[vigsom]

Background

This mod dates back to September 2008, the time I owned the humble Maruti Versa DX.

Having owned the car for four years, I felt the need to do something to spruce up the MUV’s interiors since the stock interior was a combination of grey seats, a black dash, grey flooring and a dull look.

Here are some stock interior pictures for reference, before we move on.







Idea Generation and Planning

Beige interiors were a “luxury” those days, and I said to myself,” If Mercs, Jettas and Accords can have beige interiors, why can’t a Versa?”

I then began looking at images of various cars to find out which theme would be ideal – remember this was a one-time project and I didn’t want ANY rework.





After looking at the then Innova V, the then Jetta and the 2007 Accord , I then got down to figuring out how to go about sprucing up the interiors in a beige-black finish :

1. Art leather or fabric? Chose fabric as

a) most art leather available at stores wasn’t UV resistant, plus art leather wasn’t the best thing for seats since they’d get very uncomfortable in hot weather

b) didn’t want to spend on genuine automotive grade leather for this car

2. What needed to be covered in beige and what should remain stock?

* Beige - All door panel trims, rear hatch trim, third row side body trims, steering wheel, glove box front, removable panel cap at the left top of the dashboard and the dash surround panel

* Stock – armrests, floor carpets, mats, seat back zippers, gear lever console, seat belts, glovebox lock, dashboard center AC vents

Here are representative pictures of the dash surround panel with AC vents and the dash panel top left panel cap that needed to be removed for conversion to beige





I also contemplated retrofitting the beige steering wheel of the Zen Estilo in the Versa but then shelved the plan for one reason – should it not be a good fit, I would not be able to return it to the MGP distributor.

There was no Zen Estilo with any of my acquaintances else it would have been very easy to remove the steering and check

3. Executor – we had a guy, Ashok, who specialized in car seats and have seen some of his earlier work; that was quite reassuring.

4. Material for the seats – chose two shades of beige under a type called Japan Velvet. The furnishing guy vouched for its durability and I doubly confirmed that the Japan velvet wouldn’t become mangy like the regular velvet.


Seats - Execution by Ashok

1. All the seats were removed; dismantling the second row foldable seat wasn’t easy but was managed

2. Door panels were removed but since these were hardboard trims, the armrests and magazine holder were found plastic - riveted to the board. The rivets were removed

3. Hardboard trims on the rear hatch and on the sides of the third row were removed

4. The seats’ stock covers were taken off and the original zippers re-used – no aftermarket zipper was expected to be as durable as these

5. The grey felt on the foldable seat, plus the seat back and bottom of the third row were also re-used to give the seats a professional finish

6. Basic foam on the seat remained; additional bolstering was done using a mix of extra foam and a little of EPE foam

7. Seat covers were made with the two shades of beige that were selected – I later realised that I could have gone a shade darker

8. One sample seat was finished and offered for inspection – the end product was unbelievable and approved forthwith

9. All other seats were done up and ready in 10 days

10. While fixing back the boards to the existing door panel, fine screws with washers had to be used since the plastic rivets had been chopped off

Dash Panels – repainted through an FNG who specializes in bodywork

1. Glove box lock removed

2. Steering wheel removed

3. Dash surround panel and top left panel cap removed

4. Vents removed from the dashboard surround panel

5. All panels finished with plastic primer and a beige automotive finish

6. Dried the painted panels out overnight

7. Refitted the vents on the dashboard panel and the lock on the glove box

8. refitted these parts back into the car

New Provision for front speakers

The Versa came with provision for only 4” speakers in the dash.
Post this mod, I was also able to conceptualize and create openings in the door for 5.25” speakers, which I mounted on MDF rings.




The Result - Bon Appetit !!!












Time and Money

Execution viz. FROM dismantling seats and panels TO refitting the seats and panels back took 10 days

The work was done in less than INR 10k, partially because I had a good rapport with the executor Ashok and my FNG friend, Joby.

Withstanding the Test of Time

I designed the beige dashboard panel of the Versa in 2008, well before the Eeco came with its own home grown beige dash panel.

This mod was done in Sep2008; the car moved to another owner in Dec2010, but the seats and the refinished panels are in the same condition even after 12 years.

Replication

This idea can be replicated in any car that has black or dull interiors – just that some planning is required to identify those sections that need to be re-done at the optimum cost.

[blackwasp]

Wow, that's quite neat mod there. I think there is scope for this for a wider audience who don't like the OEM interiors. The work you have done shows quality and dedication.

Cheers!

[R2D2]

Good mod vigsom and a job well done. I am sure it will inspire others too. Only hitch is getting the right person to work on the interiors.

[batladanny]

Nice! This would've made it look significantly upmarket in 2008. The dull gray plastics were definitely an eyesore.

I was literally thinking of doing something similar for my Freestyle. Not a fan of the mud+black interiors. Was thinking of maybe swapping out the dash and other panels for the one from the Aspire. Let's see. Will update if I do indeed do that.

[Dhruba_Nazira]

I have a somewhat different requirement. The dashboard of my eleven year old i10 is beige. In fact the entire interior is beige. For a change I want to change the dashboard colour to black or dark grey. That will supposedly bring some freshness to the old car, which I am planning to keep for four more years until the fifteen years deadline.

[wheeledwanderer]

Nice work, neatly executed. Where is the FNG Joby and Ashok based out of? Could be of help to others in the forum if a contacts were made available?

[urbanzameendar]

Wow! That looks neat. Noted for my Alto which has a very basic grey interiors. Thanks.

[vipin_raj6]

Hey friends,

I am looking to paint my Figo (2019, 1.2 petrol) interior all black, which includes roofliner, ABC pillars and sunshades etc... Not really sure how to go about it and get it done

a) Not sure which modification/customisation centre in Bangalore could take this up (have contracted some of them around here, no one seems to be confident to get it on)

b) Take it up as a DIY project, order some spray cans and get it done at home

c) Head over to an upholstery guy and change the roofliner from grey to black

Kindly let me know your thoughts on this.

[88_TANK_88]

IMO paint on sunshades and roofliner would be bad. ABC pillars can be painted on, as they are plastic. For sunshades you can get seat cover fabricators to make a cover/replacement in faux leather. Similiarly for the roofliners, you will need help of professionals.