Interior alcantara trim on S1 - how difficult is it to do?

[Sune]

Hi'

I really like the look of the alcantara trim on seats, door panels and dashboards. I'm thinking of retrimming myself, but before I start I would like to get a take on the difficulty level from someone who has done it and maybe to get some tips.
Is it a straight-on job, or is there a great risk of making an irreversible mess ?
My car is a standard S1 from 1998.

Thanks

[Chimjunkie]

Would have thought this is a profesional skilled job to do. Not irreversible though. If you dont get on well then drop the seats into a local trimmer. Better still, go to Allon Whites in MiltonKeynes area and get a retrim with Probax

[Sune]

As it happens I bought the car from Allon White some 2 years ago, however I brought it to Denmark where I live. Anyway, I will get in touch with a pro. Probax - is that a material you can use for retrimming? I've seen the name a few times in here (Probax seats).

[Chimjunkie]

Probax is the trademark name for the cusioning system used. Allon Whites is leicensed to use it since they helped develop it for Lotus. Basically it is an orthopedically designed cusioning/support system to minimise fatigue on the back. I have bought a set of S2 Probax seats for my s1. Best £550 i have spent on the car

[S Works]

To do the doorcards and some of the interior trim is possible yourself, if you have time, patience and can get hold of the right materials. Search here and on SELOC, quite a few have done it.

The challenge is if you want to pad out parts of the trim with foam, but it's not impossible.

For upholstery most would leave that to the professionals. Here in England most folks would either go to a specialist company or send their seats back to Lotus for a retrim. If you want an idea of prices, google for Bell & Colvill's online shop. It has all the prices listed there for the various options available.

[Incredible Sulk]

I had my sills re-trimmed in alcantara, and I bought a pair of Tilletts, also trimmed in alcantara (or faux suede or something, but it looks the same). I didn't to the door trims, just left them in the black plastic. Inside looks the Dogs now.

As far as doing it yourself is concerned, I think to get it looking good, it's going to be on the difficult side of hard. I destroyed my sill trim pads getting them off, so I had to buy new ones. It wasn't much more expensive to buy the new ones compared to having the old ones re-trimmed, especially after you factor in a SELOC discount.

Now all I need to do is to find out how the stuff is going to wear, because worn alcantara tends to look really crap!

[S Works]

It actually wears quite well. If you get hold of some suede shoe protector, that'll help on the sills. It will darken the colour though, so test on a small area you can't see first if you give it a try.