Interior Painting



Welcome to the interior painting V-how-to. I will explain how to paint anything in your car with a trusty can of spraypaint  

let me start by saying, i am in no way a profesional artist, or painter. i started out knowing nothing, and just basically experimented with paints and such, and the results are great! when i did this, i had no idea how to take ANYTHING apart, i just used my common sense, looked for screws, etc. It's REALLY EASY!!! i suggest you read through the entire vhowto before starting, so you learn from my mistakes basically  


*****disclaimer - DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!! I am not responsible for ANYTHING that goes wrong!*****


ok, lets get started, shall we? 

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***WHAT YOU NEED!!!*** 

First, we need to go to the store and buy some things... 


Sandable Primer (any color) 
- the primer enables you to make a rough peice or interior (I.E. the stock center console has a texture to it, with the primer you can turn it into a smooth area) 
- primer also helps the paint stick to the peice, and makes the paint more durable to scratches. 

Paint (what ever color you want to use) 
- any kind of spraypaint will work, despite what it says. ive used rustoleum, painters touch, auto touchup paint, amongst others. they all work the same to a point. the auto paint bubbled up on me when the inside of my car got really hot oneday, it looked like it had chicken pox, so i dont recomend using that. just go to homedepot (or any other local hardware store) and get a can (or 2 or 3 or 1927 cans) or any paint u like 

vinyl dye (for doors, dashboards) 
- this is availble at pep boys, or any other auto store, it comes in a spray can, there is no need to prime areas that are vinyl (doors, dash, armrest) 

carpet dye (for carpet, headliner, floormats) 
- also availble at the local autostore, it also comes in a spray can. it tends to rub off my carpet though, so you have to keep on re-dying the carpet every once in about 2 months) 

leather dye (for seats) 
- to do your seats, if your daring, pick up some leather dye and primer from www.atrim.com (great company, they shipped quick!) the primer will help the seats not crack or fade, and will absorb the dye nicely. 

clearcoat (for finishing) 
- availble at hardware stores, its always good to coat anything plastic or vinyl in a lil clear coat for added protection and shine! i used the clear coat intended for auto touch up, and the plain clear coat available in the hardware store, i liked the one from the hardware store better. 


all of that is just the beginning, you will also need: 

sandpaper - 220 grit - this is good for sanding surfaces to make them smooth (I.E center consoles) 
- 1000 grit and smoother papers - this is for wetsanding (explained later) wetsanding enhances shine and smoothness of the peice you painted for an extra great finish. 
masking tape - always handy 
rachet set and screwdrivers - incase you dont own one  they are needed to get most interior peices out of the car 
newspaper - overspray will be the end of you if you dont properly set up a good place to paint 


these are some FAQ's about paints and other supplys: 

"What kind of paint is the best to use?" 
- my answer - anything u buy. dont be scared. you crazy for painting your interior to begin with, hehe. to the paint, its just coating anohter peice of plastic, the paint doesnt know that it is actually coating a peice to your very lovely car. so dont be nervios when you buy paint, ANYTHING is good. i personally recommend the "name brand" paint from the hardware store, it usually runs about $2-3 a can, and works the best (IMO) 
"should i use primer" 
- yes, yes you should. it helps smooth out the paint, and helps the paint stick to the peice your painting. 
"should i use clearcoat" 
- should you? yes. do you have to? no. it helps protect the paint, and gives it a glossier finish. the only reason i wouldnt use clearcoat (everything in my car is clear coated) is on white surfaces (if u decide to paint anything white) the clearcoat has a yellowy tinge to it, not noticible really, unless you put to much of it on 
"how long do i let the paint dry?" 
- well, when your doing coats, i would say like 10-15 minutes in between coats. when u finish something like a whole door panel, or the dash, i would say to let it dry overnight before reinstalling. i remeber i tried to put my door back on after only letting it dry for an hour, and the paint didnt fully settle yet, and i had some nice fingermarks in the paint, becuase you have to apply some force to get the door back on... and that force ruined my paint! (the first time haha) 

