ShiftStyle Interior Trim A+
12-06-2008, 01:44 AM
#305
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I may have missed something up stream from here, but was there ever a steering wheel cover offered? If it could be made to really hug the wheel and not look like a wal-mart cover I'd be all over it.
I was thinking it would be just a leather wrap with stitching provided to close it up around the wheel. I would like one in black alcantara with gray stitching to match my shift boot and arm rest covers I bought in the early days of these projects
BTW, I got my stuff back in March and it's holding up great! My arm rests look awesome and are still tight and in good shape. The shift boot gets lots of complements too. I love watching someone step in to start the car and quickly become baffled when they can't find a clutch. Mine's an auto in hiding :P
I was thinking it would be just a leather wrap with stitching provided to close it up around the wheel. I would like one in black alcantara with gray stitching to match my shift boot and arm rest covers I bought in the early days of these projects
BTW, I got my stuff back in March and it's holding up great! My arm rests look awesome and are still tight and in good shape. The shift boot gets lots of complements too. I love watching someone step in to start the car and quickly become baffled when they can't find a clutch. Mine's an auto in hiding :P
12-06-2008, 12:14 PM
#306
I think alcantara on the steering wheel will look rather ugly seeing that the driver's hand is always on the wheel... not a good thing since the oils from your skin will be absorbed by the cover.
If you are looking for a steering wheel cover, AutoExe has an offering that looks OK, but it probably costs an arm and a leg (maybe a kidney too).
As for the ShiftStyle kit, I should get off my lazy *** and finally install my complete set that I have laying here for more than a month now... too little time. I may get to it in January
I'll post pictures when I'm done (and if I do a decent job
)
If you are looking for a steering wheel cover, AutoExe has an offering that looks OK, but it probably costs an arm and a leg (maybe a kidney too).
As for the ShiftStyle kit, I should get off my lazy *** and finally install my complete set that I have laying here for more than a month now... too little time. I may get to it in January
I'll post pictures when I'm done (and if I do a decent job
)
12-07-2008, 12:40 PM
#307
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I was worried about the oils causing issues, btu some of the higher end cars come stock with alcantara wheels, right? Is there a good way to clean the material w/o screwing it up? I like the idea of a softer, warmer wheel in the winter.
12-08-2008, 10:05 PM
#308
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03-17-2009, 01:37 PM
#315
I order my kit last year was suppose to be both armrests cover with red stitching and a shift-boot also with red stitching... let just say it was before the e-brake cover was available...... got the armrest(both) but still never got the shift-boot so now I will buy it again but from a different place... hopefully I will get that one. And yes I have emailed them quite a few time and about 10 pm's, what a wasted of time....
Just wanted to post my not so good trade with them.
Just wanted to post my not so good trade with them.
03-17-2009, 03:44 PM
#318
If you're looking for another shift boot option, check my comments here:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...highlight=boot
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...highlight=boot
03-21-2009, 07:28 AM
#319
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We do apologize to everyone who had a to wait a while to get their boots.
We now have 2 shops, and gaurantee a quicker turn around time for all orders.
If you have any issues, please contact us at: info@shiftstyle.com
Thank you.
We now have 2 shops, and gaurantee a quicker turn around time for all orders.
If you have any issues, please contact us at: info@shiftstyle.com
Thank you.
05-26-2009, 12:20 AM
#322
It only took me six months...
I had my complete set of the ShiftStyle interior trim since sometime last November laying in a box... and by now, I finally found time to install at least the half of it 
First I did the e-brake cover. After seeing the photos of other installations, my goal was to try to do a job that is not as ruffled and loose like the pics I saw before. It took a few tries, but I think the result is decent. Does it look as good as the OEM leather e-brake lever? Hell no... but it's also much cheaper, and ain't bad.
Since all my other stitching is black, I ordered the not-so-exciting combination of black leather with black stitching. I was thinking about going with red stitching, but decided that I'll stay with the uniform look in the interior. Actually, I did not even install the shift boot yet, but as you can see, the e-brake cover matches the stock shift boot almost perfectly. I'll install the ShiftStyle leather boot in the near future, but until then, the stock one will do fine.
Yes, I know my camera's date was a year behind
As for installation tips: I used a narrow stripe of black duct tape along the underside, just to keep the area covered where the velcroed pieces attach to each other. This is not really required but I found it prevents my fingers to pull away the edges of the cover when using the e-brake or for any dirt to get in there. It also makes the look neater from the side, although you can not see the tape at all.
