GunMetal Interior Project completed
 

finally, after months of painting, DIYing, and selecting materials, my custom gunmetal interior trim project is now finished. Detailed gunmetal parts include:

gauge cluster
center A/C vent
driver side A/F ratio gauge panel
passenger side A/C vent
ashtray outer edge
shift bezel
momo shift knob

center wood trim piece
4 door wood trim pieces


took me a while but hey i think it looks pretty nice. what do you think?

another one

last one

enough samples. If you want to see more, go to MY PHOTO ALBUM

Seems to be nice cactus man!

Got any close up pics of that center console?

heh heh

knew you had something going on ! :p

didnt know it would turn out this good!

looks awsome!

what kinda paint used? brand. xact color

shhh (painting my tailights transparent red as i post)

Nice,GABLECLK hehe:)

The trim looks great, how did you do it? Just paint right over the wood or strip it?
That acura tl in your photo album looks real nice as well.

Ah, exactly what I have in mind. Looks awsome!

Thanks for the pics, now I have something to convince my girlfriend to do this mod. :D

Very cool. I still like wood though.

Hey Globe. awesome job on the interior. Now be da man and tell us step by step how you did it, i'm sure others are very interested.

As I said before, it looks as if it was a package offered from factory or something, very very nice and clean, keep it up!

thanks for the compliments guys!

I've always thought to myself, I want a car with aluminum interior and doesn't break down, so ever since I've decided not to get the 528i and got the GS300, I've been planning this. I like wood too but I'm only 20 and aluminum is more my age. carbon fiber would be fake CF and will be stretched in weird ways.

Basically you only need a few things to get this done:

1) some paint that sticks on plastic REAL well (think about what kind of paint is used mostly on plastic)

2) some applying surface material that sticks on polished wood REAL well (think about something flexible, stretchable, and used in automotive industry alot)

3) alot of time (think something that I finally put together over a 6 month span)

and stop calling me GABLE epk and veggieggot :eek:

special thanks to Ian (D011AR man) who helped me take out the door panels. He's the guy who owns that nice Black TL in my photo albums. Without him, my doors will come off slower :D

That looks unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!:D :D :D :D

I wish Lexus had an option like that!!!

How much did it cost you in paint supplies(somtimes paint for those applications isn't cheap)

Can i send in all my wood trim and you do it for me??;) I'll pay top dollar:D

total cost in parts....... Took me about $90~100 dollars. If I do it right the first time (I messed up many times due to unfamiliarity) probably cost $60~70.

I have people asking me about doing this for them........ but the thing is I CAN NOT guarantee 100% perfect work. If you look CLOSELY on my door panel, there are a few small bubbles that I CAN NOT get rid of. Applying vinyl on the trim pieces is very different from applying vinyl stickers on car exterior. You CAN NOT use water for these pieces. STICKING is very different from WRAPPING.

that looks incredible; as close to a factory job as i've ever seen. does it have that cool metal touch? i guess you will NEVER be selling your car now. ever.

well there are some MINOR flaws (few bubbles on the door panel) but hey generally it's nice I guess. :)

it feels like vinyl/plastic/glossy (it's vinyl afterall) and I don't wanna get electricuted with friction or get burned on hot days with real metal :D but it looks like metal.

I don't plan on selling the GS :D but if something happens and I HAVE to sell, I can always take the vinyl out. (MAIN reason why I didn't go the easy way and paint them)

looks real good globe excellent JOB!!!

SO SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET :cool: :cool:

That looks tiight! I wish I had a Gray/Black interior :)

Great job Globe! I've been following this (in your album) for awhile, so I know you are glad to have it completed! Feels good to do it yourself doesn't it?

Solid work!

It looks real nice----gives the interior a clean and classy look. I wish I had a darker color interior, I would do the same!

that is awesome, you should put that out on the market, get a company to buy it, you could make some phat cash off that...


drew

haha thanks guys.

I wouldn't say that i'm 100% satisfied with my work, but I'm definitely over 90% happy about it. As for doing this for others, I don't think my work is professional enough to be marketed. However if there are people asking how to do this, I WILL post DIY instructions to share with everyone. I ain't selfish :D

Looks awesome Globe, waaaaaaay better than the wood!!!

nice, i've wanting to do this for sometime, but I do not know how to paint the air condition vent, just the surrounding around it with w/o painting the vent itself like you.

anh

take everything apart.

EVERYTHING.

You'll see that the vent leaf, the cover, and everything else are pretty much separate. But be careful when you are around those vent directional leaves. I snapped my driver side ones :mad: hence A/F ratio gauge and custom panel :p

Globle (Gable:D ) Looks very Lexus-like in execution, great pics and work dude!

dude thats sooo sweet!

congrats on finally getting it done!!!

that gun metal look is really nice. good job with the detail

Look good bro! Who knows, maybe the 2004 GS will have a "SportDesign II" model where they can rip off another ClubLexus DIY (like the chrome grille!) hehehehehe! :)

Really sharp looking work, Globe. BTW, I was passing the Lexus dealer today and saw a new GS300 in the same color = a dark gunmetal gray. Very, very good color on the GS.

yeah that gunmetal gray is a sweet color :D

I think that's the nicest, most professional looking "mod" I've ever seen. Very classy and it looks like it's always been that way! I, too, wish that was an option from the factory (I'm way too scared to do something like that myself!).

Is your GS also the one with the "painted over" center tail lights?

thanks man. Poor student --> DIY --> some weird ideas :D

Yes I HAD the painted over center taillights. They were painted with the semi-transparent silver paint so when I step on the brake the light lights up 100%, and when I don't step on the brake it's just 100% silver.

But I ripped it off. It made the rear way too fat. And I prefer the quad design. :cool:

Globe, do you have pics of those silver rear lights??

This is the pic from long time ago when I had it.

Thanks for the pic Globe, it looks cool but indeed makes the rear look a bit wide.
Is that special paint you bought at the paint shop?

The gunmetal int. looks good Globe.

I was going to do this too but desided that then the car really would turn into a civic....I mean, body kits, taillights, wheels, race type stuff, when it's really a luxury car, and you don't want to loose that.