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ok, so now that you have just spend money on a bunch of paint, and some sandpaper and stuff, ur ready to paint! but u dont know where to start. well, this is why we have the vhowto  i say you can probably paint the ENTIRE interior of your car in a weekend, i think it is fully possible, as long as your dedicated. i can honestly say i did my car in about a weeks time, becuase i did one thing one day, anohter thing anohter day, but all in all, if you do all the things at once, u can definatly to the whole thing in a weekend. 

where to start? well, im going to seperate this into "stages" bascially different stages of my "operation no more grey" hehe 

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*** STAGE 1 - the center console *** 

this is the first thing i did, i personally think its the easiest thing to do. 

** REMOVAL ** 

1. these are the vents that are located on the side of the dash (sorry they arent in the pic) just pry them out with a flathead, they pop right out 
2. this peice also just pops out with use of a flathead. when it pops out, the buttons will be attached to it, just slide the buttons out. 
3. lower the sterring wheel all the way. there are 2 screws located at the top of the peice. get a phillps head screw driver and remove them. they arent neccesary anyway, the peice snaps into place. you do not have to replace these screws if you dont want to, you could also use glazing putty (explained later) to cover over the holes, so it looks like one solid peice. 
4. anohter peice that just pops out with a screw driver. the buttons are attached by 2 phillps head screws. remove them, and peice # 4 will be free! 
5. if you havent noticed a trend... this peice pops right out with a little tug. dont be afraid, the first time you take it out its going to be tight... just give it a good pull 
6. at first you would think this would be harder... put just lift up. thats all. the whole thing will pop right off... u can pry up with a flathead if you like. if you remove the ashtray first it might be a little easier to pull on. 

**Procedue** 

ok, well, now you have 7 peices sitting in front of you, and ur car looks like its been through hell... having fun yet? well, this is where the fun starts! r u ready? there is no goin back now!! well, if your ready: 

BEFORE YOU START - lay down the news paper so you dont get paint all over... i have so many blue spots in my garage its not even funny! 

Step 1 - give your center console a good wash with soapy water, and make sure its dry as a bone when you dry it. 
Step 2 - here we go! spary the peices with the primer. LIGHT COATS!!! you might want to start with just one peice (i started with peice #3.) spray lightly, let dry for about 10 minutes, spray again, let dry. 
Step 3 - now, this is where u can have a lil fun sanding. sand it down and make the peice you are working on nice and smooth! you will feel the difference! you can do this step again if you like 
Step 4 - as soon as you brush all the dust off from sanding, shake up the paint can and give it a LIGHT coat. let dry, coat again. do this until the peice you are painting is fully colored (duh  lol) let dry 
Step 5 (optional) - WETSAND! 

**WETSANDING** ok, i believe you can do this while priming too, to make everything that much smoother. to wetsand, use your extremly high grit paper (the smoothest sand paper you bought) rip a peice off, and put it in a bucket of water. after the paper is wet... dump some water on your freshly painted peice (please make sure its FULLY dry first, so you dont mess up it and get discouraged... take your time PLEASE) now take the paper and sand, like you would normally. every so often, re-wet the peice and the paper. you will notice that the paint is that much smoother and shiner. its not necessary that you do this, but it is rewarding! 

Step 6 (optional) - Clearcoat! spray lightly one or 2 coats. wetsand again. 

and there you have it! you have one peice done, look at you! youve completed interior painting 101  


here are some aother useful tips 
- paint in warm weather.. paint acts wierd in cold weather (so this might not be the greatest thing to do in the winter) 
- DONT GET DISCOURAGED! you have no idea how many times i messed up! the greatest part about this is that you can redue anymistakes! if you smudge the paint... you sand it down and start over! no worries! 


ok, well do you like your newly painted centerconsole? is that not enough for you? do you think you need to tkae it to the next stage?! well, if you need more color... go for STAGE 2!!! 

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*** STAGE 2 - Doors, sides, and other parts (airbags, glovebox, etc)*** 

ok, in this stage you basically do everything but the dash, but how ever, if you decide to do stage 3 (the dash) i recomend you remove the dash now... since you need to pull off all the other parts anyway. 

