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Not a bad idea. Maybe find some nice diamond quilted fabric or microsuede (even a thin, simple blanket with the right pattern could end up looking better than stock). The part next to the seat won't be visible anyway, but you will notice it next to your legs. Since the rear seat isn't graced with an arm rest, you could even run it all the way to the rear seat back (one less edge-seam to worry about).
Now the multi-million dollar question is how do I bind it to the carpet.
Edit: After googling, it "looks" like a Hot Glue Gun will do the trick.
What do you think of this?
And also how should I border it? Maybe make a Carpet Bind like this? (the edge that goes around the carpet)
and tuck the quilted leather under the carpet and glue it in place?
or..
Bind the quilted fabric and put it over the carpet glueing it at the edge with the fabric over the carpet?
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 03-16-2017 at 12:55 AM.
The edge of the carpet is pretty ragged. I would drape the quilted stuff over the carpeting. If you can use the natural border (or fold the edge over and sew your own, or have someone do it for you--it's not hard on a sewing machine).
I would not use hot glue, as that stuff will make a mess and if it isn't high-temp only, it will melt in a hot car. A heavy needle and thread should work. You could probably even hook some kind of safety pins behind it, and that would hold things just fine. Remember, the front seats, the center console, and even gravity will be holding it down too.
Okay so more progress, and ideas for the carpet issue.
The interior has mostly taken shape with the exception of the dashboard components, upper dash and I haven't installed the front seats (purposely to reserve the amount of room I have to work with.) I installed the LED's in the dome light and the courtesy lights in the rear view mirror. I like them MUCH better than stock. So much brighter yet also more refined. I will need to note..for those looking to do this, it wasn't a direct fit. The LED's from superbrightled's.com 's connectors were smaller than the stock bulb so I had to improvise. I ended up soldering larger metal caps onto the connector ends of the bulbs to make them fit properly. So far it seems to be doing fine. Hope it remains that way. Installed the replacement headliner, only to find it too has the same issue where it sags slightly in the front, although not as bad as the previous headliner. I'm not going to worry about it. Nothing is perfect.
-- Received my leather material for the center console door, the parking brake and the shifter.
-- Installed LED's in the courtesy lights of the rear view mirror
-- Installed replacement headliner
-- All trim except the A-Arms and center console has been re-installed.
-- Installed my USB Power outlet / Cigarette lighter replacement.
Issue #1 - The carpet error.
I've been thinking long and hard as to how I'm going to correct this and wanted to get some final opinions (and instructions) before I begin. I cut the carpet near the transmission tunnel / center console too short so the body of the car will be exposed. I have several options to fix this...
#1 Leather wrap the center console and a excess layer "skirt" down the driver and passenger sides so it will cover the body and meet the carpet using a binded and orange stitches, use large black tacs to attach the leather and carpet together
#2 Black Quilted leather sheet with a orange stitched binded edge at the carpet, sewed or stapled to the carpet and tucked UNDER the center console (taking the same route as the carpet would have)
#3 Re-use my excess carpet, staple down both ends of carpet to extend it, have a <black-orange-black> leather strip with a beveled orange/white stitching ontop of the bind between the two carpet strips either tac'd with back tacs or sewed together.
#4 Replace the carpet, have a professional do it, eat the cost, get charcoal grey color.. atleast it will all be done right.
=======================================
======================================= Issue #2 - The Steering wheel
I was at first thinking of going with a C6 steering wheel but to get all of the steering wheel controls to work I'm going to have to do alot of wiring and I'll also need a 00 - 02 F-Body clock spring as my F-Body did NOT come with steering wheel controls. On top of which I'll need an adapter so it will work with my actual head-unit and cruise control, ect. All of this will easily add another 2 months to completing my car, but I have to admit having that "flat side" on the bottom of the wheel on my 6th Gen really makes a difference and I intend on auto-crossing this car once in awhile.
Is it worth it to upgrade to the C6 Wheel?
#1. Yes, although there will be ALOT of work involved, you won't look back.
#2. No, for the costs, time and effort involved just keep your F-Body wheel and leather wrap it.
=======================================
======================================= Opinion #3 - Lighting
I wanted to add some LED light bars into the interior but don't want to make it look ricey so they will be hidden in the foot wells and just add a glow to the vehicle. I was going to add a drivers and passenger side LED bar in the front, drivers and passenger side planted under near the seat in the rear, and two attached to the sail panels in the hatch.. What colors should I go with?
#1 Hyper White, Although the car is orange, Hyper white goes well with my dark interior theme and will provide additional lighting on top of the mirror LED's and dome light.
