Interior overhaul
Discussion
Might be of interest to some on here, albeit it's not very 'just add lightness' but in fear of Colin turning in his grave I have given my interior a spruce over to make it a bit more comfortable and easy on the eye.
When I bought my car it had a standard early Exige interior. I spent a long time trying to buy the right car, only to fail to find one the right spec, the right colour and at the right(ish) price. After 12 months searching I gave up and decided to build my own car. I started by sourcing a good base car, strong specification but a lot of aftermarket bits, all of which saved me time and money to add myself. Engine wise it had a katana supercharger fitted, together with K&N, a larini cat bypass pipe and a GT3 style exhaust. Power was 'sufficient' on that basis and the other big benefit was remote reservoir Ohlins so the car went and handled very well.
There were a few mechanical niggles to sort and so the first stage of my project was to get everything 100% on that front before moving forward. A new windscreen went in, new discs and pads, new tyres, the handbrake and horn were both fixed and a few minor niggles rectified. A set of LED rear lights were put in, and the GT3 exhaust was replaced by a SC friendly H111 twin exit pipe. A new indicator was fitted as I lost one at speed and a splitter/fibreglass repair was necessary after the 2 parted company at 135 mph, the resultant bang was something that meant a new driver's seat covering was almost necessary in addition.
Anyway, I digress, part 2 of the project was to refurb the interior as I always felt it was somewhat uninviting and cheap.
I don't have any pics when I first got it but a library picture will suffice.
The only difference was my car already had a harness bar and a set of light blue Luke harnesses in place.
A Sparco alcantara 300mm went in, to replace the standard wheel.
I stripped the remainder of interior down and moved it all inside my place to decide what coverings/fittings/changes I wanted to make to each piece. Car was left bare
Whereas the dining room looked busier!
Several pieces of the interior needed a few minor patch ups, just minor defects in the plastic, the odd snapped clips etc. The steering column shroud originally came in 2 pieces for no obvious reason so I filled the join and rubbed it down to smooth off the join. I also removed the plug from where the US models had the hazard switch on the centre tunnel and widened the hole, adding a lower plinth to seat a start button which I wired through aluminium tunnel and behind the steering column.
I trawled through the web to find some inspiration and liked the look of those such as the Gallardo SL with a mix of dark alcantara, coloured stitching and carbon. I looked to source all of the required parts in carbon but could not find a singular manufacturer that did all the parts I was after. Wanting to avoid a mix of weaves and finishes, and having regard to the fact that the parts weighed next to nothing once they were off the car anyway, I decided to go down the carbon dipping route and found a chap willing to relieve me of a fairly large sum of money but he did a great job (albeit took his time). 3 months later these arrived.
I quickly decided against the instrument cover in carbon and sold it on, buying another one to send off to the upholster, together with the dismantled door cards.
I had sprayed all the bolts in satin black, all torx fixings, screws, bolts and even the floor mat fixings.
I also had the electric switch surrounds done in matching carbon finish.
The dash panel I took apart to access the vent surround and whilst that was off being carboned I dyed the existing alcantara light grey dash top in black. Reassembled it looked a lot darker.
I bought a set of full and half height carpets from Scrappington on Seloc, deciding on using the half-height ones on the sills. Seats out, roof off, carpets in. At the same time I wired through a set of reverse sensors with a buzzer into the cabin and fitted underneath the drivers seat.
Some electronic bits beckoned and I started with a new Pioneer bluetooth unit with iphone connectivity and functionality. Phone calls will never be that easy in that car but the music playback is great and the sound quality a lot better than the original. I added a digital powered aerial on to the windscreen at the same time.
I wired an extension point underneath the dash and took feeds for the sat nav through the dash board (which was off the car), and feeds for a camera detector and a DVR camera, both of which are mounted in place of where the rear view mirror once sat. And the cheesy start button of course..
Again, after another 3 months of waiting on the upholsterer, he delivered a great product at the end of it. 9040 code black alcantara with orange stitching.
Door panels reassembled
At the same time, I sourced a new gear stick surround and handbrake cover in black alcantara with matching orange stitching. Sadly the frame for the gearstick cover wouldn't part ways with the original leather cover so I procured a new one from Lotus and bonded the new cover to the frame before fitting them to the returned centre tunnel.
I also bought an orange dye paint pen to re-do the Exige logo on the seats and colour coordinate.
I butchered the indicator stalks to replace them for alloy ones, getting rid of the Vauxhall items.
Finally, it was a case of reassembly. What started as an anticipated 1 - 2 month project with a guestimate spend of £1k'ish turned into 7 months and a lot more ££s. Never knowing where to stop, that's my problem. That could prove even more dangerous at stage 3 of the build - moving on to a new exterior.
The finished inside for now.
