Getting a refresh on my Sagaris interior...
Discussion
Hi folks
As promised, here is a little write up on the re-trimming work just finished on my car...
Hope people find it interesting. I will be writing a more complete article for Sprint with some details on the
trimming process itself, but for now here is just a quick summary of the salient points.
(Note - the pictures are not that great as I was working in bad light and the greys do not photo
that well I find).
One of the little projects that I wanted to complete this year - amongst several others - was to refresh the interior
on my Sagaris to something that was...
So, after researching around, speaking with a number of people for their opinions and getting some great
recommendations from TVR and Lotus suppliers i know, I decided upon "Dave the Trimmer" based in Milton
Keynes.
I selected Dave based on the recommendations I had been given, the quality of his work that I had seen,
prices, enthusiasm for the job and his willingness to work with me on making the other modifications I wanted
to do.
The fact that he was also fairly local and had worked on a number of other bespoke Sagaris' before was the final
bonus. (I have found that it is very useful to be near people doing custom work for you so that you can see things in the
flesh and discuss issues with them as this makes the job a lot better).
After my car was dropped off by loader - it is not currently road legal due to having the bespoke LED rear lights not
connected up and the electrics rebalanced yet - I took a few pictures to show what the interior was like prior the retrim.
The main problem(s) I had with the existing seats were that the seat cushions were slacking, one of the bolsters had
collapsed and they were far too red for my tastes.
As well as the above, I also wanted to refashion the style of the seating to add a quilting effect and add a TVR logo
to the top. I had seen various examples of this done to some degree in other cars and wanted them all together in a
style I thought would work best for me.
So, after discussing it with Dave, we finalised what we would do and the colour combinations that would be used.
The main problems I had with the carpets were that they had become slightly faded and when the factory installed them
the process they had used left glue stains in the seams. Whether or not this had happened with age or was just the
process used I do not know, but it looked messy to me.
So, after discussing the state of them with Dave and reviewing some different colours I decided I wanted them all ripping
out and refitting from scratch. We also discussed changing the colour of the binding on the carpets to better match
the grey/red effect already in use.
Although the central console was in pretty good condition it had picked up a few scuff marks and what looked like
small tears. As such, I decided to replace that as well. I also decided to use a slightly darker grey than it currently
was to match the new carpets and give a different tonal effect when compared with the main front dash.
I was also not happy with the state of the gators on the gear and parking brake, so added those to the list to be redone.
The card inserts themselves were fine, but I wanted to move to a suede and quilting effect. I also needed a retrim to better
fit the Lotus Evora accented lights I was getting installed. Originally, these were going to be very thin LED strips, but after talking
with Dave and reviewing some options, I went the full hog and fitted the proper Lotus fibre optic strips with a plastic channel
to diffuse the light and ensure any expansion issues do not harm the lighting effect (more on this project another time).
I ripped out the personal steering wheel almost as soon as I got the Sagaris and replaced it with a Momo-Trek R, but one
of the things I wanted to do was get it to be two-tone to match the other two-tone effects. The original was all black.
It was fine as it was, but I wanted something special because I am like that.
The work itself took about 2-3 weeks to complete and did involve a few visits over to Dave during the day to discuss things
and look at work in progress, but I saw the completed work for the first time yesterday and was extremely pleased
with the result!
The seats as they are now are quilted with alacntara using scrim foam, have new ingleston red leather and heron grey inserts.
The alacntara will wear extremely well (estimated at 40,000-45,000 miles) before it starts to fade and is done in the same colour of
heron grey with red stitching.
The head rests have a TVR logo stitched in using silver and red to make it standout.
Dave also fitted some additional foam as lumbar support into the driver's seat for me and also installed new elements into
each seat to make them heated (something my GF has been asking for a while). The heater elements have variable settings
and has controls for each seat on the central console hidden from sight.
The carpets have been fully replaced throughout the car using a full flint grey carpet set bound
in inglston red.
The red binding works well with the other red in the car and looks much more "factory" than just
plain gray.
The centre console and gators have been fully redone. The colour is now heron grey leather with the new
gators done in ingleston red leather. The refoam under the console was done using 3mm plaztazote with
leather supplied by Andrew Murihead.
The console is now slightly darker than the dash console with gives a great two tone effect. Not shown
brilliantly in the above pics, but looks great IRL.
The card inserts are now done in ingleston red leather with grey quilted alcantara using 1/2" scrim foam.
Lotus Evora optic tracks and channels have been installed into each door seam and have a single LED projector
ready for wiring up. We tested the lighting effect that it gave on the door and it was fantastic, subtle and not
overpowering with an ice-white (slightly blue) light (no pictures).
