Vinyl'd my interior - Brushed gray aluminum
 

I got this idea from my brother's 2010 Legacy. I kept thinking how his center console looked so much better than the random bright silver of my BRZ. Later found out I could buy vinyl very similar to what is on the legacy from the factory. Obviously I was just going for the factory look but you can get virtually any color on vinyl.

Example picture of the 2010+ Legacy console:

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/...y/IMG_2183.jpg


What I used:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DARK-GRAY-Br...0434c8&vxp=mtr

This is 5 square feet and it's more than enough to do the two dash pieces, shifter surround, door handles, and the piece on the steering wheel.

It's some pretty good looking stuff, it even has the texture I was looking for.

http://i.imgur.com/7Oabe.jpg

First piece completed. Shows a good comparison of the color

http://i.imgur.com/iu558.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HvcKC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zuKOG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SMoC3.jpg

Unfortunately I had to redo the radio surround so I didn't have enough to do the steering wheel trim. Also, unfortunately as bad as the pictures in the car are, there doesn't seem to be any way to get a better idea of what the trim really looks like. Just letting you guys know there are ways to keep the interior looking better than OEM while still maintaining the idea it could be factory stock for those that don't like to go too extreme.

Too hard to tell with the quality of the shots. But if you like it, it's a win (y)

Could you get some better pictures? I'm really considering doing this, I think it would look classy if the vinyl is believable.

looks cool. isnt the BRZ stock with something similar? with the brushed aluminum look?

looks good, u have skill

I'll get you guys some real pictures during the day tomorrow!

The BRZ comes stock with silver panels, no brushed look to them. Just looks like cheap plastic painted silver. I think it just overall lessens the look of the car and I don't think the scion is any better or worse. Provided the vinyl work is done properly, I think this definitely improves the look of the interior and takes away that "cheap" feeling. I posted some pictures for comparison of the color differences but this might show it best

http://i.imgur.com/OnezQ.jpg

How hard was the install of the vinyl? Have you done this before... If I have never tried is it worth having someone with more experience do it? I'm a bit of a perfectionist and if I screw it up even slightly I'll probably hate it.

I imagine the shifter bezel and the radio bezel would be hard to do

Did you also do the surround around the base of the shifter?

I think it looks really good:thumbsup:

I really like this idea. I'm sure it looks great. Would love to see some higher quality pics! :thumbsup:

djdnz vinyl is not very difficult to install. It just takes a little patience and a heat gun. Large convexing contours is where vinyl can get difficult, but these parts should all be pretty simple.

Vinyl is cheap. If you like the look give it a shot! If you screw it up.. peel it off and try again! The beauty of vinyl is that it's easy, looks good, and not permanent.

As Kask said, it's not terribly difficult but you need to have patience and extreme attention to detail. My only previous experience was trying (and failing) to vinyl my tail lights.

I did! Here's some pictures. Sorry for not providing higher quality pictures but the other day it was raining so I got better contrast out of my iPhone pictures, hopefully this will suffice till I figure out why macbook's SD card reader doesn't work.

http://i.imgur.com/RKhDO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LYzcD.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2Qb7R.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HEbGr.jpg

Notice any issues? I sure did. I wasn't being patient enough and I didn't give enough attention to the little details. I pulled the headunit surround and shifter surround today and fixed the creases in the corners. Now I'm happy with it!

http://i.imgur.com/aIJXD.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RCQpg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cKwzB.jpg


You couldn't be more right. Even with the convex/concave corners (think shift surround) it's very feasible to just heat and stretch all to eliminate any creases. I love vinyl now. I can't wait to do my whole car ;)


Hot Tip: For these console pieces, you should keep the vinyl work looking seamless by wrapping the entire part (all sides) and tuck a bit extra on the back but when you tuck make sure you tuck everything flat and cleanly otherwise air WILL get in.


(Bonus tip: It might be worth busting out a caliper (the measuring type) and figuring out the gap between the two dash pieces so you can just remove them, factor for the gap, and vinyl them both as one piece, it will certainly look MUCH better)

Hollllllly shit. Looks very much like brushed metal.

That looks really good man. The texture looks perfect. It doesn't feel too plasticy right?