**REMOVAL** 

Drivers side door panel 
ok, there are 6 screws here (consult the picture if you need help) all are phillps head. there are 2 located on either side of the door (4 total) 
there is one behind the door handle... pull the door handle open and u will see it. 
the last screw is in the "cup" in the armrest, under a little peice of plastic (pop that off with a flat head) 
pull... the door will come off... once again, this could be scarry at first... but the door does come off  

if you have power windows and lock: 
the buttons are connect to the harness and will hold the door from fully comming off. just reach your hand and unhook the harness, freeing the door fully from the car, put it to the side 
if you have crank windows: 
for the window cranks you can get a small screwdriver behind there and pop off a C shaped metal clip and the handle pulls right off. To reattach just put the handle back on and put the clip back in (Thanks Jesse) 
or it helps to have one of those little $2.00 attachment to put on the spray can so all you have to do is pull the trigger. (thanks blackvenge) 


now, you have the door panel of your car sittin on the floor, must be a scary sight  IMO it is easier to paint it takin the whole thing apart, but you can also use playing cards 

**PREP of the Door panel** 

ok, flip the door over so you can see the guts of it. 

you will notice some styrofoam. unscrew it (or rip it out, lol) its in my 3 philips head screws. 

then, this is annoying... there are 8 or 9 black plastic wash type things that hold on the rubber peice and the black tube that make the vents work. wotk the washers off with plyers... these are mega annoying, i broke all but 2 of mine... glue is a good fix if u break yours. after you get all of those off, the black rubber door vent will fall off. 

there is a vent at the top of the vent (for the defroster) there are 2 small phillips head screws holding those in.. unscrew them and the back vent peice and the vent will pop out. 

take the rest of the screws out... this will get the plastic stuff off the door where the doorhandle is 

now, you have a door panel with 3 things : the main door, the cloth/leather insert, and the bottom portion, with the speaker grill. 

there are 2 different ways you can go here. one is to tape off the sections to paint, the other is rip them off and paint them seperatly. 

to tape off: you can use either masking tape, or playing cards. playing cards is ingenious (thanks mike (sicklife) and JP (jip69) for it. what you do is seperate the 3 areas by sticking playing cards in the cracks were the dfferent parts meet. the cards will build a wall, and will make a nice line. masking tape works too, but it might rip up some of the paint on the part that you just painted. 

u can also use a dremel to cut out the plastic welds, and use 1/2 or 3/4 screws to re-affix it (thanks to liquiddreamlad) 
i personally like my way better... ripping the insert and the bottom peice off, lol. dodge used plastic welds to hold these things on.. i dont think they ever intended anyone ever wanting to take them off and apart.. but oh well. this one is kinda fun, but its not for the weak-hearted. just give it a great big pull until it comes off, you have to use all sorts of brut strenght to get it off, just be careful not to ruin it. DONT REMOVE THE SPEAKER GRILL FROM THE PLASTIC PEICE!! the grill is evil and doesnt go back in the door right.... 

ok, well, now either you have a pile of parts or a taped of door... its time to paint!  



**PAINTING** 

this is our first encounter with a vinyl surface. are we afraid of vinyl? hell no! vinyl surfaces are the best to paint (IMO) becuase the vinyl absorbs the "dye" and makes a smooth finish. 
just note.. you really cant mess up on vinyl dye, but it is mega PERMINATE! after u dye it, its not commin off! no way! 

first, wash everything with soapy water, and let dry (make sure its dry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) 

then, spray the vinyl dye on the vinyl door and insert (if you have a vinyl insert) and let it dry, put a couple of coats on, make sure its dry b4 adding anohter coat. 

you can clearcoat this, but beware! you wont be able to re "dye" it, or add to it, so u might not want to clear coat it. if you clear it, and want to change the color later down the road, no big deal. i little trick i learned. paint remover. it removes the clearcoat, but doesnt touch the dye at all, so basically it brings u back to step one, and u could paint it a different color 

*DOORHANDLE!* ok, if u noticed the door handle didnt come off. its held on by a few screws... but it doesnt have to come out. i painted mine right on the door  there is a plasic on the door that protects the window from paint (yes, thats why dodge put it there, so i could spray paint my door handle withought getting it on the window ) so basically, just open the door and paint the handle right on the car! 

