Suede Headliner

[shadow191]

So I'm about to take my FX in to have the headliner redone. Need to put in a screen for my 2 year old and the flip down ones don't fit due to the hump from the dome light. So I'm having a shop redo the headliner and build out a flat section to mount the flip down screen. I'm debating whether or not to have them recover it in a suede that closely matches the factory grey headliner. Or if I should have them do a darker color to match the rest of the interior (black). Of course if I have them redo it darker, I'd have the pillars all redone as well to match.

I'm leaning toward having it all redone in black or dark grey as I've never really liked the light grey 2 toned look. But I'm afraid if I have the entire thing done in a dark color, the interior would be too dark.

Opinions?

 

[jumbosrule]

IMO - do it up all in black.

Some FX interiors come in all black - pillars and headliner included. I know KNFX has that color scheme - I've seen it and I WANT IT TOO. Doesn't look too dark at all.

 

[robb<35>]

do it black, how much is it costing you to do this?

 

[shadow191]

I'm not sure how much for everything. It's ~$250 for the headliner itself since he has to actually reshape it. I don't know how much the A and B pillars will run. Then I need to have the C pillars finished in something to match. I don't want to do suede there since there are speakers in there. So I'm figuring out what I could use that is acoustically transparent or I may just have him paint them. Whatever the final total is, he's pretty cheap. I've been using him for 9 years now and he did 4 full custom interiors back in the day for my show cars.

do it black, how much is it costing you to do this?

 

[Holyfield]

+1 on the black. The brick interior cars have black headliner, looks great.

 

[robb<35>]

how about brick headliner in suede to match the brick leather

 

[jbaker1121]

Im having mine redone in black suede when the summer comes.....good choice

 

[AeroBFA]

I was thinking about this too, which would be really nice. A dark suede color would look really good. But what about all the plastic parts on the headliner? Like the map lights, sunglasses holder, grab handles etc. My headliner is like a light grayish color (looks faded) with matching plastic parts and the lower half, seats, floor carpeting,door panels are black. I dont want all the plastics pieces to pop out against the dark suede. Not sure if your interiors are like this too.

 

[jbaker1121]

I was thinking about this too, which would be really nice. A dark suede color would look really good. But what about all the plastic parts on the headliner? Like the map lights, sunglasses holder, grab handles etc. My headliner is like a light grayish color (looks faded) with matching plastic parts and the lower half, seats, floor carpeting,door panels are black. I dont want all the plastics pieces to pop out against the dark suede. Not sure if your interiors are like this too.

you can just paint them, krylon makes an interior plastic spray

 

[JEKL]

+1 on the black. The brick interior cars have black headliner, looks great.

Are the trim pieces, sunvisors, etc black as well. I would prefer to find those instead of painting my existing ones.

 

[shadow191]

Well it's finally done. It was a lot more work than anyone anticipated. Took my interior guy over 12 hours for the headliner, sunroof cover and A, B, and C pillars (and he has 40 years experience). I ended up going with a dark charcoal color, not pure black. Next week I need to finish it up by painting the rear upper plastic pieces which are still grey. Then I need to find black visors and pull handles. I may have to dye them, but I'd prefer not to, we'll see. Any tips on what paint matches the factory black plastic? I've sampled a few, but most are too "black" or too shiny to match the oem black plastic.

I'll have pics up soon, everything looks good though.

 

[Tangerine]

Your local paint shop should be able to make any color paint you want. I took out my a-pillar and they matched the paint well. This was not for an Infiniti though. How much did the whole project end up costing if you don't mind me asking.

 

[ThE Fx 45 BeAsT]

I did the pieces with duplicolor for vinyl with the matte black then used a flat clear coat which match really well.

 

[shadow191]

Total project was about $700. It worked out to $600 for labor and $100 for materials. It's not real suede as it's basically impossible to find a single piece of suede big enough to cover a headliner, plus it wouldn't conform all that well. The A and B pillars were easy, the C pillars were hard. The sunroof cover was also easy, but the headliner itself was a nightmare. It also takes forever to get everything out, you have to take out the trunk area plastic pieces just to get the C pillars out.

Your local paint shop should be able to make any color paint you want. I took out my a-pillar and they matched the paint well. This was not for an Infiniti though. How much did the whole project end up costing if you don't mind me asking.

 

[shadow191]

Here are some quick pictures. I need to brush the suede and of course match the plastic.

 

[Tko512iFX]

Looks Cool! I like the look a lil pricey for me though

 

[jumbosrule]

I like it too - but would drive me crazy if it weren't brushed properly all the time. I'm sort of OCD like that.

Seeing it confirms my opinion tho - darker headliner is the way to go on the FX interior.

 

[jbaker1121]

the way you have it would drive me crazy. Unbrushed, things not matching, etc. I was thinking of getting this done by a shop because my friend has his G37 done and it came out great. Also, the pricing for everything is a bit less than what you posted

 

[shadow191]

I just haven't bothered brushing it this week because this weekend I have to finish the wiring along with matching the plastic pieces. It actually doesn't look that messy in real life, I think the flash of the camera accentuates it a bit.

And jbaker, the guy I use isn't the cheapest around. But he's done 4 custom interiors for me before so I trust him.

Still trying to decide what to do with the grab handles though. I can paint the rest, but I've yet to find a paint that works well on surfaces that get handled a lot.

 

[threepointfive]

that looks really good, is it suede or alcantara?