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}

I'm assuming thats the flat black?

It only says black.

Any sort of part number or color code (other than just "black") on the can or receipt?

very nice sleet, but now you need to get the IX steering wheel.

u didnt prep the parts before painting them? that wont last long.... especially on the radio trim......looks nice tho...i just didnt my interior...

-nick

Exactly what I was thinking. You should've used some type of sand paper to allow the paint to adhere better. Even though it looks great, your finger nail can take that paint right off. Especially on the smoother surfaces like around the clock and radio.

^I would have used sand paper and adhesion promoter to make it last for a long time.

I'd say hands down this is the most blackest TB evo I have ever seen. Are you goth? :)

It just says color matches cap and the cap is black.

Yeah, apparently this paint is made for this kinda stuff and doesn't need any primer or anything. I was also short on time so I just did it up. Worse comes to worse if it does peel, scratch or whatever it'll be an easy fix. It would take another maybe 30 minutes to re-do everything.

Sleet,


Your car looks fanthastic in and out. I just noticed you haven't mentioned primer on your list. Also you must ensure the paint is specifically for plastics.

The paint for plastic surfaces allows the paint coating to flex once is dry. That was just my observation and suggestions but again your car looks very very nice.{thumbup}

Carlos

Do the steering wheel too and it will loook much better. Looks good though, nice job.

Your Evolution looks great in that last shot

Yeah, this paint is specifically for the interior of cars, dashboards and all of that. We'll see how it holds up for now.

As for everyone refering to painting the steering wheel, maybe i'll give it a try. But first I have to figure how to remove it :lol:

removing the steering wheel is easy. There is only one allen bolt that holds it on. There is a hole on the bottom part of the steering wheel plastic piece. Just unscrwe that allen bolt and pull the steering wheel of. Very easy.

I did mine, and it really changes the look of the interior. Looks much better IMHO.

Just have the center console left.

I like it a lot.

Pictures dont show up for me :(

yeah it will be a very easy fix, but it most likely will chip over time...

-nick

Got any pictures of your painted one?

I actually did that one tonight but it got damaged trying to put it back into the car :(

I'll try to finish it tomorrow and i'll post some pics, anyone know how to remove the B pillars with the seatbelts?

Can you post more pics of your Evolution and what % tint do you have on the windows?

now that stealth is perfect man id consider that a hitmans car rather than a street preformance machine. but damn thats the hottest black evo ive seen on here to this date. im loving those engies in black too.

Yep, not a close up, but you get the idea.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZkMzF5NTQx.jpg

If you want a better one let me know.

You should do the center counsel as well {thumbup}

...one of my friends did this on his wrx...only he also did the material on the roof also...he redid his interior....he went out and purchased everything fabric and all for about 60 bucks...and it came out clean...very stock looking ill get fotos and post them around the weeken..he works nights and i work days...so we cant really meet up till friday...ill keep you guys posted...im thinking of doing my roof also ...i dont like the white looking cheap fabric on the roof board...ill show u guys it looks clean

sleet that looks incredible! very nice work! im gonna do that the first chance i get, probably this weekend. You should get the black IX seats or the SSL sleets to finish up the all black look. Just my thoughts. thanks for the write up! {thumbup}

Also, do you know how to take out the transmission housing, b-pillars, and the pillars in the very back to paint them as well?

Excellent job. I've always loved your car :: cough Jealousy cough::

I'd love to stealth one of those new Black MR's. Lucky me December is fast approaching so the dream is becoming a reality.

Once again great work.

are those evodave headlights? i <3 the way they look...i think im gonna do my interior like yours and see how it matches with the carbon fiber pieces

Click the links in my sig, 15% tint.

That looks great, did you do any prep to the metal?

It's done now, i'll get updated pictures once i'm back in town.

Yes, Evodave did the headlights.

Thanks for all the compliments everyone, makes this all worth while :)

that looks bad ass....all black is so sexy IMO...

even if it says no prep needed, ya still should, i used krylon plastic paint, i scuffed my interior and its help for the last year.

