Styling Taking things a step further...

[MarkThompson4]

So I've done the whole leather interior swap and I've quite enjoyed it for the last 10 months or whatever! But I've still see room for improvement and I've got an itch I need to scratch...

I'm not sure where I should start, it's basically in two parts - full sound install and interior retrim. I want a sub and a couple of amps in the boot and have a speaker and tweeter up front either side, in the back passenger area there is space for an additional speaker rather side. I would be very liberal with my sound proofing as well and no doubt change the wiring.

But what I'm also wanting to do is retrim the interior panels including the roof and pillar trims. I want to keep the leather parts of course but I want a dark material on the crappy plastic parts to compliment the leather, I want to cover ALL the plastic in dark cloth - even the door bins it's an idea I got off my friends new Mk6 GTi which has full dark cloth interior and nice white led light details in door pockets etc. Tbh it's the only thing I like inside the Golf, the rest is bland German.

I'm quite handy at dismantling/ building things and am quite creative at that sort of stuff so I plan on doing all of this myself (prepare yourselves for another guide ;P).

First thing I plan to do is perhaps source the speakers and tweeters I want to use, I've already found the head unit I want:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pio-avicf950bt-pioneer-avic-f950bt-navigation.html

Looks like an awesome little all round entertainment Skynet type thing I'll need a custom made facia for it (which I look forward to).

So speakers and HU sorted I'll get the wiring sorted and maybe pre install amp and sub wiring to reduce future hassle? I may get the amp at the same time as the speakers and HU then later on get the sub and make a nice mdf-clad boot build

I need to sell my two CN+s to fund some of this as well so if you're interested pm me or look in classifieds soon I think I'm going to start with the roof and pillar trim first and try and retrim that and so how it looks against the cream leather, I might try and source another set of interior lights from another car make that are black to go with it all.

It's a full re-revamp I'm struggling with where to start, I'm going to start getting fibreglassing kits and material samples next week after this weeks hefty shift pattern ends.

Anyone with any advice/ guidance on this please advice me on this!

Mark

 

[MarkThompson4]

This is what I had left of my old interior - drivers door and rear passenger panel. Stripped them down to the separate pieces, if I were doing this to the leather panels I'd be keeping the leather bits as they are but this is just for demonstration The grey plastic bits I want fiberglassed and then trimmed in a black fabric which I've not decided.

For the roof I've decided on making a set of Audi (Q7 or similar) roof lights work in my Stilo, because they're black and modern Roof lining will be black and pillar pieces will be the same, also getting a set of Audi sun visors and roof handles, again only because they're black and make the interior a bit more modern, it's the only VAG parts allowed in my Stilo

Edit: I think I'll be using Martrim for ordering the re trimming materials etc, they look good quality and well priced.

 

[gadge]

Interesting stuff there mark! I've often wondered how to separate the components of the door cards as my cards are scuffed and tatty but the leather parts are ok. How do you separate them? Was it easy?

 

[MarkThompson4]

Interesting stuff there mark! I've often wondered how to separate the components of the door cards as my cards are scuffed and tatty but the leather parts are ok. How do you separate them? Was it easy?

My door cards are in good condition apart from a couple of crack in the corners where the previous owner was a bit enthusiastic in removing them These panels however look sh!te ! Once the door panel is off it's quite obvious how the different pieces are attached but that doesn't make them easy to split! The trim panel and the plastic lower piece are held together by a rubbery plastic type of rivet, I melted through the hole the rivet goes through with my ideally sized soldering iron whilst lifting the surrounding edge with a knife. It takes a bit of persuasion to pop the rivets and they don't look very useable anymore on mine but some strong glue should do the trick afterwards

On the rear panel (3 door) there is only the trim panel, lower plastic panel and the door pocket. On the front door panels there are a few extra bits like door handle mount, window seal and another plastic bracket to remove from the panels, I imagine this would be the same for the back doors on a 5 door. I'll take more pics tomorrow this was just a rushed job

 

[alexGS]

I know what you mean, as I find those door trims demoralising in my Stilo - feels really low-rent compared to my old Alfa 156. I have the weird bumpy cloth on my seats and doors which is OK (in my opinion, the vinyl of the door trims for the leather interior is also rather ordinary looking) but it's the surrounding plastic that really gets me down - feels solid enough but looks faded, scuffed, scratched.

What about simply painting the plastic parts in a nice matt grey paint? Would get rid of all the scuffs (might need to fill any scratches first, might be tricky to match the texture).

With black cloth, I think you have to be careful to choose something that won't attract dust and fluff. Trimming any material around corners/shapes might look a bit home-made.

Flocking (you can get plastic parts flocked) has the same fluff/dust problem, but a grey flock might work well?
http://www.theflockshop.co.uk/gallery.html
Actually you can see many door trims and even handles there, in many colours other than black.

It appears to be possible to do it yourself:
http://www.flocking.biz/

-Alex