When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have had my Black 2005 widetrack STI for over two years now and really wanted the black Spec-C seats I had in my old one but struggled to source a set (On going search) so looked into getting a re-trim and the couple of places I have spoken to have said the problem is the front seats as the alcantara is glued onto the foam and wouldn't be easily removed without damaging the seats.
I was advised due to the condition of the seats not to risk it as the seats wouldn't be as good afterwards. So as my search continues for other options / a good set of seats and door cards to pop up I decided to look at the rest of the interior as I prefer the dark look I have in my A45, had the same black in my Leon Cupra K1.
Came across a company offering custom made "skin" parts for the headliner, A, B & C Pillars in leather so I got in touch and enquired about availability in black alcantara. They sent me a few colour samples to try in the car and after a brief discussion around said items and deciding on stitching colour I placed an order for black alcantara with black stitching.
I had also purchased a second set of plastics as I was considering getting them carbon dipped so I didn't have to strip the car until I was happy with either finish.
Items arrived last week and I spent the weekend fitting, a few pictures below....
A-Pillars before & after
B-Pillars before & after
C-Pillars before & after
Really pleased with the outcome and how well the fit, especially the stitching lining up with the edges / curves on the plastics.
I got the headliner out but ran out of spray glue with a small bit left to do so will post up pictures once complete.
I couldn't wait to see the parts in place so had to refit some of the plastics to see what it looked like.
Not the greatest photos as it had gone dark and the flash made the alcantara look much lighter than it is
Drivers side A-Pillar
Passenger side A-Pillar
Drivers Side - C-Pillar
Just need to decide now what to do with the seat belt inserts on the C-Pillars, I have asked about buying some more alacantara but think that could make them impossible to fit due to the additional thickness of the material on both parts (Already much tighter now re-trimmed) I could have carbon dipped or use the black plasti coat liquid vinyl I have used on the headliner fittings
Mark
Last edited by Scooby-Mark; 12 October 2016 at 09:50 AM.
Nice work Mark. I was told the same as you regarding the fabric being bonded to the foam by the first trimmer I went to. But it can be done and didn't turn out to be a problem. I ended up using Transcal, a commercial trimmers in Livingston just outside Edinburgh. They peeled the bonded fabric from the seats, and bonded scrim foam to the back of the new leather, then bonded that to the seats. You just have to find a trimmers who has done it before. I even had heating elements fitted.
Interesting reading your thread regarding the alcantara being replaced, maybe I won't give up hope, I was given the details of another trimmer but didn't bother as was expecting the same answer.
My car has only done 35K miles so seats are in A1 condition, I did get some WR1 seats, a year older and felt much more worn than mine, probably due to being from a much higher mileage car.
Will definitely pursue the re-trimming route further now
Transcal offer a specific repair service for Subaru seats and can match the blue alcantara so it can be done, but like my leather seats, its not cheap. Best to find some genuine good ones, will be much cheaper.
Transcal offer a specific repair service for Subaru seats and can match the blue alcantara so it can be done, but like my leather seats, its not cheap. Best to find some genuine good ones, will be much cheaper.
It's a shame they are so far away from me
I was given a ball park figure from the one guy which wasn't cheap.
To be fair I have just sold a complete WR1 interior mainly because the seats weren't as good as mine and the door cards didn't fit and invested the money into these alcantara bits.
Might consider if the seats are good but not sure.
Any photos??
Really want to do the same to my wide track blob.. have put spec c black carpet in, spec c door cards, wrx black rear seats and sparco pro 2000 bucket seats like you want to do headliner and pillars.. where did you get the fabric from?
To be fair I have just sold a complete WR1 interior mainly because the seats weren't as good as mine and the door cards didn't fit and invested the money into these alcantara bits.
Might consider if the seats are good but not sure.
Any photos??
Certainly a good mod, if your not sure mate don't bother with the spec c seats as the roof lining and bits will look really well how about a pair of bride seats that come with red stitching that way no sti badges in your car and you got quality seats in there you could always re trim the rears to bride aswell a member did it to his hatch a while ago looked really nice.maybe another thing on your TO DO LIST
Really want to do the same to my wide track blob.. have put spec c black carpet in, spec c door cards, wrx black rear seats and sparco pro 2000 bucket seats like you want to do headliner and pillars.. where did you get the fabric from?
