1987 Interior Makeover: Carpets, Door Panels, Handles, Stereo, Vents, & other bits

[cattman]

I am in the process of making the interior of my '87 coupe as perfect as the exterior. With over 128,000 miles on it, it's no garage queen. I drive it to work, in the rain, with my son's car seat in the back.

It was already in great shape, but I am going for perfect. The exterior needed very little, it's original paint nearly perfect. What I did there was easy, so my work begins on the interior:

-Retrofit rear 3 point seat belts using OEM parts from an '88 coupe
-Install Sliverknit Carpet kit from Bob at Appbiz
-Restore front leather seats with Leatherique
-Install new OEM dash vents
-Replace door switches, rubber gaskets, and washers
-Replace most worn interior screws, tapping screws, bolts, brackets
-Replace door seals, threshold plates, and rubber entry panels
-Install Kenwood Excelon AM/FM/CD/iPod stereo and Focal PolyGlass speakers (ipod in the glove box)
-Install new black anodized aluminum interior door handles
-Dye existing door pocket lids
-Rebuild door pockets and lid latches
-Remove, clean, and replace all gauge glass
-Install LED gauge lights
-Replace screw caps/ covers
-Replace front seat belt hinge covers
-Repaint all satin black interior bits as necessary (seat rails, rear seat hinge, etc.).

Current exterior.


Before pic of interior. Note all blacks are different shades: some worn, faded, etc.
Also note that the black rubber threshold strip is too short, doesn't reach the forward edge of the door jam as it should.


Tattered interior carpet, worn black metal threshold plates, mismatched non-OEM screws, ratty rubber threshold sills, torn door seal.


Ratty carpet, rusted bolt heads, scraped up and worn rear seat center hinge.

[cattman]

As you can see, the outside of the car is Concours ready, in fact, I placed 2nd at a recent PCA Concous, lost by .002%, so tough to call. Won't happen again!

The original asphalt on the floor and heat/ sound pad in the rear seat area are in perfect condition, so my I will leave those in place. I have no need for any modern or enhanced sound deadening.

I will renew, replace, repaint, or refinish anything that isn't perfect.
CATTMAN

Rusted bolt head.


Worn and scratched rear seat center hinge.


Worn and scratched seat rails.

[cattman]

Replaced the inside door handles- the ones that latch. Here is a pic of the original plastic units, which had faded over the course of 25 years in Atlanta. I replaced them with the units sold here on Pelican, that are black anodized aluminum. In the after pic, you will notice I've also upgraded the speakers to Focal PolyGlass units. Of course, I kept the OEM ones, along with the OEM Blaupunkt Cassette Player.
CATTMAN

[Canada Kev]

You might also want or need to replace the ring around the ignition key. The car looks good and I think I'll be paying attention to your process. Keep it coming...

[cattman]

Masked off the satin black metal parts of the rear seats, rear seat center hinge, and front seat rails, and repainted them. Had a hard time removing the front seats, as the back outside bolt on each seat was seized. I finally got them out with your help here, and the Pro Grabit. I'll order new ones when re-installing the front seats.

Masked off rear seat backs to paint the metal attachment points.


Repainted metal attachment points on rear seat backs. Painted satin black, as OEM.


Partially stripped interior.


Extracted seat bold, using the Pro Grabit, as was necessary.

[cattman]

With everything out, it's a great time to thoroughly clean and refinish anything not perfect. Here is the heater unit cover, now looking like new, and the rear seat spring pins, in the process of being cleaned, then repainted...

[cattman]

The AppBiz carpet set is beatiful, and seems to be cut very closely to the original, as you can see in the pics. Some trimming will be required on a couple of pieces, as expected, but overall, it looks to be fantastic.

Here you can see the original 24 year old carpet laid out on the garage floor in the pattern it was in the car.

There are some unexposed areas of the original Sliverknit carpet that were untouched, and are as new. Those areas are IDENTICAL in look, feel, and weight to the new Appbiz Sliveknit- they're a truly perfect match.

Removing the carpet from the back of the rear seat backs, you're looking at wood! Yep, the best bavarian black forest wood, LOL! Maybe it's just me, but it's kind of funny to find wood used in a 911 as late as 1987.

[cattman]

Neither Goof off nor Goo Gone were not much help on this old rubber cement on the door thresholds. I ordered new rubber thresholds that will cover this, but I want to get as much of the old rubber cement off as I can to ensure a good bond for the new pieces, but I don't want to remove the paint.

Is 3M Adhesive Remover my best bet? Any other suggestions that won't strip the paint?

[RSTarga]

I have used a product that smells like rubber cement cleaner, can't recall the name but you can get it at auto paint stores.

