DIY: Interior reupholstering part 1 - The gluing

[mr_goat]

all looking great, here's how i did my gear shift and steering wheel, it might help you get the finish you aspire to. http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?8624

use 2 needles on the basket-ball stitch, gives a more even finish... basically it fills in the spaces in the stitches on your first gear knob picture.

been there, done that! HTH

Wow! Really impressive result! Looks OEM and not DIY =) Thanks for the tip with the dual needle approach, this made the result look much better.

Inspirational thread bro. I've actually started on a couple pieces of my own with a few more underway. Keep up the good work!

ERIC

Thanks! And thanks for posting pics of your install. Looking good! Have you done your seats by yourself? And what is the reason why you didived your center lid into two pieces?

This thread is absolutely incredible!

This really has me wanting to do my door inserts. are you using alcantara?

Thanks alot! I'm glad I can inspire other people to start doing stuff themselves. The door inserts alone can be done in a weekend. I'm using a fake alcantara. Didn't want to take any chances with the insanely expensive real thing that cost 10 times more than what I am using since I haven't done anything like this before, and that I have seen previous work with the fabric I'm using with really impressive results. The big question is the UV sensitivity.. I'll get back to that in a few years =)

Weekly update
Things are slowly progressing, as expected. Doing a couple parts at a time, advancing upwards with more and more difficult parts. Here is what I got done in the last week:

Got the lid covered in foam:





Knee bolster in foam:



Feeling confident now so doing many simple parts at the same time, thereby saving time:













Sloppy leather, passenger side all done!



Old leather piling up:



Passenger door detail:



Showing the furry texture of the fabric:



All packed up and ready for transport!



Shift knob version 2.0:



Marking thread holes:



Punching holes with the sewing machine:



Partially glued to the knob:



And thanks to the excellent tip from prime user britlude, use dual needles for the "basketball stitch" pattern:



Starting:



One side done:





Done! No professional quality craftmanship but I'm satisfied. The main purpose of me doing the knob is to learn and prepare myself for the steering wheel. The knob is probably going to be replaced with aftermarket anyway.





When taking this part off the car, it feel into pieces in my hands. Someone has been here before jerking around. No problem though, glue is king:



Steering wheel:



Version 1.0:





Well, you get the idea:



This is the optimistic approach that will probably fail. The steering wheel piece is a one-piece part. Leather is soft and stretchy and therefore easy to stretch around nasty corners. My fabric is quite stiff and it is easier to get creasing in these areas. But I wanted to try it out first, it might work :smile:

If it fails, I'll do a two piece approach with stichings both on the inner and outer parts. More on this next monday! Also gave up on my old sewing machine. Messing up the seam alot so I'm going to do something I have never done before in my life, make a visit to the sewing detail store and get a brand new machine!

//Johan

EDIT: Forgot these parts. Belongs to the steering wheel assembly:

 

[myw]

keep us updated this is truly amazing!

 

[gsrboy]

I love it!

 

[mr_goat]

keep us updated this is truly amazing!

Calm down! No worries, I'll feed you with updates once a week :smile:

I love it!

Thanks! And thank you for your inspirational epic engine removal/rebuild thread!

OK, weekly update
I turned 27 last friday, and saturday was party day = no work on these days, but spent a couple of nights last week and yesterday doing as much as possible. Next weekend is dedicated to this project, no disturbances allowed!

First up is the steering wheel. And as I feared, the first attempt with a one-piece fabric ended up being an epic fail. I didn't even start with the sewing, the quality of the end result would be way to low for my standards. Here it is, executed by hanging:



So, a bit upset by the (though expected) failure, I started with the fail-safe foam wrapping of this part:



1 hour of scraping later:



1½ hours later:



The same for the other side:



Went down to the sewing detail store with a piece of the fabric with me, asking the owner if he could show me a machine in the right price range that could do what I needed: straight seem and sick-sack with variable stitch width and length. Ended up bying one with 21 different seems

Testing at the store:



Some of the seems:





Went home, now a lot happier :biggrin: and starting sketching on another approach to the steering wheel design, using a two-sided design.