Pretty much the same route I am trying to go, found a black carpet to buy and really wanted to get rid of the light grey plastic and darken the interior up a bit, got hold of a set of JDM tinted windows a few months back too and already the desired effect is there, much darker when sat in the car.
As I said I had sourced a second set of plastics from a breaker to try a few things out, considered carbon dipping or plasti coat liquid vinyl. I had toyed with the idea of buying a length of black alcantara and having a go at trimming the bits myself.
I found I came across a company on eBay, J F Customs (Link to the headliner below)
They make up and stitch together pieces to fit all the bits, plenty of colour options for the stitching, even sent me several samples of different coloured alcantara to try out in the car, craftsmanship is very good and as long as you take your time lining them up the stitching fits the trim perfectly. A much better finish than just trying to wrap it in my opinion and the stitching detail really finishes the pieces off.
Certainly a good mod, if your not sure mate don't bother with the spec c seats as the roof lining and bits will look really well how about a pair of bride seats that come with red stitching that way no sti badges in your car and you got quality seats in there you could always re trim the rears to bride aswell a member did it to his hatch a while ago looked really nice.maybe another thing on your TO DO LIST
I am pleased with the progress so far
I think once all the light grey has gone the blue seats won't look too bad, for the time being
I did toy with the idea of swapping the front seats for some good bucket seats, need to look around as have no real idea but then for the cost of two decent bucket seats would I get these re-trimmed and at least keep the proper seats
Also which ever route I take the door cards will still be the biggest stumbling block I guess
Pretty much the same route I am trying to go, found a black carpet to buy and really wanted to get rid of the light grey plastic and darken the interior up a bit, got hold of a set of JDM tinted windows a few months back too and already the desired effect is there, much darker when sat in the car.
As I said I had sourced a second set of plastics from a breaker to try a few things out, considered carbon dipping or plasti coat liquid vinyl. I had toyed with the idea of buying a length of black alcantara and having a go at trimming the bits myself.
I found I came across a company on eBay, J F Customs (Link to the headliner below)
They make up and stitch together pieces to fit all the bits, plenty of colour options for the stitching, even sent me several samples of different coloured alcantara to try out in the car, craftsmanship is very good and as long as you take your time lining them up the stitching fits the trim perfectly. A much better finish than just trying to wrap it in my opinion and the stitching detail really finishes the pieces off.
Well worth a look
Great thanks just dropped them a email. Also asked if they can do the dash
A bit of an update, didn't get much time over the weekend to get much done but managed to finish of the headliner and begin to refit.
Headliner before
Headliner after
Again begun to lose the light so photos of it fitted were poor.
I have to say using the liquid spray vinyl stuff (Plasti dip) for the plastic bits is great, was unsure it would work but pleasantly surprised by results.
I want to do the exact same thing, except i'm going to go with something a bit different for the headliner.
Whats the finish like on the plastidip parts? I was thinking about doing all the pillars and related plastic bits in plastidip but worried it might look a bit tacky especially on such large pieces.
Are you going to do anything about the dash? I've seen some pics of an Alacantra trimmed dash on one of the US forums and it looked amazing.
Also, any advice for doing the headliner? I'm going to attempt it in the next couple of weeks.
I want to do the exact same thing, except i'm going to go with something a bit different for the headliner.
Whats the finish like on the plastidip parts? I was thinking about doing all the pillars and related plastic bits in plastidip but worried it might look a bit tacky especially on such large pieces.
Are you going to do anything about the dash? I've seen some pics of an Alacantra trimmed dash on one of the US forums and it looked amazing.
Also, any advice for doing the headliner? I'm going to attempt it in the next couple of weeks.
Cheers
Cheers mate
To be honest I was very surprised by the finish, I too was very cautious about doing it especially on moving parts such as the buttons on the interior lights. I spoke to a local breaker and purchased a set of A,B & C-Pillar trims and the front and centre lights to experiment before changing anything over in the car.
So far all I have sprayed in the plasti-dip are the push fittings to hold the headliner in at the rear and above the drivers seat and the two lights.
All have come out better than expected, was shocked how good they look.
