Interior refresh...

[Matt No VAT]

While away getting married and enjoying our honeymoon - I decided that as I would not be able to drive my car it was time for the interior to be refreshed. The old grey vinyl stuff looked very tired and very 80's.

So off to the trimming specialists I went, was rather shocked at some of the quotes I was given which varied considerably, but eventually sorted out a cash price with someone who does full restores and a large amount of work for the London Toyota Dealerships... So I took the plunge. (It's good to have friends in the motor trade and my nickname helped ;) )

My Mrs thought I was nuts after only being home 2 hours, I was in the car and off round the M25 to go collect my seats and door cards!

The seats are now covered with black alcantara as are the doorcards, but the doorcards have black vinyl pockets - mainly to save scuffing when getting in/out the car.

So now I have to cut and fit the new soundproofing and carpet, which all have to be cut from scratch. Apart from using a new blade for cutting the carpets etc does anyone have any good general tips for carpet trimming?

I only have the floor, rear bulkhead, sills and front wheels arch areas to do which I'm hoping will be fairly easy as I have the old bits of carpet/trim to use as templates (with minor fettling as I removed the Air Con from my car when fitting the V6).

I'm thinking that the trickiest section is going to be the centre tunnel parts... :confused:

Spay on Evo-Stick is great stuff, as I've already discovered when sorting out sound proofing on the doors and re-sticking everything back down in the boot!

[mudhut]

I think these retrimmed parts look rather good Matt.

What do you have on the dash?

Not sure if this is a silly idea, but I wonder whether a pair of very heavy scissors (maybe a v large pair of tailor's scissors) will make an easier job of cutting the carpet?

[Matt No VAT]

Thanks, I think the red stitching is a nice detail, my car and the harnesses are red/black, so the interior theme matches the exterior paintwork.

My dash is black alcantara also but the roof is cream perforated vinyl, I've been considering fitting the brushed ally fascia panel to the dashboard - but undecided at the moment. Until its all fitted to the car I'm not sure whether it will look too dark inside. If I fit the ally fascia panel to lift the interior a little I would probably have to change the dial bezels to black instead of chrome or change all the dials completely.

One job creates two more!

I've seen it on some cars and I quite like the look, maybe I'll do that when I replace voltage, water temp, oil temp, oil pressure and fuel guages. Mine are dim and a little faded, the chrome on the bezels has pitted plus one dial doesn't at all match.

Good idea on the tailors scissors I'll raid the Mrs' stuff as I know she has a set, when cutting with stanley knives I start off well but usually end up going off line so scissors may well give me a bit more control.

Plenty to do tomorrow, refitting the rear arch liners, re-varnishing the wooden gear knob, fitting adjustable seat runners and carpet fitting etc. Plus I've put my ECU behind the passenger seat so I have to box that in too.

Shame I cant pop out for a quick spin in her until the seats are in, I've missed driving her over the past month!