Creature Comforts, custom interior

June 16, 1997.
W hen I got the 75, it was evident that it had had a long life of servitude. It ran, most of the electrics worked and for the most part was a complete car. However, it was tired, and long overdue for a complete re-do.
Of particular interest to me was the interior. Aside from the fact that it was worn, I've never been absolutely enamored by the Milano Verde's original colour scheme. For those outside the US, the US-spec top-of-the-line Milano Verdes came in one trim only: black and grey Recaro seats, with matching grey door panel inserts, along with amber lettering for the instrumentation. To top it off, the headliner was black, too, matching the seat bolsters. Sure, it was hip for the eighties, and I have no opposition to them in general. However, one can't deny that it is very cave-like unless you absolutely enjoy the goth inspired color scheme. I for one, didn't. In addition to that, the interior was absolutely shot and had to be redone anyway. My 75 will get an interior more fitting for everyday use, and would need to withstand the rigors of daily use better than the original.
It was obvious that the material used by Recaro when making the original seats were rather fragile. Within a few years of ownership, many drivers complained that the seat bottoms were wearing down. A few years following that, the top layer of the seat bottom would have disintegrated, showing the foam backing underneath. It was unquestionably upsetting for many to pay for the 'best' model only to discover they were made with such shoddy material.
Mine would be much more durable, and better looking to boot.
It did not take me long to figure out my interior was to be brighter and more cheerful than the drab original interior. I shopped around for color schemes by going on test drives with some of the new cars offered by both European and Japanese manufacturers. Finally, I settled on a saddle/tan interior color scheme, that I thought would befit the metallic dark blue paint of the bodywork. It just felt, "right".

The interior is a departure from the cold and drab motif of the original
The picture above shows the finished product. I must say I was quite proud of myself when I put on the last pieces of the interior bits back into the car. It just worked, and I was rather impressed with how well it had worked out. However, I'm sure you're asking, "Who did it?" And more importantly, "how much did it cost?"
Well, let me answer the first question first. The interior of the 75 isn't all that difficult to take apart. The seats, door panels and headliner were out of the car during the first hour of my dismantling. I put them in the back of a borrowed delivery van and drove them to the upholstery shop. I picked out the colours and patterns, negotiated a price and went on my merry way. That was the easy part.
The other pieces necessary for the full effect was the colour-matching process of the interior trim to match the aforementioned upholstery. This, too, was not too hard of a task.

All pieces of trim, like the A-, B-, and C-pillar pieces are merely plastic. The same goes for the dashboard, the instrument binnacle, the center console, and handbrake console, etc. These surfaces are paintable, as long as you use the correct preparation chemical and pick the correct type of dye for plastic surfaces. I made a conscious decision to keep certain parts unmodified, in order to keep the interior from looking monotone. Hence you see the air vents, all the switches, ARC and instrument cluster still in their original flat black.
For this project, I consulted with a local paint store on what kind of prep chemical to use. After looking at the sample pieces I brought in with me, the owner of the store recommended I use SEM's Vinyl Prep #38348. He emphasized that a lot of hotrod car guys do this all the time and the key to a successful and durable execution is all in correct surface preparation. He said that if I prep'ed the surface correctly, the SEM vinyl dye will not come off easily, unless one made a concerted effort to remove the dye from the surface.

Next, I had to figure out how much dye I would need for the dashboard, the instrument binnacle, and other paintable trim. After some back-of-the-envelope calculation, I would have needed over two dozen cans of the pre-made Vinyl Dye pictured here. This would have cost me a few hundred dollars which was absolutely too much money for what I wanted done. The alternative was to have the shop mix me two quarts the formula, at the cost of $15/qt. Since I already had a paint gun and an air compressor, the only thing left was to mask out the parts of the car I didn't want any dye on. Some clear wrap was placed over the windshield, the area behind the instrument binnacle, and a plastic bag masked out the steering wheel and steering column.

Saran wrap masked parts of the interior that wasn't going to be dyed tan.
Let me emphasize the importance of prepping. As with any bodywork you'd want to be proud of, it is VERY important that you take the time to prep the surface to be worked on. In my case, I applied generous amounts of vinyl prep in order to get all the dirt and oil out of the dashboard and other trim pieces. I went over the surface three whole times to be absolutely sure. With all the trouble I had to go through to do this colour change, I wasn't going to do it again unless I completely botched it. After the masking and the surface prep is complete, I mixed the correct amount of dye and reducer in the paint can and started spraying. Once again, patience is of the essence. I would go over the surface in long, constant strokes in order to get the same amount of dye applied to all surfaces. It would really suck to see runs on the dash.
The spraying went on for the better part of the week. I would put one coat on, let it dry over the next two-three hours, then hit it again. I did this with the windshield in the car so it took a little more paint to get into the little crevice between the top of the dash and the windshield.
As for the instrument binnacle and the other plastic trim pieces, the same procedure above was applied, only that I did this work outside where there would be zero chance of overspraying the car itself.

