I am going to help my friend rebuild and restore a 93 FD, and I may keep it when I we are done, but I was wondering what are some of the latest ideas or trends in interior restoration? Carpet, door panels, dash, center console, etc? I have seen a few people who have pulled the dash and painted the plastic where the rubber film used to be up around the gauges, hood and center console, that usually looks nice. I see Rotary Performance has some seat covers as well

any ideas appreciated

 

But seriously, you can still buy new plastics from Mazda if you wanted new stuff. Also, Majik did a writeup a while back about painting the plastics. Maybe he will chime in and give you some insight. I personally would buy new '94 stuff if it were my car. Another option is to look in the classifieds. You can usually find stuff in good condition. You may have to wait, but it might be worth it.

Try doing a search also. This topic has been discussed.

 

The only real 'trend' on this board at least is a completely stock look.

Unfortunately, stock pieces from Mazda are extremely expensive - all the door panels, dash and console panels etc. could easily run $4-$6k new. Your best bet is looking in the classifieds for used pieces in good condition.

 

from my experience...if you go with the new plastics from Mazda (as I did) either have a friend at the dealer or pay big bucks. I pretty much replaced everything except the dash and rear window trim everything else...about $10,000! No joke, it's the biggest rip off. Example...drivers side door panel without the electric switches $1,800. New storage bins $550....it goes on and on. I worked out a deal with the dealer for all of it at cost (bought a new car) but still OUCH! If you can salvage what you have do that or go to an interior place they can probably recover your plastic pieces for a lot less!

 

well for ideas...

if the main carpet is in decent shape just buy new floormats(1). Then if the seats are in bad shape...get different ones or recover the stockers(2). Then if you have any problems with the actual dash...or just want a different look you can paint them(3). And replace anything thats cracked or broken (window switch,handles,defroster vents,trim,ect,ect.

 

word...carpet floor mats and seats
all i need left is black carpet...and thats gonna be a pain to swap out....

 

thanks guys, I want to keep it mostly stock looking as well. I bet I could get the door panels and other interior bits recovered/refurbished by a pro for cheaper than buying them from mazda. I would like to get some seats covered in that suede they use in some of the high end european sports cars.

 

www.leatherseats.com usally has an ebay auction going on black, red, & tan seat covers. Theres a group buy on molded carpet going on now. I can attest to the seat covers. Really nice. Best part is if you got the patience you can do them yourself. Just take good notes on how you had to take them apart. Their red is a better match than Mazda's as far as I can tell. If you decide to try the seat covers PM me I'll send you some pics.

mike

 

i'm just looking for some place in so cal who can strengthen my interior so it'll be free of squeeks and creaks! (i''m probably missing a bunch of clips and stuff)

 

Your best bet on making sure the car has no squeaks is to make sure that it is put together right. Some of the guys on here have completely stripped these cars and can tell you where every fastener goes. turbojeff did a ground-up rebuild of a CYM. He would probably be a good person to ask about this topic.

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