lol, good work. what turbo you getting? And how much did the s203 interior cost ya?

 

Green, and the interior I did myself. Only thing I had to buy was the hazard button and I still need to order the HVAC controls.

 

Ok dash is dirty because I just got back froma long trip and pratically lived in the car for 5 days. But you can get the idea of how MUCH better it looks.

edited, photos removed.

I loved this new textured paint I used. I still think I am goiing to take it out again, clean it and seal the deal with the same brand but a clear coat that does not add any shine. I think they call it "low luster" clear coat.

 

Painting is ALOT of work! lol It took me a weekend to do my dash. I want to offer ya a helpful hint. I used Ulta Flat Black from Rustoleum. It finishes in a VERY flat look. In fact, it was too flat for my tastes. Now here's the hint...

After the paint has cured, hydrate the dash with an interior cleaner. I use Eagle One for example. It may seem wet at first, let it dry and wipe the rest off with a rag. This will bring the paint to a beauiful finish! The look is perfect and I have'nt touched it since.

Here'e mine...


Hope that helps!

AJ.

 

Hey thanks for the tip, I will clean and treat it tonight!

 

o really? have you rubbed your pen15 on it yet? i would imagine you have...

cool man

 

j/k, friendly joke

 

goes w/o saying, that's how I break any part "in".

 

hope you used lube

 

he dont need no stinkin lube!

 

Man I have learned SO much about painting the interior, getting the texture, color and most important the durability. This is the 4th time I re-did the paint. I really liked the flat black the texture paint I used left, but the texture was uneven, and was prone to leaving scratch marks that looked like chalk. Reluctant to give it another go, I decided to go for it.

This time I took the existing surface and used 400 grit sandpaper to knock down all the texture to an even amount. The bottle even told me to do this. After the texture was good and uniform I painted it "black" with just two very light coats as the surface was already black from the texture paint.

After that dried I used what was what I thought the secret ingredient that I was missing last time to stand up to females changing the radio and missing with their sharp fingernails, what would stand up to the vacuum hose coming from across the drivers side to the passengers side scrapping across the ash tray cover and stick shift area. You know the day to day that an interior needs to stand up against (the stock one did a poor job at this, so many scrapes in under two years!) I used a clear coat. A special coat though. It is hard to find a clear coat that will not make a surface shiny. Shiny surfaces in cars in Cali are dangerous do to all the reflection from the sun.

I have to keep the process and types of paint a secret, I think I earned it. I am SO happy with it I am thinking of asking (if there is a demand) about how I go about offering this service to other members now that I have the formula dialed.




Here is the progression of my project, I have taken out all the other pics in the previous posts and condensed it here so the page loads better.

Stock after 1.5 yrs of ownership. Note the heavy scratching




1st attempt turned out pretty bad, especially when I tried to tone down to shininess and it peeled all the paint off! What a mess.



So that was the fist, and second attempt. Had to take it down to bare plastic after that fiasco.

Next was the textured paint that I was actually really happy with, if not for a few rough spots and the fact that it didn't hold up to use.



And now for the real deal holyfield............................



















So there you have it. Now I have tested it to see if it will scratch and it holds up! I am sure you can scratch it if you try hard enough but this stuff will take daily use/abuse.

One problem with taking the interior bits out so much is they get stressed. Especially the main piece that hold the HVACS and the two side vents. I almost broke a plastic clip off the top left of the HVAC piece. I had to use some plastic weld to get it back to snuff.

If anyone wants to see it in person I will be @ GST Sat for the dyno day.

 

That does look way better than the previous attemps. G'job man! I wanna check it out at the GST BBQ!

 

I also flipped the radio and Forester din around, man that was a ton of work! You wouldn't think it was hard but man o man......

I will see you @ the BBQ! OMGHi2UWTFBBQ! Hahaha.

 

Wow, very sleepy just like me, it's 230 am here in Cali right now. Props.

 

Check how I did the rubber piece to finish it off. Makes it look so much better than just the grate attached directly to the bumper. I tried it both ways and this way is much more professional. I have the black Perrin FMIC so it will be nice and stealty behind the mesh