ok I'll stash all my shit in this one thread. Being off work, and having purchased the material AGES ago, I thought I best make good use of my "free time". SO having serviced the Zed only to see plumes of smoke come from the Exhaust, I thought the best fix would be to go MENTAL inside the Zed, pull off all the trim pieces, and start retrimming. ok so it wont fix the smoke but meh..... SO here's a "before" shot from a while back Now let me say, this is not a "she's done" thread. This is at present, "work kin progress". In fact I'd go so far as to say this is the "beginning" more than it is the "end". So this week I did the drivers side ONLY in the blue Micro-sued I'd purchased. I have not yes done the doors, passenger side (beyond the lower consol), or rear seat trim areas. Please also note, the seat covers are velour seat covers from Supercheep Autos. DO NOT BUY THESE for your Zed. They are a poor fit. I'll probably move them into the Falcon, however from these it has given me a feel of how the finished car may turn out when I can afford a set of Velour 300ZX seats (or pro retrim) ok, so with the trim bits I HAVE done, its not perfect. This is a harder job than I thought and I may go back and touch up a few places where creases have crept in. I have done the trim pieces surrounding the driver side, and my most awesome (and I'll also say hot) wife was so good as to stitch a new gear boot and e-brake boot for me, which both turned out awesome. Pics then: Pulling the car apart is NOT like me, which is why its taken this long. but I will say, if you're thinking of DIYing this, DO IT!!!! At no time in this project so far have I been "stressed" or anything. Its been a joy. I've taken my own pace and getting my hands dirty and seeing the interior in bits was scary yes, but more ammusing. Tips..... Look out for things to fix as you go, as these are bits of the car you dont want to be pulling off every day. I fixed 1) Loose earth point behind vents in upper consol front area 2) Loose ignition barral I also note that you NEED to remove the upper centre consol to get to 2 screws that hold in place the trim pieces that go along by your legs (driver and passenger) However at that point, these peices also "clip" into the lower consol almost like scaletrix track. I therefore have left these 2 screws off. Meaning I can now removing those trim pieces in the future WITHOUT needing to remove the upper consol first. Threads/tutorials I am using are: Interior Panel Removal: http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=234286&highlight=removing+interior+trim DIY retrim: http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=technical&msg_id=1013875 If i can get stuck in with this, ANYONE can. As said, this is no where near complete so I'll update this thread with more pics as I go. From here, I want to create an almost 350z style theme. I've got the 350z style 3 pod guage holder from the UK to put in, and have some other ideas also. next week, the passenger side
Well done ugame, looks great already. Hope you REALLY thank the missus by taking her out to dinner , a place of her choosing(KFC , MACCAS not an option Congrats and i will be watching for the finnished thread (no pun intended) Cheers Patrick PS : Material type and where did you get it $$$ ??
Hey Ugame, Looks really good, I didn't read all of the thread straight away so also thought you'd done the seats But yeah you wife has done an excelent job on the boots and you've done a great job on the trim, keep going buddy...maybe get those seat retrim covers off ebay where you actually pull the old material off and zip tie (yes zip tie ) the new leatherette covers on...thats what we did with Renee's and isn't that hard, you did the trim so you've be able to do these easy. Cheers! Craig
yeah i've always liked those sets BUT im going to keep my eye out for velour late model Z seats or maybe even 350z seats when i have the money available. I was thinking of contacting the makers of those sets though and finding out if material substitution was an option... ie, have the leatherette down the sides, but velour down the middle (less sweaty and slippery).
Well I slapped the mrs on the arse so I think that's thanks enough I'll post later about the material as I'll have to dig out the thread. it was 2nd hand from a WA forum member and all the details are in the FS thread.n not sure of the "new" cost of the material. But i got it "un-used" for $50
Bloody nice Chris! Yep, so that's also on my list, but you got there first, and congratulations on what looks to be a top-notch job. I'll be sure to look at her this weekend.
and she'll be there. Went for a drive today and the smoke isn't that bad on the road.... just... dont sit behind me at the lights
Nice work... Looks great. Yeah the console trim pieces aren't too hard to do. The door trim is a lot harder and may test your patience. The biggest challenge for me was covering everything else on the inside which was plastic...talk about time consuming and difficult. Worth it in the end though. Cheers Rob.
for once ugame.. i can finally say.. WELL DONE. looks great, the color has grown on me only thing i would do different is leave the black material in the centre console compartment as it should be black inside it, not blue.
yeah i was in 2 minds about the carpet on the insdie of the consol. but i was in a cutting and glueing FRENZY!!!!
RE ALL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MATERIAL: I purchsed the Blue Steel Micro Seude from Luis from THIS thread: http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=281893&highlight=material 2 peices each of 3.5 meters. When ive finished the interior (NOT including seats, this is not for the seats) i'd estimate I'll still have some left over. With what I've done I'm about half way though 1 peice. The key of course is to plan your peices wisley so as to make best use of the material area. One thing I forgot to mention... learn to use an iron
Hell yes. "what were they thinking" lol seeing you post up, reminds me of how I couldn't even do a good job installing that rear wing black sticker I purchased from your goodself ages ago. lol how times have changed
Passenger side done! ok....so it was longer than a "week" haha (read first post lol) did this as had 2 days off this week before starting my new position at Tafe. Knowing I'll be flat out till December, thought I best get this done. It's not perfect. Few creases but you know what, "meh". I've enjoyed DIYing once again and its a DAMN site better than the old dirty original tweed. Got to toy about with some of the fittings as not quote sitting right at the mo, but you get the general idea. next....the doors......im scared of the doors haha. Lessons learned: 1) Dont try and force the front of the glove box off. There's a hard to get to bolt at the back holding it on. (now left off haha) 2) when re-assembling, fit the latch assembly on the glove box to the inside section FIRST. Dont try and force it into possition with the outside section. 3) With mirco sued, actually DONT "pull tight". If you do, the material WILL slide back causing creases. Instead, do the major flat surfaces first, letting the material settle where IT wants. THEN spray the sides and back and pull around the edges (not too tight). This means the GLUE is holding the material and it shouldn't slids OR sag if done right. 4) Chill! It's not a show car. its a 20 year old car. If its stressing you, either walk away and come back, or just make do. A crease on the side of the glove box where you can only see it if the box is open....REALLY doesn't matter.
