Painting interior, easy and come out nice??

[Wil]

mmmmm.... I can't decide weather to leave my car gray/black or should I convert to black. Brush alum. looks alot better with black interior. you all think it's necessary to gut the car in order to painte interior?

 

[kdog_x]

you all think it's necessary to gut the car in order to painte interior?

Either you have to mask and cover everything very well, or you gotta pull everything out. Either way I'd expect to spend hours before ever picking up a can of paint. I'd hate to pull the dash out though, I did that once and I remember spending 3 days looking for the fuel pump relay connector that I didn't hook back up. It was buried under the carpet

 

[Wil]

I don't mind taking the center console out but I really really really don't want to take the entire front out

 

[Jay913]

I don't mind taking the center console out but I really really really don't want to take the entire front out

I am currently in the process of doing the gray to black. I would recommend taking most of the interior out. However, I am replacing my carpet, seatbelts, and reupholstering my seats. It depends on how much you plan on doing with your car and how well you want it to turn out. I actually did paint my dash in car, but I stripped all of the loose components (speaker grills, vents, dash pad...etc). If you want it to turn out good, it will definitely take some time, especially for prepping. 50Resto recommends using denatured alcohol to clean the plastic, and let me tell you, my interior was nasty. Imagine years of armoral soaking up dirt and what ever else that was on my plastic. I will post pictures when I finish. Good luck.

 

[Wil]

maybe I'll just wait until I get the exterior finished then take on the process of doing the interior. I might as well go out all out and do the entire interiior when I can afford new carpets at least. Can't wait until vacation

 

[dangersqieu]

Hey, DMAN302: How'd you go about deleting the map pockets on your door panels? Or did 88's come with carpet on that part of the door?
And wow, that dark carpet looks really nice with the gray/black interior.
Now I'm itching to tear apart my interior and repaint it . . .

 

[mustangmax]

I did the panel just below the steering wheel with titanium interior paint I got from 50 Resto and it was a lot lighter than the panel next to it. I prepped it and the paint stuck fine and looks good, it just is much lighter than the rest of the interior. I ordered the titanium carpet from them as well and it matches perfectly...

 

[mustangmax]

Good question. I hate the door pockets!

 

[85cobraX]

I'd like to find a solution to the map pockets as well. Mine was half falling off so i ripped it off. The doorskin actually looks better with the holes that remain for the fasteners. I guess find another doorskin from a car that never had one?!? If that was even possible in 85.

Regards.

 

[stangbear427]

Don't know about '85, but my wife's '89 doesn't have map pockets.

 

[DMAN302]

88 had the carpet bottom which was trashed, so I just pulled it off and cut MDF board to match the lower area then covered that with the same leather I used to reupolster the seats.

 

[Wil]

is it easy to install new carpet by yourself or does it take some know how? If its just taking the seats out and middle console out then I don't think it would be that bad

 

[stangbear427]

That's pretty much it, as long as you get a good one. ACC makes a great product, I haven't used any others but I've heard some real horror stories.

 

[Legendary]

Is it safe to dye the seats? You wouldn't have to worry about the stuff coming off on your cloths would you?

 

[mustangmax]

Putting in the carpet isnt too bad. I recommend the ACC as well. Once you get the old one out, lay the new one out to and use the original as a template for cutting holes for the console, seatbelt mounts and anything else your original has that your new one doesnt. Some use a heat gun or hair dryer to warm up the new carpet so it conforms to the floor better.

 

[stangbear427]

I usually wait to cut stuff out until it's in, then I don't find I've cut out any more than I absolutely needed to. The best trick I've found is actually for the screws where they have to go through, like the sill plates. Mark the spot with a soldering iron. Makes them plainly visible so you always know where your hole is, and it corderizes the hole so you can put the screw through it without getting it all bound up in the fibers. Makes taking that stuff back out a sinch too.

 

[DMAN302]

I put all my screws in place and laid the carpet overtop. Then started in the middle front and worked my way out, finishing the console next making sure carpet was centered and reached from front to back properly. After that I just fit everything along and when ever I came to a pertruding screw or bolt I just gave it a slit on top and pushed the peice through the carpet.

 

[mustangmax]

Good tips DMAN302 and stangbear427!

 

[fiveohGT]

What about painting the roof/door trim outside the car? The think trim around the quarter panel and around the door near the mirror? How do u get the trim off near the quarter panel?

 

[stangbear427]

It doesn't come off, it's part of the quarter window and it's almost impossible to paint, as are the door belt strips at the base of the side windows, and the trim that runs up the A-pillar and over the top of the doors- although all that is removable. The only well known solution to the quarterglass trim problem is the $100 cover it up kit and the $300 replace the whole thing kit