It helps to use a dab of superglue here and there, especially around the edges so that the leather sticks to the handle better.
I found that the pattern ShiftStyle uses is pretty good, but at the base there is a little more material than necessary, so that may result in some ruffles if you're not careful. Also, I don't know why did they do the lower end like this - it would have been better to follow the groove on the handle instead. I did not want to trim the leather (and redo the stitching as a consequence of trimming) so I had to think how to make it look right. This pointed design is what I could come up with
First I did the e-brake cover. After seeing the photos of other installations, my goal was to try to do a job that is not as ruffled and loose like the pics I saw before. It took a few tries, but I think the result is decent. Does it look as good as the OEM leather e-brake lever? Hell no... but it's also much cheaper, and ain't bad.
Since all my other stitching is black, I ordered the not-so-exciting combination of black leather with black stitching. I was thinking about going with red stitching, but decided that I'll stay with the uniform look in the interior. Actually, I did not even install the shift boot yet, but as you can see, the e-brake cover matches the stock shift boot almost perfectly. I'll install the ShiftStyle leather boot in the near future, but until then, the stock one will do fine.
Yes, I know my camera's date was a year behind
As for installation tips: I used a narrow stripe of black duct tape along the underside, just to keep the area covered where the velcroed pieces attach to each other. This is not really required but I found it prevents my fingers to pull away the edges of the cover when using the e-brake or for any dirt to get in there. It also makes the look neater from the side, although you can not see the tape at all.
It helps to use a dab of superglue here and there, especially around the edges so that the leather sticks to the handle better.
I found that the pattern ShiftStyle uses is pretty good, but at the base there is a little more material than necessary, so that may result in some ruffles if you're not careful. Also, I don't know why did they do the lower end like this - it would have been better to follow the groove on the handle instead. I did not want to trim the leather (and redo the stitching as a consequence of trimming) so I had to think how to make it look right. This pointed design is what I could come up with
Last edited by Tamas; 05-26-2009 at 02:26 AM.
05-26-2009, 12:20 AM
#323
Next item was the front armrest cover. The cover itself is very easy to remove, it slides off after you press a plastic button on the underside. Then, five screws (plus two more holding the lock latch in place) and the cover comes apart, allowing you to try to pull the leather cover over the armrest. And here came my first problem. As I tried to pull the cover on, I probably wasn't careful enough and pulled too hard, so I tore the cover along the seam 
It probably didn't help much that the part that's tucked under the top is vinyl... it saves cost but it's not nearly as strong as leather. So I was there, cursing, with a useless piece in my hand. The first picture shows the mishap.
Instead of buying another cover, I decided to fix it, so I got a piece of real leather in black, took off the torn vinyl and used it as a pattern to fabricate the same piece made of leather. It was a pain in the *** to sew leather manually... especially since the thread (being black) was nearly impossible to see so I often had to guess where exactly am I while sewing. But finally I was done, and this time I was more careful during instalation. It still requires a bit of pulling and stretching to get the cover in place and make it tight, but the leather was much stronger than the vinyl for sure.
Yes, I know it's not perfect... on the passenger side, there is some ruffling and at a few places I couldn't exactly hit the earlier stitching line so there are some pinholes, but honestly, it's only visible if you know they are there and looking for them. All in all, while not perfect (and definitely doesn't look OEM), it's still acceptable.
It probably didn't help much that the part that's tucked under the top is vinyl... it saves cost but it's not nearly as strong as leather. So I was there, cursing, with a useless piece in my hand. The first picture shows the mishap.
Instead of buying another cover, I decided to fix it, so I got a piece of real leather in black, took off the torn vinyl and used it as a pattern to fabricate the same piece made of leather. It was a pain in the *** to sew leather manually... especially since the thread (being black) was nearly impossible to see so I often had to guess where exactly am I while sewing. But finally I was done, and this time I was more careful during instalation. It still requires a bit of pulling and stretching to get the cover in place and make it tight, but the leather was much stronger than the vinyl for sure.
Yes, I know it's not perfect... on the passenger side, there is some ruffling and at a few places I couldn't exactly hit the earlier stitching line so there are some pinholes, but honestly, it's only visible if you know they are there and looking for them. All in all, while not perfect (and definitely doesn't look OEM), it's still acceptable.
Last edited by Tamas; 05-26-2009 at 01:49 AM.
05-26-2009, 12:32 AM
#325
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