My Starting Point- A sharp eye may be able to spot the peeling trim on the door panel trim and turn signal stalk.
Last week, covered the changes I made to the gauge cluster in the El Kylemino. This week, I’ll cover the appearance and functional changes made to the rest of the interior. I made most of the changes to improve the overall lock, but when possible I also try to improve overall function.
At the time of purchase, the interior was complete but sun faded, and had no significant rips in the panels or upholstery. The dash has a few cracks ad the carpet is worn out, but I planned to live with these faults. However I wanted to upgrade the radio, replace the brougham era steering wheel and change out some of the cheaper trim pieces used in the base model interior.
On all my projects, I follow a couple basic rules. I’ve never really written them down, so this is a fine time to do so:
- When possible, use OEM parts instead of aftermarket options. To my mind, OEM parts have the same or better engineering and are available at junkyard prices.
- Avoid spending money on cosmetics. I’m not a big fan of patina, but the cost of paint jobs and shiny reproduction parts is often MUCH more than mechanical modifcations.
- Try to maintain a period look. Aftermarket stereos and 20″ wheels will NOT appear on any of my cars.
- Don’t make changes for the sake of change.
Of course, I’ve broken most of these rules at some point (except #3), so consider them more guidelines than hard and fast regulations.
Black knob, shiny lock cylinder- I prefer consistency in my locking mechanisms.
With the guidelines established, let’s take a look at my interior updates. Shortly after I bought the car, the ignition lock cylinder jammed, and I noticed something odd- GM installed a flat black glove box knob, but a chrome ignition lock cylinder.
My black ignition switch- Check out those fine gauges in the background!
For consistency, I replaced the broken part with a black switch.
I’m not a fan of black plastic, but it’s better than peeling chrome.
Also, while I had the steering column disassembled, I changed out the turn signal switch for a new one. The original part looked a bit dated and suffered from peeling plasti-chrome. You’ll also notice the new part supports cruise control and delay wipers, changes I’ll review in later posts.
My new radio panel- As you may recall, a buddy gave me the deluxe tape deck, but I paid for the USB charging port.
I mentioned my radio upgrade in an earlier post, but I also replaced the cigarette lighter with a USB charging port. The port fit right into the lighter hole, but needed a little pizzazz. To finish off the port, I glued a trim ring off an accessory shift ball to the dash face.
My “new” steering wheel- I’ve been meaning to realign the bowtie for two years…
This three spoke steering wheel finished off my dashboard changes. I could have bought an aftermarket wheel for 100 or 200 bucks, but I put this one together for $75 using junkyard parts and a custom cover. As an added benefit, an OEM wheel supports the factory steering lock, unlike some aftermarket wheels.
An example of my starting point.
Step one was this junkyard Jeep steering wheel purchased for $15. Jeep has used this wheel since the seventies, and since they used Saginaw columns up through the late eighties, the wheel bolts directly to the El Camino column.
When I peeled the leather back, I discovered this foam glued to the spokes. Fortunately, it peeled off and cleaned up nicely.
To protect today’s delicate fingers the Jeep wheel included padded spoke covers. I prefer the look of bare spokes so I removed the leather and found the earlier style wheel underneath.
I can’t stand slip-on steering wheel covers- Give me the lace up style every time.
I also changed the wheel color using a lace up steering wheel cover. I’m very happy with the fit and feel of this cover, but the beige portion has not help up well (admittedly, it’s my working truck and I’m pretty tough on vehicle interiors).
Jeep center cover, Chevy emblem.
The steering wheel also needed a bow tie in the center cap. I peeled one out of a Cavalier steering wheel, and trimmed it to fit in the Jeep horn button opening. Voila- A custom wheel at junkyard prices.
The final product- I’m not a huge fan of the blackout tape, but it looks MUCH better than the peeling plasti-chrome.
With the dash board updated, I moved on to the door panels. Over time, the plasti-chrome trim had peeled off, and the square black door pull caps looked cheap. As in REALLY Cheap. To address these issues, I covered the trim with black out tape, and then bought four bright door pull covers to add a little flash to each door panel.
The current carpet- The nap has worn off exposing the backing.
I still plan to change out the bench seat for a pair of buckets, and install a new carpet, but for now the interior work is complete.
The interior is the place we spend almost all of our time, so it makes sense to get this area the way you want it.
I laughed, it seemed that the Jeep wheel in your picture had an emblem that was just as crooked (and in the same way) as the Chevy emblem you put there. At first I thought this might have been a Pontiac wheel, I would not have thought to look to Jeep as a source.
I have always wondered if there is some sort of mylar or chrome-look film that you could glue over peeling plastichrome. But the black looks like a nicely done installation.