FAQ 
"Can i use regular paint instead of vinyl dye?" 
- yup, i did my dash with rustoleum, it even flexs if i push on it. now, this is no open invitation to full-on headbutt ur door panel and expect it not to crack, but you can use normal paint (DONT PRIME) on the vinyl surface (i would suggest however, not to use it on the vinyl insert) 
"i have cloth inserts, what can i do?" 
well, 2 options basically: 
1. dye that. i wouldnt personally do it. ( note... u CANT dye any carpet white, it just isnt physically possible, i havent figured out how to do it yet! haha) the dye makes the carpet really rough, and it hurts when u touch it 
2. recover it. this is a PITA! i did it, it came out halfway decent, nothing special though. i wernt to the local craft store and bought a yard of vinyl, and it was enough to 2 inserts. i used spray adheisive and tape to stick it on. on the internet you can buy heatformable vinyl that will mold to anyshape you want, but its $$$. 



ok, the rest of the parts of the door, you paint like u did in stage 1. the only thing that is a little new is vents. Vents are easy to paint, just a little intimidating. lightly spray the vent from all directions, and give it a few coats. the key to painting vents is getting the vent at all angles. 

**Reassembling** 
ok, now, if u used the "pull apart method. you have to reassemble the parts you so violently ripped off. get some screws from the hardware store and a drill and put the door backtogehter, using the holes what dodge so nicely plastic welded over. i put abour 4 or 5 into my lower door, and 4 into the insert, both stay on perfectly fine. 

the rest of the door is fairly easy to put back together. just basically follow the previous steps backwards. ull probably end up with some extra screws... its ok, the door wont fall apart, i have a cup FULL of extra screws... my car is still in one peice, extra screws is just a sense of weight reduction  

* note ( a pretty obvious one) the passenger side door is the same as the drivers side door, cept that its opposite  to the same steps to get the door removed, painted, and backtogether. 

**SIDEs** 

ok, i like to call these "rear door panels" so if i start saying door panel... just bare with me, hehe. 

**REMOVAL** 

ok, the first thing u have to do is take the bottom seat cushion out. this is cake. there are to plastic pull thingies. pull on them and the seat cushion lifts up and out... put it off to the side. 

now, remove the side cushions of the rear seats, to do this, tehre is one 12mm bolt... remove that, and lift up, the long cushion will come out. 

now that you have the cushions off... you can see the seatbelt connected to the lower part of the car. its a 14mm bolt (all the bolts in the car are 10, 12, 14, and 17 MM, im not sure if im 100% right with all the bolt sizes, im doin this all from memory) the bolt is hard as hell to get off, but its gotta come off.. so get it off 

next, get the phillips head, take off the coat hanger 

the seatbelt for the driver has to go, its a 17mm bolt, pop the cover off with a flathead and remove the bolt. the belt assembley will come off 

to remove the lower part of the rear door panel, there is one screw located in the back, where the upper seat cushion was, the one u removed. take that out, and pull, the whole panel will come off, scarry how its only held in by one screw and some pop screws eh? 

then to remove the top part or the rear, u will notice that 3 more screws are visible. remove those. 

pull on the whole panel, it will all come off, cept for the part that is connect to the rear seatbelt. 

if your rear panel has a handle, it will come off by taking the 2 bolts off. the handle is a vinyl material 

this is a PITA, but force the rear seatbelt throuigh the plastic peice... yes it does fit. 

now that that is done, u have both the rear door panels out, and anohter cup of screws 

**painting** 
this is pretty self explanitroy... on the bottom portion of the door, tape off the insert again, the insert is cloth or vinyl, and the rest is plastic. if the lower part of your door had a handle, use dye on that (if ur using dye) since its a vinyl like material. the upper part of the door is also plastic, so paint it accordingly. 

these following things should have gotten painted: 
upper door panel 
lower door panel 
vynly insert 
door handle 
seat belt bolt cover 
the plastic slidy thing that goes near the drivers seatbelt 
the coathanger 
the part where the rear belt goes through 

thats about it, put it back together, and boom, u have a whole lot of things painted! my lower panel doenst have screws in it, so i can pull it out whenever, lol. 


