[EnderDragoon]

Beginning to work on my 97 OBW. This will be my log for interior modifications on my car (not certain if this should be moved to the gallery or gen 1 topic so feel free to move it moderators). The idea is to make an sti interior with blue on black, I'm beginning to find ways to incorporate red and have black as the background color. After much research I found the cheapest I could get the blue alcantara material was about 65$ per yard so I settled for a suede material I found on clearance at Joann's for 4$ per yard. With no experience with upholstery or interior work like this I didn't want to start on an expensive material like alcantara where I knew I would make mistakes. Suede is a very easy fabric to work with and appears to be tough enough for high traffic areas like the center console arm rest. Fading due to sun exposure is yet to be seen.

The dashboard has some sun bleaching so the next thing will be flocking the dashboard black(flocking kit is still in the mail). The front seats will be changed out with sti seats once I find a descent source for them. New floor mats and stereo with an sti wheel and she will be done! I will post more pictures as the project comes together.

As a side note I have posted this on Nasioc and SL-I boards so I apologize if anyone has already read this there. I am trying to gather as much feedback as possible to better hone the finished product to a quality Subaru.

 

[fatabbot]

The dashboard has some sun bleaching so the next thing will be flocking the dashboard black(flocking kit is still in the mail). The front seats will be changed out with sti seats once I find a descent source for them. New floor mats and stereo with an sti wheel and she will be done! I will post more pictures as the project comes together.

I looked at the pics before reading the post. The above rectifies the issues I noticed. Good job, it's gonna look slick when it's done.

 

[iainb]

Not my cup of tea, but you have done a good job applying the material.

 

[EnderDragoon]

Flocking kit finally came in from http://www.donjer.com. Was about 50$ but enough flocking material to cover approx 130 sq ft. This weekend we'll see how it turns out on the dash but I might try it on smaller pieces before then. http://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/t107760-diy-flock-your-dash.html is an example of where I'm going with this:

 

[haly0]

I dig this a lot! Keep up the great work!

 

[EnderDragoon]

Started with flocking a few small pieces today. I must say I am thoroughly amazed with the results of the flocking kit from donjer. I thought I would start with the dome light between the sun visors. I will write up a full DIY later if there is interest. Keep in mind these pictures were taken with my phone and do absolutely zero justice to how good this glistens in the sunlight.

Final pictures coming tomorrow as I'm just installing it and it's dark out.

 

[bradze]

looks great, i may end up doing this one day

 

[vr4Legacy]

I'm with iainb, not my "cup of tea". But I'll give you great credit on application. Looks great, and I'm sure you'll get the look you are trying for. The flocking looks great!

 

[OBnube]

Wow, a second blast from the past in one day. Flocking was big in the fifties and sixties for model car interiors.

 

[EnderDragoon]

I was originally introduced to it by a friend when we were discussing what to do with our dashboards. He said the WRC cars have flocked dashboards and we started looking into it. I was thinking of wrapping it in Alcantara but the material is quite expensive and I'm no upholstery professional.

Hard to tell in the pictures as it looks almost shag-like in the closeups. This material has a very present yet subtle sparkle in the sunlight with a soft texture. I am completely happy with the results and will be doing the dash with this process and other interior pieces. I am currently torn between wrapping the a/b/c pillars in suede vs flocking black.... Ideas?

 

[EnderDragoon]

I'm working on repairing the sun rotting on the top edge of the door panels, I'll have pictures soon. More flocking and suede on the way... For now though, flocked window switches to cover up that wood trim stuff and window decals! I gotta say the yellow decals over blue interior is striking

PS - Keep in mind, work in progress pictures.

 

[EnderDragoon]

I left this image full resolution so you can see the brilliance of how good the flocking looks in direct sunlight:

 

[paulfolio]

I like it. Nice work!

 

[EnderDragoon]

Here is a quick photolog of doing the suede on a small piece for those that are interested:

I wanted to do the door handle while I had the panel off for the vinyl repair so...

Handle removed:

Scrap section of suede fitted perfectly to this piece:

Spray on adhesive applied to the handle and suede wrapped around the to-be-seen side:

Excess trimmed off:

Spray on adhesive applied to back side and the suede that will be folded over (effectively sprayed on both materials for maximum adhesion) and pulled tight over the back side of handle:

Using a razor blade I trimmed out the hole for the plug. Reinstalled:

In total, with taking pictures, took about 10 minutes.

 

[bradze]

i think it looked better like this

but i applaud the effort

 

[Scoobie13]

I would consider doing this later and use Leather instead of suede.

 

[EnderDragoon]

More progress on the project. I was able to remove and flock the dashboard today and will be installing it with new seats I'm picking up tomorrow.

Removing trim pieces:

Dashboard out:

Wires protected from flocking:

Airbag flocked:

Makeshift flocking booth on back patio:

Partial shot of the dashboard:

I'll have more pictures of the flocked dash and install tomorrow. Off topic but I repainted the wheels, I think they turned out perfect for rattle cans:

 

[EnderDragoon]

Quick update. Seats acquired. Dashboard installed. Went on a 4 hour road trip down to Phoenix to pick up the seats with the dashboard installed and I've gotta say the results are awesome. I love the black on blue color schemes and the best part is there is absolutely zero glare now. I was concerned that the shiny/sparkly black complexion of the flocking would be reflective but even in direct sunlight I am hard pressed to notice any detail of the dashboard in the windshield. It's hard to get lighting such that my camera doesn't saturate the blue when focusing the black but here are a few shots until I figure out the lighting.

Quick side note though: on their instructions they say the adhesive has a 10-15 minute workable range but I had never really tested the time on this before starting on something as big as the dashboard. In Arizona I would say you have more of a 3-5 minute workable range because of the dryness and higher temperatures. I had myself and a friend applying the adhesive and I started applying the flocking roughly 5 minutes after we started and some spots were already too dry to accept flocking and it became a psycho rush of me reapplying adhesive in certain areas to recover the project as you can only do this once and not in sections. This was certainly nerve racking but the results turned out better than I expected. There were some light spots but they are difficult to notice. Odd thing about flocking is it looks 20x better in direct sunlight than otherwise. So if you live in a dry/hot area... do this in a garage, run a humidifier and do this at night while it's cool out. Have at least 2 people applying adhesive and a third person delivering the flocking as immediately after the adhesive as practical. Anywho... Pictures:

 

[EnderDragoon]

I love my Subaru! Repainted hood coming soon.

 

[haly0]

nice seats! ive been keeping my eye open for a nice set.