# 13 1LT RS to Synergy RS



## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Hi y'all. My name's Kevin and I have a long term goal with my 13 1LT RS. I'm a huge fan of the Synergy Green color on the Camaros and decided I wanted that color on mine. I've been toying with and modding cars for a while and love doing it. So far I've switched the bumper lights to clear, done a spray on bra on the hood, and finished the interior about half way. I'm up in Alaska and live in an apartment with no garage, so working on things tends to be slow. I'm also rebuilding my '88 Trooper II RS in the mean time. I still have the door panels to finish, switching out the shift assembly, putting in the gauges, getting and installing the DP/MP (ZZP), getting and installing the intake and IC (ZZP), and getting the tune (Trifecta). Once that's all done we'll be painting the outside Synergy Green. I'm working on getting the pics up now.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

That is nice Psychomidgit .


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## XtremeAaron (Jan 22, 2012)

In regards to the Trooper, are you a member on PlanetIsuzoo.com?


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Lol, yes I am


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Right now I'm having issues getting photos on here with descriptions because it won't let me drop down one row by hitting enter, like about every other forum I've used does.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Finally got it working



This is the day I bought it brand new from Chevy of South Anchorage, which was the absolute worst dealership I've ever dealt with on the sales side. From the lies to the refusal to fix the scratches that were already on it I will never go there again. I would have left without buying it but it was the only '13 1LT RS Cruze manual anywhere near anchorage at the time. Trust me, I tried to find one at the other dealer first.






This is the interior at the moment, the dash and steering wheel trim is finished and installed, the door trim is done and will probably be installed next 

I have the gauges to do also, but that will be after I get the DP/MP.



With the outside, there's the bra and clear bumper lights. The main reason for the bra is because up here in AK rock chips are very common. I've patched it already quite a few times since I sprayed it on 7 or 8 months ago.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

So that is what you guys do up there with 3 months of sunlight . Cool , looking sharp .


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Thank you, I can't wait to get the doors done!


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Tomorrow should be either the shifter assembly swap or finishing the doors, I haven't decided yet


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Never thought of painting the bezel around the buttons on the wheel, just the silver spoke.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

So today I did my Eco shifter assembly swap and I've confirmed that the 6-speed shift assemblies are interchangeable! Kinda funny since the dealer told me that it won't work, lol. Then again I also stopped by there today and asked the service department how to adjust the shift linkage and three different techs said they don't know. There's not much confidence in the Chevy dealers up here for a reason, lol. Although I will say that the dealer I go to's parts department has excellent service!


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Oh, I don't think I showed me spraying the bra.

When I first pulled it in and taping it off


Taped off



First couple coats



Almost done



And finished


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

You have a passion for your Cruzen .


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## Dragonsys (May 27, 2013)

Interesting, why not paint the entire hood instead of just 3/4 of it?


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

brian v: Yes I do, everything about this car has been great, from how inexpensive the parts are to how easy it is to work on. Besides that, I truly enjoy driving it.

Dragonsys: Originally I was going to continue all the way around the car with the bra, I figured it would keep the car very well protected. However, Autozone and O'reilly's have stopped carrying the spray on bra so I can't get any more of it, nor did I have the time to finish it the way I wanted to. Also, if I wanted to do the whole hood properly I would have had to take the underliner and sprayers off, and at this point I really like how it looks now, lol.


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## Dragonsys (May 27, 2013)

Psychomidgit said:


> Dragonsys: Originally I was going to continue all the way around the car with the bra, I figured it would keep the car very well protected. However, Autozone and O'reilly's have stopped carrying the spray on bra so I can't get any more of it, nor did I have the time to finish it the way I wanted to. Also, if I wanted to do the whole hood properly I would have had to take the underliner and sprayers off, and at this point I really like how it looks now, lol.


Ok, that makes sense. I personally would not be able to keep it like that, but if you are happy with it, that is what matters


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

True, it'll come off when I move back home anyways. It functions well for now.


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## Dragonsys (May 27, 2013)

Psychomidgit said:


> True, it'll come off when I move back home anyways. It functions well for now.


I'm up for function over form when it does something to protect your car


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## XtremeAaron (Jan 22, 2012)

Yeah I've got nearly 1K posts over on the planet, been years since I've been back though.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Ah, did you get rid of the Isuzu?


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

So yesterday got the interior done, minus one panel, which I'll be doing when I get done posting this. After taking the door panels off I had to tear them down, which really isn't that difficult. The hardest part is taking the cloth trim off which is held on by plastic welds. They look like this:


I use a gasket scraper and a hammer to take them off. When you cut them off this is what you should have cut off:


and this is what the backside of the panel should look like after you start cutting them off:


Sometimes the plastic will still be held together so I used a flathead to separate the pieces:


When fully assembled, the door panels looked like this:


This is the front and rear, installed:



This is the look of the finished interior:



Earlier someone had said the original silver parts looked the same as the ones in mine now. The ring on the left was painted, the one on the right is originally what came on the car:


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

Very nice write up, and welcome to the door/dash upholstered club! Lol.

