Modernizing T/A interior? (PICS)
Excuse my extremely amateur not-to-scale rough-and-dirty unfinished childish sketch, but this is the first style that popped to mind... BMW/MBZ influence much? I like to think so... But for all I know it could be closer to Kia or Honda. The things to the left and the right of the gauge cluster could be switches, lights, or gauges. The thing under the HVAC would be a spring loaded pop-out deep tray for things like coins - alternatively could be a folding door similar to what late 90s Mercedes sedans had, with embellishments/styling edges to the left and right of the whole radio/hvac panel. Some of the goals would be the increased usable gauge/display area, more leg room for both passenger and driver, and a more powerful HVAC blower motor.
We may need to do this sometime
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 52
Likes: 1
I didn't get them from anywhere. That's a mock-up done in photoshop. The image comes from a 5th gen camaro, but that's irrelevant because they appear to be too large to fit properly. I've found some others that fit, but are hideously ugly, so the search continues.
You'd be surprised what some leather/alcantara wrapped items and/or professionally painted items could do to a car. When I say this I mean door panels, plastic pieces, etc. Also, getting more modern seating for the front and re-upholstering the rears are another great idea.
Be careful not to 'over-do' it or make it 'ricer'. With a sound theme from the get-go, you will end up with awesome results. Take a look at some high end interiors from European cars- lambo, porsche, ferrari, mercedes, bmw, etc. Then you get some ideas on how to make your $25k american car interior look nicer!
My plans for my car are eventually-
Alcantara wrap the headliner and door inserts
New alcantara shift boot
New steering wheel- Momo
Be careful not to 'over-do' it or make it 'ricer'. With a sound theme from the get-go, you will end up with awesome results. Take a look at some high end interiors from European cars- lambo, porsche, ferrari, mercedes, bmw, etc. Then you get some ideas on how to make your $25k american car interior look nicer!
My plans for my car are eventually-
Alcantara wrap the headliner and door inserts
New alcantara shift boot
New steering wheel- Momo
Launching!
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 222
Likes: 0
From: Memphis
Yeah, the G6 vents I'm told are 4 inches...which sounds awfully big. Ours is a mere 2 3/4". Thanks anyway and let us know if you get anything to work.
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 52
Likes: 1
You'd be surprised what some leather/alcantara wrapped items and/or professionally painted items could do to a car. When I say this I mean door panels, plastic pieces, etc. Also, getting more modern seating for the front and re-upholstering the rears are another great idea.
Be careful not to 'over-do' it or make it 'ricer'. With a sound theme from the get-go, you will end up with awesome results. Take a look at some high end interiors from European cars- lambo, porsche, ferrari, mercedes, bmw, etc. Then you get some ideas on how to make your $25k american car interior look nicer!
My plans for my car are eventually-
Alcantara wrap the headliner and door inserts
New alcantara shift boot
New steering wheel- Momo
Be careful not to 'over-do' it or make it 'ricer'. With a sound theme from the get-go, you will end up with awesome results. Take a look at some high end interiors from European cars- lambo, porsche, ferrari, mercedes, bmw, etc. Then you get some ideas on how to make your $25k american car interior look nicer!
My plans for my car are eventually-
Alcantara wrap the headliner and door inserts
New alcantara shift boot
New steering wheel- Momo
Unfortunately, I can't find a single decent example on an fbody, but these pics show that you can achieve a somewhat factory looking interior. It's obviously way over the top w/ the alcantara; he's wrapped every single piece, but it's a huge upgrade from the stock ABS plastic look. Stock c5 looks like a 20k car... at least this looks like a 30k car.
Stock vs. Wrapped c5
This is true. The biggest mistake people make, and the reason why almost ALL interior mods look horrible, is because they go overboard. People get caught up trying to make an interior mod "noticeable." If you take an ugly plastic piece and paint it bright yellow, it's still ugly. Now it's just ugly and yellow.
Unfortunately, I can't find a single decent example on an fbody, but these pics show that you can achieve a somewhat factory looking interior. It's obviously way over the top w/ the alcantara; he's wrapped every single piece, but it's a huge upgrade from the stock ABS plastic look. Stock c5 looks like a 20k car... at least this looks like a 30k car.
Stock vs. Wrapped c5
Unfortunately, I can't find a single decent example on an fbody, but these pics show that you can achieve a somewhat factory looking interior. It's obviously way over the top w/ the alcantara; he's wrapped every single piece, but it's a huge upgrade from the stock ABS plastic look. Stock c5 looks like a 20k car... at least this looks like a 30k car.
