interior
Joined: Feb 2006
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Re: interior
I did the following:
1. New seats. This was probably the best upgrade, they look way better than stock and it's the only thing in the car you're going to be touching all the time. And when someone gets in the passenger seat it's the first thing they mention when they sit down, "Oh, I like these seats!" Except when you're my dad and I pick you up at the Toronto airport and by the time we hit Sarnia you're sitting on a stack of pillows and blankets to keep comfortable.
2. Audio system. I went with a touchscren install, it's really nice. Doesn't actually add that much for the amount it cost but it definitely looks better.
3. Clean your damn car. You would be amazed at how nice a simple clean car can be. I mean scrub it, get that salt out of the carpets, get that vinyl squeaky clean. It looks way better.
4. Suede armrest, suede shift boot and a new shift ****. I cut my shiftboot pattern out of some suede I bought for $7 at a craft store and brought it to a stitching place in the mall for them to sew together for $10. That was my shift boot and it looked great. And my shift **** was $14 on Ebay, I love it. It's a chrome red colour with white numbering on top. It's not weighted but passengers don't know that.
5. Suede door inserts. This cost me $10 for the suede and I did it all myself, it looks much better. There's a D.I.Y. somewhere here to do it, TRIZ made it. Most things in your car can be done yourself if you're not too lazy to learn. And hopefully, unlike my girlfriend, you know the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench.
1. New seats. This was probably the best upgrade, they look way better than stock and it's the only thing in the car you're going to be touching all the time. And when someone gets in the passenger seat it's the first thing they mention when they sit down, "Oh, I like these seats!" Except when you're my dad and I pick you up at the Toronto airport and by the time we hit Sarnia you're sitting on a stack of pillows and blankets to keep comfortable.
2. Audio system. I went with a touchscren install, it's really nice. Doesn't actually add that much for the amount it cost but it definitely looks better.
3. Clean your damn car. You would be amazed at how nice a simple clean car can be. I mean scrub it, get that salt out of the carpets, get that vinyl squeaky clean. It looks way better.
4. Suede armrest, suede shift boot and a new shift ****. I cut my shiftboot pattern out of some suede I bought for $7 at a craft store and brought it to a stitching place in the mall for them to sew together for $10. That was my shift boot and it looked great. And my shift **** was $14 on Ebay, I love it. It's a chrome red colour with white numbering on top. It's not weighted but passengers don't know that.
5. Suede door inserts. This cost me $10 for the suede and I did it all myself, it looks much better. There's a D.I.Y. somewhere here to do it, TRIZ made it. Most things in your car can be done yourself if you're not too lazy to learn. And hopefully, unlike my girlfriend, you know the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench.
Joined: Aug 2006
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Re: interior
DIY for the door panels can be found in my sig.
This is what I did... I cleaned my car out, put OEM black floor mats in- the fit is perfect and really pulls the car together more, shift boot, hidden air freshener to make the car smell better, door panels, and be sure to keep your windows washed inside and out, it makes a huge difference. After that, decide what you wanna do.. stereo, type R pedals, short shifter w/ ****.. suede headliner, rsx seats... Oh, I also swapped my gauge cluster form the 01-02 style to the 03-05 LED style... totally changes the dynamic of the car.
This is what I did... I cleaned my car out, put OEM black floor mats in- the fit is perfect and really pulls the car together more, shift boot, hidden air freshener to make the car smell better, door panels, and be sure to keep your windows washed inside and out, it makes a huge difference. After that, decide what you wanna do.. stereo, type R pedals, short shifter w/ ****.. suede headliner, rsx seats... Oh, I also swapped my gauge cluster form the 01-02 style to the 03-05 LED style... totally changes the dynamic of the car.
Re: interior
So what mods can I do to my gauge cluster? I have a 98...
I was looking for something like the reverse glow ones, those look pretty cool. They might be an eyesore during the day, being white and all.
I guess I'm looking for something cool, yet still stock-ish
Would putting LEDs behind the gauge maybe help me attain this look?
