Interior re-do on a budget?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 3,255
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From: Manalapan FL
Interior re-do on a budget?
I'm considering changing my interior to black for two reasons:
1) The current interior smells bad...that "old-car" musty, exhaust smell permeates from within. Walking within 10' of the car makes me gag.
2) If I keep the car, I'll eventually re-paint to a yet-to-be determined color. A black interior will go with most of my choices (silver, steel cities gray, black or blue).
If I scrounge around, buying stuff on sale/E-Bay/dyeing & doing most of the work myself, what can I expect to spend on a so-so quality interior?
Thanks in advance,
D. Ocean
Miami, FLA
1) The current interior smells bad...that "old-car" musty, exhaust smell permeates from within. Walking within 10' of the car makes me gag.
2) If I keep the car, I'll eventually re-paint to a yet-to-be determined color. A black interior will go with most of my choices (silver, steel cities gray, black or blue).
If I scrounge around, buying stuff on sale/E-Bay/dyeing & doing most of the work myself, what can I expect to spend on a so-so quality interior?
Thanks in advance,
D. Ocean
Miami, FLA
Pro
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 517
Likes: 0
From: The Armpit of Illinois Platato says..... "Sometimes your the windshield & sometimes your the bug".
St. Jude Donor '05
I think you could pull an interior swap fairly reasonable if you are willing to some work. You probably won't even have to buy a ton a parts if you are willing to dye what you have.
I would remove all the interior panels and repair any cracks or broken screw holes. Clean the parts real good, prep, primer and dye. This alone should take you a long way toward your goal and greatly improve the smell (now you only smell chemicals). You can also repair and dye your dash, door panels, visors and console. BTW, I have seen some people paint/dye the shifter bezel & the gauge bezel with excellent results.
I've heard about varied success with dyeing seat covers. I think it would be easiest going black and a dyed set is probably much better than what you have now. Seatbelts may be able to be dyed black with a good fabric dye and a lot of rinsing to make sure you don't end up wearing a black stripe.
The carpet is something you have to bite the bullet on but will make a dramatic improvement especially with the other work. Shop around for a good price on the carpet. Try Wilcox and Corvetteworx.
I really do think that if you are not worried about winning Bloomington Gold and are just looking to create a nice looking daily driver, this is the way to go. Take your time, clean and prep everything well and you should be just fine. I've seen alot of posts on interior dyeing here and if you have any questions about the process just ask and we will chime in. Nobody wants you to have a smelly Vette!
As for the price...whatever the carpet runs you plus a couple hundered for dyeing supplies
STW!
Platato
I would remove all the interior panels and repair any cracks or broken screw holes. Clean the parts real good, prep, primer and dye. This alone should take you a long way toward your goal and greatly improve the smell (now you only smell chemicals). You can also repair and dye your dash, door panels, visors and console. BTW, I have seen some people paint/dye the shifter bezel & the gauge bezel with excellent results.
I've heard about varied success with dyeing seat covers. I think it would be easiest going black and a dyed set is probably much better than what you have now. Seatbelts may be able to be dyed black with a good fabric dye and a lot of rinsing to make sure you don't end up wearing a black stripe.
The carpet is something you have to bite the bullet on but will make a dramatic improvement especially with the other work. Shop around for a good price on the carpet. Try Wilcox and Corvetteworx.
I really do think that if you are not worried about winning Bloomington Gold and are just looking to create a nice looking daily driver, this is the way to go. Take your time, clean and prep everything well and you should be just fine. I've seen alot of posts on interior dyeing here and if you have any questions about the process just ask and we will chime in. Nobody wants you to have a smelly Vette!
As for the price...whatever the carpet runs you plus a couple hundered for dyeing suppliesSTW!
Platato
Last edited by platato; Mar 20, 2005 at 09:31 PM.
