My first bigger project was the interior. It's an odd place to start a restoration but I was short on cash and as I got new door panels, carpets and seat covers with the car when I bought it I thought I could achieve something with only a little additional investment. The only problem was that some previous owner had sprayed the interior in non original dark red color and the new parts were bright red (the original color for this car). Just installing the new stuff wouldn't be enough, every interior panel had to came off for a respray.
I decided to try to remove the old dark red color before spraying the panels. I used paint stripper (Nitromors) and acetone with generally good results. Paint stripper worked well on all vinyl covered parts and the seat backs while acetone worked better on some plastic parts. However if these chemicals are allowed to soak in too long they will damage the panels. Some hard plastic parts like the handbrake console actually started to melt when I tried to strip it so I ended up just cleaning it. If anyone is thinking about doing the same I suggest first trying on a hidden spot or on a panel you are going to replace anyway. By the way when I removed the non original dark red color I simultaneously stripped the original bright red color underneath! Only the dash map pocket was through colored vinyl, all other vinyl panels seemed to be black (or dark grey). Some of the hard plastic parts were also colored through.
When I started painting the parts I first tried a vinyl dye from auto accessories of america. It took ages to get this stuff and it wasn't a good color match to the new parts. Funny since the new panels are from the same source. In the end I had the paint mixed for me in a local paint shop and it's a perfect match. It also covered the black panels much better. I painted the panels using a cheap Badger airbrush I have. I cleaned the center gauge bezel and shifter plate with acetone and painted them with regular spray can semi gloss black. While I had everything apart I also checked the vacuum hoses that come into cockpit and fixed the odometer, oil pressure gauge and replaced the clock mechanism.
Hardest part of the seat restoration was getting all the bolts loose. They were really badly stuck and required lots of WD40 and heat to break loose. One also needs some seldom used tools like a BIG phillips #4 screw driver to unbolt the hinge screws. I used the old seat foams and a lot of additional padding was needed, it was like the new covers were one size too big! You can also see that the seams that go across the seats are not on the same place as on the originals so the original seat foams had to be modified a little. I'm pleased with the results though.
The finished interior looks really nice and it was worth all the trouble. However the targa top center panel and the dash pad are slightly cracked so I'll need to replace them at some point.
