2 small mods i did a while back, warning lots of pictures!

Technical Area Body, Interior & Styling
2

Hey
guys, i did these a few months back but just thought I’d put them up on here, incase
anyone else was thinking of doing the same and wanted to see what a finished
version looks like, these aren’t guides, just pictures and any practicality
problems<o:p></o:p>

Covering the Armrest in Leather <o:p></o:p>

This
one wasn’t very hard; the only less generic tool I used was a pretty heavy duty
Stanley Staple gun and some thick 6mm staples.

 

 

Hmm
in hindsight I should have cleaned the armrest before I took a picture lol<o:p></o:p>

 

In
this  pic you can see the stapling and where I haven’t bothered covering up
that side…I will get around to it eventually.

thought this didn’t look very nice, its more faded than you can see, sooo…

Another cut out from the chair, should maybe tidy up the edges but looks alot nicer, and the picture doesnt do it justice.

There
is only one problem I have found with this mod, I used quite thick leather, not
vinyl which I’m sure could work just as well, the problem is that the leather
expands and retracts at different temperatures and because the spacing between
the leather bit and the plastic bit (referring to first pic) is only a few ‘mm’
it means it gets slightly stuck, just means now and again I have to use a
little more force than normal to open it if it expands, not a major problem
though and only happens from time to time.<o:p></o:p>

Neons in the Foot wells <o:p></o:p>

Harder
than the first due to electricity being involved! I didn’t use any special
tools<o:p></o:p>

Notice
the drivers side, the light doesn’t come as far out as the passenger, that’s because
I used 2 neons in each footwall and in the drivers side I placed one above and
to the left of the resting pedal thing and I kicked it whilst driving, didn’t realize
my foot would protrude so far to the left , I will
be replacing the neon soon, and yes the pedals are wonky, thats how they actually are, not sure if its the same with everyone else.<o:p></o:p>

I
had lost the cigarette lighter and I don’t smoke so I decided to take the whole
unit out and put this nifty switch that came with the neons in, which fit
perfectly!! Also there was then a power supply left from the cigarette lighter…perfect
J<o:p></o:p>

Again sorry about the dirtry floor! oo you can also see the cubby hole there, definatley a good and useful mod, BUT! it was more expensive than both the others! at £15 for an MK1, its alot cheaper for a 2 or 3 though, no idea why…mx5parts.com

This
one is great for night, it’s a strange one, if ur driving in the night where
there arnt many street lamps, you suddenly realize its total darkness if you
look down below your chest, the only thing u can see is the lights on your Head
unit, these make it a lot nicer, the actual light isn’t quite as bright as it
looks in the picture, its slightly more mellow<o:p></o:p>

Impracticality
was only that I placed 1 neon in the wrong spot and broke it 

Over
all two easy and cheap mods, also the neons don’t look too boy racer…ish <o:p></o:p>

 

:smiley: took this one at the same time, thought i might as well throw it in

3

 hi dd, love the arm rest gonna try that for myself (wifes old handbag as a donor) love the blue lights neon or led? goochie

4

neons, ones for a PC actually, and with the arm rest just use some foam to make it soft and a bit nicer (notice how mine has a more rounded shape) also remember to stretch the leather really well when you staple it or how ever you do it

5

 What type of foam did you use for the armrest?

I have been wanting to do this since i saw it on the American site, but he used Nu-Foam and i cant find it over here.

Does it have to be stapled or could you just glue it? I take it that there would be too much strain on it to hold with just glue? 

6

 You can get this from most markets (well, you can in west midlands anyway), used for making pillows / recovering chairs etc, I got some 4mm thick on a roll and made a dashboard for my kitcar, looks pretty sweet if I say so myself!  Cost me about £5 for the foam and vinyl together.  As previously stated, the only real trick is to really pull it tight while you are stapling it in place, helps take out the creases at the edges and allows for some relaxing in the heat.  The material also stretches naturally with age.

If you get realy stuck, there is a company called woolies (unsure if it is single l or double) that does all the trim etc at the kit car shows, used to  advertise in the kit car magazines, and I believe they do mail order.  They also do all the vinyl / leather in all sorts of colours / patterns, and also sell poppers and stuff for fixing your hood / carpet!

Russell.

7

well i used the foam from the old chair i had, but also ontop of the foam i put the wool i might have discribed (can’t remember) but there was also some thin wool like material that i put over the foam and around the edges that just stopped any corners from the foam showing through in the leather

Cant think of another way really, but i think glue wouldent do the trick unless its very strong and you have the patience to sit there and hold the leather stretched in the rightway until it drys. Staples seem to be the best option and if you look at any application using fabric most of the time staples or tack pins are used so i just went with staples knowing they would last.