Finally got to redo my interior

[OTSWolf]

Finally had a chance to get the interior take care of. It was in bad shape when I bought it and just got worse over the few years a have owned it. Ripped and stained carpet and seats, faded and cracking door panels, stained headliner.

Before:
View attachment 2518989
View attachment 2518992
View attachment 2518993

 

[OTSWolf]

Colors are much closer than they seem in the picture, but not perfect because I had to use two different sources for the material. Went for dark brown carpet to account for kids messes and a solid brown seat leather to balance between the dark carpet and tan vinyl. I also had them replace door speakers and add usb charging ports in the 2nd and 3rd row.

After:

 

[CPC]

Wow, that turned out really nice. I like the two tone color scheme. Actually makes it look pretty updated. Did you have an upholstery shop do that? What did you end up paying for all of that?

 

[CurbsEnthusiasm]

Looks great! Is the perforated material on the door panel new?

 

[Mike NXP]

Has a 200 series feel with those brown seats and dark floor, damn I want to re-do my interior. Need to know more, did you re-do the foam in the seats or was the original good to go? Who did the work?

 

[OTSWolf]

Thanks everyone.

I spent about $4000 on everything.

Wow, that turned out really nice. I like the two tone color scheme. Actually makes it look pretty updated. Did you have an upholstery shop do that? What did you end up paying for all of that?

It cost me about $4k over two years. But that price includes a lot:

Purchased items on my own:
- Lseat leather for all 3 rows
- New Alpine stereo with CarPlay
- Stereo wiring harness and bracket
- New speakers in all doors
- Door lock actuator

Items/work from Upholstery shop:
- Carpet and installation
- Lseat install and add seat foam for better cushioning
- New headliner
- Stereo install (I did the nav delete wiring, they just installed the new stereo)
- Install speakers
- Reskin door panels with new vinyl
- Install 5 usb ports throughout the LC on a separate fuse
- Replace door lock actuator

Most of the mechanical work on the car I have done myself to save money. Upholstery work is not something I am good at and other things just made sense for it to get done at the same time. If I were to do it, it would take forever, and I had saved enough to get it done. So, just get it done and enjoy.

 

[OTSWolf]

Looks great! Is the perforated material on the door panel new?

The perforated material was in good shape, just dirty. That was good because it saved me about 50 bucks per door in material and labor. They just matched the brown part at the top of the door panel to the perforated part and then matched and replaced the tan part. Those were the sections that really needed replacing.

 

[OTSWolf]

Has a 200 series feel with those brown seats and dark floor, damn I want to re-do my interior. Need to know more, did you re-do the foam in the seats or was the original good to go? Who did the work?

Fontana Auto Upholstery in southern California did the work. They are not the cheapest or the most expensive, but they have been in business for like 30 years. I chose them because they completely restored stock Porsche 914 seats for my brother many years ago, so I knew they could do great work. Plus they were honest and took care of little things I noticed without issues. They did take a long time (3 months), but I have been stuck in lock down, so I wasn't going anywhere. And yes, they replaced seat foam because mine was trashed. They feel like new seats.

 

[Exiled]

Looks amazing, I love the color scheme, especially the seat leather color!

 

[OEMGUY0720]

That brown leather on the 100 looks really good

 

[Irshfshr]

OTSWolf, the truck looks great! Looking at the products page on Lseat.com I don't see the center console cover, which you have. Did you order that part separately or am I missing something?

 

[OTSWolf]

OTSWolf, the truck looks great! Looking at the products page on Lseat.com I don't see the center console cover, which you have. Did you order that part separately or am I missing something?

I got it from Lseat, but I can't remember how I got it. It is not listed on my order confirmation and it is not on the website, but I am 100% confident I did get it from Lseat. I would say contact them. They might take a while to respond, but it is always good to confirm with them.

 

[OTSWolf]

I just noticed in the pictures how dirty the car was. I took those pics right after an evening at the Drive In Movies. Popcorn everywhere thanks to the kids, but it was great.

 

[vjpkrmnc]

I just noticed in the pictures how dirty the car was. I took those pics right after an evening at the Drive In Movies. Popcorn everywhere thanks to the kids, but it was great.

It does look rad. Thanks for posting. The front row seat-backs: aren't they plastic? What'd you/they use to color them to match the leather?