#2 Orange, stay close to the car's color scheme.
#3 Multi-color, you can change them whenever you like.
#4 Drop the idea, Light bars belong in Honda's.
=======================================
======================================= Opinion #4 - Automotive Alarm and Anti-theft / GPS tracking & disabling.
I wanted to add remote start to the vehicle along with an alarm system / GPS and possibly remote shut-down if this is possible. I looked around and I'm thinking the only thing with remote shutdown is Onstar, or atleast directly...
I was thinking hypothetically if there were some way a switch could be wired into a module which had connection to an internet source (Cradlepoint, or Mobile Hotspot installed in the car) then said switch could be remotely activated or deactivated and ultimately you could remotely deactivate the fuel pump when you come outside and your car is missing. I'm sure there's other ways, auto dealers use this kind of stuff all the time to detur you from making late payments. The remote system could be triggered by the car alarm going off or by the ignition starting. If the alarm goes off, automatically the fuel pump would be disabled. If not then (along with remote video monitoring --(I intend on adding a DVR to this vehicle, too many idiots driving near me)-- you can monitor where the vehicle is at any given time and disable it at a safe location.
Should I do this, and if so any recommendation as to what vendors/devices I should use?
=======================================
======================================= Opinion #5 - Internet source.
I've been using my mobile hotspot on my phone through T-Mobile (shoot me) to provide service to my Android Headunit. Problem is, when I leave a major city or go into a rural area, even on the interstate...good bye data service. I did not have this problem with AT&T. I would much prefer that my car had its own data account though. I was thinking of just putting my Android Headunit on a data plan. Only issue is if I do, anything else in the car that may need service will have to connect to its mobile hotspot. I could instead install a mobile hotspot from any carrier and any physical device besides my radio could be connected via ethernet... what service should I go with regardless of what I choose?
Here's what I'm debating on.
From theretrofitsource, I can grab their MORIMOTO XSB LED's which light up white or amber depending on their input. They can be wired to the courtesy lights (white) and light up white when I open the door or trunk and also be wired to a manual switch (amber) to turn them amber while I'm driving.
OR...
I can go for the MORIMOTO XBT RGB LED Strips. They can change color and are bluetooth controlled. They can default to white when the door is open but change colors with the control of a switch. I can use Orange instead of Amber and I can also control their color and activate them with my Android headunit making them seem more integrated with the car.
I'm also going to completely have my headlights redone but thats another project.
The XSBs are going to be really bright. It is a good idea if you want two color choices, which just happen to be white and orange in your case, but you will need a filter on them if you are going to drive the car around like that at night. They might be okay if you use short ones as indirect light in the foot wells, but they will cause glare if they are behind you.
EDIT: Also, I vote "yes" on the new steering wheel. You touch it every time you get into the car, and the entire time you are driving it. That old two-spoke tiller is a buzzkill. Get the new wheel, you won't regret it.
Well...I guess that brings me to a whole new saga, and probably the most challenging yet.. replacing the steering wheel and adding steering wheel controls to a car that previously did not have them. I guess while I'm here I can address the bright light switch too. I was alittle afraid of tackling this but I didn't think I'd ever beable to replace (and upgrade) a window regulator either... this...is going to be one interesting car that I'll probably drive once in a blue moon after its done lol...
So here's the plan.. First I need to run a new power source into the interior. A main power line that will handle my interior LED's, Alarm, DVR, GPS tracking capabilities, and other accessories... P.S. yes, I did find a way to remotely disable the vehicle so long as its in cellular range...and it won't be extremely expensive to implement either.
Main power would probably be a thicker gauge wire and it would always be hot. The alarm, GPS, and the LED controller would always receive power. (LED controller has to always receive power or it loses its memory and defaults to white, I spoke to theretrofit about this). The DVR and other accessories, only when ignition is on.
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 03-23-2017 at 11:49 PM.
Sent my center console off to have a USB Hub installed in it (so I can connect peripherals to my HU)... I'm preparing to purchase parts for the steering wheel upgrade. Some things are on my mind about this though. It is possible to get the radio controls to work on the C6 wheel but since my car didn't come with radio controls, it's going to take additional wiring.
What I decided would be the easiest way to go about this is buy a rebuilt steering column intended for the 00-02's with radio controls. That will give me the correct clock spring and necessary wiring. Also it will automatically fix my bright lights switch and also I was advised that they would use the necessary steering knuckle to adopt the C6 wheel onto it and even install the new rack in the car for me, killing 4 birds in one stone, but it will cost me $350.. If I did it myself I would save maybe $200 at best because I would need to buy the parts and tools and because I have no radio controls stock, its going to be alot harder than just adapting the wheel on there.
