1995 SC300: Boring tan interior to something... better!
03-03-12, 07:50 PM
#1
1995 SC300: Boring tan interior to something... better!
Picked up my SC300 about a month or so ago. It like many others had the plain old tan interior with the wood grain trim pieces. Except my interior was in horrible shape. So instead of spending tons of money to convert it to black interior, I figured I'd work with I had.
I was quite happy with the end result. You'd be amazed with what a little creativity and shopping can get you. Took me quite a bit of time to do the carbon fiber wrapping as it was tedious work, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
What I did:
Carbon Fiber wrapped all the wood grain trim pieces, center console trim piece and window/door lock trim pieces.
New black leather center arm rest
New black leather e-brake boot
New seat covers
Black center cup holder cover
What is to come still:
Install my 7" touch screen double din
Black steering wheel
Black floor mats
(I figure those final pieces will really set off and complete the interior)
Questions:
Are there factory automatic shift ***** I can buy in black? Or is there a way I can make mine black and have it look professional? Same question for the E-Brake handle...
Will any old black floor mats from an auto parts store or wherever fit well in our SC300s? I notice our floor mats have a goofy shape to them.
Here is what I started with:
Pretty obvious to notice the nasty seats, center console arm rest and e-brake boot. Eye sores.
Now I know carbon fiber wrapping the trim pieces isn't exactly a favorite among SC owners, especially with the tan interior. I would of probably hated it if it were not for the other black pieces I put in. Now the material itself is some legit stuff. It isn't a cheap *** sticker or anything of the sort, but rather a fabric. I opted for the black and bought 2 square yards for $40 off of eBay. Nice deal if you ask me. The material itself is SUPER easy to work with and quite tough actually. Its also very pliable... Just took quite a bit of time. 2.5 hours alone just in the center piece.. I used Super 77 3M spray glue to apply the material. This stuff is NUTS! $10~ for a can and it is super sticky.
Getting to all of the trim pieces is a job in its own. You basically have to destroy your interior. All of the wood grain pieces are bolted on. For the doors, I removed the entire door panel. It made things a lot easier to remove and install the pieces. There are LOTS of tiny bolts. To get to the center pieces on the dash, you have to remove the glove box and airbag. There aren't many bolts to do this, but its still kind of a pain. Removing the center trim piece around the radio/shifter is pretty easy.
Tear Down:
During the tear down, we decided to wrap the trim pieces around the window/door lock switches as well. Very glad we did.. But since we decided to do that, I figured I would paint the switches so they matched better with the carbon fiber. We also painted all of the *****, buttons and the butterfly cup holder that were in the center to match as well. I used basic matte black paint. Everything turned out really well. I'm not a spray paint expert and was even able to make these look good. Matte paints seem to be very forgiving. We sprayed the window/door lock trim pieces black because we deemed those pieces to be VERY hard to wrap in carbon fiber, so we just wrapped the flat surface of them. This way everything matched and looked professional. Creative thinking!
Wrapping all of the pieces is the tedious part. Especially the large center piece that goes around the radio and shifter. We decided to take our time with it. All the other parts are pretty easy to wrap, just apply the glue stick the carbon fiber on and press it out. For the large center piece, we sprayed just the center dip of the piece, applied the carbon fiber and then worked our way out. It turned out really well. Trimming around the holes and doing the edges are tricky and take time, but the material is very easy to work with.. So just take your time!
Buttefly cup holder installed.. Just to mock it up and see how it would look
After it was all said and done.. It was time to put the car alllll back together again. The fun part! All in all, I'm VERY happy with the way it turned out.. The interior now looks 100% better and will even look better as soon as I get my final pieces installed. Can't wait to throw out that ancient radio and install the double din. The seat covers are made specifically for the SC300's and actually look factory. Very please with them. The arm rest install was super easy, I basically just used the 3M glue to put it on and let it dry over night. Getting damn thing off is the tricky part. E-brake boot just slides right off and new on slips right back on. Though you can definitely tell the steering wheel looks out place. Can't wait to get a black one... As well as the black floor mats.
(The switches you see on the drivers side floor would be a bit of my own added fun. Those would be the compressor and valve switch for my Shocker 240 Train Horn kit.. Super loud and super fun.. If you have a time, go check out Train Horn Pranks on Youtube.. I bet you'll want one to!)
(As I said, I NEED to figure out a way to make my e-brake handle and shift knobb black.. They look sooooo out of place...)
I was quite happy with the end result. You'd be amazed with what a little creativity and shopping can get you. Took me quite a bit of time to do the carbon fiber wrapping as it was tedious work, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
What I did:
Carbon Fiber wrapped all the wood grain trim pieces, center console trim piece and window/door lock trim pieces.
New black leather center arm rest
New black leather e-brake boot
New seat covers
Black center cup holder cover
What is to come still:
Install my 7" touch screen double din
Black steering wheel
Black floor mats
(I figure those final pieces will really set off and complete the interior)
Questions:
Are there factory automatic shift ***** I can buy in black? Or is there a way I can make mine black and have it look professional? Same question for the E-Brake handle...
