Im doin' a new project (Myself as usual) before my Ralli///Art Seats come in, and my Hub for the Steering Wheel (which Ive been waiting a friggin' month for )

I have an ES Lancer and I really would prefer the OZ Black interior but I'll work with what I got for now... Im more of a funcionality guy, (and a penny pincher) so I dont care much for Subs, Lighting, and TVs and all that. However, I really dont like the stock plain old gray interior.
So I figured "F*ck it, how can I simply touch this up a bit, without having to go to the junk yard and find an OZ, then take out and purchase the whole damn interior, then rip mine all out...?" and you get the point...
So I figured, I could nicen it up a bit by trying to match the Darker Gray of the dash board to keep it simple with perhaps some designer pattern for some eye candy (unoriginal but whatever, I just wanna do sumtin' neat about that ugly light gray) cus the patterns are simetrical just like a stock design pattern is, so its not SOOO extravagant, but has some taste, y'know?
I looked up a few patterns and liked Gucci, but the logo letters are too close together and smaller/rather clustered, so youde have to take a second to look at it before you see that its actually Gucci.
The I like the Coach logo, but Coach is girly and youde think Im flamin'... which my gay friend loved, but I was like "its cool, but nah...".
So thats it. Louis V. stood out nicely, without looking obnoxious, and its obviously Louis at first glance to give the interior some appeal... and its a darker gray with black like the top dash (Did I mention I really dislike that stock light gray? ).
Perfect!

So anyway, I just to entertain myself (See the Ralli///Art Seats thread ), I went to some custom shops to get a cost of what a designer interior job like that would cost (but I didnt tell 'em im doin' it myself anyway)...
So Im being given the whole shpeal about:
"The fabric costs (add any ridiculous 4 digit number), plus the labor cus its has to be like blablabla... and more bla..."
So on average Im lookin' at about a Grand +/- .
I found a distibutor online, that was not too far from me (conveniently) thats here in Philly, and they were really nice guys and very helpful, which I can appretiate...
The fabric cost 65 bucks a yard, so just to be sure I visualized about 2 Yards, and juuuuust incase, I got 3 but the owner was cool enough to lemme bring back the 3rd if I didnt use any of it.

So wish me luck, and Ill post some pics at the end of the week when the projects complete.

Its actually gonna be easier than I thought.
If youre curious, Ive been into Billiards since I was a kid, and when you build a pool table the felt/green is stretched over the top (takes 2 people) and on the corners beneath the bumpers, is where youde Spray an Epoxy meant for cloth prior to pulling the green top over.
It holds incredibly well so the fabric doesnt stretch back and loosen, IT'LL HOLD the tight stretch! The fabric on our doors is actually "burned" at the edges so it doesnt rip apart, and tucked inside the creases of the design, its not a seperate peice portion from the door pannel as its made to appear. Also, beneath it its simply glued on, just like table and its not even that strong a bond. It peels off nicely (just dont rip it off overzealously, take your time) and then Im just gonna use that original peice as a template to cut the shape of the new Louis V. thats replacing it! CAKE!!!
(Sometimes you gotta love the cheapend economy cars! )
Im only doin' the plastic dash (fake wood) thing, the shifter console & that little center basket lid, then replacing the fabic on the doors.
Im not doin' the whole "Pimp my Ride" deckin' out the ENTIRE Interior by adorning it with designer-ware. Thats ridiculous, I dont pimp Ho's, so F-dat .

So simply, a lil' darker Grey with Black accenting to touch up the interior a bit...
Whatta ya'll think? (I'll post pics when Im done, for ya too.)



Perhaps Ill bring my Digi-Cam and add this to the "HOW-TO" section, whatya ya'll think, Yes/No?

Marcos M. Duarte

I really Love our Lancer Community...

PS: If youre interested, the place in Philly is right off of South Street (South Philly)
"Designer Fabrics" (of Fabric Row)
770-772 South 4th St.
Philadelphia, PA. 19147
(215)-413-2424

 

hmm all the LV stuff i've seen was way too over the top for me. i would've gona with a fabric without any type of logo, like black suede or something.