The quilting however looks like this.
The steering wheel has been retrimmed to recover the top and bottom section in ingleston red.
The interior was also covered in Scotchguard to make the carpet and fabric more resistant to
stains. A new boot seal was added and custom slip on covers made to protect the seats from wear.
Dave has done a great job on the car and it is now ready to be rewired later this month to complete
nearly all the projects for this year and bring everything - the motorised bonnet-flaps, LED lights,
interior lights, TPMS system etc. - all together. (More on all that once it is all working...)
A great job by a great guy!
http://davethetrimmer.com/
Whew I hope this has been interesting to read
As promised, here is a little write up on the re-trimming work just finished on my car...
Hope people find it interesting. I will be writing a more complete article for Sprint with some details on the
trimming process itself, but for now here is just a quick summary of the salient points.
(Note - the pictures are not that great as I was working in bad light and the greys do not photo
that well I find).
Overview
One of the little projects that I wanted to complete this year - amongst several others - was to refresh the interior
on my Sagaris to something that was...
- slightly less tired looking,
- less blood red
- took advantage of some of the latest hard wearing materials
- restyled the interior to better match the new car colour
- restyled the interior to use suede and quilting effects from other cars and car makes I have seen
- fixes to the driver's seat bolster
- heated seats
- more custom lumbar support for myself
- Lotus Evora accented light strips similar to what I have in my Evora.
Selecting a Trimmer
So, after researching around, speaking with a number of people for their opinions and getting some great
recommendations from TVR and Lotus suppliers i know, I decided upon "Dave the Trimmer" based in Milton
Keynes.
I selected Dave based on the recommendations I had been given, the quality of his work that I had seen,
prices, enthusiasm for the job and his willingness to work with me on making the other modifications I wanted
to do.
The fact that he was also fairly local and had worked on a number of other bespoke Sagaris' before was the final
bonus. (I have found that it is very useful to be near people doing custom work for you so that you can see things in the
flesh and discuss issues with them as this makes the job a lot better).
The Work Do be Done
After my car was dropped off by loader - it is not currently road legal due to having the bespoke LED rear lights not
connected up and the electrics rebalanced yet - I took a few pictures to show what the interior was like prior the retrim.
The Seats - Prior retrim
The main problem(s) I had with the existing seats were that the seat cushions were slacking, one of the bolsters had
collapsed and they were far too red for my tastes.
As well as the above, I also wanted to refashion the style of the seating to add a quilting effect and add a TVR logo
to the top. I had seen various examples of this done to some degree in other cars and wanted them all together in a
style I thought would work best for me.
So, after discussing it with Dave, we finalised what we would do and the colour combinations that would be used.
The Carpets - Prior retrim
The main problems I had with the carpets were that they had become slightly faded and when the factory installed them
the process they had used left glue stains in the seams. Whether or not this had happened with age or was just the
process used I do not know, but it looked messy to me.
So, after discussing the state of them with Dave and reviewing some different colours I decided I wanted them all ripping
out and refitting from scratch. We also discussed changing the colour of the binding on the carpets to better match
the grey/red effect already in use.
The Centre Console - Prior retrim
Although the central console was in pretty good condition it had picked up a few scuff marks and what looked like
small tears. As such, I decided to replace that as well. I also decided to use a slightly darker grey than it currently
was to match the new carpets and give a different tonal effect when compared with the main front dash.
I was also not happy with the state of the gators on the gear and parking brake, so added those to the list to be redone.
Card Inserts - Prior retrim
The card inserts themselves were fine, but I wanted to move to a suede and quilting effect. I also needed a retrim to better
fit the Lotus Evora accented lights I was getting installed. Originally, these were going to be very thin LED strips, but after talking
with Dave and reviewing some options, I went the full hog and fitted the proper Lotus fibre optic strips with a plastic channel
to diffuse the light and ensure any expansion issues do not harm the lighting effect (more on this project another time).
Steering Wheel - Prior retrim
I ripped out the personal steering wheel almost as soon as I got the Sagaris and replaced it with a Momo-Trek R, but one
of the things I wanted to do was get it to be two-tone to match the other two-tone effects. The original was all black.
It was fine as it was, but I wanted something special because I am like that.
The Results
The work itself took about 2-3 weeks to complete and did involve a few visits over to Dave during the day to discuss things
and look at work in progress, but I saw the completed work for the first time yesterday and was extremely pleased
with the result!
The Seats - Now
The seats as they are now are quilted with alacntara using scrim foam, have new ingleston red leather and heron grey inserts.