I am planning on doing the inserts on the C-Pillars and refitting everything this weekend so will post up some pictures.
I am leaving the dash (for now ) my first aim was to darken the interior up and lose all the light grey, I have picked up a Spec-D black carpet to fit now and really want to get the Spec-C seats and door cards or get a re-trim to match.
Advice on the headliner, take your time !!!
It's quite a tight squeeze to remove it from the car and if you are covering it like I have work from the centre out.
It is amazing just how many curves and different angles you have to negotiate to cover it.
A few more things finished off over the weekend, coating the plastic parts took a little longer to dry than expected but a few are fitted now. also managed to use the drying time to swap the blue carpet for a black carpet from a STI Spec-D.
The headliner and all plastics re-fitted, I have put the seatbelts and grab handles back on in the light grey colour while I decide what to do regarding plasti dipping as I am concerned the constant movement may cause it to rub off.
Front courtesy light now in black
Headliner and A-Pillar with grey grab handle, flash used as is actually really dark !!
Without flash in broad daylight too.
Also swapped the hazard switch for a black one I have picked up
Before :-
After :-
Just really the sun visors to sort now, I have alcantara covers but I don't think they are great.
Was there ever a newage model that had black sun visors and grab handles ??
Last edited by Scooby-Mark; 24 October 2016 at 11:20 PM.
Looks amazing mate!
You've inspired me to pull my finger out and start doing mine.
Are all the parts you fitted from J-F Customs?
Were the sunvisor covers from them rubbish?
Rich
Cheers Rich
Yes I contacted them direct as they only advertised the pillars in leather on eBay, all very well cut and stitched parts, fit really well to the bits of trim (as long as you take your time) I found the headliner the hardest because of the curves and different directions, there are a few tiny creases but not noticeable
As you say the sun visors aren't great, don't seem to fit perfectly at all, you get one bit right then the Velcro at the top doesn't meet up or the gap for the mirror doesn't sit right
Reverting to plan B for them, just haven't worked out what that is yet
Mark
Last edited by Scooby-Mark; 23 January 2017 at 02:05 PM.
Yes I contacted them direct as they only advertised the pillars in leather on eBay, all very well cut and stitched parts, fit really well to the bits of trim (as long as you take your time) I found the headliner the hardest because of the curves and different directions, there are a few tiny creases but not noticeable
As you say the sun visors aren't great, don't seem to fit perfectly at all, you get one bit right then the Velcro at the top doesn't meet up or the gap for the mirror doesn't sit right
Reverting to plan B for them, just haven't worked out what that is yet
Mark
I've done the same thing, but I've asked them if they can do the headliner in a totally different material.
Did it help having the headliner cut to shape by them? Since you have to glue it on yourself would it be just as easy to buy the material yourself and do it?
If its basically going to be the same job I don't want to pay something like £150 or whatever it is for the privilege of them cutting the material and me sticking it on.
Have you seen they do dash covers too? I really want to recover my dash but not sure what the fit would be like.
I've done the same thing, but I've asked them if they can do the headliner in a totally different material.
Did it help having the headliner cut to shape by them? Since you have to glue it on yourself would it be just as easy to buy the material yourself and do it?
If its basically going to be the same job I don't want to pay something like £150 or whatever it is for the privilege of them cutting the material and me sticking it on.
Have you seen they do dash covers too? I really want to recover my dash but not sure what the fit would be like.
To be totally honest I did think that at first, what am I paying for ??
They did quote me £65 per Square metre of the same fabric and once they arrived I am glad I went down the route of getting them pre cut.
The way they had been cut and stitched meant they sat nicely on all the plastics with the stitching exactly where you wanted it to be.
Can just see it in the photos how the stitching follows the shapes
And again with the headliner, you basically get three section stitched together and it gives a nice finish over the centre cross section either side of the centre light (I chose black stitching, but other colours would highlight it more) Being pre cut and shaped certainly made it easier to fit, just like the plastics.
Worth the extra in my opinion, I don't think you would get the same finish using a single piece.
Last edited by Scooby-Mark; 24 January 2017 at 02:51 PM.
12 October 2016, 09:47 AM
05 STI Black Alcantara Re-Trim