Sketching using old hacked up leather and steering wheel:



Copying for the rear part:



Cut and laid out on the table:



Used the machine and stitched them together with a simple, 2 mm straight invisible seem:





Front and rear:



Painted the foam on the steering wheel black. Why? Well, I don't want the white foam shining through in between the pieces of fabric when I'm done:





Did this easy part to (the one that was previously broken):





Time to level up in sewing skill. The idea of sewing pieces of fabric together is to avoid creasing in a particular area. Namely the one which has a smaller surface area than the fabric. This is definitely a challenge, because you need to "think 3D" when sewing with the machine. For the following simple part, it required holding the bottom piece in the same orientation while continuously rotating the upper piece WHILE sewing. I'll guarantee that you will get it wrong the first time, but that's ok, it's part of the learning process. Doing something you know you can't do and fail, maybe over and over again until you nail it. Patience, plenty of time, being properly hydrated and not being hungry or tired or having a headache is fundamental.

First test mule, in red in order to see the seem properly:



Seem theory: Three seems are used for bringing two parts of fabric together. One functional and two cosmetic. The functional one should be a simple straight 2 or 3 mm seem. Because you left a cm or two as a marginal, two "flaps" have been created. Now, you could just leave them be and get on with life, but Honda didn't, nor did I. Honda chose to sew them onto the fabric, 5 mm fron the functional seem. Take a close look at your OEM door panels or your dash and you'll see. They used a 4 mm straight seem for a more sleek install. I chose a special pre-progammed stretch seem, which you can see if you look closely on the upper pic.

The test mule was a f**k up, as expected, re-did it with black fabric, concentrating to the point that there was only I and the sewing machine existing in the universe (BTW, I'm going to kill Emma for taking pics of me without proper clothing and make-up!):





Stitched and glued to the part, acceptable quality for a first time part in my opinion! Maybe re-do it later when I've leveled some more in this art.





I also started on a test mule for the center lid, which failed, of course. No pics for that yet, wait til' next monday! Gonna start hand-stitch the steering wheel tomorrow :biggrin:

//Johan

 

[dawk]

Great start. I was thinking of starting a project like this. I would love to learn the skill of sewing my own interior.

 

[Mac Attack]

Wow, that is really neat. You're doing very well for a beginner and you have the right attitude!

I can't wait to see how the steering wheel turns out!

Dave

 

[mr_goat]

Great start. I was thinking of starting a project like this. I would love to learn the skill of sewing my own interior.

Thanks. So why not start it? You are welcome to post in this thread and me and a few others would be glad to answer questions.

Wow, that is really neat. You're doing very well for a beginner and you have the right attitude!

I can't wait to see how the steering wheel turns out!

Dave

Thanks Dave! The attitude part is crucial. I knew from the beginning that this was going to be a very large project with a high failure rate and low success rate that would test my patience and bring me to the edge of total psychological collapse :wink:

I actually freaked out at the old machine because I couldn't get it right and get on with the project. Luckily I had Emma nearby who calmed me down. When the limit is reached, like then, just leave it be and do something else. Eat, take a power nap, have sex, take the dog for a walk or play with the cat so you can get the endorfin flow restarted and then go back to working. Works everytime, solves every problem :smile:

Gonna start with the steering wheel tonight!

//Johan

 

[stevieray122854]

Luckily I had Emma nearby who calmed me down. When the limit is reached, like then, just leave it be and do something else. Eat, take a power nap, have sex, take the dog for a walk or play with the cat so you can get the endorfin flow restarted and then go back to working. Works everytime, solves every problem

//Johan

Love your attitude plus your dedication to this project is epic. Subscribed!

 

[Sublyminal]

Awesome work Goat! You have raised the bar my friend!:biggrin:

 

[myw]

brother u have amazing skills!

looking forward to next week

 

[moderu]

Awesome thread!!! Keep up the great work :biggrin:​

 

[SWIFTVISION]

The real question is...how do these look installed?