The alacntara will wear extremely well (estimated at 40,000-45,000 miles) before it starts to fade and is done in the same colour of
heron grey with red stitching.
The head rests have a TVR logo stitched in using silver and red to make it standout.
Dave also fitted some additional foam as lumbar support into the driver's seat for me and also installed new elements into
each seat to make them heated (something my GF has been asking for a while). The heater elements have variable settings
and has controls for each seat on the central console hidden from sight.
The Carpets - Now
The carpets have been fully replaced throughout the car using a full flint grey carpet set bound
in inglston red.
The red binding works well with the other red in the car and looks much more "factory" than just
plain gray.
The Centre Console - Now
The centre console and gators have been fully redone. The colour is now heron grey leather with the new
gators done in ingleston red leather. The refoam under the console was done using 3mm plaztazote with
leather supplied by Andrew Murihead.
The console is now slightly darker than the dash console with gives a great two tone effect. Not shown
brilliantly in the above pics, but looks great IRL.
Card Inserts - Now
The card inserts are now done in ingleston red leather with grey quilted alcantara using 1/2" scrim foam.
Lotus Evora optic tracks and channels have been installed into each door seam and have a single LED projector
ready for wiring up. We tested the lighting effect that it gave on the door and it was fantastic, subtle and not
overpowering with an ice-white (slightly blue) light (no pictures).
The quilting however looks like this.
Steering Wheel - Now
The steering wheel has been retrimmed to recover the top and bottom section in ingleston red.
Extras Done
The interior was also covered in Scotchguard to make the carpet and fabric more resistant to
stains. A new boot seal was added and custom slip on covers made to protect the seats from wear.
Conclusion
Dave has done a great job on the car and it is now ready to be rewired later this month to complete
nearly all the projects for this year and bring everything - the motorised bonnet-flaps, LED lights,
interior lights, TPMS system etc. - all together. (More on all that once it is all working...)
A great job by a great guy!
http://davethetrimmer.com/
Whew I hope this has been interesting to read
Edited by alex_gray255 on Tuesday 11th September 20:41
Edited by alex_gray255 on Wednesday 12th September 16:21
Edited by alex_gray255 on Thursday 13th September 02:04
Alex that looks great. I actually saw it in the flesh on Friday when I popped over to Daves to discuss a retrim on my Tuscan and I was that impressed with the work I've commissioned him to do a full interior retrim on mine over winter. Dave showed me around the interior and the quality of materials used is fantastic.
On a side note, the car is a credit to you, the paint job and body modifications you have done really compliment the car as do the more modern touches you have added to the interior. Did Dave tell me it even has rain sensitive wipers?!?
Anyway, great work
On a side note, the car is a credit to you, the paint job and body modifications you have done really compliment the car as do the more modern touches you have added to the interior. Did Dave tell me it even has rain sensitive wipers?!?
Anyway, great work
magpie21 said:
Alex that looks great. I actually saw it in the flesh on Friday when I popped over to Daves to discuss a retrim on my Tuscan and I was that impressed with the work I've commissioned him to do a full interior retrim on mine over winter. Dave showed me around the interior and the quality of materials used is fantastic.
On a side note, the car is a credit to you, the paint job and body modifications you have done really compliment the car as do the more modern touches you have added to the interior. Did Dave tell me it even has rain sensitive wipers?!?
Anyway, great work
Many thanks! On a side note, the car is a credit to you, the paint job and body modifications you have done really compliment the car as do the more modern touches you have added to the interior. Did Dave tell me it even has rain sensitive wipers?!?
Anyway, great work
No, not rain sensitive wipers (interesting idea though
) - it has optional automatic headlights fitted. 
your love for that car shows mate, keep living the dream mate Lol. Marmite and toast please
The colour scheme is the same as the original really - red and grey. Less red now than it used to be though.
I didn't want to change the existing colour scheme too much as I like the red and grey now, but yes, it does take
a bit of getting used to at first.
The greys blend better IRL, but like other TVR interiors can be a bit of a strange contrast at first.
The colour scheme is the same as the original really - red and grey. Less red now than it used to be though.
I didn't want to change the existing colour scheme too much as I like the red and grey now, but yes, it does take
a bit of getting used to at first.
The greys blend better IRL, but like other TVR interiors can be a bit of a strange contrast at first.
DanR100 said:
The quilted effect looks fantastic, quite suprised on the exterior colour thought it would have been a red or a grey.
The car used to be iced titanium, thus the original colours. TBH however, grey usually works with everything and the interior colours still workvery well with copper cascade and carbon black (wheels + exhaust).
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