rxse7en

Hi All—

Next month the car is getting it's body kit and new paint—ALL BLACK. Well, in the interim I've been completing the interior restoration and have decided to go either all black or black and stock blue (carpet, Wet Okole black/blue seat covers.) My question is, should I go ALL black or keep the carpet blue? I've dyed/painted most of the plastics inside already. Here's what it looks like so far. Please give me your opinions. You can see the original blue color in the driver's side window pillar.

Brian

SirRX7

Are you planning on getting new carpet to match the Wet Okoles or staying with the originals? I'm asking because if staying with the originals it might not look right because its doubtful it'll match correctly. It would look kickass with blue carpeting that matches the seat covers though.
What paint/dye did you use for the interior? I've wanted to paint my burgundy interior but have heard mixed reviews on paints.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i've dyed the red on my 85 gslse's and it works great. the only thing is that i dont know how well it works on carpet, and it doesn't work as well on theings like shifter boosts that move a lots and that you have your hand on all the time. you also have to make sure that you clean the vinyl really well, you can get fisheyes and stuff

mike

SirRX7

But what exactly did you use? There are alot of dyes and paints on the market and not all of them work very well. I'm trying to find something that people have had experience with and had positive results.

rxse7en

I went ahead and did it. i used Plasti-Kote Vinyl Color for the plastics and Mar-Hyde Fabric Color for the carpet. First thoughts on the carpet—the original was mint but dirty, I cleaned it yesterday and revacuumed it today—it doesn't dye to a dark black. I like the charcoal look. The interior now looks new. Some touch-up on the plastics, another vacuuming and some new dash bezels and I'll be complete with the interior. BTW, if you decide to do this—GET PLENTY OF FRESH AIR! I'm still swaying from doing it 5 hours ago. Overall, I'm VERY happy. Tell me what you think. You can still see the original colors in the fabric of the seat.

Brian

rxse7en

Driver's side.

rxse7en

…and cargo area.

XimbueX

Hey man, those pics make it look REALLY great. Can you give us a writeup on what product you used, and how difficult it was? Also, you think that you can get some closeups of the dash and different textures so we can see how well the paint actually bonded?

Thanks, great work!

fcturbo2

Did you have to pull your dash out?..i want to do the same thing to my interior but i heard that pulling the motor is not a problem but putting it back is pain in the butt.

tonyge

that looks really good. please do a write up!

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i used sem vinyl spray on my 1st gen like a year ago and it looks the same now as when i did it. i dont know if the brand sem is good or not it what the paint store sells. i also diassembled the parts i wanted to paint so it would look factory (i was fixing the fading, not changing the color). one last thing, the more **** you are about how clean you get everything the better it works (ie, the spray wont stick to the old armor all...)

mike

XimbueX

How many bottles of the SEM stuff did you use? Also, what color was used in the second gen job?

rxse7en

To get the ENTIRE dash I had to mask off the window and just blasted the crap out of it with the spray. Both the vinyl and carpet sprays were BLACK. I removed all the plastic pieces I could...for about the 5th time. I t really pays to remove them, paint them and the reattach—makes for a more finished piece, especially for vents and latches that have multiple positions and angles. I went through two cans of vinyl color and 4 cans of fabric color. I will probably go through another 3–4 cans of fabric color to really finish off the carpet and retouch the headliner. With the touch-up on the plastics I'll need one more can. Oh! DO NOT GET PAINT ON THE DUMMY LIGHTS AND TRY TO REMOVE IT WITH OOPS SOLVENT! The solvent turns the plastic to jelly and clouds it up to a point where—well, I did it. It sucks. Don't do it. Remove or mask off anything you don't want painted or destroyed with solvent. BTW, the large panels on the doors were NOT painted—I recovered them with heavy marine gauge vinyl. It was something like $15 for 3 yards. This was enough material to cover the sunrrof, glove box door, the small plastics in the footwells and the large door panels. GOD, those original door panels looked like curtains in my great grandmother's house! Do you want more pix? Close-ups? Tell me! I'm home with a sick boy today so we're just lounging around watching Spongebob Squarepants.

Brian and Nik and the dogs.

MaxRX7

WOW you want to come over and do that to my car ?

SirRX7

Yes Post more pics please!!!!!!
Oh and SpongeBob Rocks but not as much as Rocket Power.

SirRX7

Bump

mazdaspeed7

I redyed my carpet a few wees ago, but I dont have any pics of it right now. It was already black, but the color was fading. I redyed it black with RIT cloth dye, and it looks brand new.

Your car looks great, Brian.