Interior restoration complete.

decampos

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Hello there. Thought I'd share some progress on the gentle restoration of my new-to-me 3.0 csi. I feel I need to tell this to somebody.

The interior was a mess when I bought the car. A previous owner spent a lot of money on beautifully retrimming the interior in light grey leather (and matching carpets) only for a subsequent owner to 'eff it up.

Amongst general wear and tear (rips, tears, worn carpets etc), there was appalling modifications to the wiring loom namely an an extensive and horrific alarm install by Stevie Wonder, holes cut in the trim for modern speakers, modern stereo and a weird bracket attached with woodsrews :-x many other small points and a general tired appearance. And a foul Momo steering wheel (in my opinion).

01_int.jpg

(Admittedly it doesn't look too bad here)

I did a lot of soul searching about the non-standard trim and looked into getting the seats redyed but encountered violent abuse from friends and other E9ers claiming that it would be a shame to trash such a light and inviting interior. I decided they were right and kept it non-standard. I bought a large roll of good quality carpet and used the old buggered carpets as templates and cut a new set. An automotive trim firm bound the edges for me and did a great job. Is very comfortable, looks plush and was surprisingly cheap to do. The same firm were able to perfectly delete the speaker holes in the doors and repair the rips in the seats.

02_int.jpg


I sourced a more correct early 70s Bakelite Steering wheel but I couldn't get used to the size. Seemed like it was for a bus and not a sporty car with power steering.

03_int.jpg


I managed to find a nifty Nardi which I think suits the cabin a bit better. It also means I can drive without looking like I'm holding a black hula-hoop.

04_int.jpg


Apologies if this was a little boring. I had to get it off my chest. The next job is addressing a few (tip of the iceberg) bodywork issues. Will almost certainly be a more interesting post than this one.
 

decampos

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Thanks for the replies chaps. It's a lovely place to sit. In my view the (370mm) Nardi is the most suitable aftermarket wheel for these cars. I was on the lookout for a petri but when they surface they're fairly prohibitively expensive.

Looks great and sporty, love the black piping.
I wasn't sure about the piping for reasons of originality. Now that I'm over that, it's really grown on me.
 
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