Simple answer: I couldn’t stand the color. If the 240 hadn’t fallen in my lap, I would not have considered buying it because of the color. What to do? A complete interior swap!
Not my preference.
Sourcing the Parts
Back in the day, before list serves went the way of the dinosaur, I was part of a 240 list. Someone had posted interior parts from an S14a for sale. He had totaled his 240 and was selling a few parts of the interior. The listing was for seats and a few other miscellaneous parts. I emailed him about the rest and he said the car was still accessible. The only other problem was that everything was in Florida and I live in Indiana.
A quick call to a close friend with a truck and we took a road trip. We picked up the seats and miscellaneous parts and headed to the scrap yard where the car was located. Other than the dashboard and driver’s airbag, I picked up everything else including the carpet and seat belts!
Beyond the broken glass that was everywhere, this was a blast!
Sorting and Cleaning
After the long drive home, I couldn’t wait to start installing the parts. I sorted all of the parts and cleaned them. I quickly tore the original interior out and installed the new pieces…at least what I had on hand.
Comparing some of the parts.
The first round of parts did not include the dashboard, column cover and steering wheel. It took me a while to locate more of the parts and I installed them when they arrived. In order to avoid buying a black airbag, I elected to swap in an aftermarket steering wheel. I covered the conversion in another write-up.
Round 1 complete! It took me a while to find the rest of the pieces.
Wrapping it up
Within a few months, I found the rest of the parts that I needed. The time and effort to complete this swap was absolutely worth it! I had a car that I loved and enjoyed driving. I couldn’t believe the difference a color change could make!
Cap off the project with a set of brand new floor mats from Nissan.
Now that I had an interior I loved, it was time for fresh paint. Check out the next installment for the details.
For more pictures and details form the project, check out the pictures below.
Pulling the interior from the donor 240 was a challenge due to all of the broken glass and filth.
As the pieces were pulled, they were piled on the roof. This only got taller as the day moved on.
Don’t mind me, just gutting the car.
For such a small interior, there are quite a few parts! The color change requires everything but the head liner!
Everything AND the kitchen sink…or carpet.
It just doesn’t look right.
Before the tearout
The dash and passenger seat
Door panels
Back Seat
The difference between the ’95 and ’98 are subtle. The pattern in the seats and the rear speaker grills.
A quick check to compare the colors. What a difference!
Most of the car is cleared out and ready for the new parts.
It’s amazing, when spread out, how much space an interior can consume.
This small box of parts indicates how important it is to have the donor car available. Trying to get every little piece separately would be daunting task.
Every part has to be changed.
The belts continued the “green” theme.
The panels behind the rear seat needed to be replaced.
End of Day one shot. I still needed to deeply scrub the carpet. I swapped it in later.
Although there is still too much green, day one was a huge step forward.
This is a great shot showing some of the smaller parts necessary like the side vent and lower kick panels.
I swapped the original speaker grills to the new rear deck.
The pile of green parts was significant!
The original carpet was packed with dirt, glass and growing plants! I aggressively shampooed and pressure washed the carpet to perfection!
I had to pull some of the replaced interior to set the carpet in place.
I could have waited to swap what I had once the carpet was clean but I couldn’t wait. It cost me more wrench time in the end but that’s all right.
The freshly scrubbed carpet looked brand new. I couldn’t be happier.
The transformation is almost complete.
I ordered new floor mats from Nissan. Not here yet.
I found a steering column cover at this point. All I need is a dash…
I finished the project by swapping in a dash and installing a Momo steering wheel.
