DIY Network

Honda S2000: Custom Interior — Leather Seats and Door Panels Andrew Totolos does a little interior design work on an already-Tricked Honda S2000. Included in the upgrade: custom leather seat covers, new door panels to complement the custom exterior — and a little carbon fiber never hurts. From "Tricked Out" episode DTRK-413

(Continued from page 2)

Custom door panels

Part 2: Cover Door Panels With New Material; Prep Seats for New Material

Now that the big interior pieces have been removed from the car it's time to begin transforming them. First, Andrew covers the door panels with new material to complement the custom paint job. He then takes apart the two seats and readies them for their new custom leather seat covers.

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	Andrew applies new leather to the door panel.
	Figure D

Tools and materials for this phase of the project:

spray adhesive
wire brush
drill
scissors
impact driver

Arm Rest and Door Panels

Steps:

• For the armrest, simply rip off the old material and use spray adhesive to affix a piece of new leather.

• With each of the door panels, remove any trim pieces that are on the panel and then peel away the old vinyl. Be careful to pull away from the edges slowly so you can remove as much of the material as possible.

• There's bound to be a little residue left behind. Attach a wire brush to a drill, and gently pass it over the residue (figure D). The brush will remove it with little hassle.
  

  Figure E

• Once the panel has been stripped down, you're ready to affix the new material.

• Spray a generous amount of adhesive on both the door panel and the material. Let it cure for about ten minutes before you put them together.
  

  	Figure F
  	Figure G

• Lay the material onto the panel so that it's centered up and it hangs evenly off the edges. Continue to work it around the curves and corners for a smooth fit.

• Trim off the excess material that's hanging off the sides (figure E).

• The panel goes in just as it came out. Line up the holes and set the screws in place to keep everything in order. Screw everything into place.
  
  
• Cut a hole in the new panel for the door pull to pass through.

• Screw the door pull into place (figures F and G).

• Cut out the door latch and one more hole for the power-door-lock button, which you can pop in now.

• Allow the adhesive to dry for a couple of hours before putting the panels back in the car.
  

  The completed door panel

  
  

  The seat bottom, before reupholstery

As far as the seat covers are concerned, if you're going for a show-car look your best bet is to change the factory upholstery altogether. Andrew chose a pair of custom-sewn leather seat covers. The seats have been removed from the car, and now it's time to take them apart in order to get the old upholstery off.

Steps:

• Slide off the recline lever and remove the plastic trim piece covering the reclining mechanism.

• To speed things up, use an impact driver to remove the bolts that fasten the recliner mechanism to the seat bottom.

• On the other side, remove the plastic washer and nut from the pivot point so the seat back will pull off.

• Once the back is off, remove the rails in order to get to the bottom of the seat.

• Remove the remaining bolts — one on each side — and flip the seat over to get to the nuts that attach the tracks to the bottom.

• Work your fingers under the plastic trim on the back of the headrest and remove the trim.

• Remove the four screws that hold the honeycomb insert to the seat back.

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