 

I know whatcha mean, I was kinda thinking that myself, like "hmm... its a fad thing and whatever"... but hey its easy, and I can always redo it in the future with another color/material, whatever. Its good that its not permanent.
Lemme know however when I post pics, with that in my mind as well, I dont think itll be too over the top... your opinion 'el be good though.

Thanx

Marcos M. Duarte

PS:
Beautiful job on the tails btw...
I was wondering about doin' that, but the tails dont come apart as easily as the heads, so I was thinkin' of how to take 'em apart to do that, but I guess if you used a dremmel, then that means they dont come apart basically, haha.
Ill try that, I gotta see if the '05 tails will fit my '03. thats really hott tho and its a clean job, I like your work

 

ya, i know Honni had some LV in his Lancer, he didnt have it on the seats, but he had it on the door handle area, center console, and shift boot i believe. it looked pretty tite in person. He was going 2 do it 2 his seats too, but then he got an EVO...

 

So you liked it?
Awesome...
Im doin' Ralli///Art bucket seats tho...
I need the black Ralli///Art floor mats, know anyone sellin' em from their Ralli///Art or busted Ralli///Art?
I checked the "Wanted to Buy/Trade" section, and nuthin'...
(and I need the White OZ or Ralli///Art guages, but it has to be between 14K and 33K miles on the Odo.)



Marcos M. Duarte

"Mr. Duarte, why do you always sign your name to each of your posts... "
"Because it makes my Ego feel better, due to my Inferiority Disorder and Napoleanic Complex"

 

mmm, not too fond of a pretty prestigious label on a lancer. our cars aren't worthy. i'd instead look for something more "street". like grab a more recognizable casual label pattern like ben sherman or academiks. then you can find a stitch signature you can add to the right side of the dash trim.

if you're gonna go with the prestigious labels, get an ultrasuede or pseudo-leather fabric with ghost logo print. this looks a bit more sportier and less poser-ish. a weave fabric hardly ever looks good in a car imo. feels more like a throw back 3 generations of cars like sittin in a hot rod with twill bench seats. the solid or more casual fabrics will go better with the seats, too, imo.

 

Dear god no! I'm sorry but I find the whole "putting gucci/armani/whatever" in a car to be very very foolish. On a pure show car, sure, but thats for a car that is flat bed towed to every event. For a street car it just seems like a horrible waste of money, why spend 1000$ on something that isn't even that important? I'm in the same situation as you, I have an ES with the two tone interior. Sure it doesn't look sporty or anything like that, but so what? I only notice it when I get into the car, when I'm actually driving I tend to pay more attention to the road and the car rather than what shade of blue my dash is. If you still want to get a new interior, just go black, it'll look a lot better and probably be cheaper overall.

 

Eh ... I could only picture it on a crysler 300c or something but not a lancer. Just get black leather. It will makes the car look more luxurious rather than cheap and tacky.

 

Wanabee pimp

 

Ahh, I wish I thought of that (I just figured a quick and simple dress up idea)
Akademics def. woulda been better... but the thing is, I wouldnt know where to get such fabric like perhaps Puma or sumin', cus most fo the fabrics places only sell the designer names (I guess I could search online just like I did the first time huh? )... Hmm, I'll look into that tho in the future.
Damn, Im really likin' that idea too... *huff

Marcos M. Duarte

 

Im not spending $1000 bucks, Im not stupid
I just bought the fabric, and Im doin' it myself as a quick and easy dress up.

Marcos M. Duarte

 

I still find it a waste of money and something I would definitely not do myself.

 

Just thought of something, how exactly is this fabric going to match the blue interior better than the blue fabric already present? You're also going to have black seats, so you're going to have straight black, blue dash, light blue lower dash, and grey patterned door inserts?

 

I dunno bro, I'd think up of something else.

 

While I realise this isn't something you all would do, there is constructive ways of saying you don't like it. see example of: ambystom01 who actually put more than half a second of thought behind his posts.

Also I would like to remind everyone of the Zero Tolerance policy for off topic and flaming announced at the top of every forum.