The Corvette Steering Wheel itself is about $270 and the airbag(unusable)/airbag cover is about $75 ontop of that so we're looking at $350ish for the steering wheel itself.
Then the wiring harness and modules I'll need to get the cruise control and radio buttons to work will be another $175ish.. all in all...I'm looking at $900 and am beginning to wonder if its worth it... I can do it yes... and doing it would add one HECK of a cool factor to the car, especially in car shows where they see working steering wheel controls on a C6 wheel in a F-Body... but the negative side is.. I will most definitely have no airbag, although the airbag in there now is questionable .. if I ever had a serious collision (god forbid) atleast there's a "chance" it might deploy and a chance it may save my life.. without it Im at the mercy of my seatbelt...not that I ever want to be in an accident where the airbags have to deploy..but life happens.
The other thing is..for the same cost..or just a slight bit more..I can upgrade my entire exhaust system... I wanted LT's, Y-Pipe and a Catback for some time now and I'm still on stock exhaust...
So I really don't know... Opinions?
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 03-29-2017 at 01:26 AM.
I want to upgrade to a vette wheel eventually, and I've decided I'd hook up one stage of the airbag and leave the other disconnected. Even a 1st stage inflation of a new bag would likely be more reliable than the single stage inflation of an 18 year old airbag!
I think swapping the steering column is a good idea, especially if yours is well-worn enough to have the high-beam switch fail, this newer column will probably be in better condition. Make sure to get all of the wiring with it, as there is a lot, and you will need the ones that go to the stereo.
For my own car, my plan is to Frankenstein a new wheel from the hub of the factory wheel (mine has the redundant controls already) and the spokes and rim of a smaller diameter, but thicker aftermarket wheel. The airbag cover is pretty ugly, so I will slice it open and remove the bag from it. Once I figure out the approximate volume and a shape that can house it, I will make some kind of cover for what is inside. It will have to be strong enough to press for horn duty, but fragile enough to rupture cleanly in an airbag deployment. Something that gives me pause with a newer airbag, is that I don't know enough about the electronics to trust that the signal would deploy a modern bag in the event of an accident. On top of that, I don't know the shape of the inflated bag, and if it could be large enough to injure me in some places and/or small enough not to protect me in others. The single-stage bags are overpowered though, as they had to be strong enough to keep an unbelted passenger from being ejected during a crash. This means they will pack quite a punch if you ever need them.
For the steering wheel buttons, I will probably buy some nice metal switches and just wire them to the little circuit boards behind each set of factory buttons. They won't light up, or even have labels, but they should look better than a cluster of turds being extruded out of a goat's rectum--which is what the current arrangement looks like to me.
I want to upgrade to a vette wheel eventually, and I've decided I'd hook up one stage of the airbag and leave the other disconnected. Even a 1st stage inflation of a new bag would likely be more reliable than the single stage inflation of an 18 year old airbag!
I saw one guy hook up a 1 stage airbag out of a Sierra or something, that fits the Corvette wheel. I was kind of wondering about doing that. Well, lets say I do hookup to Cobalt Airbag, do I stand a chance of the thing deploying after I hook it up, or while I'm driving? or the airbag light coming on? I just dont want a nasty surprise one day I run over a pothole lol.
Originally Posted by eb110americana
I think swapping the steering column is a good idea, especially if yours is well-worn enough to have the high-beam switch fail, this newer column will probably be in better condition. Make sure to get all of the wiring with it, as there is a lot, and you will need the ones that go to the stereo.
For my own car, my plan is to Frankenstein a new wheel from the hub of the factory wheel (mine has the redundant controls already) and the spokes and rim of a smaller diameter, but thicker aftermarket wheel. The airbag cover is pretty ugly, so I will slice it open and remove the bag from it. Once I figure out the approximate volume and a shape that can house it, I will make some kind of cover for what is inside. It will have to be strong enough to press for horn duty, but fragile enough to rupture cleanly in an airbag deployment. Something that gives me pause with a newer airbag, is that I don't know enough about the electronics to trust that the signal would deploy a modern bag in the event of an accident. On top of that, I don't know the shape of the inflated bag, and if it could be large enough to injure me in some places and/or small enough not to protect me in others. The single-stage bags are overpowered though, as they had to be strong enough to keep an unbelted passenger from being ejected during a crash. This means they will pack quite a punch if you ever need them.