**OTHER PARTS** 
ok, this is basically the rest of the center console, the peice under the sterring wheel, the glove box, and the kickpanels. 

to get the whole center console out: 
first remove the center console peices (number 5 and 6 from the picture) 
then there are 2 phillps head screws where the cup holder was, remove them 
move the front seats all the way up, and u will see 2 screws, one on either side of the console, remove them 
where peice 5 was, there are 2 screws, remove them 
lift up the armrest, and remove the container inside of it (it lifts right out) 
unhook the harness for the dome light back there 
now the console should lift off 

to get the glove box out: 
open the glove box and take out everything 
push in the sides, carefully, u will notice 2 little peg things that hold the glove box in place, push the sides in and the glove box will lower 
when the glovebox is lowered, you will see 2 screws, take them out, and the glove box is off 
the vent next to the glove box comes out with 2 bolts 

to get out the piece under the sterring wheel 
remove the little plasitc covers on it (there are 1 or 2) there are screws under there, take them out 
there are a total of 4 screws, just remove them all 
to get the hood latch off, unscrew the latch, and work the "pop wire" out of the lever, then its free to be removed 
(to get the wire that opens the hood off the lever is annoying, just look at it, its to hard to explain how to get it off) 
im not sure if the black vent under there actually comes off or not... i just taped mine off when i painted 

to get out the "kickpanels" 
these are the peices that have the arrow pointed to them in stage 2 pic. 
there are either 2 screws or a combo of a screw and a pop screw holding these in, remove them and remove the panels 
make sure you do this after removing the center console! the are hard to put back in if you do it in a different order 

to get the airbag out: 
IMPORTANT!!! unhook the battery! and let the car sit for up to 30 minutes before doing this! after unhooking the battery, hold down the breakpedal for a few minutes to make sure the car is totally dead (note, you will lose ur radio presets and your clock, so you better know how to set them  ) 
where the glovebox used to be, look up 
you will see a wire running from the airbag to wherever... unhook that harness 
there are 2 bolts from underneither holding the airbag in, remove them 
the airbag should come out 

to get out the door sills 
there is a screw located on the end of them, remove the screw and it pulls off (on the drivers side, the screw is near the fuse box under the dash.... to give you an idea of where it is) 

the vents in the centerconsole 
remove peice 4 again 
pull the vents out, they are only snaped into place, just be careful when you pull them out 

i think thats all the peices, so now you have a pile of peices again, and ur can looks all naked again! 

**PAINT** 

all this stuff (except the armrest and the insert and the handles from the backseats and airbag) are plastic, so paint them with normal paint 

airbag, the handle and the insert paint with vinyl dye 

Armrest paint with dye too, and make sure you clear coat it, so the color lasts! mine is kind of faded, beucase i use it alot, and could use anohter coat, so this is a peice you might have to coat every once in a while 


*Reassembly** 
well, basically reverse the directions 

plug the battery back in when your fully done... just for safety  











wow, so now you are gettin good at this, and now your lookin for a real challenge! well, there isnt much left to do. wanna go to stage 3? 
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***Stage 3: THE DASH!!!*** 

ok, so hopefuly you read stage one and 2, and relized that u need to totally take apart your car, haha... if you do this along with stage 1 and 2, it will save you some time (i took my dashboard out in 30 minutes following these directions) 