“I have always wondered if there is some sort of mylar or chrome-look film that you could glue over peeling plastichrome”
There’s some options out there, but in my experience the material does not stretch, so laying it down is a challenge. A high quality black-out tape lays down very easily and shapes itself to any curve, so it’s the obvious choice for this job.
Still, it’s been a while since I’ve played with the chrome stuff, so maybe I should give it another chance.
Well the “chrome” vinyl as used on vehicle wraps and the like does stretch so it may lay down right.
Well much of the trim, like on the doors of GM cars from that era, are covered in Mylar from the factory. So yeah https://www.ebay.com/p/Silver-Adhesive-Mylar-20×27-Sheet/1400523939 of course getting it applied smoothly, and properly trimmed is up to you.
I’ve used pressure and solvent to remove or scrape off all the remaining plastichrome. Then clean and dry, then spray primer, then chrome spray paint. Worked well for a steering column stalk.
The interior was the one area where the “patina” of my ‘97 Toyota T100 depressed me. I could deal with the faded and scratched hard blue plastic, but the sagging worn split bench seat and the once fuzzy, now worn out, one piece molded door cards were beyond my threshold. No OEM parts available, no repro’s, and while the seat could have been reupholstered, all of the attempts I saw on the Internet to recover the doors with their compound curves looked bad. So I bought a new truck. I admire your initiative, though I think it must be a bit easier with a GM product than an orphan Toyota.
I was thinking of adding a semi-permanent USB-C port of that type but have not been able to find one that both fits flush and has a red LED to match the dash lighting. Why do they all seem to be blue?
I do recommend USB-C over traditional USB ports as it will charge newer phones faster. Be sure the wattage it puts out is ample for the fastest available charging as well – i.e. 18w for current iPhones, 25w for the latest Samsung Note. Some plugs have both types of ports.
I too, am a fan of the low buck approach to maintaining and upgrading a vehicle. All your work looks good. Can’t wait to see more upgrades. Replacing that worn carpet will make a big difference in interior ambiance.
Nice work on the upgrades. I especially like the repurposed Jeep steering wheel.
Yes, I was very pleased to discover it matched the column- I don’t care for an all plastic wheel, and GM went that way very early in the game.
The four spoke versions used in the Camaro (and Vega GT) are OK, but I don’t find the newer ones (typically found in Pickups or SUVs) very attractive, and they tend to be completely trashed by the time they show up in a junkyard.
I, too, DESPISE those slip on wheel covers. A well spaced lace on cover takes a little time, but to me, it’s worth the effort. I recently saw two cars that had absolutely hideous furry slip on steering wheel covers and my first thought was “only a woman” which subsequently proved to be true, LOL!! 🙂
Wonder how many speeding fines she’s racked up. “Officer, I didn’t know how fast I was going…”
I moved my old cars interior up market by harvesting the seats from a Singer Gazelle that way I get a bit more padding and a fold down centre armrest, it was free, the whole car is from the manufacturers parts bin except the headers even the wheels since PSA now own Rootes and the Michelin steelies came off a Citroen, its a very lo buck car. like this ute.
Do you have any advice on how to deal with GM’s fragile plastic door panels? My son’s Buick is becoming more “interesting” now that the passenger side front door panel keeps coming loose.
Two points:
1) It’s important to keep things in place and locked down (so they don’t warp, crack or jam in the door frame).
2) Most panel retainers fail once you’ve removed the panel one or two times.
Since the panel is loose, I’d order new pins and replace the broken and missing pieces. You should be able to find something at the auto parts store or on the interwebs.
Keep in mind the pins often stop holding before the “comb” breaks off. I’ve attached a picture of the pins used in the El Camino, but GM used many different variations.
Best place for retainers and other brand/vehicle specific hardware like that is NAPA. Many now have a full assortment on display and if they don’t they should have the big book behind the counter that has an example of each piece, the mfgs that use it, what it is frequently used for and the part numbers for small and sometimes large bags. Sometimes they even have the OE part number. Many of them are actual OE items that have been repackaged.
You made that Jeep wheel look like a Chevy factory part. Cool. Also noticed the AM Stereo/FM Stereo radio, which IIRC was the best offered on many GM models at that time.
Those radios I found are mostly plug-and-play, as in the connector on the back is the same across many models and years. So find the unit you like on eBay, junkyard, whatever and swap it in.
I recognize the one in the picture with the four buttons in a square and the EQ as a higher end unit. GM also used one like it in the Toronado. There’s a slightly different version (different face plate) that made it into some Bonnevilles, with red backlighting.