For the steering wheel buttons, I will probably buy some nice metal switches and just wire them to the little circuit boards behind each set of factory buttons. They won't light up, or even have labels, but they should look better than a cluster of turds being extruded out of a goat's rectum--which is what the current arrangement looks like to me.
hahaha, well... I'm probably not going to go all out with the switches, I just want them because my current android headunit is COMPLETELY touch screen and adjusting the volume while driving is a complete PITA. Plus I can program the "talk" button to innitiate "Okay Google" commands... Honestly this damn car will have more features than my 2017 when I'm done with it...
So.. from what I'm reading from both of your posts it SOUNDS like the danger with installing the airbag isn't the airbag deploying prematurely, but rather the possibility that they may not deploy at all during a crash with no way of really knowing unless.. ..someone tests it.. ..accidentally..
I decided to go ahead and do the new wheel as I want to address the entire interior while I'm at this. I also am going to replace the carpet (again).. but not yet. I'm going to get everything together and in 1 peace first and do the carpet another time. I just went ahead and patched it by sewing some cut carpet for now..it looks awful but still better than revealed body frame.
I'm going to "TRY" to do a writeup on my steering wheel replacement but it wont be very indepth about tearing down the steering column as I'm going to completely replace mine anyway.
So I received my new lower center console today and its a much better sight than my stock one, no issues with the cup holder. I am "trying" to install my leather parking brake boot. I removed the old one but I had to brake the plastic tabs on the left side to remove it. I just want to be precise about the installation of the new one. I'm "thinking" of using just alittle bit of glue.
-- Oh... There IS one thing I want to know...
Lets say that I got one of those Alarm Systems with the Remote Start / door lock and unlock fobs... Is there any way I could remove the lock cylendar on my new steering hub and replace with a push start button that ONLY starts when it detects the fob from my alarm system is in the vehicle?
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 03-29-2017 at 10:03 PM.
The sensors etc are not going to change, so they won't send the trigger signal any differently.
For it going off, it shouldn't because it isn't getting sent a full voltage trigger signal.
I saw a thread in the electronic section that someone had done a proximity keyless system, but I think it may have been locks only, not for starting the vehicle, but I can't remember.
It might never deploy, or possibly deploy during the diagnostic mode at startup if the threshold voltage is low enough. Both are GM bags, so most likely the nominal voltage is standardized, but different voltages are not without precedent. For example, the voltage range for the fuel level indicator on the two types of pumps our cars came with. Ideally, it would be best to just disconnect the passenger bag, connect the driver one in the new wheel (maybe outside the car with some extended wiring) and whack the sensor to test a throwaway wheel/bag. Until someone does this (or gets in an accident), we won't know. The state of ~20 year old airbags is also unknown, but I personally trust that over something untested.
As far as the buttons go, is it possible to get a signal for more than the 8 buttons on the factory wheel? There is no "Talk" button on the stock wheel, so even if the new wheel has one, where would the signal go? Maybe this is already solved by someone in another thread, I am just curious. If you are out of time/money, you could just grab the column and wheel from the newer car, and do a nice leather wrap around the rim to update it for now.
Oh, I'd also been meaning to post this as well. Not an LS, but just a preview of how the USB ports look, in this case on a PT Cruiser:
The dash computer guy made a prototype of one that allows for more stuff, I think, from the vette wheel, but I don't think it is available to purchase (yet?)
For general awareness, the c6 steering wheel is a corporate wheel...As in available on other models. New on ebay for $150. Used on any 08+ malibu etc
Important to note though....Corvette, Cobalt, G5, Solstice and Sky were the only cars to get the small diameter version of this wheel. The rest of the cars that got this wheel had the large version....which is also important to note is LARGER in diameter than a f-body wheel slightly. I have both versions in my garage.
So I'm still in the planning phase for the steering wheel, mainly because I'm going to address alot of issues when its finally tackled. I want to install an alarm with remote start while I'm in here. I found a few systems even with keyless proximity push button start, issue is.. they're those Chinese eBay systems and I wanted to stick with something main brand which..sadly Im having a much harder time finding..may end up calling a few vendors worse come to worse.. but there's anothing thing that popped into my mind...
...The shifter lockout ...It would be pretty pointless to install the push start if theres no lockout and any thief could get in and just put it in gear and roll it... Is there any way to keep this system intact? If not I'm going to just stick with the key and see if I can just do remote start...
Well guys... avoid the eBay dashboards... they have horrible fitment. I am trying to see if I can get mine replaced..the velcro isnt strong enough to hold it in place.
03-16-2017, 12:38 AM
