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Leather/Alcantara Dash retrim

23K views 34 replies 10 participants last post by  r34skyline 
#1 ·
Hi guys,

just wondering if anyone has done an entire dash retrim for a R34 and if so, any pictures :D

i'm mainly concerned about the passenger side airbag and how people got around that.

i'm thinking macro-suede/alcantara dash but the airbag thing is concerning but i'm sure there's a way around due to the exotic cars, ferrari/lambo/aston etc


cheers,
daniel
 
#3 ·
i have looked/thought about it. Haven't seen it in real life, but from the pictures i've seen it just doesn't seem on the money IMO, it's kinda ok but if DIY dash removal/fitting, i don't think the price would be too bad and IMO would look a lot better.

I found some vague reference on a Ferrari forum about they 'score' the backside of the leather so it's already quite fatigued/weakened already. But would rather get some opinions of those that have undertaken this away from OEM settings and experience what trimmers have had to say

i may very well go down the flock route, but would like to exhaust possibilities with alcantara first as i would imagine it's the look i'm going for
 
#8 ·
i'm in Australia guys, not sure my contacts would help too much

i should have changed the thread title to something to do with the airbag. I know the retrim can be done, but given you guys play more with the R34 GTR's etc surely someone has done the dash and had to get around the passenger airbag issue
 
#10 ·
i would think if i dropped a car off at a trimmer here, they could do it for $4-$5k AUD and i wouldn't have to do a thing.

with me taking dash/seats/carperts/etc out i think the costs would come down dramatically.

The expense i don't think would be astronomical considering how vastly transformed the interior will be but it's the airbag issue that is probably going to stop or start the whole project
 
#12 ·
^ which car is this??

if you look around the dash area where the airbag is for the Lambo, you can tell it has it's own distinct patch of alcantara there. Maybe the airbag cover is a separate piece altogether??

if you tuck it in the recess, perhaps it'll look neat enough??
 
#13 ·
Have a look under DaveW's (GTRSHOP) area. He has a beauty of an R33 with a carbon and alcantara interior.

If you know where the split lines are for the airbag to pop out of I'd imagine that you could put an edge there. I'm guessing that you'll have to glue the alcatara down anyway.
 
#20 ·
Bear in mind that £10k is for 'the best'. The fellow in question had a Ferrari 250 in the garage (amongst others) and picture of an F40 he'd trimmed on the wall. I ended up spending about £1k having my seats and a couple of interior bits done. I plan on getting the dash, door cards etc flocked which should be around £300 (maybe more I've not counted up how many individual parts there are). The only major bits after that is the head-lining, sunvisors and carpet which I'm not bothered with doing. The initial fellow I spoke with said that the R32 dash/doors would be hard to do as they had lots of 3D curves so would take more time/expense.

If you really want it done find one of those old boys who advertise in classic and kitcar mags. As long as you don't want anything too mad I'm sure you'd save some cash over the £10k. Depending on how far you want to go I'd have a look at the Robson bits (I think Matt from Newera put a link to them somewhere). They do some lovely stuff carbon interior bits though they are a little pricey (personally I think you can do better than their leather work too).

I doubt you'll add too much value to your car by doing so. Generally people only seem to pay a 'fair' price for very limited editions in mostly stock conidition, high spec cars are never 'worth' the amount spent on them. As you rightly say you'll be able to transfer most of the bits to an R34 GTR and if that's where you're going then why not? Swap the bits over then flog you GTT when the time comes.
 
#16 ·
^ exactly - but the allure of "finishing" off a car is pretty strong IMO - it would be nice to get everything you ever wanted sorted one day.

just had a thought, even if i did all of this - i could still transfer a lot of stuff over to a GTR if i went ahead... hmmm...

i think i found the link
http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/107606-very-special-33gtr-coming-soon-2.html

headliner looks great, and that would definitely be done as well. Not a fan of the blue and carbon isn't really my thing either it large quantities. The Lambo's and what not get away with it because everything have been conceived with it in mind... i'd prob do a little bit but i was thinking more along the lines of piano black, DBS styles :D

and i don't think there is a passenger side airbag on a R33 dash?
 
#21 · (Edited)
i just thought about the swap over thing the other night, which makes the project a whole lot more feasible.
I know you always lose money on mods, but i also think that if you finish a car off properly, get everything sorted, you may also attract a few more buyers as well.

I know Robson make some killer parts, but i dunno... i think there are classier ways of doing the R34 interior than with a heap of CF. I'm thinking piano black for the centre console.

i'm in australia remember, 10K pounds... i'd want a respray included in that price as well :D hell, even another GTT :D

with the retrim, i'd get a set of these to finish it off...



actually, the Bride seat i'd choose would probably dictate the trim. Unless i retrim the brides
 
#24 ·
but when all the engine mods have been done - I'm thinking a full alcantara refresh of the interior to add a bit of class to the car and bring her along another 15-20 years.

I know I'll be tossing out the carpet and replacing with some nicely padded alcantara headliner material - carpets don't get touched anyways, as I've got full Nismo mats. The R32 fash is a bit weird, and I'm waiting for the iPod Tablet to come out so I can plan on how to integrate it somehow into the dash.

Still need a simple portable solution to run FC Edit and Power Commander software for my bikes.

But if I can get my interior to look half as look as a Lamborghini, it'll be well worth the money.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Carputer - check it out
MP3Car.com - Your source for mobile computing solutions! - All Blog Entries - all you need to know.

can be done very easily, and cheaply and will give you all the mod cons that new cars have. I have a USB consult cable that's currently running off a VERY old laptop, running Nistune to change fuel maps between 98 and Ethanol 85. Decent in dash screen is about $500 AUD, can buy a busted screen laptop for say $150 AUD, whack it all together and you've got everything you need.
 
