So about 4 days ago I finally finished the install of my alarm. I decided to post the procedure over in technical (link here). But aside from the alarm, I also decided to re-do my interior somewhat. Here is how it looked before:
 
___________________________________________________________________
STEP #1 – Dash Kit Removal So the first step in the interior makeover was to remove the faded and not-so-cool dash kit that I put on 3 years ago
Let me tell you, removing this adhesive was the biggest PITA…. Take my advice now…if you were ever planning on doing a dash kit and aren’t 100% sure if you’ll like it, don’t do it… cause if you change your mind and want to remove it, you will be hating yourself… The other bad news is that the adhesive left a discoloration on all the pieces…this discoloration WILL NOT come off…
These left me with 2 solutions…get new pieces, or paint the existing ones…. I decided I’d give painting them a try….to my surprise, it turned out pretty good…The color I chose was satin black to most closely match the stock color of the dash…
____________________________________________________________________
STEP #2 – White face gauge removal I also decided that the indiglo gauges weren’t so cool anymore, and do not match my boost gauge at all so I removed my indiglo gauges and went with simple gauge rings instead… here they are ½ removed
 I also went with some new bubs in the dash to try and match my custom boost gauge… I then painted the bezel on my boost gauge to more closely match the gauge rings…The end result speaks for itself IMHO BEFORE
AFTER
____________________________________________________________________
STEP #3 – Short shifter and re-finished shift knob While I had it all out, I decided to make me a short shifter (per FAQ write-up). Pretty simple and straight forward. Here was the shifter before
 and during
 And after (note – I welded it in place after moving the pivot ball to where I wanted and used JB weld to smooth out all the holes and scratch marks)
Overall, I am very happy with the throw length and I think it looks and feels a lot better (also installed bronze bushings at this time too)… As for the shift knob… My Nismo knob had become pretty beat up in 3 years
 So I bead blasted it first
Then I went over it with 400grit sandpaper to give it the brushed look… I think it’s a lot better now (especially with the short shifter and new redline.com shift and e-brake boots --> great product BTW)
______________________________________________________________________
STEP #4 – Power Antenna and rear strut brace Since my factory antenna was broken, I decided to get rid of it in favor of a hidden antenna. The first thing I did was remove my factory antenna. I did not realize it at first, but removeing the antenna meant that the section on the outside rear quarter panel would be open. Since I wasn’t gonna get it shaved and painted at this time (I will later), I had to improvise. So I cut the factory antenna top and used it to hold the piece on the outside of the rear quarter panel.
 I then plugged the old antenna hole with a rubber stop to prevent water from going in… This is just for now until I can get is shaved
 I decided to give one of those powered hidden antennas a try… Here is where I mounted it (behind my seat)
Aside from that, I did the “wire wrap” trick on my stock antenna in order for the rear window antenna and new hidden antenna to be used at the same time (trick found in FAQ)… I have not noticed any poor performance on my radio thus far so I am happy And here is my new “ebay special” rear strut brace… I simply used some tubing to border the cutout… I think t turned out pretty good….
 Some other things I did included re-routing my radar detector to the top so absolutely no wires are shown anymore, adjusting my e-brake, removing all panels and finding rattles, creaks, etc (several FAQ posts on things to do here – well worth it IMHO), replacing all missing hardware, and even making a little baffle for my air intake (which is not interior related, but just thought I’d share)
So here is the finished product…. In my opinion, this makeover was long over due and I like it a lot better than my previous attempt at dressing up the interior….what do you think?
 |
Interior make-over 101 - 
13:03:20 03/29/05