Will any old black floor mats from an auto parts store or wherever fit well in our SC300s? I notice our floor mats have a goofy shape to them.
Here is what I started with:
Pretty obvious to notice the nasty seats, center console arm rest and e-brake boot. Eye sores.
Now I know carbon fiber wrapping the trim pieces isn't exactly a favorite among SC owners, especially with the tan interior. I would of probably hated it if it were not for the other black pieces I put in. Now the material itself is some legit stuff. It isn't a cheap *** sticker or anything of the sort, but rather a fabric. I opted for the black and bought 2 square yards for $40 off of eBay. Nice deal if you ask me. The material itself is SUPER easy to work with and quite tough actually. Its also very pliable... Just took quite a bit of time. 2.5 hours alone just in the center piece.. I used Super 77 3M spray glue to apply the material. This stuff is NUTS! $10~ for a can and it is super sticky.
Getting to all of the trim pieces is a job in its own. You basically have to destroy your interior. All of the wood grain pieces are bolted on. For the doors, I removed the entire door panel. It made things a lot easier to remove and install the pieces. There are LOTS of tiny bolts. To get to the center pieces on the dash, you have to remove the glove box and airbag. There aren't many bolts to do this, but its still kind of a pain. Removing the center trim piece around the radio/shifter is pretty easy.
Tear Down:
During the tear down, we decided to wrap the trim pieces around the window/door lock switches as well. Very glad we did.. But since we decided to do that, I figured I would paint the switches so they matched better with the carbon fiber. We also painted all of the *****, buttons and the butterfly cup holder that were in the center to match as well. I used basic matte black paint. Everything turned out really well. I'm not a spray paint expert and was even able to make these look good. Matte paints seem to be very forgiving. We sprayed the window/door lock trim pieces black because we deemed those pieces to be VERY hard to wrap in carbon fiber, so we just wrapped the flat surface of them. This way everything matched and looked professional. Creative thinking!
Wrapping all of the pieces is the tedious part. Especially the large center piece that goes around the radio and shifter. We decided to take our time with it. All the other parts are pretty easy to wrap, just apply the glue stick the carbon fiber on and press it out. For the large center piece, we sprayed just the center dip of the piece, applied the carbon fiber and then worked our way out. It turned out really well. Trimming around the holes and doing the edges are tricky and take time, but the material is very easy to work with.. So just take your time!
Buttefly cup holder installed.. Just to mock it up and see how it would look
After it was all said and done.. It was time to put the car alllll back together again. The fun part! All in all, I'm VERY happy with the way it turned out.. The interior now looks 100% better and will even look better as soon as I get my final pieces installed. Can't wait to throw out that ancient radio and install the double din. The seat covers are made specifically for the SC300's and actually look factory. Very please with them. The arm rest install was super easy, I basically just used the 3M glue to put it on and let it dry over night. Getting damn thing off is the tricky part. E-brake boot just slides right off and new on slips right back on. Though you can definitely tell the steering wheel looks out place. Can't wait to get a black one... As well as the black floor mats.
(The switches you see on the drivers side floor would be a bit of my own added fun. Those would be the compressor and valve switch for my Shocker 240 Train Horn kit.. Super loud and super fun.. If you have a time, go check out Train Horn Pranks on Youtube.. I bet you'll want one to!)
(As I said, I NEED to figure out a way to make my e-brake handle and shift knobb black.. They look sooooo out of place...)
03-04-12, 01:06 AM
#5
The color samples I got with my carbon fiber where SIlver, Gunmetal and Red.. They might have other colors though.
These seat covers were practically impossible to find. I found them for sale (on this site actually) for $80 but the post was 2 years old and they were sold.. So I contacted the person who bought them, I was in luck, he still had them and wasn't using them.. So I of course Paypalled him 2 minutes later. I've looked ALL over the place and have not been able to find anything close.. There aren't even any tags on these to be able to look them up either...
These seat covers were practically impossible to find. I found them for sale (on this site actually) for $80 but the post was 2 years old and they were sold.. So I contacted the person who bought them, I was in luck, he still had them and wasn't using them.. So I of course Paypalled him 2 minutes later. I've looked ALL over the place and have not been able to find anything close.. There aren't even any tags on these to be able to look them up either...
03-04-12, 05:40 AM
#7
(As I said, I NEED to figure out a way to make my e-brake handle and shift knobb black.. They look sooooo out of place...)
Would match the rest of you interior nicely Aftermarket chrome and carbon fiber vinyl ebrade and shifter for automatic SC great way to dress things up and get rid of the dildomatic! Shifts requires some modification I will make a DIY for buyer and walk you through it $30 for both
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03-04-12, 08:01 PM
#13
I want to do black floor mats for the time being.. But trying to figure out if regular store bought mats are going to fit right in the car?
Forgot to mention, for the back seats, I was just going to try to track down and buy some stock leather seats in black. Simple, easy and the back is done!
Forgot to mention, for the back seats, I was just going to try to track down and buy some stock leather seats in black. Simple, easy and the back is done!