Stock vs. Wrapped c5
Also, I don't think it's overboard at all, HUGE improvement
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 503
Likes: 0
From: Manchester , UK
dude the C5 interior in the second pic is just amazing .. thats the kinda stuff Id want to do with my car , no need to get crazy with it , I think the design is still good and will always remain good looking through out the years .
Just need to get some `quality feel` to it which is whats lacking IMO.
I hope I`ll find a `bag of moneyz` lol so I can start doing my interior SOON.
Just need to get some `quality feel` to it which is whats lacking IMO.
I hope I`ll find a `bag of moneyz` lol so I can start doing my interior SOON.
Wrapped looks very tasteful, but is also looks very factory. That's kind of the key is to keep things looking factory, any thing modern and after market looking ends up just looking dated in a few years.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 52
Likes: 1
That wrapped C5 is an example of GREAT interior work. Someone who's never seen a C5 could sit in that car and believe it to be 100% OEM. Unfortunately it did cost thousands (he had it done by a shop); custom alcantara is not cheap. You could certainly argue that it would be overboard on a $7,000 fbody, with regards to price. But there's no reason a DIY'er couldn't tackle a few upgrades to make a similar improvement, and that's what I'm after.
Last edited by tiresmokeLS1; Dec 3, 2011 at 06:50 AM.
You guys haven't even mentioned the one thing that really bugs me on the interior. The multi-function switch ( turn signal switch) it looks like the one that was in my 89 blazer in high school. Way out of date and dosent fit with the interior that's already in the car. I have a camaro so I'm not sure if the birds have the same one. This is one thing I plan to try a mid 00's truck or somethin, hell even the one in my old cavalier looked nicer!
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 52
Likes: 1
You guys haven't even mentioned the one thing that really bugs me on the interior. The multi-function switch ( turn signal switch) it looks like the one that was in my 89 blazer in high school. Way out of date and dosent fit with the interior that's already in the car. I have a camaro so I'm not sure if the birds have the same one. This is one thing I plan to try a mid 00's truck or somethin, hell even the one in my old cavalier looked nicer!
This is true. The biggest mistake people make, and the reason why almost ALL interior mods look horrible, is because they go overboard. People get caught up trying to make an interior mod "noticeable." If you take an ugly plastic piece and paint it bright yellow, it's still ugly. Now it's just ugly and yellow.
Unfortunately, I can't find a single decent example on an fbody, but these pics show that you can achieve a somewhat factory looking interior. It's obviously way over the top w/ the alcantara; he's wrapped every single piece, but it's a huge upgrade from the stock ABS plastic look. Stock c5 looks like a 20k car... at least this looks like a 30k car.
Stock vs. Wrapped c5
Unfortunately, I can't find a single decent example on an fbody, but these pics show that you can achieve a somewhat factory looking interior. It's obviously way over the top w/ the alcantara; he's wrapped every single piece, but it's a huge upgrade from the stock ABS plastic look. Stock c5 looks like a 20k car... at least this looks like a 30k car.
Stock vs. Wrapped c5
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
I went with a double-din radio a while back with a custom bezel:
.jpg)
Now I'm looking to improve it. To make it flow better and look a little more modern. Here is a rough prototype of the kind of thing I'm thinking of:
More info here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...installed.html
(post #73 has more info on the new bezel prototype).
I'm also looking at adding sound deadening and vinyl wrapping my interior to quiet it down and improve the feel.
Something else you might want to do is to change the color of the fabric inserts in the doors. I did that to my car some years ago:
http://www.fadingarrow.com/DoorPanels.htm
You can also paint the trim ring around the vents. Here is an older pic of my car before the new radio:
http://www.fadingarrow.com/VentsAndTrim.htm
Now I'm looking to improve it. To make it flow better and look a little more modern. Here is a rough prototype of the kind of thing I'm thinking of:
More info here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...installed.html
(post #73 has more info on the new bezel prototype).
I'm also looking at adding sound deadening and vinyl wrapping my interior to quiet it down and improve the feel.
Something else you might want to do is to change the color of the fabric inserts in the doors. I did that to my car some years ago:
http://www.fadingarrow.com/DoorPanels.htm
You can also paint the trim ring around the vents. Here is an older pic of my car before the new radio:
http://www.fadingarrow.com/VentsAndTrim.htm