To take out the dash you first need to disconnect the battery, then 
turn the 
ignition key to 
on and leave it for 30 minutes or so. This will drain the power to the 
airbags. 
I would suggest taking out both seats, which is just two 1/2" bolts on 
each 
side in the 
back, and two 1/2" nuts on each side in the front. And unplug the 
harness 
under the 
driver's seat. 
To get started you have to remove everything you see from the interior. 
1) Remove the center console 
a) Pop out the trim panel around the radio 
b) Pop out the top of the console and unplug the wires to the 
lighter 
c) Remove the center console by unscrewing the two visable screws, 
one on 
each side 
of the rear of the console, then the two screws which are under where 
the 
cup holder 
would be. Then two screws right above where the radio would be. And 
disconnect the 
wires for the rear courtesy light. Then it will pull out 

2) Now take out the side panels of the console. They are connected by 
two 
plugs on each 
side, pop them out and take out the screws behind them. Then they will 
pull 
out. 
3) Take off the lower dash on the driver's side. Pop out the caps up 
by the 
steering 
column and there are 10 mm bolts behind them, take those out as well as 
the 
ones at the 
bottom. Also you have to disconnect the hood release mechanism. Lift 
the 
handle and 
take out the two screws that you see, then slide the wire out of it's 
lock, 
then disconnect it 
from release by pulling it up perpendicular to handle and sliding out. 
4) Remove the glove box. There is a stopper on each side of the 
interior 
of the glove 
box, it just looks like a black square. Pop those out and the gloxe 
box 
will fall to the 
floor, revealing two screws, take those out and the glove box will come 
out. 
5) Take out the passenger side lower dash, one screw and one 10 mm 
bolt at 
the bottom, 
take those out and it'll pop out. 
6) Pop out the side vents that you see when you open the doors. 
7) Use a screw driver and pop out the littlw panel where cruise 
control and 
power mirrors 
are, then disconnect wires behind them and pull it out. 
8) Take off the trim peices on the steering column. There are three 
screws 
that you can 
get to from the bottom, then pull the adjustment handle down, then give 
a 
little tug and 
the top and bottom will separate, then pull them out. 
9) Take out the gauge cluster. There are two screws at the top of the 
trim 
ring, take those 
out then tug at the bottom of the trim ring and it will snap out, then 
pull 
out the trim ring. 
Then you will see 4 screws one at each corner of the cluster itself. 
Take 
those out and the 
cluster will pull out. 
10) Pop off the panel around the center vents with a screw driver, 
then 
disconnect the 
harnesses behind the buttons, and disconnect the metal lever on the 
right 
side of the vents, 
use a screw driver to pry it off. 
11) Take out your stereo 
12) Take out the 4 screws around the HVAC controls. 
13) Take out the tweeters or the cover to where the tweeters would be. 
14) Take out the passenger side airbag, if you look up at where the 
glove 
box would be, 
under the dash there are 2 10 mm bolts, and 4 screws. Take out the 
screws 
that are on the 
outsides, and leave the ones in the center. Then the 10 mm bolts, now 
pull 
the airbag out, 
and follow the wires back and disconnect the harness. 
15) Take out the steering wheel, remove the 4 10 mm bolts you can get 
to 
from behind 
the steering wheel, then pull out the airbag and disconnect the 
harnesses. 
Remove the 
center 17 mm nut, then use a steering wheel puller and remove the 
wheel. 

Now you are ready to take the dash out. 
You must find all screws and nuts holding the dash in, and take them 
out. 
You will see one bolt on each side of where the radio would be, 4 bolts 
and 
2 screws 
behind where the glove box would be. One bolt in each of the tweeter 
holes, 
2 bolts 
where the cluster would be. Take them all out. 
Now there is a large group of wires that run along the back of the 
dash, 
they include the 
brightness knob, the instrument panel, and the glove box light. The 
easiest solution is to 
follow the wires along their path. They start at a harness above the 
fuse 
box, then I 
believe there are 3 harnesses between the fise box and the brightness 
knob, 
disconenect 
them all, then there it breaks down to two harnesses in the main jack 
down 
behind where 
the radio would be. I think it was the two farthest to the left, 
unplug 
those and now the 
dash should be ready to come out. 
Get someone to help u and tug from both sides, it should pop out. 

