Vinyl'd my interior - Brushed gray aluminum

[Laika]

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:




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.



First piece completed. Shows a good comparison of the color









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.

[SkAsphalt]

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

[djdnz]

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

[JDMenrique]

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

[kendalldwhite]

looks good, u have skill

[Laika]

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

[djdnz]

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

[Shagaliscious]

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

I think it looks really good

[kask2_6.0]

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

[kask2_6.0]

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.

[Laika]

Originally Posted by djdnz

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

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.

Originally Posted by Shagaliscious

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

I think it looks really good

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.









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!

Originally Posted by kask2_6.0

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.

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)

[Synack]

Hollllllly shit. Looks very much like brushed metal.

[industrial]

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

[dcamco]

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.