 

[OTSWolf]

It does look rad. Thanks for posting. The front row seat-backs: aren't they plastic? What'd you/they use to color them to match the leather?

They covered them in matching vinyl. It was a good thing too because they were pretty beat up.

 

[nspindel]

OTSWolf, congrats on your updates, well done! We are in the midst of doing the same, just got our ‘01 back from a full paint job, and we’ve put down a deposit on a RoadWire leather kit. Leather should be in hand in a few weeks and installed before end of Jan.

May I ask how you handled the carpet? My carpet is actually in pretty good shape other than some wear by the drivers seat. But we are worried that if we do paint and leather but not carpet we would end up regretting it down the road, and the time to do it is clearly when the seats have been pulled. The shop I’m using has mixed reviews of the pre-formed carpet kits. They say the molds are not quite as good as factory molds, so they often don’t fit as well as factory, and they said the carpet is often thinner than factory. Since my factory carpet is still pretty good, they mentioned the possibility of using a product that glues in place over the existing carpet that they say they have been installing for over a decade and have never had one come back with a complaint. But I remain wary.

So I’m wondering to hear what you did with your carpet and if you’re quite happy with it I’m wondering if you can recommend the brand?

 

[OTSWolf]

OTSWolf, congrats on your updates, well done! We are in the midst of doing the same, just got our ‘01 back from a full paint job, and we’ve put down a deposit on a RoadWire leather kit. Leather should be in hand in a few weeks and installed before end of Jan.

May I ask how you handled the carpet? My carpet is actually in pretty good shape other than some wear by the drivers seat. But we are worried that if we do paint and leather but not carpet we would end up regretting it down the road, and the time to do it is clearly when the seats have been pulled. The shop I’m using has mixed reviews of the pre-formed carpet kits. They say the molds are not quite as good as factory molds, so they often don’t fit as well as factory, and they said the carpet is often thinner than factory. Since my factory carpet is still pretty good, they mentioned the possibility of using a product that glues in place over the existing carpet that they say they have been installing for over a decade and have never had one come back with a complaint. But I remain wary.

So I’m wondering to hear what you did with your carpet and if you’re quite happy with it I’m wondering if you can recommend the brand?

Hey there.

I was never offered the product you are referring to, but I would be wary of glueing something to carpet. I was also wary of the aftermarket molded carpets because from what I could tell, they were thin and not very soft and may not fit well.

It cost me $750 to have them install fresh carpet. More color options. More thickness and carpet thread options. And because it was not molded, they were able to run wires and adjust the carpet as needed. Not a big deal, but helpful. Plus, I would only be saving a little if I went with molded after labor for installation.

For me, there was no salvaging the carpet and I wanted thicker carpet with more color options for flexibility. Plus, my upholstery shop was giving a great warranty and deal given the other work I was getting done. Plus, I trusted them.

I say, go with your gut, and understand that you will get what you pay for. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[kpecks]

Have them make you some new seatback netting! Sheesh!!!

 

[nspindel]

New seat back netting is actually a pain to install according to my soft trim guy. But usually it’s that too string only that’s gone loose. He always tries to pull the string tight from inside the seat when he’s got the leather off then tie it off on the inside. My nets are doing the same thing, definitely hope he can fix them. He tries to avoid having to touch the back panel, just the leather.

 

[nspindel]

Hey there.

I was never offered the product you are referring to, but I would be wary of glueing something to carpet. I was also wary of the aftermarket molded carpets because from what I could tell, they were thin and not very soft and may not fit well.

It cost me $750 to have them install fresh carpet. More color options. More thickness and carpet thread options. And because it was not molded, they were able to run wires and adjust the carpet as needed. Not a big deal, but helpful. Plus, I would only be saving a little if I went with molded after labor for installation.

For me, there was no salvaging the carpet and I wanted thicker carpet with more color options for flexibility. Plus, my upholstery shop was giving a great warranty and deal given the other work I was getting done. Plus, I trusted them.

I say, go with your gut, and understand that you will get what you pay for. Let me know if you have any other questions.

What kind of carpet did you install? Is it an automotive carpet or did you just use a normal carpet? Did the $750 include carpet for the rear bed? Looks like there's a rubber mat back there, I can't tell if it's been re-carpeted as well?