To reinstall the dash just use these notes, and do it in reverse and 
use 
your common sense. 

(thanks to shawn1915 for posting that. ) 


ok, this is where some questions come about, cuase people get scared when they have there dash out of there car 


"what do i use to paint the dash?" 
vinyl dye, i used rustoleum on mine too, and it doesnt chip or bubble or anythign gay like that... so if you wanna use paint instead of dye here, its ok, just be careful, make sure you wash the dash and get all the armor-all off and anything else that could be on there 
"after its painted, how do i clean it?" 
ive used windex, and vinyl cleaner, both work fine and doesnt ruin the paint/dye 


so basically, just spray the dash and let it dry, put it back in, and ur car will be set off! 

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***stage 4 - rear dash, carpet, little odds and ends** 

ok, your almost done, im sure your entire car smells like spraypaint now! 

removing the rear dash: 
open the trunk, and unscrew the 6 bolts holding on the 2 speaker grills, remove the grills 
there are 3 red pop screws holding in the dash, u can push them through the holes 
the rear dash will just pop off, with a little pulling, but be careful, its really fragile 

painting the rear dash: 
since its not touched "often" you dont have to use carpet dye if you dont want to. i used vinyl dye on mine cause i wanted that same color, and it worked wonderfully! 

this is probbaly the quickest thing you can do, basically the "best bang for the buck" kind of, becuase its such a big peice of your car, but its really easy to paint. takes about an hour. 


removing the carpet: 
(NOTE - i dyed my carpet without taking it out of the car. thge dye can i used had a badass sprayer on it, and i could be very precise with aiming the dye. for somereason, carpet dye doesnt initally stick to plasitc parts, so if you spray the carpet inside the car, and get it on something accedentally, you can whipe it off (as long as that given peice is clearcoated) 
to remove the carpet, you have to remove the seats. there are 2 bolts in teh back and 2 in the front of each seat. take them all off. under the drivers side seat, tehre is a wire for the seatbelt light, remove it (if you have power seats, remove any harness that is connected under there) 
BE CAREFULL!! the seats are quite heavy (especially the passenger side one) and are odly shapped, i hurt my back pulling them out so many times 

take the rear cushion off of the backseat (where you would sit) by pulling on those 2 little plastic rings and lifting up the 
now remove the ENTIRE center console (yes, the armrest peice and the "kickpanels" and all) and remove the doorsills 

now the carpet should be free to remove, take it out 

**painting** 

vacuum the hell out of the carpet, and the floormatts 
spray the carpet, it wil take like 3 cans to do the carpet and the floor mats 
inbetween coats (after it is DRY) go along the carpet with a rough brush, and brush the carpet. this will stop the dye from clotting the carpet together, and making it all rough feeling 
DONT CLEAR COAT the carpet... thats just dumb  

let it dry, the reinstall the carpet by reverseing the directions. 

**E-Brake Handle** 
this one is easy, it acutally slides right off! its just on the actual ebrake really tight, so pull hard! 
i painted mine with regular paint, but u can dye it if u'd like 

**shifter** 
this one is annoying, and scarry, especially on an automatic. 
shift into L, and look behind the shifter. u will see a screw, take it out 
the plasic plate will come off now, and u will notice there is anohter screw in the shifter that screws it to the metal pipe, remove it 
cut the wires for the O/D, BUT MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE ENOUGH SLACK SO YOU CAN RE HOOK IT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
after the shifter is off, you can remove the shift plate, remove peice number 6 and there will be 4 screws holding it down, remove and it slides right off. 

dye the shifter and put it back on (clear coat it please!!! you touch that alot!!!) 

