Interior in the works... Pics

Looks kinda rough now, but should be shaping up pretty fast..
http://users.1010internet.com/jimb/afimages/dash in the works.jpg

And yes, that is a huge ass crack in my windshield from an incident last week.

Note the blueish green 91 civic helms manual behind the center console.. This is a must for any DIYer.

Hey thats a honda service manual in the passengers floor...lol


gunnmen01

Originally posted by gunnmen01
Hey thats a honda service manual in the passengers floor...lol


gunnmen01

Probably the most useful book I have ever come across. I pulled the entire engine in 1.75 hours because of that book.

looking good :)

yea, i likes!

did you switch to a black interior?

Originally posted by tbk49
did you switch to a black interior?

Its actually primered and painted. It is very glossy now, yet retains the original texture.

ah ok

Looks really good man! I would like to see a pic of the climate controls, noticed you painted the faceplate on it...

Originally posted by ci5ic
Looks really good man! I would like to see a pic of the climate controls, noticed you painted the faceplate on it...

I actually put the face back on too soon and scratched the paint, so I am in the process of painting up a second set of climate controls to put on there.

I disassembled the climate control by removing all the knobs and the heater dial, as well as the AC switch cover (wait till you see this, I tore down the AC switch and rebuilt it for my neon switch, so its lit up and says NEON instead of A/C, but lights in RED instead of blue.) then removed the panel. It comes off without the controls themselves. I removed the plastic indicator panels and scraped off the extra "glue" (sticky black shit). Primed them, then painted them, then put it all back together.

I will take a picture tonight when I get home of the one thats on there now and what the part that I took off looks like.

I also added an Oh-Shit Bar to the driver side A-Pillar, a feature which most cars dont have.. Conveniently, Honda mounted all the proper threaded holes in the A-Pillar so all you have to do is drill holes in the A-Piller trim in the spots they even conveniently measured and marked, then attach an OSB from another car to the hole. :)

how'd you go about painting the parts? Me and my friend are painting up his 89 civic. Same car. Just wondering the best way to do it, and what to use.

Originally posted by CraniumDesigns
how'd you go about painting the parts? Me and my friend are painting up his 89 civic. Same car. Just wondering the best way to do it, and what to use.

Well, there is stuff made just for vinyl, called SEM sand free and SEM vinyl dye. I didnt use these.

I sanded all the parts with 80grit. Washed with soapy water, primed with rustoleum grey primer, sanded with 300 grit, washed with soapy water, then painted my colors on. I havent had one piece scratch or chip and its been painted for a couple months.

Here's the exact process that I used, and my interior came out looking proffessional. Hope it helps.

Materials/Tools required:
-- Primer.
-- Krylon Interior/Exterior paint
-- Clear Enamel
-- 320 grit sand-paper
-- Rubbing alcohol and Q-tips and/or cotton balls
-- Masking tape (also good to have masking tape with attached drop-cloth)
-- Various sockets/screw-drivers, etc. for removing pieces

A few words about technique/safety:
-- When spraying your primer, paint, or clear-coat, be sure to keep the tip of your finger out of the spray. Having your finger in the way will cause paint mist to build up on your fingertip, and the airflow will blow the built-up paint off your finger in the form of little droplets of paint. If these drops land on the piece you're working on, you might as well start over, cuz they look like crap. The same thing happens if you use a plastic pistol-grip attachment on your spray cans.
-- I can't say enough how important patience is. If you rush, you are going to make mistakes, and if you don't fix the mistakes (which is a huge hassle), you'll have a horrible looking interior. So it's best to just do it right the first time. Do whatever you can to avoid over-spraying the pieces. Personally, I smoked A LOT of cigarettes and drank A LOT of beer between applications, just to keep myself from using too much paint all at once.
-- I made the mistake of painting all my trim outside on my back deck. For some reason, bugs were really attracted to my paint and clear-coat, and kept landing on the pieces. They'd get stuck in the wet paint, and some of them are still visible in the finished pieces. If you have access to a well ventilated garage or paint-booth, I would highly recommend using it.
-- If you follow these steps, you'll end up with a durable, professional looking painted interior.
-- If you plan on painting your entire dash, or your gauge cluster cover, a really light color like white or bright yellow, be aware that on sunny days, it will be reflected onto your windshield, and in my opinion is a bit distracting, and can make it difficult to see sometimes.
-- Always spray paint in a well ventilated area.
-- This process is only meant to be used on plastic pieces. I have no experience painting vinyl-covered surfaces.

The Process:
Remove each piece that you want to paint (consult manual if unsure how to remove pieces).
Use the following process on each piece you want to paint:
-- Wash with soapy water to remove built-up dirt and grease.
-- Sand each surface you wish to paint with 320 grit sandpaper.
-- Swab each piece with rubbing alcohol to remove any left-over Armoral, finger grease, etc.
-- Wash again with soapy water to remove rubbing alcohol residue.
* at this point, be sure hold the pieces by the edges, or by surfaces that won't be visible. This is to avoid getting greasy finger-prints on the prepped surfaces.
-- Mask off any areas that you do not want to get paint on.
-- Apply 2 coats of primer. I used Rustoleum Primer.
* When I refer to "coats" I actually mean LOTS of really light applications of primer/paint. remember to take your time, spray a little bit, give it a few minutes, spray again, etc. Do whatever you have to in order to avoid soaking the pieces. You'll just get runs and sags like crazy.
-- Primer dries pretty quickly.
-- Once each coat dries, it's a good idea to lightly sand the primer with 320 grit paper. And sand after the 2nd coat as well.
-- After sanding each time, wash the piece again with soapy water to remove sanding dust.
-- Apply 3-4 coats of paint. I used Krylon Interior/Exterior paint from the local parts supply chain.
* Again, remember to take your time applying the paint. The Krylon takes a lot longer to dry than the primer does, so give it a bunch more time.
-- Once the paint has completely dried (I would give it at least 24 hours to be on the safe side), apply 2-3 coats of clear enamel. I used Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel for this.
* Same process as with the primer and paint steps.
-- Let the pieces dry again for at least 24 hours before handling. It's the most frustrating thing to spend all this time and energy on painting the pieces, only to put a fingerprint in them or scratch them with a screw-driver trying to install them while they're still a little soft. BE PATIENT!