#27 ·
Got to say I agree with the CF thing. I'm not a fan of it internally. I think I'll have mine flocked black and grey like the leather/alcantara bits I've already got. I'm considering hacking the dash about to fit a gauge pod.

Oddly enough I have had a carPC in mine for a little while. My laptop died so I've stuck a normal radio back in for the time being.

I've seen a chap in the US selling a DIY USB device. You wire up the inputs into the device so you can get an interface into the PC (think it acts as a HID). People seem to use them for buttons and volume controls. Got me thinking that a volume control produces a variable output, if I could be feeding that input a variable singal between say 0v and 10v and it would translate that into an output for the PC then I can think of a couple of sources that use that range.... who needs an R34 eh!?!
 
#28 ·
ALCANTARA dash trim for R34 GTR or 32/33.

Hi guys,

Had been in to this matter for some time now. I have a customer who is looking forward to purchase an R34 GTR and get done such a retrim. Unfortunately, he wants a very special tuned car and the right one hasn't poped up on the market here in japan, so couldn't start the retrim project.

Neverelss have spend 100s of houres thinking and planing a full cabin retrim for an R34 GTR and here are the notes I have gethered to this matter:

1) Research:
Before you run to the first retrim shop , just seat back and check out all the cars that have interior as yours, analyse pictures ! (similar in terms of dash/cabin composition, body, materials , size of panels )
I came to the conclusion that a F430 Sc. alcantara retrim would look the best on an R34 GTR, but you need to cover all grey plastic panels and bodies in the cabin , to make it look really top, I guess.

2) Cost:
Floking versus alcantara:
Floking is expensive if propery done and be aware that cheap materials will burn very quick when a cigarette or ashes get in contact. Also does cheap material floking smell very much like plastic.
Alcantara is the best way to go, as you can chose between fake and real Alcantara for cost matters. The GTRs (except the R33GTR) have not that many big curvy surfaces in the dash design, wich means that fake alcantara can be used (as it stretches not so well as real Alcantara, which I would recomand for an R33 GTR dash).
Anyway around, go to a shop that has experience with new age car dash retrims! Most of these companies do buisness with oldtimer cars, and that is a complete different matter and style of retrim! The cost for the workhoures to get a proper job done, is in most cases 40% of the complete price...so be aware of companies who offer you a full retrim for just 10% more over the material prices.

3) Exemples:
There have been very tasty retrims for Supras, Rx7s and NSXs. Thoses retrims are all , except for the NSX an overlayed alcantara leather, clued on the original OEM sky trim . The NSX uses real leather in some models and that leather can be removed and replaced by Alcantara and other Leathers as Nappa for exemple. . . all GTRs have fake leather sky.
The F430 and 599 use Alcantara in some models and obviously the shapes of these Ferrari dashes, combined with carbon fiber panels for the A/C, middle console ex . . . . are the cars to take as reference.


Here are some exemples :





here are custome RX7 and NSX interiors :







Also a good reference are the TAS 09 Mugen NSX Type-RR and Civic RR concept cars:




regards


Chris
 
#30 ·
not cosmetic, well the colour is but the stitching isn't. Trimmers have to make patterns, they can't just lay the alcantara on and pull tight. I guess they'll make a cardboard/paper cut out of the shape/pattern then need, probably as few as possible to get the job done to avoid a million stitch lines, and then stitch where appropriate

i guess though if you really wanted, they could just stitch through a section for no other reason than to give you a stitch line.

i was referencing the DBS quite a bit as well because it has a piano black centre console which i think is the go with the brushed/aluminium accents here and there, just not sold on the CF for the interior. DBS has white stitch lines, which i like, but if i get the bride seats with red, i'll be kinda forced down a certain road unless i wanted to retrim the brides as well.

sooo many things that can be done.

when i get time, i'll post up all the interior pics i've saved as reference material... some truly hot cars :D
 
#33 ·
got a quote from a trimmer here (unfortunately, he too was not 100% on the airbag thing and had to get back to me)

this is with me doing absolutely nothing. Dropping the car off and picking it up.
-front/rear seats
-dash
-centre console
-headliner
-a pillars
-top of doors, door cards
-floor carpet
-matts
$4500, AUD

i think that's about it. It's a quote for only half way of the dash (so not the glovebox level, anything about that).
This is a very reputable trimmer who actually has contracts with a lot of the car manufacturers, namely BMW. Apparently it's cheaper to send the cars here without leather etc, and then get them retrimmed locally. So if BMW is happy enough to get them to trim their cars that the customer thinks is from factory, i'd be confident in their skills and quality. (I think this might only happen when a customer wants a car here, that might not be trimmed the way they want it (different colour, or doesn't have leather) and instead of waiting for Germany, BMW will get it changed)
Now i would want to some DIY to get the costs down. So i'd take seats, dash out etc which is actually A LOT of the labour cost. Unfortunately i didn't get a breakdown.

Alcantara was pricey, i think around 120 sq metre, but he said to use 'macro-suede' instead. It's a furniture fabric, cheaper, stronger and more durable and looks, feels exactly like suede/alcantara. It's a "warwick" fabric (that's the company). This was about $70/sq metre. He said he doesn't really get any special prices with that so if you know someone in the industry you could probably do better.

So really, with some DIY and perhaps some shopping around for materials, it's not THAT costly an exercise. This is all AUD remember
 
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