*rewiring O/D button* 
there are 3 wires, red yellow and black, to hook up a new switch, hook up the red and black wires to the switch, and viola! a new switch is born! (NOte- the O/D light will not work, you need a relay to hook it up) 

**Headliner** 
removing the headliner: (ive never done it, but ill use my common sense to write this... haha) 
remove the visors 
remove anything else thats up there 
pull the headliner down CAREFULLY! its fragile! 
dye it with carpet or vinyl dye (Depending on what color you want) and put it back up!! 



wow, you did it! fully painted ur interior! wow its sexy! damn, look at it! great job! but now, there is always that last step, this is a hard one, this is where all your traning comes in handy.... dyeing the leather seats!!! 

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*** Stage 5 - LEATHER SEAT DYE!!!*** 


sorry, if you have cloth seats you dont have many options, u basically have to buy something... i wouldnt dye cloth seats, they would be really stiff and uncomforable, and the dye will probably rub off the seats quickly 

these are basically your options: 

cheap seat covers from the local auto shop (about $80 for all the seats) 
stock leahter seat covers from another avenger (running price is approx $200-$250 for all the covers, the covers will fit any year avenger/sebring, make a post on teh ASOG board, someone is usually selling some) 
Leatherseat.com covers - this is what i have, the company is very good to deal with, and they will accept group buys (if you can get a couple of people together) they charged me $704 for teh FULL interior, and i got it in about 2 weeks (made from scrtach just for me!) it comes in 2 tone with embroidery you dont need the hogpin tool they offer, you can just use zip ties to put the new covers on 
katzkin.com covers - similar to leatherseat.com seats, but they are more customizable (and more $$) 


but if you have stock leather, you can just dye it! (please read everytyhing before beginning!) 

**DYING SEATS** 

ok, i frist recommend going to www.atrim.com (go to the website, and clikc the "S" Tab, for SEM products) and buy SEM dye in the colors you want, and the leather prep and primer. leather primer will make the seats absorb the dye, and will reduce the likelyness of it cracking. 

to get the front seats out: 
remove the 4 bolts and the wire under the seat, pull out 

to get the rear seats out: 
remove the lower rear cushion by pulling the 2 black rings, and lifting up 
there are 3 bolts holding on the 2 upper cushions, remove them and the seats will come off 
there is 1 bolt on either side to remove the side cushions 

ok, so now you have ur entire interior sitting outside your car. when i did my front seats, it took me about 3 hours to do, but i didnt use the primer, so mine chipped up really bad and i got rid of them... but i wouldnt see it taking much longer doin it the right way  

first, tape off the seats, according to how you want to color them. use newspaper to cover up the plastic parts of the seat (u could paint them first if you'd like, dont take them off the seat though, they are annoying as hell to put back on) 
after everything it tapped off and covers, spray the primer on the seats in a LIGHT COAT. give the seats a couple of liught coats and let them dry for 30 minutes (go make a sandwhich or something, make sure they dry!) after dyeing, spray the SEM dye on the seats, LIGHT COATS AGAIN. do this until you have different color seats! let dry again! pull the tape off CAREFULLY (i ripped up a little bit of my dye when i did it... i didnt let it dry long enough) then re-tape the seats to get the part that was initially taped off (basically, if you taped of teh inserts, now you have to paint them, so tape off the rest of the seat cept for the inserts... use newspaper so you dont get dye all over) 

let dry again for a good 30 minutes, re install, and holy crap, you have lovely seats! 

the rears are fairly easy too. to remove the little lever at the top of the rear seats... just pull it off, it comes right off. 

***************************** 
(thanks to sebring-it-on for his input) 

as far as the leather dying thing, heres what I did, because I was told SEM stopped production on the leather prep stuff! 
I used Acetone to clean and prime the leather! yep, acetone.... this guy at the paint store I got my SEM dye from told me that it would do good. What happened is it opeaned up the pores on the leather and REALLY let the DYE seep in there, it turned out great, im very happy with the results. Im sure as long as i take care of the leather, it will stay in good condition [the dye job imean]. 

He told me SEM stopped endorsing its products for leather use, for whatever reason, to many complaints from idiots that didnt know how to do it probably. 

the "flexible bonding clear" as SEM calls it. 


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_________________
Chuck Gross 
1997 Dodge Avenger ES 
"The Revenger" 
ASOG NE 1
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