Changing the door panel insert to blue.

[GR 86]

terrific job!

-GR 86

[Dake]

Originally Posted by Stephen02

This is more subtle but it reminds me a lot of the colored interiors that Honda did with the S2k.
Attachment 214797

I miss interiors like this; much more interesting than black, charcoal and gray.

This is my ST162 Celica



Anyway and back on topic - changing out that insert looks really good. Nice work!

[Spektyr]

Couple things to add to the instructions:

It's not entirely clear, but what you're doing when you're drilling/cutting the black connectors that are basically melted into shape/place at the factory is you're drilling down to access the open shaft underneath the head (where the new screws will go) and then cutting across underneath the white insulation.

The idea is to keep the black head (now a ring) attached to the insulation so you have something convenient to run the screw through that will hold the insulation in place. The original assembly process adheres the insulation both to the top (head) part of that fixture and the body underneath, and there's often little room to work with your razor knife (an exacto type knife may be better). However, you're exerting a lot of force so be careful not to cut the insulation or yourself in ways you can't easily deal with.

Also, the left-most purple circle in the diagram is already a screw - you don't have to drill/cut it.

Finally, you're not fully removing the insulation - you're just cutting the plastic fittings that hold it and the insert in place. Once that's done you can remove the normal screws and remove the insert.

If you (like me) didn't do it perfectly your first try you can (like me) slap a piece of duct tape over the hole in the insulation and screw it down through the tape. I may upload a picture of that to help out.

[Spektyr]

Okay, more of what I learned:

Drilling out the plastic mushroom heads: The larger the diameter of drill bit you use, the easier it is to get the screws in but the more critical your drilling depth becomes. If you (like me) use a drill bit larger than 1/8th inch it's easy to cut the heads off without messing up the insulation, but you may find that you drilled too far down and now the screws have nothing to grab.

If so, use something to make the fit more snug (I took a piece of 3D printer filament, stuck it in the hole with the screw, and got the threads to bite well. This isn't really a load-bearing structure, you're just trying to keep things in place.

Personally, I recommend an 1/8th inch drill bit because the proscribed screws (#14 1/2") will still bite nicely in a 1/8th inch hole.

Use of duct tape if you mess up:
Picture 1: you can see two holes - the one on the left is missing the black plastic ring that should have been left behind (it was being a PITA and I just said F-it.) On the right is the way it should look.

Picture 2: slapped a square of duct tape over the empty hole and screwed both in.

Picture 3: How to do it on an edge - just fold the tape over

[Spektyr]

Here's my results:

Since I have a Trueno Blue GR86 I opted for the darker "Navy" option for the suede (same link, different color).

As you can see I did the door inserts, the side dash panels, and the child seat harness cover things in the back. If you're messing with those frequently you'd probably prefer to skip them, but if you leave them in place the fabric doesn't try to peel. With rear window tint it's completely invisible from the outside except in bright sunlight, and even then the color is really subtle. (Obviously brighter colors would be easier to see.)

Honestly, the door panels alone make a really significant difference in the feel of the interior. Just pulling the car into the garage after getting the panels back on the doors I was struck by how much different it looked.

[shoreline86]

Is the upper alcantara trim on the door glued to it or is it also a removable piece like the insert?

[Dake]

That looks great!

[AK2112]

that's a great shade of blue