EvolutionM - Mitsubishi Lancer and Lancer Evolution Community - How to create a stealthy interior, black.

Well I grew very bored with my interior, the fact that some of the trim peices didn't match. The majority of the interior is black, but yet some sections of the interior were a grey color. So I decided to paint them black and match them with the rest of the interior, enjoy.

Tools you'll need:

Exacto knife
Painters tape
Screw driver(Philips and flat)
Dupli-Color Vinyl & Fabric paint
Ventaliated area to paint/dry
Patience

1. First your going to have to remove the interior peices you wish to paint, I decided I wanted to paint my A-pillars, the peice around the foglight, the peice around the radio, and lastly the long peice that holds the clock. If you know how to already remove these peices then just skip this, if not then continue reading.

Remove A-pillars:

To do this you can use a flat head screw driver, simply place the screw driver at the top of the pillar and pull it back enough to get a finger behind it. Then slowly pull on the pillar while sliding down towards the windsheild, there are 2-3 clips holding it in. Don't be afriad to pull a bit, but remember this isn't the world strongest man contest.

Remove the peice around the foglight:

To remove this peice you are going to have to remove the plastic outline around the cluster. You will see two screws at the top, they required a philips to remove. Once you remove those that peice you will have access to removing the peice around the foglight. Simply pull the side, again don't be afriad to pull but don't go crazy with it. Once you've pulled the peice from the clips, unplus the harness connecting to the sidemirrors controller and the foglight switch. To remove the button/switch from the interior peice, you will need a small flat head. On top of the switch/button you will see a slight tab that is holding the peice in, slide the flathead in there to lift it enough to pull the button/switch out.

Remove peice around the radio:

The easiest one to remove, simply pull on the three AC knobs, they'll come right off. Behind the outside two knobs you'll see a screw, use a philips screwdriver and remove them. Now your going to have to use the holes from where the knobs were to pull the peice out. If this is the first time removing this peice you might have to tug a good bit, again don't go crazy.

Remove peice around clock:

Last but not least, after you've taken off the peice covering the radio you'll see two screws holding this peice on. Remove them with a philips screw driver. Now your going to have to pull from the left side and move to the right, go slow. There are a good amount of clips on this one so don't be afriad when you here a bunch of pops. Also don't rip it right off because the clock and hazard button are connected.

By now if you've followed everything as said your car should look somthing like this :lol:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1874/img04945pz.jpg

2. Now that you've got all the peices out of the car you'll need to wash them, make sure the surface of the plastic is clean/dry so the paint will stick. I used some paper towels with a bit of soap on them, I ran the paper towel over all the peices and then dried them with a towel.

3. Time for the best part, painting. So grab your paint:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1825/img04847ia.jpg

And find a nice spot you'll be able to paint in, I chose my driveway and I laid down some paper with a box, like so:

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/8051/img04850fs.jpg

First we'll start off with the A-pillars, I applied 3 coats and let each coat dry for about 5-10 minutes before spraying the next one. The final result should look somthing like this:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9707/img04878jh.jpg

Next we'll paint the peice around the radio, this is where you're going to need the exacto knife and painters tape. Since this peice has the climate controls on it, you'll need to mask them off so you don't paint of them. Take the painters tape and apply a peice over the circle, use your nail and press down to outline the circle of the climate control. Use the exacto knife to cutout the circle and leave it there to mask. When your done it should look somthing like this:

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5534/img04925hi.jpg

Now that you've got that peice masked off, we'll move onto the next peice, the area around the clock. On this one you need to turn the peice over and you'll see that the AC vents/clock are all one peice and screwed on. Simply get a philips head and remove the screws:

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/2503/img04962ik.jpg

Now it's time to paint the rest of the peices. For these peices I only did 2 coats, I didn't feel the need for the third and they came out very good IMO, here they are:

Before:

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/4594/img04955hb.jpg

After:

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/4821/img04971co.jpg

That's pretty much it for the painting section, you can clear the peices if you want them to shine a bit. Although I didn't want that because none of the other peices have gloss. I let the peices all dry out for a few hours before putting them back into the car.

Now once you've put them back into the car it should look somthing like this:

http://img302.imageshack.us/img302/3720/img04996lz.jpg

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/5297/img05002sk.jpg

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/4607/img05030ey.jpg

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/7872/img05050fv.jpg

http://img302.imageshack.us/img302/3057/img05075gx.jpg

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/7396/img05086af.jpg

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/8379/img05105vp.jpg

I hope this writeup helps, if you've got any further questions please let me know. I'd be more than happy to help {thumbup}