The instrument binnacle received five coats, because it would be the most visible.
At the end of the week, I had painted all of the trim pieces and slowly began reinstalling them into the car. While I was doing so, I ran some new RCA stereo cables, power and ground to my new ICE for the car. I figured, since I had everything out, I might as well put them in. A Clarion head unit with a six-disc CD changer was installed, along with a Soundstream 4-channel amplifier. I put in some 6x9 speakers in the rear deck, and 6.5" speakers into the newly redone door panels for the front doors.
Ah yes, by this time, the upholstery shop was done with their work and I gleefully reinstalled those pieces into the car. The door panels were re-covered with saddle vinyl, or leatherette, however you want to call it. It's synthetic, but looks pretty nice, and isn't that expensive. The inserts in the door panel matched the center part of the newly re-covered Recaros for consistency. Finally, the door handles were painted black to match the rest of the instrumentation (remember, I had pretty much removed all the grey in the car so having grey door handles would be a faux pas).

Door panels were re-covered in vinyl, not painted, inserts match the seat centers. I like the stitching.
Another week followed before I was actually completely done with the reassembly of the interior. The total cost to me was not paltry, but it wasn't that expensive either considering what I had accomplished. The front and rear seats, along with the door panels, inserts, and headliner cost a total of $1,600 to be re-upholstered. The paint for the dash, reducer, and prep came to about a hundred or so dollars. If you'd like to do something similar, I'm sure you could do better if you didn't live in the Bay Area, California. My dad reupholstered his Pajero for a lot less money with similar materials, for example. However, he lives in Malaysia where labour is a lot cheaper.
In the end, I was very happy with the results. I had an interior I would truly look forward to being in, at any time of year. It would prove to be cheerful in the cold winter months, yet cool in the summer (the original dark interior would absorb a LOT of heat in the hot months!) I like it a lot, and constantly receive compliments whenever I take the car to a show. Most people don't believe it was NOT factory because it looked like it should have been!

Nice and plush, almost unbecoming of a modded-out 75!

Harness installed for continued participation in track events

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Next, I had to figure out how much dye I would need for the dashboard, the instrument binnacle, and other paintable trim. After some back-of-the-envelope calculation, I would have needed over two dozen cans of the pre-made Vinyl Dye pictured here. This would have cost me a few hundred dollars which was absolutely too much money for what I wanted done. The alternative was to have the shop mix me two quarts the formula, at the cost of $15/qt. Since I already had a paint gun and an air compressor, the only thing left was to mask out the parts of the car I didn't want any dye on. Some clear wrap was placed over the windshield, the area behind the instrument binnacle, and a plastic bag masked out the steering wheel and steering column. Saran wrap masked parts of the interior that wasn't going to be dyed tan. Let me emphasize the importance of prepping. As with any bodywork you'd want to be proud of, it is VERY important that you take the time to prep the surface to be worked on. In my case, I applied generous amounts of vinyl prep in order to get all the dirt and oil out of the dashboard and other trim pieces. I went over the surface three whole times to be absolutely sure. With all the trouble I had to go through to do this colour change, I wasn't going to do it again unless I completely botched it. After the masking and the surface prep is complete, I mixed the correct amount of dye and reducer in the paint can and started spraying. Once again, patience is of the essence. I would go over the surface in long, constant strokes in order to get the same amount of dye applied to all surfaces. It would really suck to see runs on the dash. The spraying went on for the better part of the week. I would put one coat on, let it dry over the next two-three hours, then hit it again. I did this with the windshield in the car so it took a little more paint to get into the little crevice between the top of the dash and the windshield. As for the instrument binnacle and the other plastic trim pieces, the same procedure above was applied, only that I did this work outside where there would be zero chance of overspraying the car itself. The instrument binnacle received five coats, because it would be the most visible. At the end of the week, I had painted all of the trim pieces and slowly began reinstalling them into the car. While I was doing so, I ran some new RCA stereo cables, power and ground to my new ICE for the car. I figured, since I had everything out, I might as well put them in. A Clarion head unit with a six-disc CD changer was installed, along with a Soundstream 4-channel amplifier. I put in some 6x9 speakers in the rear deck, and 6.5" speakers into the newly redone door panels for the front doors. Ah yes, by this time, the upholstery shop was done with their work and I gleefully reinstalled those pieces into the car. The door panels were re-covered with saddle vinyl, or leatherette, however you want to call it. It's synthetic, but looks pretty nice, and isn't that expensive. The inserts in the door panel matched the center part of the newly re-covered Recaros for consistency. Finally, the door handles were painted black to match the rest of the instrumentation (remember, I had pretty much removed all the grey in the car so having grey door handles would be a faux pas). Door panels were re-covered in vinyl, not painted, inserts match the seat centers. I like the stitching. Another week followed before I was actually completely done with the reassembly of the interior. The total cost to me was not paltry, but it wasn't that expensive either considering what I had accomplished. The front and rear seats, along with the door panels, inserts, and headliner cost a total of $1,600 to be re-upholstered. The paint for the dash, reducer, and prep came to about a hundred or so dollars. If you'd like to do something similar, I'm sure you could do better if you didn't live in the Bay Area, California. My dad reupholstered his Pajero for a lot less money with similar materials, for example. However, he lives in Malaysia where labour is a lot cheaper. In the end, I was very happy with the results. I had an interior I would truly look forward to being in, at any time of year. It would prove to be cheerful in the cold winter months, yet cool in the summer (the original dark interior would absorb a LOT of heat in the hot months!) I like it a lot, and constantly receive compliments whenever I take the car to a show. Most people don't believe it was NOT factory because it looked like it should have been! Nice and plush, almost unbecoming of a modded-out 75! Harness installed for continued participation in track events