[javadog]

3M adhesive remover will do it, eventually. I have found the best method is to soak the glue for a while, until it gets rubbery, then roll it off with your fingers. You will have sore hands at the end. You also have to watch out for welding spatter/slag, as rubbing across what should be smooth steel will prove to have a few spots that might just cut you.

I once read in a Porsche manual somewhere that they recommended gasoline to remove old glue. I've always wanted to try this, just in case it actually works.

Naturally, you'd want to do it outside, with good ventilation, very limited quantities of the gas, plus all of the other safety precautions you could probably think of.

JR

[javadog]

There's also another thread here somewhere where a guy used some sort of citrus-based paint remover. It seemed to remove the glue but not the paint.

JR

[RWebb]

if you cannot get it off easily, then you'll have a good bond by leaving it

[cattman]

Originally Posted by javadog

There's also another thread here somewhere where a guy used some sort of citrus-based paint remover. It seemed to remove the glue but not the paint.

JR

Might it be CITRISTRIP you are thinking of? That's a non-caustic solvent I've heard good things about, but was afraid it would remove paint, too. As for Gasoline, no different really than most solvents such as turpentine, etc., which can be used to clean paint brushes, as it will dissolve paint.
CATTMAN

[Bob Kontak]

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and they have adhesive remover in a one gallon can. I used it to take the glue off the engine firewall before I repainted it. Did not "jack" with the paint. Acetone did if you used it several times on one spot.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by cattman

Might it be CITRISTRIP you are thinking of?

It's very possible. I can't find the other thread now, although I swear I've seen it lately. I found it odd that the stripper didn't take the paint off, as I've seen other threads where it was used successfully as a paint stripper.

I'd try a little of the gasoline, first.

I've also used laquer thinner. As with everything, it's all in how you use it.

JR

[RWebb]

describe what you want to an auto body shop supplier - I bet they'll know of something to use

[willtel]

Wurth makes an adhesive remover that might work.

[cattman]

Tonight's progress was meaningful in that finally some parts are going back together. Wearing a serious respirator, feeling like a hazmat worker, I began to use the 3M 74 FoamFast Orange Glue, starting on the rear hump. As you can see, the new carpet is luscious soft-looking, and soo new! You can also see the rear seat hinge that I repainted, satin black.

The glue is fantastic, so easy to use, with 3 spray settings (Lo, Med, Hi) you can completely forget overspray. And the orange color of the adhesive makes it easy to see on the back of black carpet.

The process is simple: wear 2 pairs of rubber gloves (so, like a jokey in a muddy race, you can tear one off if you get glue/mud on it), spray the adhesive onto both surfaces, wait (corrected) 45-90 seconds, and place it down, smooth it out. If you get a wrinkle, slowly peal it up, and relay it smooth. Smooth it gently, evenly, ensuring no wrinkles or bubbles.

I then did the inside rear 1/4 panels, which are really tough, and the passenger front kick panel, no joy either, but I am getting the hang of it. The glue is very workable, so it's not too scary.

The results are coming along nicely.
CATTMAN
PS Got 1 spot of glue on the carpet, any thoughts on how to remove it? I hear it's pretty easy...

PICS:

Rear seat hump with new carpet. Note I left the original sound/ heat pad in place.


Rear seat center hinge, repainted OEM satin black.


Driver's side new rear carpet, in progress. Note I left the original sound/ heat pad in place.


My workshop, the front trunk.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by javadog

It's very possible. I can't find the other thread now, although I swear I've seen it lately. I found it odd that the stripper didn't take the paint off, as I've seen other threads where it was used successfully as a paint stripper.

I'd try a little of the gasoline, first.

I've also used laquer thinner. As with everything, it's all in how you use it.

JR

it seems like everyone else has done it, so why not me... (interior)

Originally Posted by cattman

The process is simple: wear 2 pairs of rubber gloves (so, like a jokey in a muddy race, you can tear one off if you get glue/mud on it), spray the adhesive onto both surfaces, wait 15-20 seconds, and place it down, smooth it out. If you get a wrinkle, slowly peal it up, and relay it smooth. Smooth it gently, evenly, ensuring no wrinkles or bubbles.

you really should wait a little longer than that before putting the carpet down. it needs at least 30 seconds of open air drying time (and 1 min+ would be better) for it to fully work. you won't get as good of a result with only 15-20 seconds.

looking good so far though. i told you it wasn't hard, just time consuming. i am willing to bet you are fast approaching 3 hours of work time so far, if not surpassed it already

[cattman]

Point noted, thanks Niner!
As for removing a spot of glue on the frontside, what do you recommend? If memory serves, you used some sort of (gasp!) armour all?
CATTMAN