How to get your head off work, 2010 edition

[nmlss2006]

A little more update...

Premium sound direct-wire-to-speakers solution, using existing harness, fully reversible:


Red is red:

[MR E30 325is]

Very red

[AbsorbantNut]

I like

[TrentW]

Looks pretty damned nice sir. How is the dye applied? What color were the seats originally?

[blunttech]

wow I like it Luigi. All this time i never knew this was you. The only way that interior could look better is if the lovely Ms Amanda was sitting in it.

[nmlss2006]

Trent - the seats were originarily tan. The dye is applied similarly to the Leatherique system:
1. Soak in 'soffener' oil until the leather stops absorbing, plastic wrap, leave alone 24 hours
2. Pass with dry rag then pass with cleaner.
3. Repeat 1 & 2 from 3 to 5 times, depending on leather
3b. Before each soffener step after the first and immediately before (4) below leather gets a brush with fine steel wool. Vinyl gets a pass with 400 grit sandpaper before (4) also
4. When done, wipe down with acetone carefully
5. Lay down first wet coat with foam brush, crisscross pattern
6. Wait ~10 min
7. Lay down second less-wet coat with foam brush, same as above
8. Wait ~30 min
9. Lay down 2-4 coats of dye with compressor & HVLP detail gun, waiting until the previous coat looks dry before putting on the next one
10. Put part in the shade and leave alone for 2-7 days. 7 better than 2.
11. LIGHTLY pass with Magic Eraser to get excess dye off
12. Ideally, cover with tarp and leave alone for three months (no, I am not kidding)
13. Now that the dye has fully cured, use and enjoy. After 180 days from colouring, use Zymol treat/Soffener oil/etc to treat leather

You can install the stuff in the car between 11 and 12 but you really should not use the items for 60-90 days for best adhesion. When installing, lightly coat areas which will rub against each other with carnauba wax (I use Zymol because that's what goes on my cars) to prevent possible adhesion.

For vinyl & plastic, clean with decent car soap instead of 1-3 and wipe with isopropyl alcohol solute 50-70% INSTEAD OF acetone at 4. For vinyl and plastic that will see a lot of contact, we tried clearcoating with 2 light coats of SEM 13023 low luster urethane clear. It seems to adhere well to the polymer base, but of course I can't speak as to durability yet, save to mention that a few handling accidents did not mar the coating, so normal use in a car should be OK.
Blunt thanks! Lovely ms. Amanda was actually the one doing most of the interior, I just do the HVLP spraying. However, as the car sits now she can't actually drive it, the 'stage 2' spec clutch with E30 stock cylinders is ... heavy.
Mr. E30 & others: it'll get even more red, more pictures coming later today.
Edit: added sanding step that I forgot before

[F34R]

That is SO RED! I like it though.

Did you think to leave the console black and do black map holder with matching pulls? I think the two tone would be sexy. IMO I do love the red carpet!


And to post #21 that is quite a bit of work. It payed off, looks super. And you said it is getting more RED! I am going to go on a hunch here and call the dash board as the next on the list to bleed.

[z31maniac]

Looks fantastic.

[Pudmunkie]

I think a black carpet would really set that off. I like the red seats but you're approaching Foxbody porno red theme with the carpet.

[E30Nova]

God I love red interiors, and that dash looks amazing. Did you do anything to it besides dye/clear? Looks a little smoother than a regular dash, but it could just be the pic.

Damn good work, bro.

Matt

[nmlss2006]

Thanks everyone - we did consider doing contrast parts but we decided to go with the OE look for the interior, though possibly not the US OE look (hint, hint).
Matt, the dash was just dyed and cleared. Before the dye, it was very carefully brushed - I won't say sanded - with 400 to insure proper adhesion, like everything else (this would be step 3b that I forgot to add in the explanation above, though I prefer to use steel wool, not sandpaper, on leather and I repeat the steel wool process after every soffener step to promote absorption).

[E30Nova]

Damn, man. I love black cars with red interiors. I have a decent tan interior, how much would you charge to do your red dying treatment? Black on red is quiet possibly the sickest color combo, IMO.

Matt

[nmlss2006]

Nova, taken to PM.
For everyone else, here's more RED!
No, it's not finished, seats are temporary, wrong floormats, it's missing the (matching!) glovebox and trim and the boots, but take a look anyways.




More to follow...

[E30Nova]

At first I thought the lower dash and center console would look weird dyed red, but that actually looks pretty sweet. :-D

Matt

[jasonsnoddy]

it looks soooooooooooooooo good dude. i want your interior so bad. massive props to you.