Blue Suede Outback

[EnderDragoon]

Beginning to work on my 97 OBW. This will be my log for interior modifications on my car. The idea is to make an sti interior with blue on black. 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 sunbleaching 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.

[harrymaneuvers]

Looks pretty good! You planning on doing an accent color like the red stitching/lettering in the STI's?

[EnderDragoon]

I've thought about it, and I would like to but I haven't come up with a good way to incorporate it in yet. No sewing machine at home!

[Lancaster6]

I just saw this over on subaruoutback.org, I thought this looked familiar. Looks cool! I really like the door cards

[Reason]

Looks good, you should take a crack at a DIY write up thread next time you suede anything.

[EnderDragoon]

There are a few around here and on nasioc but I could write one up anyways, would be fun. Can't hurt to have more DIYs around right?

[MonstarMotorsports]

Gorgeous!! you really need to wrap the dash in black now.

[EnderDragoon]

I have a black flocking kit coming tomorrow hopefully the dash will be black like this by the end of the weekend:

[MonstarMotorsports]

I retract my previous statement.

new one is:

You sir, are a badass
Love it!

[EnderDragoon]

Now I'm back and forth over whether I should do blue/yellow or blue/red on the interior, probably color overload but maybe blue/yellow with very small amounts of red. I did a quick render of the exterior and where I want to go with that and would like to bridge the interior/exterior somehow. Maybe just blue/red inside and blue/yellow outside is fine? I need ideas...

PS: How do I force the image to a different size? I tried the [img=1024x786] but no dice....

[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 ... -dash.html is an example of where I'm going with this:

[MonstarMotorsports]

Stoked. hurry the F up and impress me lol

[EnderDragoon]

Hard to see through the wax paper but this is going on tonight (front/back windows):

[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.

[RandyMarsh303]

Really excited to see the final results with this stuff. I just recently heard about this from a friend that has been thinking about doing it.

[EnderDragoon]

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?

[MonstarMotorsports]

id finish the dash first and get it all put in so you can see something closer to the final result. then decide on the a pillars.

[EnderDragoon]

This is true, that puts my mind at ease, lol. I'm working on some exterior decals and smaller pieces to flock today. Might start working on dashboard if college doesn't get in the way.

[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:

[RandyMarsh303]

Based on that high resolution photo I now have to try this stuff. It looks awesome, I can not wait to see the entire dash done next to the suede.

One question though, does it flake off at all when you brush you hand over it?

[EnderDragoon]

Nope, the best I can think of to describe it is that felt/suede material that is along the top of your door panel that seals against the window from the inside. That soft yet durable material is very close to what flocking is like. The fibers I got with this kit are just slightly longer and give a softer texture. I've been told flocking isn't the best for high traffic areas but I have yet to see any degradation. I won't know first hand how well it holds up on stuff like buttons and such for a while.

[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.

[MonstarMotorsports]

i never even knew that piece came off, and i've wraped countless door cards off these models haha.

[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:

[Barbbachello]

Wow that looks mad. Love those STi seats as well

[Graver]

I wasnt a fan at first but as it gets further along I am liking it more and more, great work! Only thing I would say is go with a different shifter boot.

[JBCLEGACY]

Nice work! I did this a while ago for my grey/stained dash in the 92 Legacy, love how it came out and it helps with an updated look. No glare!
I did want to contribute some advice; its a good idea to paint the surface the same colour as the flock before the application. There's less of a problem with color bleeding through.
I used plastic/interior dye on my dash, it did a good job of keeping the colour evened out

[MonstarMotorsports]

loving it more and more each step!
More pics!