Looks great! I bought some 3M brushed steel vinyl before I even had my car to do this very thing but I haven't yet worked up the ambition to use it. Now I'm definitely going to give it a shot this weekend.

bump

10x better! If I don't do the Ghost Chrome paint on my plastics, I'll definitely do this instead. Great idea! The biggest mistake they made with this car was to use such cheap paint on the plastics.

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Thanks man! I had the same sentiments about these plastics as you and wished they were darker from the start. When you had first posted the ghost chrome paint it seemed like the direction I was going for. But vinyl is harmless and although I'm pretty good with a rattle can and paint prep, vinyl is just less stressful. Less things to go wrong.

How did u cut the vinyl on the shifter bezel? Did u use one big piece to cover the whole thing, then cut out the circle in the middle?

That's how I did at least. Then I cut little triangles into the remaining bit of the inside and tucked it in.

I ended up having issues with air bubbles and general crappy looks of the vinyl on the shift surround so I ditched it for a black JDM/Australian market shift surround with matching TCS buttons. Better than having an non-matching silver I figured.

So yeah, I tried this today...miserable failure for me. :bonk:

I tried this out today with some pretty good results.
This is impossible without a heat gun or hairdryer at minimum.

http://i.imgur.com/OLwKuRR.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/LlZ7DKp.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/sAHBMOF.jpg?1

I had to redo the radio trim because I've never wrapped anything before.
I was able to fold the vinyl all the way around to the back for all the edges.
So that left me with not enough to do the shifter trim.
I might go for the steering wheel later today.
@Laika Thanks for the idea btw!

Looks good man! Good luck with the shifter surround, it's a huge PITA. Take my advice, switch to the JDM/AUDM black shift surround with black TCS buttons.

I bought this cast vinyl that is allegedly "bubble free" last week. It should theoretically come in the mail in a few days. I'll post pictures once I redo my interior. Plan is to do the dash plastics as one piece.

Definitely doing the dash plastics and steering wheel plastic. Any suggestions on whether or not I should do the door handles and HVAC pillars?

Ill try my luck. If it doesn't work...ill go aussie!

I was wondering if I should do mine also. (the door handles and HVAC pillars)
My BRZ has them black, so it looks fine either way..
but I suppose a couple more accents here and there in the interior wouldn't be a bad idea.

If you don't like how it looks, you could always peel it off.

Definitely give the shift surround a shot at least. Mine looked great but only for a few weeks.

I actually just peeled off my HVAC and door handle vinyl to get ready for the new vinyl but until it comes in, I'm gonna see how I like the black. Like you said, a few more accents wouldn't hurt.

Redid my panels. I went for the lighter silver like from the Legacy in the original post. This is what I originally wanted...when I got it, I wasn't so sure anymore. I think I'm feeling better about it now that it's done and in the car.

http://i.imgur.com/7RwDHWT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LJ1VDNb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CyAIn34.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8hV6p9K.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6BHbNos.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/B7JHr2i.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/24qaV0d.jpg


Crap...it kind of just looks like the stock BRZ panels with these pics. Brushed texture is kind of tough to show in a picture. Oh well, enjoy anyways ;)

I realize this thread has been dead for almost a year but @Laika where did you get your black buttons? Thinking about doing this but I know the mismatched colors would drive me insane. Also, with the whole dash thing vinyled as one piece it looked like there was a noticeable ridge between them. Is that just the pictures or can you actually see it? Sorry to spam you with a whole bunch of questions, but I really like the way yours turned out.

The black buttons are part number SU00302486. As seen here, this is what you get. All credit goes to Lee358 and Superhatch (http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=375) for posting the information to begin with.

I can't personally vouch for any specific parts dealers, but I'd assume any vendor without a horrendously bad rating and who guarantees it's a genuine Toyota part would be fine. It would probably also help just to search around a bit for price shopping, both to make sure you get a good deal (and not one that's substantially lower than every other online vendor).


As far as the gap between panels, unless you actually bond the pieces together, you're almost certainly going to notice the gap. User Jive Turkey covers part of the process here, although he did a whole lot more with his interior (and it looks gorgeous in photos).