That green looks sick btw.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Thank you, I like it quite a bit!


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

I like how you matched everything, it looks good, did you do the upholstery yourself?


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## XtremeAaron (Jan 22, 2012)

Very nice, I like that! 
Yes, the Rodeo was dying from Frame rot, it got traded in. 

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

^Ah, I can understand that

So today I put my vinyl bowties on. The back looks fantastic!


The front however, came out terrible. I'm really disappointed with the results. I actually followed the instructions too. 


So needless to say I'll be getting the billet bowties! The white spots were just in the camera, but there were creases in it that are really bothering me.


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## goinovr (May 6, 2013)

The best thing to do for the vinyl is to put a drop or two of dawn into a spray bottle with water. Spray the area then apply the vinyl. Then squeegee the water out. After a couple days the remaining moisture evaporates out and you have a nice smooth surface that will last a long time. 


For the "bra" spray check out dipyourcar.com.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

I wish I'd have known that before I did it, lol.

As for the bra I still have I think 9 cans. I'll check it out though, thanks for the info!


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## TheDoorMan (Mar 27, 2014)

How did you make the panels synergy green? Did you paint, vinyl wrap, purchase new ones? It's wicked awesome, and I'd love to do mine in maybe red or blue.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

I had them wrapped in vinyl by a shop on my recent trip to Arizona. The color's actual name is Irish Spring, lol. The wrapped and a few of the plastic dash panels came from a junk yard up here. Some of the plastic dash pieces, the steering wheel parts and the plastic door parts came from the dealer, and the wrapped door pieces came from a couple junk yards in AZ. The unwrapped plastic pieces were painted the Mercedes silver.


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

Man that looks really nice. Can I ask you the name of the shop and how much they charged you? You can pm me if you want. I'd like to check it out.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Auto spa, to get it refoamed and wrapped in the specialty colored vinyl was $425 for everything. That reminds me that I need to send them some photos.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Just got my EZFlash cable and BOV from Bad News Racing last night! Now I'm just waiting on them to send me the tune....


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## Cruzeros013 (Apr 1, 2013)

Psychomidgit said:


> Finally got it working
> 
> 
> 
> ...


this looks hella mean!!! What kind of paint did you use to paint the dash green?


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Thank you! I didn't actually, I pulled it all apart, got the pieces vinyl wrapped, painted(my buddy actually shot them with his gun) some of the plastic trim, and then reassembled it. But if you wanted to paint it instead of redoing the vinyl you can have a specialty paint shop create a paint for vinyl in a custom color of your choosing. You can also pick up aerosol cans of it in a couple generic colors at auto parts stores.


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## Nano-Skiff (Aug 25, 2014)

That looks great.


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## Cruzeros013 (Apr 1, 2013)

Psychomidgit said:


> Thank you! I didn't actually, I pulled it all apart, got the pieces vinyl wrapped, painted(my buddy actually shot them with his gun) some of the plastic trim, and then reassembled it. But if you wanted to paint it instead of redoing the vinyl you can have a specialty paint shop create a paint for vinyl in a custom color of your choosing. You can also pick up aerosol cans of it in a couple generic colors at auto parts stores.


oh okay sounds good maybe ill find some paint i wanna do mine all white including the A pillers
keep up the good work looking clean!!!


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Thank you both, next I'll be flashing it and putting my BOV on once I get the tune in. I already have my tablet setup for it. The nice thing is that I won't have to lug my laptop with me to datalog or anything.


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

Tuned! With the BOV installed. I'm very happy with the tune and BNR! The car isn't as peppy as I'd hoped, but, at the same time I only have access to 90 octane so I'm not too surprised.


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## Cruzeros013 (Apr 1, 2013)

Psychomidgit said:


> Tuned! With the BOV installed. I'm very happy with the tune and BNR! The car isn't as peppy as I'd hoped, but, at the same time I only have access to 90 octane so I'm not too surprised.


Nice do u have a vid of the bov? U should post on lol how much hp? Torque? What tune did u go with i used hp tuners and we have 91 octane and 100 octane here in reno as well as 93 right now i use 3/4 tank of 91 octane and the rest 100 octane makes a huge differance u can feel it right away


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## Psychomidgit (Jun 9, 2013)

I don't have a vid yet. I haven't dyno'd it yet but will when it's fully dialed in. I went with Trifecta and will probably just add an octane booster every fill up. I only put 90 VPower in it so the booster should hopefully keep it in a good octane range so we'll see.


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## Scotch&Dry (Feb 27, 2017)

Hi. When you put the door panels back together what did you use to replace the plastic welds you cut? I am looking at doing the same thing..


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