When I bought my car it had a standard early Exige interior. I spent a long time trying to buy the right car, only to fail to find one the right spec, the right colour and at the right(ish) price. After 12 months searching I gave up and decided to build my own car. I started by sourcing a good base car, strong specification but a lot of aftermarket bits, all of which saved me time and money to add myself. Engine wise it had a katana supercharger fitted, together with K&N, a larini cat bypass pipe and a GT3 style exhaust. Power was 'sufficient' on that basis and the other big benefit was remote reservoir Ohlins so the car went and handled very well.
There were a few mechanical niggles to sort and so the first stage of my project was to get everything 100% on that front before moving forward. A new windscreen went in, new discs and pads, new tyres, the handbrake and horn were both fixed and a few minor niggles rectified. A set of LED rear lights were put in, and the GT3 exhaust was replaced by a SC friendly H111 twin exit pipe. A new indicator was fitted as I lost one at speed and a splitter/fibreglass repair was necessary after the 2 parted company at 135 mph, the resultant bang was something that meant a new driver's seat covering was almost necessary in addition.
Anyway, I digress, part 2 of the project was to refurb the interior as I always felt it was somewhat uninviting and cheap.
I don't have any pics when I first got it but a library picture will suffice.
The only difference was my car already had a harness bar and a set of light blue Luke harnesses in place.
A Sparco alcantara 300mm went in, to replace the standard wheel.
I stripped the remainder of interior down and moved it all inside my place to decide what coverings/fittings/changes I wanted to make to each piece. Car was left bare
Whereas the dining room looked busier!
Several pieces of the interior needed a few minor patch ups, just minor defects in the plastic, the odd snapped clips etc. The steering column shroud originally came in 2 pieces for no obvious reason so I filled the join and rubbed it down to smooth off the join. I also removed the plug from where the US models had the hazard switch on the centre tunnel and widened the hole, adding a lower plinth to seat a start button which I wired through aluminium tunnel and behind the steering column.
I trawled through the web to find some inspiration and liked the look of those such as the Gallardo SL with a mix of dark alcantara, coloured stitching and carbon. I looked to source all of the required parts in carbon but could not find a singular manufacturer that did all the parts I was after. Wanting to avoid a mix of weaves and finishes, and having regard to the fact that the parts weighed next to nothing once they were off the car anyway, I decided to go down the carbon dipping route and found a chap willing to relieve me of a fairly large sum of money but he did a great job (albeit took his time). 3 months later these arrived.
I quickly decided against the instrument cover in carbon and sold it on, buying another one to send off to the upholster, together with the dismantled door cards.
I had sprayed all the bolts in satin black, all torx fixings, screws, bolts and even the floor mat fixings.
I also had the electric switch surrounds done in matching carbon finish.
The dash panel I took apart to access the vent surround and whilst that was off being carboned I dyed the existing alcantara light grey dash top in black. Reassembled it looked a lot darker.
I bought a set of full and half height carpets from Scrappington on Seloc, deciding on using the half-height ones on the sills. Seats out, roof off, carpets in. At the same time I wired through a set of reverse sensors with a buzzer into the cabin and fitted underneath the drivers seat.
Some electronic bits beckoned and I started with a new Pioneer bluetooth unit with iphone connectivity and functionality. Phone calls will never be that easy in that car but the music playback is great and the sound quality a lot better than the original. I added a digital powered aerial on to the windscreen at the same time.
I wired an extension point underneath the dash and took feeds for the sat nav through the dash board (which was off the car), and feeds for a camera detector and a DVR camera, both of which are mounted in place of where the rear view mirror once sat. And the cheesy start button of course..
Again, after another 3 months of waiting on the upholsterer, he delivered a great product at the end of it. 9040 code black alcantara with orange stitching.
Door panels reassembled
At the same time, I sourced a new gear stick surround and handbrake cover in black alcantara with matching orange stitching. Sadly the frame for the gearstick cover wouldn't part ways with the original leather cover so I procured a new one from Lotus and bonded the new cover to the frame before fitting them to the returned centre tunnel.
I also bought an orange dye paint pen to re-do the Exige logo on the seats and colour coordinate.
I butchered the indicator stalks to replace them for alloy ones, getting rid of the Vauxhall items.
Finally, it was a case of reassembly. What started as an anticipated 1 - 2 month project with a guestimate spend of £1k'ish turned into 7 months and a lot more ££s. Never knowing where to stop, that's my problem. That could prove even more dangerous at stage 3 of the build - moving on to a new exterior.
The finished inside for now.
Edited by Shnozz on Monday 28th July 15:22
As above like the black with orange stitching but the carbon dipped surfaces get my old twitching as you can see the distortion on surface changes. Might be better in the flesh but couldn't live with it myself if the pictures are a true representation.
But then again to each their own if you like it fair play to you.
I am toying with the idea of the mini blackjack design for my Europa wing mirrors and I'm sure more than one person would think of them as hideous.
But then again to each their own if you like it fair play to you.
I am toying with the idea of the mini blackjack design for my Europa wing mirrors and I'm sure more than one person would think of them as hideous.
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