Woody's build thread

[itsnotanova]

For those that don't know, the plastic interior on 97-99 is different from 2000-04. They're mostly the same ,but the 00-04 interior plastic pieces have a coating on them that give a flatter finish. I'm guessing Porsche started doing this to give the Boxster an updated look. When new the 00-04 interior does look better, but the problem is that it scratches if you even look at it wrong. It doesn't take long for the 00-04 interior to look beat up. Heck, it only took my dog 30 seconds to scratch the hell out of my center console and door flap. I'm not a fan of the 00-04 interior.! Needless to say my interior needed to be rehabbed. I was going to originally paint all the interior pieces body color using the 97-99 interior because it doesn't have that coating. Well as paint day got closer, I got lazier and decided to use the 97-99 pieces as they were. I did try and experiment with the interior pieces before putting them on. I coated them with Turtle Wax's trim restorer. It says on the bottle it's not for interior pieces, but I used it on the interior of my Dodge Ram and it made the interior look brand new. I put it on my truck six months ago and it still looks great. I wish I had before and after pics. The plastic was chalky and faded before I used the trim restorer. Now it looks like it just rolled off the show room. It's a little shiny at first, but that quickly goes away after a few days. I had such good luck with the restorer, I thought I would try it on my boxster parts before installing them. I figure worse case scenario is I would have to reinstall the interior plastics from another car.

Here's a pic of three A pillar trim. Far left is untreated 97-99, middle is 97-99 with the turtle wax restorer and the right is the 00-04.

The problem with 97-99 interior is the color. It has a grey tone to it that can clash with other colors. It's so much more durable that the 00-04 though. The good thing about the 00-04, is that it matches almost any interior color. I'm hoping the turtle wax interior can bridge that gap. Here's a pic with most of the pieces put back.

[itsnotanova]

Another thing to note about the last pic. I've decided to remove all the speakers and airbags except for the steering wheel air bag. I've also decided to remove the stereo and lower center console. I'm thinking about making my own GT3 delete for that area using luan plywood like I did for the floorboard. Luan plywood is super light and strong enough. Add another 34lbs onto the weight loss for a total of 125lbs lost.

[jakeru]

Fun project! I'm also in the middle of re-doing my Boxster's soft-touch interior pieces. They are 2001 spec with the scratch-prone finish. I've got all of them that are exposed to any sort of wear out of the car, and am stripping all the old soft-touch finish off them. Some of it (side armrests) strips off a lot easier than on others (door sill trim)! Going to refinish with SEM color coat satin black, which I checked out a sample of in the auto body store and it's a perfect color match with the factory finish - and a whole lot more durable. Debating whether to clear coat for added durability with a semi-matt polyurethane 2K clearcoat over the top for the ultimate durability, or to just leave the SEM color coat (supposed to be quite durable in its own right) and call it good.

[CrisZenithBlue]

Originally Posted by jakeru

Fun project! I'm also in the middle of re-doing my Boxster's soft-touch interior pieces. They are 2001 spec with the scratch-prone finish. I've got all of them that are exposed to any sort of wear out of the car, and am stripping all the old soft-touch finish off them. Some of it (side armrests) strips off a lot easier than on others (door sill trim)! Going to refinish with SEM color coat satin black, which I checked out a sample of in the auto body store and it's a perfect color match with the factory finish - and a whole lot more durable. Debating whether to clear coat for added durability with a semi-matt polyurethane 2K clearcoat over the top for the ultimate durability, or to just leave the SEM color coat (supposed to be quite durable in its own right) and call it good.

What process did you use to strip the coating?

[jakeru]

I experimented with several methods to strip the coating. Lessons learned:

1. Plastic razor blades are your best friend for this job! Occasionally switch to new or sharpen for best results. Does not damage the plastic substrate.
2. I did find somewhat enhanced results when combined with a coating "softening agent". Ones I tried:
* Isopropyl alcohol 70% works ok - I'd even step it up to 90% if I had hat. Put in spray bottle for easy application. Evaporates quickly, so work fast.
* DOT4 brake fluids also works ok. Can leave overnight for more than one night even - won't evaporate. Washes off with water, but handle carefully.
* Stay away from anything with acetone. It dissolves the plastic! I don't recall getting that great result with other hydrocarbon softening agents I tried (e.g., WD40 seemed to not help), but maybe increasing dwell time would help. I doubt it will be th magic bullet.
* I tried hot and cold water. Seems like a little heat helped, but nothing was really the "magic bullet."
* I tried windex, with ammonia. Not much help. (Maybe would work better with lots of dwell time.)
* I did not experiment with many other softening agents, but read some used acids (oven cleaner?) successfully
3. After scraping the bulk off with a plastic razor, you can get the last bit with a scotchbrite pad. I used grey scotchbrite, recommended by auto body supply for paint prep for this. Works best with heavy-moderate pressure.
4. There are a mix of different textures (smooth to pebbled surface) and plastics used throughout the interior components (quite a few ABS, some PC+ABS, some PA6 GF 15/30) and even one rubber component (EPDM) used at the ignition key surround. Be very careful with that rubber piece. It's easily damaged.