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
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