door panels would you take lots pictures of that process. My driver side vinyl just ripped where I put my elbow and well, it now looks like crap so I have also been thinking about how to do something like that, even though mine is an MK1. I would have to reinforce it since it's an MK1 and they are card boad and yours seem to be plastic. So now I got this ugly old yellow foam sticking out, but it's just a matter of time before that rips off I'm sure. I've never done one, but I figured if I can get the right materials which I think would include vinyl, foam and glue. Not sure so that's why I ask. Thanks.

Originally Posted by koji

Alex pulled the actual dash so I can ask him. The problem is that you have to pull pretty much EVERYTHING at the front of the car to get at all the bolts, screws, etc. You could potentially lift it up, insert some glue, then put like a 10lbs weight on it and get the same effect without having to actually pull the thing. I'd personally try that first.

I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do with the doors. I may glass over part of it, re-wrap the whole thing in different vinyl, or some combination of the two. I'm trying to finish some of the other stuff first. The doors are the last thing on my list to do so I'll probably noddle on it a bit more.

[koji]

I always take lots of pictures.

Sure thing though. And if you need help or advice while you're going through your build out I'm happy to help. I do plenty of that kind of thing on the Subaru forums. I just recently started logging that stuff on my blog as well because I seem to get the same types of questions over and over and it's just easier to send people a link.

As far as the door skins on the MKII - they are also cardboard. Other than luxury makes that's actually pretty common for cars of this vintage. The gray you see is not in fact plastic but rather a thin layer of foam. You may or may not actually need more foam depending on how you want to construct your skin.

Some pre-advice about the materials.

You will likely want some good vinyl or leather, which isn't cheap. We're talking upwards of $25 per yard. This is why you should consider sectioning off certain parts and just making them smooth with fiberglass. You'll use less vinyl, and realistically you may not even be able to get nice vinyl that'll be big enough to cover your whole door in one go. It'll also allow you to add another texture to a door that's sort of "monochrome" if you will.

Regular hardware store fiberglass resin and cloth are fine for a novice or newbie. I've made plenty of quality parts with it. If you get into glassing you'll want something better because the work time on the Elmers/bondo/whatever brand resin sucks. US Composites is the shiznit if you want good stuff. Oh, and BTW, the good stuff is basically the same price as the cheap stuff - it's just you need to put in a pretty big order to make the shipping worth it and for a one-off project or newbie it's just not worth it.

Buy good body filler. I can't stress this enough. Bondo brand products should be outlawed. After I tried using Evercoat products I'll never go back. You can order it online from summit racing or casswell plating. It's good stuff to have on-hand.