I do custom interiors on the side for some extra cash and I LOVE Duplicolor for plastic parts and cloth but for the vinyl I use Moleculbond because it leaves more of a nice satin finish that looks alot more factory. The best part about the dye is that you dont have to worry about it matching up if you put another coat on it because it all dries the same and you can't tell if you sprayed it or not if you did it good the first time.

looks clean on a TB...but i think im gonna keep my MR CF goodies the way they are :lol:

OMG I love the all black look on teh EVO its so badass, damn thats hella tight looking. Did you have the stock rims sand blasted and painted black? Im doing my other stock set this week for about $450 it should look nice on mine(although its silver)

im doing it tomorrow....i really like the whole night rider look...i want everything black including my brembos. but first thing is first blue inserts in the seats and dash and panels. looks good

We tried the Dupli-Color interior paint on my GF's SRT-4 first and it doesn't hold up that well. It chips and flakes off even after the surface was prepped. We like the Krylon Fusion plastic paint much better for the interior pieces. She was going to use the Dupli-Color on the headliner but decided not to after seeing how bad it chipped from the pillars. We are in the process of getting fabric to recover her headliner and do it the right way. I am doing my Evo next.

Thanks for the write up!

I had never thought of doing that.. It looks really good though

anyone know what to use to remove this paint? lets just say it didn't go as well as hoped when i painted my pieces and now i have to remove the paint and redo it.

Paint thinner will probably work. Make sure you take your time. I did the pieces yesterday and they came out great. I am going to do my center hub, B and C pillars tonight I think. Still contemplating the steering wheel.

ok...so i did the same thing after i saw your evo....everything is perfect except one dang piece. for some reason it wont take the paint... damn it!!!!

what piece? I have done everything except my headliner now. Maybe I can help.

I still need to get pics up, huh? :lol:

Can't figure out how to remove steering wheel. What allen wrench bolt????

does it get scratched easily?

that looks absolutely sexsi

everyone PM your pics if you have done this mod so i have an idea about what it will look like completely black including the headliner

i did this with house of kolor pearl black paint and it turned out really bad...paint was too expensive and i was in a hurry...paint chipped already....need to redo

i used adhesive promoter, primer, color coat and clear coat (many layers) ...it chipped after it dried...i wet sanded everything too...kind of disapointed...i think its because i didn't allow enough time for it to dry

where in NC are you???

If your close to Fayetteville you can see mine anytime. Everything is blacked out - dash pieces, center console, a/b/& c pillars. everything except the headliner. Still unsure how to take it out :confused: and kinda scared too :eek:

PM me and Ill give you my cell # if your interested in seeing the interior in person

do you know how to do the headliner, a friend of mine did his with velvet black and look sick. used a fabric adhesive spray tried a couple and finnaly found one that works best on headliners.

oh...i did the same thing only i was told to use a paint promotor and it just messed up the whole damn dash...it broke up the original paint and cracked it looks nasty...so now im on the market for some used ones so i can try again...or just buy cf ones

ill take pictures of my friends WRX with the whole dash blacked out and even the black headliner...should post up by the weeken....since we both work 2nd shift jobs

+1 for the Duplicolor, LOOOOOVE their products, have used it on every car I have owned to make a custom interior. i charge 300$ to do peoples' interiors in different colors and if you can spray paint you have it made because there is little to NO prep.

Sleet, curious to know how your interior is holding up? Or anyone who has done this for that matter. Im gonna go ahead and do it, Im just interested in seeing how it is holding up against scratching and chipping.

For anybody looking to do this to their interior. I attempted to do this yesterday without any prep (sanding, primer, etc.) to the surface. I tested the little piece of trim around the foglight switch first to see how it would come out. After the 2nd coat of spray paint, i noticed the paint kept cracking. I then removed the Spray paint and realized the original grayish paint on the trim was cracking and peeling causing the spray paint i had just applied to crack. I ended up stripping the spray paint and sanding the original grayish paint off with 400 grit, then 800 grit, then 1000 grit. I then sprayed 6 thin coats of the spray paint to make it look just right; it ended up coming out PERFECT. Very DURABLE and clean looking finish. So for anyone looking to do this, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND STRIPPING THE ORIGINAL GRAYISH PAINT OFF FIRST, THEN SAND!! Then spray paint. BTW, the color on the cap says "Flat Black" for those wondering. Hope this helps people looking to do it in the future.

yeah i had that same thing happen...im going to try thinner or some crap called goof off for when u mess up when u paint....other than that...nope how about sand and re prep and repaint? or i will get cf ones

yup...i preped the radio piece but not the long piece by the vents...that one cracked ...still leaving it for a nother weeken job

what grit sandpaper should i use? i was thinking of 800 and then 1200.

wow, WOW... this truly makes the Evo interior look 600 times better IMO.. there is no doubt I will eventually do this. NICE work it should have come like this from the factory

agreed

your evo is so dark!

whats the trick to masking the circles in the dash pannel?