I was looking for something like the reverse glow ones, those look pretty cool. They might be an eyesore during the day, being white and all.
I guess I'm looking for something cool, yet still stock-ish
Would putting LEDs behind the gauge maybe help me attain this look?
Last edited by Mavrick272; Oct 1, 2009 at 06:59 PM.
Re: interior
No. You (I mean I because you can do whatever you want) don't want one single thing standing out so much in your car. If you're going to do something as distracting as bright LED gauges then you should do some other things in the car as well to take the constant attention off these gauges. That's my opinion, otherwise it'll be like the guy that puts a huge aluminum wing on their Civic and no other modifications. It just stands out.
Joined: Sep 2002
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Re: interior
i took a different approach and put leds BELOW the cluster to make it glow the color i wanted. its an 03-05 led cluster that is normally red and white, but i wanted some orange so it matches the rest of the dash. the leds are 5mm kind and are running at very low brightness not to outshine everything else. i have 5 in the middle and 3 on each side, total of 11. see if you have space down there to do it without leds being visible. some of the light is shining above on the black bezel too which is cool. i made the middle leds brighter than the sides.

did that to match custom orange dash leds which are also brighter than normal
did that to match custom orange dash leds which are also brighter than normal
Last edited by gearbox; Oct 2, 2009 at 04:20 PM.
Re: interior
I like what Dex said about keeping the car clean. To me that is the single most important mod of all. If your ride is all messy with stains, dust and trash, it won't matter what you have in there.
Second to that is the lighting IMO. Leds in the gauge cluster and center console is a very nice touch. It really brings our dated interiors up to speed. Overlay gauges were cool back in the late 90's & early 2000's but not anymore. Now they just look tacky. I would not recommend getting some. Not to mention they tend to fail.
Big ticket items like a quality sound system, upgraded seats and upgraded upholstery are kind of a no brainer to me. But if you really want a quality interior, sound deaden your car. I personally have not been successful in quieting up my ride, just shutting up the rattles, but others have been successful. I think gearbox was one of those people so ask him. It'll make a world of difference for your drive.
Second to that is the lighting IMO. Leds in the gauge cluster and center console is a very nice touch. It really brings our dated interiors up to speed. Overlay gauges were cool back in the late 90's & early 2000's but not anymore. Now they just look tacky. I would not recommend getting some. Not to mention they tend to fail.
Big ticket items like a quality sound system, upgraded seats and upgraded upholstery are kind of a no brainer to me. But if you really want a quality interior, sound deaden your car. I personally have not been successful in quieting up my ride, just shutting up the rattles, but others have been successful. I think gearbox was one of those people so ask him. It'll make a world of difference for your drive.
Joined: Sep 2002
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Re: interior
tires make the most difference. some dynamat in the doors and rear deck help the speakers, but its too much hassle to do the whole car for very little noise reduction (and a ton of added weight). getting quiet tires is hands down the one mod you should do if you want quiet ride.
Re: interior
tires make the most difference. some dynamat in the doors and rear deck help the speakers, but its too much hassle to do the whole car for very little noise reduction (and a ton of added weight). getting quiet tires is hands down the one mod you should do if you want quiet ride.
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Re: interior
If your looking for a new shift boot check them out here:
http://shop.daddyscaraccessories.com...?categoryId=26
http://shop.daddyscaraccessories.com...?categoryId=26
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Re: interior
at one point i had dynamat everywhere and foam in the doors too. i ended up removing most of it cause i really could not tell much difference, esp since i dont have subs anymore. and the foam was so thick the door panels werent fitting properly. the trunk is stripped bare, doors i kept the dynamat cause it helps with panel distortion (for speaker sound quality), and the rear deck. i also have some foam on the floors and a few patches of deadening here and there. i dont think its worth the weight gain (i had maybe 100 lbs total) just to get a slight reduction in road noise.
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Re: interior
pretty much everywhere except firewall. thats already really thick foam and putting dynamat would not matter. prolly wont even stick there. and its not worth ripping the dash apart.
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