Greg D.

Some of you expressed interest in surflex and going from beige to black. You've seen the handbrake and console stuff from last week... Cost $0.75 if you consider the amount of surflex I actually needed from the $18 bucket.

I've driven the car a few days now, and it's not peeling off the handbrake at all, which, although not surprising as that is what this excellent product is meant to do, is encouraging . Previously I had only used it on surfaces not "touched" a lot, but hey....

Now I am thinking about the door panels. I photoshopped the panels and nope, it looked like crap with the beige carpet. Plus my panels are very clean - at least compared to the handles... So, how about just the handles and pocket tops ? Here ya go...




I like it. I'll do them this week end, if my wife lets me ;-)

jford

Tell her I said its OK.

Benton

In my ignorance, are those pieces vinyl? I was looking at them today and the pocket cover appears to be just rubber... but I could be wrong. Would the surflex work on that? You could also do the piece in the middle of the door panel that is replaced in the carbon fiber kit. OR, you can leave the pockets beige, do the center piece on the door, and carry it around to the panels under the rear window?

David in LA

That looks pretty good...I may have to do mine (after someone else acts as guinea pig of course )

Carrera Mike

Greg, That is a nice job. I think the combination on the door handle and pocket cover looks cool. I have a question though, how do you prep the parts in terms of cleaning, water and soap maybe?? Is that Surflex available at HOmedepot? I found some from internet site from your other thread for $28/can, not the $18 you mentioned.

Your interior looks great! I'm planning to do my handbrake and center console where I have some tears and wear.

thanks

Greg D.

Price ? You are right - my bad, I Ordered 2 things from carcareonline and swapped prices in my head. The small can of surflex is $28, so my console/handbrake paint job actually cost me $1.50 instead of $.75 ;-)

Ouch ! ;-) I never saw this at homedepot, carcareonline is a good place to order stuff like that from. As far as prep work, soapy water and a towel ! You can tell where you did not do a good job, the surflex beads off that area. It's easy enough to remove it, reclean and reapply immediately. I was lazy this time and did virtually no prep, it was fine except a couple of spots... Jsut went back and rubbed those with a rag and it stuck ;-)

>In my ignorance, are those pieces vinyl? I was looking at them today and the pocket cover appears to be just rubber

It's perfect on vinyl too. As for the door pocket, I cannto remember what it is made of, but I can remember it's identical to that of my 83 911 which I "surflexed" years ago so I know it'll work as well.

>piece in the middle of the door panel that is replaced in the carbon fiber kit

Hmm.. i tried that photoshop style (not shown above), it did not look all that good. Plus that involves masking stuff and maybe not do such a clean job. all the detachable stuff is easy to do in isolation.. We'll see... I got 1 full can and 95/100th of another available ! Plenty of opportunities! I hope I don't screw anything up when detaching the door panel ! ;-)

Carrera Mike

Greg, That is really a good job you did. You just save me lots of $$$. I have been to quite a few upholstery shops, most of them already have a price in their mind once they see a Porsche pulling into their parking area Little do they know, it's my life savings they're looking at.

Items that will get surflex are Ebrake handle, center console, Steering wheel and most likely the door handles.

thanks you much

hn

Little I knew, I put 303 protectant on the seats because the bottle says it can be used on leather. My seats are now covered with discolored spots, especially in the worn areas. Now I have to get a bottle of Surflex Colorant in black to re-dye both seats . I may get some gray one to make the interior 2-tone like Gred did, looks nice.

thx

Don't lift

Sorry guys..........a bit off topic
What product can I use to fill in some small screw holes on vinyl before applying surflex! TIA

--------------------
'97 blk/blk C2S

Benton

Aren't the pieces in the middle of the door removable? They are replaced with carbon fiber in the factory kit. I guess the surflex sticks to rubber/plastic too because I examined those pocket covers and they are definitely not vinyl. You can see the mold lines in them.

David in LA

The door panel inserts are indeed removable - takes just a few minutes to romove. So if you wanted to do a really clean job you can take these off before applying the surflex on the front and back; or as I posted earlier the vinyl cover is just rubber-cemented on around the edges and is easily removed from panel insert. And yes, the door pocket covers are molded rubber.

Greg D.

>Greg - Would you say one small can is enough to do the dash, center console, headliner, and seats?

that's a lot more coverage than what I did. I did all the car's panels with one can last time I did this... I'd get a big bucket or 2 of the $28 ones. You do want 2 layers, and the headliner is a massive area ! Seats ? Well I never did those, so you be the guinea pig. I think it should work just fine but might need more time to cure (without your butt in them) so that they don't scratch easily when done.

>What product can I use to fill in some small screw holes on vinyl before applying surflex! TIA

They sell a product for that, surflex filler of some kind. Check out car care online or other sites that carry surflex.

> door inserts

I did not know that ! It looks like a one piece deal on my car, but I believe you. I'll give it another photoshop attempt but I hate to mess with the door panels which are perfect. I'll keep at it this w/e and psot pictures, hopefully by then my Lloyds mats will be there.

Greg D.

PS: A final word of warning...

When you brush/sponge the first coat, it'll dry funny and most likely you'll have missed spots. In other words, it'll look like CRAP ! Don't worry and curse me at that point....

The second coat goes on much faster (no need to be as precise, 3 times as fast at least) it will deepen the color and will cover it all much easier that before. Still looks funny when drying but it does look great when done. LEave the stuff to dry as long as you can stand before reassembly. I did my Ebrake / console 1h after it was dry and scratched some areas, of course. Easy touch up though.

Once dry it's much tougher, should be like leather!!
You must wait a couple of weeks before applying your usual vinyl / leather protectant products (assuming you use any), they interfere with curing. But you can use the stuff the next day, no worries, just no armor all yet ;-)

PPS: food for thought. I know nothing about leather, but never saw red or black cow skins. I guess every leather is dyed, so this product should not frighten anyone... for the money it's hard to beat ! I'd do my seats too if I did not have my eyes on a set of Sparco Milanos, after the tax refund !

jford

Greg,
Just a response to the heading "for the 5 people who care". I actually think that for many this will be one of the most valuable threads in a while. Please keep us updated as to the long term wear of the treated areas. Perhaps general updates from time to time or specificly if there is an issue that arrises. TIA.

Jamie

Greg D.

will do... However like I mentioned before I did this on my 83 911 5+ years ago and to this day it looks perfect inside. Panels, liners, whatever I would not worry about. Door handles are more of a test due to the frequent wear on them, but that is an easy repaint if necessary. Touch up looks pretty nice as well. I have never done seats however, just back seats. I always replaced those with aftermarket ;-) I hope Kim goes for it and lets us know.