I like the black interior.

Pull out the stickers, then put them back on once the paint has dried. {thumbup}

that is one angry tb evo, very nice :)

what??? they wont stick again.. your kidding right?

I've taken mine of 4 times, and they still stick great.

Spend the money on new ones if you want to, but the original ones aren't gonna magically become un-sticky because you peel them off.

All you do is tape ove the circle and then use an exacto knife to cut out the circles, read the writeup :lol:

Thanks to everyone for the comments, I think i'm going to do a part two pretty soon as i've painted the B and C pillars plus i'm going to do the steering wheel soon.

Also i'm debating on weither or not to do my seats :)

nice work im looking forward to seeing part 2.

How has the paint been holding up? I think I am just going to do everything at once and sand/prime everything. I will then rewrap the headliner...

Just had this emailed to me and all I can say is WOW! I think I'm gonna do it!

so whats the paint of choise for these plastic parts...

Krylon Fusion
Duplicolor fabric and vynl

both manufactures say that the only prep that is needed is to clean the surfaces...

good question, how is krylon fusion

thats a really good looking evo. love the black all the way around. good job on the interior, too.

I followed this write up and did my entire enterior headliner and all. Took about 7 cans of paint to do but it came out b!tchin!! nothing like an comepletely black interior. I just wiped down the surfaces very clean, i've heard using rubbing alcohol works very well. But about 4 coats for every piece and that's it. Getting the headliner out of the car was a PITA but it came out great. I'm hoping to get some pics up by this weekend.

I am in the process of painting the dash pieces and it is not coming out well..... Paint is spreading on me. I do understand, I painted my rims fine. Pepboys did not have flat so I am using semi gloss...

Yep, I suck at painting, I have now f*cked my trim up. I am now going to take it to a body shop.

bit too much black for me, but clean work. {thumbup}

Wash the parts in hot water (as hot as you can stand) with some diswashing soap (dawn, etc) to remove finger grease, mold release, etc. That's what I do and I've never had a problem with paint sticking. Just make sure it's COMPLETELY dry before you paint it.

I would have to imagine that mineral spirits would work too, since you are cleaning and preping the surface at the same time.

thats actually prett damn nice.

good pics.

What pedals do you have in your pictures, I like. And I did this myself, turned out great, now I have to do the B and C pillars to match.

Lancer Es, Evo Wannabe
 

i have a lancer ES. and i have ugly grey interior with woodgrain dash, but i just bought some evo dash peices from someone. i want to paint the stock grey parts black so it makes the evo stuff look better, cuz it doesnt match at all right now. here's a pic.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...r/DSCN6430.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...r/DSCN6431.jpg

i want to paint the areas around the radio piece, around the shift knob, the cubby hole, glove box, pillars, change drawer left of steering wheel, etc. but the plastic is not smooth. its like "leather". so i guess i cant sand it? or else i will loose that "leather" look. you think i should go with the Fusion interior plastic paint? black? or glossy black?

also im buying a evo steering wheel. so it will get rid of my big ass grey steering wheel. and then eventually seats, black ceiling, and black carpet. but those are only dreams right now.

Wow, that has to be one of my fav looking cars man... nice work.. real nice work.

I notice that an Evo9 at CBRD had a CF trim, the one around the Clock, i dont know if it was OEM or not but i liked it.

Sleet, I've seen your avatar for years but those pics show just how insane your Evo looks--so badass. did you do your seats, yet? Very interested to see how they come out. The blue sucks.

I love the black and it seems easy enough, even though I'll probably break something. I saw something on here about painting the center part (around the shifter) with a crackle spray paint (similar to the dash/around the ebrake/ect..) I think that'd look real good with the whole blacked out look

The black looks really good I am doing mine later on in the day.

So I'm not very good with the whole car thing, how do I take off the B pillars? It seems like itd be a pain with the seat belt on there... how does it work??

I painted my climate control surround on my ES. It did have the bumpy texture but I sanded it down a bit and cleaned it up and never had a problem.

You will have to unbolt the seatbelt off the floor and pull it through. I have done it before to get my carpet out but IDK if it is safe so I dont take responsibility if your seatbelt comes loose in a crash.

its amazing what you did, it pretty much looks stock. Good job!

looks good. But everytime i spray paint, i get stupid drips and errors. I messed up one radio console so had to buy new one.

thats awesome I wanna do this