 

[Sublyminal]

Wow! Really impressive result! Looks OEM and not DIY =) Thanks for the tip with the dual needle approach, this made the result look much better.



Thanks! And thanks for posting pics of your install. Looking good! Have you done your seats by yourself? And what is the reason why you didived your center lid into two pieces?



Thanks alot! I'm glad I can inspire other people to start doing stuff themselves. The door inserts alone can be done in a weekend. I'm using a fake alcantara. Didn't want to take any chances with the insanely expensive real thing that cost 10 times more than what I am using since I haven't done anything like this before, and that I have seen previous work with the fabric I'm using with really impressive results. The big question is the UV sensitivity.. I'll get back to that in a few years =)

Weekly update
Things are slowly progressing, as expected. Doing a couple parts at a time, advancing upwards with more and more difficult parts. Here is what I got done in the last week:

Got the lid covered in foam:





Knee bolster in foam:



Feeling confident now so doing many simple parts at the same time, thereby saving time:













Sloppy leather, passenger side all done!



Old leather piling up:



Passenger door detail:



Showing the furry texture of the fabric:



All packed up and ready for transport!



Shift knob version 2.0:



Marking thread holes:



Punching holes with the sewing machine:



Partially glued to the knob:



And thanks to the excellent tip from prime user britlude, use dual needles for the "basketball stitch" pattern:



Starting:



One side done:





Done! No professional quality craftmanship but I'm satisfied. The main purpose of me doing the knob is to learn and prepare myself for the steering wheel. The knob is probably going to be replaced with aftermarket anyway.





When taking this part off the car, it feel into pieces in my hands. Someone has been here before jerking around. No problem though, glue is king:



Steering wheel:



Version 1.0:





Well, you get the idea:



This is the optimistic approach that will probably fail. The steering wheel piece is a one-piece part. Leather is soft and stretchy and therefore easy to stretch around nasty corners. My fabric is quite stiff and it is easier to get creasing in these areas. But I wanted to try it out first, it might work :smile:

If it fails, I'll do a two piece approach with stichings both on the inner and outer parts. More on this next monday! Also gave up on my old sewing machine. Messing up the seam alot so I'm going to do something I have never done before in my life, make a visit to the sewing detail store and get a brand new machine!

//Johan

EDIT: Forgot these parts. Belongs to the steering wheel assembly:

You were asking why I divided my center console lid into two parts. I was intending to answer before but got side tracked. But yea, I didn't divide it, I covered it the way it already was. I think the 1993's+ have the double lids with the cup holders. Yours is coming along great though bro. I'm dying to see you put it all back together. I'm going to do my headliner, A and B pillars in black suede when I get back in town next week. I'll post pictures. Keep up the great work!

 

[redbird92]

You Guys , Gals, ROCK,, love the pic of the dogs!!!!

Great work

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

Is the under layer that you're using just an under lay for laminate flooring found at any home improvement store?

 

[myw]

question guys,

what is the approx length + width of the leather inserts portion of the door panel on the nsx?

i am asking because i am trying to assess how much leather i need to purchase, LENGTH + WIDTH (including excess material to wrap around the edges) to remove the outdated leather inserts on the door panels as you have done.

thanks in advance.

 

[mr_goat]

Love your attitude plus your dedication to this project is epic. Subscribed!

Awesome work Goat! You have raised the bar my friend!:biggrin:

brother u have amazing skills!

looking forward to next week

Awesome thread!!! Keep up the great work :biggrin:​

You Guys , Gals, ROCK,, love the pic of the dogs!!!!

Great work

Wow thanks alot guys! :smile: Compliments recieved and mana increased!

You were asking why I divided my center console lid into two parts. I was intending to answer before but got side tracked. But yea, I didn't divide it, I covered it the way it already was. I think the 1993's+ have the double lids with the cup holders. Yours is coming along great though bro. I'm dying to see you put it all back together. I'm going to do my headliner, A and B pillars in black suede when I get back in town next week. I'll post pictures. Keep up the great work!

