Interior project on my 87 911

[jhubs]

I started my first major project on my 87 911 yesterday. I am replacing all the interior carpet and upholstery (leather and vinyl) including door panels, rear side panels and back panel. I plan to put in sound deadening/damping products.

I found the factory sound deadening asphalt/tar coating under the floor carpet area to be in almost perfect condition. Very few cracks and no chunks or pieces missing or loose!

The best news is that there is no rust at all that I can see and the only unexpected replacement parts so far will be the rubber clutch and brake pads and the driver’s side wooden floor board and some minor seat belt trim. I’ll get the ABS floor board from Pelican to replace the wooden factory floor board.

Here are a few beginning photos. Feel FREE to give advice here!!!!

Origional Interior


Removing seats and Carpet on day 1


Day 2


Day 2 Rear OEM firewall interior Pad not removed yet.

More Later!
Jerry

[Paul T]

Looks like a great project, but I have to say I think the "before" shots look pretty good to me!!

I've always liked that interior color...

[81 911 SC]

I agree the tan interior looks very nice and from the pics looks to be in good condition. I am undertaking a similar project with my 81 over the next couple years. So far I am replacing the door panels with RSA panels and will look to do the carpet and get some light weight seats next year.

[84toy]

It's an enjoyable project to do. I like a nice interior. Only suggestion would be not to yank all the carpet out at one time. Start in the rear and replace a few sections at a time so you can compare pieces and fit.

[jhubs]

Paul S, Oops! Too late! I have taken extensive photos of the carpet and marked the old carpet on the back and have written notes as to the replacement order. Learning curve...steep!

The old interior was Champagne Yellow, stained yellow carpet and very old looking. The leather seats were worn badly, so I am replacing them with Cashmere Beige Tan 9099 leather, Camel 1703 Vinyl in the back and panels and Cashmere SL carpet. This is being assembled in kit form in California at Autosintl.com (Autos International)

The car exterior color is Marine Blau Metalic (dark blue). What would you think of Navy Blue mats and rear seat cover with Tan or gold lettering?

[livi]

The pic with the original interior looks absolutely fantastic. I wish I had that color combo.

[jhubs]

I removed the rear panel/firewall factory insulation today.

The weight of the old material was almost 35 lbs.
I only took one photo of the weight of the largest pieces. The scale is marked for Kilos and Pounds. The scale 360 ied and ended up at almost 27 lbs. I weighed the wheel well pads and the side panel felt at 8 lbs.


Rear seat/firewall after pad was removed..yuck...good news, still no rust, just red-brown felt material and glue.


Now the dirty work begins...

[randywebb]

What is the purpose of removing the stock sound dampening material?

Are you creating a race car and want to save 30+ lbs.?

Or are you going to add back newer sound deadening and hope to save just a few lbs.?

[jhubs]

I've decided and ordered the materials for the interior vibration/sound dampening and the heat and sound insulation for the interior.

The floor, door panels and front kick panels will have one layer of Second Skin Damplifier Pro laid down first and over that a layer of Second Skin OverKill closed cell foam.

The rear side panels, rear seat area and rear deck (interior firewall) will have one layer of Damplifier Pro, one layer of Second Skin Heat Wave, and one layer of OverKill foam.

Here is the site if you want more information about these products. http://www.secondskinaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Here are some photos of the products.



Thickness will be about 14 mm which is close to the thickness of the origional factory mat.


Product amounts and cost; REVISED

Damplifier Pro, 72 sq. ft. (2 boxes)= $300.00, 42 lbs.
Heat Wave, 1 sheet (24 sq. ft.) =$35.00, 5 lbs.
OverKill, 72 sq. ft.= $100.00, 1lbs.

No track car! I will probably add 13 lbs. of total weight when I am all finished.

[jhubs]

Today I tackled the job of removing the carpet glue, the glue that held the rear seat/firewall pad in place and the rear sidewall pad and adhesive that held it in place.

I found that the adhesive solvent made a real sticky mess and the smell of the solvent was too strong. I ended up using "odorless" Mineral Spirits (it still smells, but not as bad) and a 1 1/2" putty knife. I used the mineral spirits on the side panel pads and the sticky adhesive that held them in place.

The remainder of the glue in the car, I just scraped with the putty knife, wire brushes, old large screw driver and vacuumed up the powder. Then I cleaned everything with mineral spirits and then Simple Green.



You will see some glue left on the panels that I could not get off...so I'll leave it alone and put the Damplifier Pro over it.

[sjf911]

I had to wear a respirator while using the adhesive remover. The fumes in the cabin were really overpowering. The gelled version is not as bad.

[jhubs]

Steve,
I could not find the gel version! But it worked out OK. Do you think I have cleaned enough glue off the metal?

My knees are really sore this evening...no work tomorrow. Snow here on Saturday..AGAIN! VERY tired of winter. Normally our Colorado winters are not this bad.

Feel free to post your photos on this thread!!! Would love to see what you are doing and get tips too!!!

J

[sjf911]

I don't think it is necessary to get all of the glue off, especially if it causes damage to the paint. There is a huge amount of surface area to attach everything to.
Welcome to the sore leg club. I felt like my back was going to go out every time I unfolded myself to get out of the car. I will be very happy to be done with the interior and back at the mechanicals.
I second your winter fatigue.

[jhubs]

Here is the beginning of the installation of the Second Skin Damplifier Pro mat on the rear deck and rear panel.



Jerry

[sjf911]

Good work, Jerry! Once your done with that, putting the carpet in will seem easy.

[randywebb]

There is no point in removing old glue if you are simply going to glue something else on top -- unless the old glue is flaking off or in some other way inhibits attachment of the new material.

[Kemo]

subscribed.

[jhubs]

...3 more days of work on the Second Skin mat...my knees can only take 2-3 hours a day.
I have found that the size of sheet that works best in this area is about 6"X 8" or smaller. Lots of fitting and cutting with paper patterns.
The melon ball tool is really a great idea that someone posted, THANKS!



I used an orange cleaner on some of the sticky glue and let it sit for 1/2 hour and most of the gummy glue came off of the rear side panels. I used De-Solv-It from Ace Hdwre. Then Simple Green to remove the the De-Solv-It oil film that was left on the metal.

More in a few days.
Jerry

[randywebb]

What does the melon ball tool do?

And how much wt. have you added back onto the car at this point?

[jhubs]

The melon Ball tools really saves your fingers and hands by enabling you to push the Silent Skin sound mat into the indentations and creases that Porsche puts in the metal walls to strengthen the panels. The melon baller has two size hemispheres, one on each end.






At this time I have not added any weight to the car. I pulled out about 35 lbs. and I have added only 3.5 sheets of sound mat at .5 lbs per sq. ft. So, I estimate I've put back 8 lbs.