shr00m

iTrader: (2)

After almost four years my interior is finally coming together. Got my new seat covers installed, 4th gen dash finished up (with vinyl wrapped custom a-pillars and vinyl wrapped dash pad), & rear panels covered in matching vinyl.

Rather then type everything over again, as always you can go to my website and check out ALL the pictures of the 4 year build up:

http://www.ms-fbodies.com/jade_ta.htm

Still left to do on the interior: wrap the 4th gen kick-panel / sill plates, wrap the rear panel trim pieces, fill in un-needed holes in the stock front seat-belt trim pieces (and wrap them in vinyl), and of course make the door panels. I am NOT using the 4th gen door panels as a whole, too many compromises to make it worth it. Instead I'll be applying 4th gen pieces onto a 3rd gen panel base, and then molding the two together.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Kevin D.

Duratys

That car looks absolutely horrible in your garage.......................It needs to be parked in mine

Orinackra

That sucks you gave up on the 4th gen door panels. Your install was my inspiration!

I am interested to see the 4th gen sill plates though, and how you got that worked out.

Slepewesel

iTrader: (1)

Gorgeous car! Any chance of molding those a-pillar trims and sending me a pair???

Edit: Oh, and where did you get your dash pad covered? And what did it cost you? And whats the best way to cut that to fit and what is the best thing to use on it? Love the way that looks.

shr00m

iTrader: (2)

Well, they're still going to look like the 4th gen panels, but:

1) Fit
2) Attach to the door like factory
3) Fit

Honestly the panels fit well enough and looked good. It was the rest of the car that wasn't in yet that caused problems.

The sill plates or extended kick panels? Since they're two pieces on the 4th gen. For the kick panels I attached a section of the 4th gen door seals where the panels will cover and then just screwed them in. Some minor trimming on the passenger side and moving the hood release on the driver's. The 4th gen sill plates would fit like a 4th gen if you cut half the flat piece off, cut the tabs off, then taped them onto the metal. I opted to take some stock 3rd gen pieces and cut the sill section off. They slide right in under the 4th gen seals, and use the stock screw holes.



Not a chance! I'll sell you these for $1000. I'll custom make you your own, guaranteed to fit for $1500. Those have been the bane of my life for the past two years. Well worth the time and effort though. No matter what you do, if your a-pillar's don't blend it's not going to look stock.

I covered it myself. After wrapping the seat plastic I got pretty good at it. Cost was maybe $20... $12 for a yard of good vinyl and $7 for some DAP weldwood contact cement. The key to wrapping even being possible is to completely remove the stock vent in the middle. Take a dremel with a cut-off wheel to cut the slats out and them smooth the ridges to get a smooth transition from the top to the bottom. Here's a wide close-up:



The replacement vent was a 3U Middle-Atlantic rack vent cut to fit. Any thin metal 'vent' piece will work. Just glue it to the back of the panel after your wrap it. Here's a shot showing the texture match to the the dash, and how smoothed the vent opening is.



As to cutting the panel to fit initially, dremel and cut-off wheel. When the dash is installed, measure from each side corner back to the windshield. Transfer those measurements to the top of the dash panel to get a 'windshield begins' mark on each side. Then take your 3rd gen dash pad and line up the back of it to those two marks. Trace out the stock pad with a marker and there's your cut line.

Kevin D.

Slepewesel

iTrader: (1)

Kevin .... you're a god. Now I wish I had kept the old dash pad ....

Can I get some close-up pics of the a-pillars? I have your old thread about the Crayola stuff to blend the 3rg gen into the 4th gen and I think I will try the same thing.

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Darn man... Ive said it before, and Ill say it again. That car is f'in awesome! You are doing fantastic work! That car is the definition of how going the extra distance to make things right really pays off in the end.

90% of the people you show that car to would never even know it wasnt stock. Heck, I KNOW the 4th gen, and I KNOW the 3rd gen and even I have a hard time telling its not stock

Keep up the good work and I cant wait to see it finished and hear that you are enjoying all your hard work!

Justin

spr250

Thats some tight ****, show us pics when your finished and how you did everything.

wake_100

So you put your own vinyl on the part of the dash by the windshield? That looks incredible.

Edit: Checking all your pictures and your story behind it. the whole project is awesome. alot of work and dedication.

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

I am trying to figure out how you used vinyl. You must have cut some kind of material under the vinyl and than put it over. What kind of material did you use. Thats all I need to know.

GREAT JOB>

Tobias05

wow, i think that's the cleanest 4th gen conversion i've ever seen on these boards. if i didn't know any better i'd say it was factory.

everything looks friggin perfect. A+

Orinackra

I was wondering about that flat part of the sill you cut off. That looks amazing. I never would have imagined blending the 2 together, and using the rubber piece. I cant wait to see your door panels finished!!

Orinackra

actually I have another question, do those 4th gen sill plates sit any higher than the 3rd gen ones? I'm just wondering if I can get those and get them to close the gap I have on the bottom of the door.

shr00m

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I think I'm like all people out there and think everyone else's cars look better, since I intimately know all the little things wrong with mine. The compliments help me feel a lot better about things.

Nope, straight vinyl. Good automotive grade vinyl though. It has a very thin backing material. The kind I have will stretch in one direction, but they make some that will stretch in all directions. The one-direction stuff is normally fine except for complex shapes with a lot of curves. In that case you need to determine with direction will require the most stretching and cut the vinyl to cover that way.

Just sand the piece with 80 grit to help the glue hold, and use contact cement (not spray glue). If you don't think that's just vinyl, I would hate to tell you there was actually three cracks in the panel (one that split it in two).

A little bit higher, but not enough to cover the gap. But since the piece is going to lay on the seal, you could space the seal up higher to match the gap on the door. The seal is your typical U-channel type so it should be easy to fabricate a riser for it to rest on, rather then just the sill joints in the body.

Kevin D.

Gottork1967

iTrader: (2)

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!

compuwiz1937

iTrader: (17)

I've been following your build and you have done an incredible job. Your time and money spent on this car is well worth it. I have never seen another 4th gen dash swap look as factory as yours.

novatuc

I can't imagine why you would go through the trouble, but damn you do nice work ! ! !

Gottork1967

iTrader: (2)

I did not read your whole story until now..WOW!!!

You are a determined person, what a beautiful car you have now..Not to mention doing most of the work yourself as well..jeez..The amount of patience and love for this car is amazing..

You deserve the end result..nice job..

Orinackra

thats not a bad idea, I got to do something, I have a nice one inch gap... which I'm sure is what you meant about the poor fit of the 4th gen panels.

Jproz1167

iTrader: (3)

This guy is almost inspiring me to do a 4th gen dash swap

Excallent work guy !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The_Wraith

Very nice work. I found that adapting the 4thgen a-b pillars causes them to buldge to far out on both sides. Do you have an pics of a direct view looking through the windsheild? I have opted to make the dash pad come across both sides and used stock 3rdgen pillars.

shr00m

iTrader: (2)

Someone say close-ups? Keep in mind the flash & florescents are making the different textures appear to be different colors. I need to get some pics in the sunlight.

Slepewesel

iTrader: (1)

Very nice, Kevin. Now I just gotta get some vinyl to cover the pad, and do the pillars ... then I can sell mine .... sigh ....


Edit: Where is a good place to find "automotive grade" vinyl?

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

Everything is coming together extremely nicely. Things are starting to look very impressive.

WhiteHawk

Bravo on the 4th gen dash...never even fathomed such a thing