Ok I didn't know that. Cup holders in a sports car! :tongue: And thanks. I'm constantly visualizing how it will look when installed, keeps my brain busy all day and all night. Please post pics when you're done! I would really like to know how difficult you think the headliner is to wrap. I foresee some trouble on that one. But nothing is impossible, here is an inspirational thread by prime user FD3SNSX (Tae):

http://nsxprime.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1458001&postcount=7

The real question is...how do these look installed?

That IS the real question :smile: Only time will tell.

Is the under layer that you're using just an under lay for laminate flooring found at any home improvement store?

That's right. You can basically use anything you want for the structural layer, just make sure it is "moldable" or "stretchy" so it can be persuaded around complex shapes, and not to thick or thin. I use 2 mm.

question guys,

what is the approx length + width of the leather inserts portion of the door panel on the nsx?

i am asking because i am trying to assess how much leather i need to purchase, LENGTH + WIDTH (including excess material to wrap around the edges) to remove the outdated leather inserts on the door panels as you have done.

thanks in advance.

Don't go cheap and order exactly the amount you need, leave some room for error and apply a safety margin of at least a factor of 2. I can't answer your question precisely, but I would go for at least 2-3 m2. But don't kill me if I'm wrong and you'll end up short...

Weekly update (lots of pics!)
I continued to work on my steering wheel last week. I underestimated the amount of preparations needed for the stitching, so I ain't done with it yet but I've come a long way. If I succeed, it will be done next monday. *I promise*. Here are pics of the progress:

Gluing the "flaps"





Starting to mark the exact positions of the holes for the manual stitching (3 mm in from edge, 5 mm spaced). One of 18 000 marks done:



Only 17 999 to go:



All done:



Didn't want to repeat this on the back-side part so used the first as a hole punching template:



Piercing time!







Painted the edges so that the white reinforcement layer of my fabric stays hidden and don't get pulled out through the holes when stitching (learned this from shift knob)





First stitch:



A couple more:







This is how I left it. Picking up where I left it tomorrow! Starting to resemble a steering wheel.



On to the sun visors:



Got some help from Emma:



The idea for these parts is to sew a "bag" in which the visor is placed. The bag is then sealed manually. Let the pics do the talk here:









Yes that's me. Yes I'm bald. Atleast I got some clothes on :tongue:



Closing the top:





Done!









Repeat for the other two components. The most difficult thing was to get the cosmetic seam to look ok, and not getting any creasing in the bottom of it. Took a few failed attempts before I got it right:





Foamed up:



Messy as hell!



No race time for atleast two months here up in the nordic countries...



Altelast somebody likes the snow:



And somebody is trying to master the delicate art of drinking tap water without getting wet:



I really wanted to succeed with the cosmetic seams so I started with a "simple" part, the shift boot. Taking it nice and easy, measuring and remeasuring, thinking through the entire process before actually starting to sew really helped, and after a few attempts I think I figured it out and NAILED it! Get it? I nailed it! haha :biggrin:









Tip 1: Glue the "flaps" down before sewing them. Makes it much easier.



Tip 2: Mark the center line of the seam with a chalk pen. The chalk is easily removed afterwards with a brush.



Underside:



Done with first section!



Near perfect seam!









Done!



Close up of seams:



Testing appearance with shift knob:



Emma and Tippen the Ninja Cat started on removing the leather from the headliner:



Separated:





E-brake handle:



Version 1.0:





Done!





All three right hand components:



That's it for this time. More to come next monday! And if you attempt to do anything like this yourself, please share pics :biggrin:

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

Can't wait to see how you tackle the doors and the dash. I'm contemplating wrapping my items in alcantara...

 

[mr_goat]

Can't wait to see how you tackle the doors and the dash. I'm contemplating wrapping my items in alcantara...

Doors and dash are on the bottom of the to-do-list and I think we'll have to wait a couple of weeks before I'm there but I'm going to do them, one way or another I'm going to succeed with this. Maybe you'll do them before me :smile: Get pics up either case!

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

Doors and dash are on the bottom of the to-do-list and I think we'll have to wait a couple of weeks before I'm there but I'm going to do them, one way or another I'm going to succeed with this. Maybe you'll do them before me :smile: Get pics up either case!

