I'm halfway through my black interior conversion. There's a lot of beige remaining, but the doors are done (for Stage 1, anyway). With all the burly diamondplate and blank plastic door cards I've seen on YT, I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but maybe someone'll like it. I like it, anyway.

I had my windows tinted, for which I removed the door glass and then reinstalled it with a bunch of silicone in all the gaps. I also replaced the inner horizontal weatherstripping along the windows, and bent the sheetmetal such that the rubber presses more against the glass. There's a lot less whistling on the highway now.

 

Awesome to see something different for a change, and looks like a very clean custom install.

 

Looks very nice, I like them.

Fishhook

 

That's classy, looks good. Warms up the cold steel. Certainly more creative and prettier than vinyl.


When are you getting the flying lady for the hood and wire wheels? I'd probably get grease all over those nice panels inside a week...

Edit, what are those seats out of? Were they a pretty easy install? Sometimes seat changes can be a real PITA. Been looking for something to retrofit into mine for nicer long drives.

 

Also witness the chrome door handles (out of a 70's Corolla, but some Camrys had them too) and window cranks (out of an 80's GM sedan). As for wheels, I'm rocking factory original steelies, except painted flat black. On a previous ride, my hood ornament used to be a plastic fork with tines 1, 3, and 4 bent down (you figure it out).

I wanted something pretty but relatively durable. These are easy to clean and take a beating - three coats of satin polyurethane, 3/16" plywood. I'm also coming to enjoy the five-different-shades-of-rattlecan-black on the outside, posh-on-the-inside esthetic. Some say project cars are like pets in that they eventually resemble the owner. There's certainly analogies there.

The seats are out of a second-to-last-gen Cressida. They were not plug-n-play at all; I had to remove their rails, make a plywood adapter plate for SR5 bucket rails, and for the driver's seat to be centered I had to slot out the holes in the bucket rails and shift it inwards about 1cm. I just completed a 1100-mile drive lasting three days, and for me they are tied for first place in seat comfort, along with seats from an 89-95 BMW 5-series like you see below (88-94 7'ers too). Not much adjustment room, however; if I were any taller I'd want something else. For comfort on long drives, the rest of the truck leaves much to be desired; these make it bearable. Headrests are out of an early 90's Celica (I've tried about 7 different headrests out of 80's and 90's Toyotas, and they all have compatible posts).

I know a German car interior that's black on black on black with a little reddish wood and more black and a little chrome and even more black is some kind of played-out stereotype, but I'm a sucker for it: (more here)

 

Thanks for the info. I found a Ford Windstar seat, second-gen era, is almost a drop-in replacement. The stock seats are so crappy almost anything is an upgrade. I don't know how the same era 3-series seats compare with the 5, but those are quite nice as well. The search continues...

PS, you should actually make a fork hood ornament as you state. If I saw that I'd probably wreck I'd be laughing so hard. I'm only jealous because it wasn't my idea!

 

I've only briefly sat in any 3 series, and I'd say the seats on the non-sport models are at least 90% as comfortable as the 5-series. That goes for the E30 (85-92ish) and E36 (92ish-99), though the latter had inferior materials quality.

Hood ornament? Been there, done that:

 

That is some good business right there. Totally apropreate for that truck. I like your style. Your door pannels aren't really my style but I get it.