Na man. I won't get to them until summer or even after. I'm still wrapping misc parts in carbon fiber and also need to do my 02 conversion before tackling any real interior stuff with fabric. I may do my door cards though since I can't stand them.

 

[Tokyo-Joe]

I can't wait to see this in situ

 

[mr_goat]

Na man. I won't get to them until summer or even after. I'm still wrapping misc parts in carbon fiber and also need to do my 02 conversion before tackling any real interior stuff with fabric. I may do my door cards though since I can't stand them.

Sounds like you have your hands full! Sloppy leather inserts are done in a weekend, I think you can spare one if you can't stand them lol :biggrin:

I can't wait to see this in situ

Neither can I! Don't tempt me! I need to stay calm and remain focused. I don't wan't the quality suffering from me being stressed out and wanting it done. Breathe breathe...

I am deeply sorry for forgetting my USB cable so I can't transfer my images to my computer this week!

But I can tell you what's going on. The steering wheel version 2.0 was a failure dure to an unacceptable low quality on the outer seam which was done by hand. Therefore I started on version 3.0, where the front and rear "faces" were sewed together with the machine. The main problem here was to get the seam perfectly round in order to avoid creasing later on. But I figured it out and with this method I could progress to a certain point in hours instead of days as with the 2.0 version. A cosmetic seam was sewed on top of the "invisible" functional seam, using a different seam pattern than I've used on my other parts (looks really good!). I then started gluing the steering wheel fabric to the wheel (finally!), doing it in sections. Here is where the second problem occur. Unless you managed to get the functional seam in a perfect round circle with exactly the right diameter (or maybe a little smaller), you WILL have creasing. Which I got. Then you have to decide wheter or not the overall quality of the steering wheel is good enough according to your standards and expectations. I deemed mine "barely acceptable" and continued. After trimming down the edges I started the manual stitching of the inner seam. I was surprised how good it looked and felt when I completed one section! Actually fixing some of the creases. The feel is excellent! The grip is much better then the old shiny, worn leather and it's a little bit "harder" too. The "hardness" can be adapted by using a different foam layer or getting one more layer of it if you prefer a softer touch. Two sections to go... Next weekend. :biggrin:

Got the glove box lid completed! Finally after sitting for a couple of weeks... Looks really good too! Really boosted my confidence with the machine. Also did the passenger arm rest for the door.

These are the parts that are left:

*Finish steering wheel
*Center box lid
*Knee bolster
*Center rear panel (where the OEM middle speaker is attached to)
*The two rear side panels
*Headliner
*2x door trim
*Dash

And I probably have to fine tune the fitment of the handbrake cover, which is easily done.

Found some pics of the OEM steering wheel wrapped in Alcantara:

Also found these custom wheels, the second one is just awesome!

I'll get back with pics on friday.

//Johan

 

[comptonassdaniel]

Wow, man. That is quite the undertaking! Very interested in seeing the final results. You sir are an inspiration. If you don't mind me asking; how much did this or do you think this will end up costing you total?

If you're waiting for it to be all done for the big reveal, I understand. Keep up the good work! :biggrin:

 

[mr_goat]

Wow, man. That is quite the undertaking! Very interested in seeing the final results. You sir are an inspiration. If you don't mind me asking; how much did this or do you think this will end up costing you total?

If you're waiting for it to be all done for the big reveal, I understand. Keep up the good work! :biggrin:

Thank you! If you can borrow a sewing machine and get cheap fabric this would cost about 500 bucks (Swedish prices, cheaper in America).

Pics update for last week
Well I already wrote up what I did so here's just the pics:





































I got a package!



'04 Honda S2K digital instrument cluster :biggrin:





Now what is this supposed to be?



Glove box lid!











Recommended reading:



Follow the development of the Honda F1 twin-turbo V6 in the eighties, R&D that also resulted in our power plant :wink:

More in a couple of days.

//Johan

 

[cwood1388]

that glovebox looks stunning!