# Microsuede is your friend...



## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

*Microsuede is your friend...update pic in OP.*

OEM headliner failure:









New foam headliner material:









Microsuede attached:










Close color match to OEM:










Update: Interior parts layed out, front to back, to maintain grain of the material from front to back.










cheers


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## jaxtt (Jul 17, 2012)

Nice work! Please post a pic when you have it installed.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

jaxtt said:


> Nice work! Please post a pic when you have it installed.


Thanks. I still need to cover the plastic A-B-C pillar trim. Then I'll do the trunk sides and floor plus the seat backs. I'll continue to update this thread.

cheers


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## [email protected] (May 14, 2009)

Love it chief! Seems like a good winter project!


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

:thumbup: It will look great, can't wait to see how it turns out. I am about to start wrapping a good amount of mine in carbon.


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## Mykal (Sep 7, 2012)

What are you using for adhesive?


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## jbrehm (May 16, 2006)

Looks good, OP. I'm interested in how everything else turns out, so please do keep it updated. I'd like to swap from grey to black.


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## Morio (Feb 16, 1999)

looks fantastic!!!


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Mykal said:


> What are you using for adhesive?


I'm using Loctite High Performance 200. It was the only one that specifically said to use for cloth, foam, plastic plus other stuff. I was going to use the 3M stuff but neither medium nor high performance addressed foam+cloth+plastic so out of paranoia, I went with the Loctite.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> Love it chief! Seems like a good winter project!


Winter??? Can't wait that long, LOL. Hopefully done in the next two weeks.



Forty-six and 2 said:


> :thumbup: It will look great, can't wait to see how it turns out. I am about to start wrapping a good amount of mine in carbon.


Carbon..that's so 2010. Go alcantara...it's so 2011. ;-)



jbrehm said:


> Looks good, OP. I'm interested in how everything else turns out, so please do keep it updated. I'd like to swap from grey to black.


I thought about black, but since my interior is AG, I decided to stay with gray.



Morio said:


> looks fantastic!!!


Cheer's my friend. Means a lot coming from the guy with the classiest black coupe in Tejas.


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

I did mine in black suede. Microfiber would have been easier. Real leather is not easy to work with.


Also, make sure you degass/cure your adhesive properly or it WILL start to sag. You need to lay out all your trimmed pieces and let the adhesive cure completely, then reheat the adhesive with a hairdryer. I'm kicking myself for not doing it. I have to redo both pillars:banghead:


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

warranty225cpe said:


> I did mine in black suede. Microfiber would have been easier. Real leather is not easy to work with.
> 
> 
> Also, make sure you degass/cure your adhesive properly or it WILL start to sag. You need to lay out all your trimmed pieces and let the adhesive cure completely, then reheat the adhesive with a hairdryer. I'm kicking myself for not doing it. I have to redo both pillars:banghead:


W225: So how long does degas/cure take? By degas /cure, what do you mean? Is it: spray, let dry to tacky, wait for some additional period of time, heat with dryer, then join both materials? Adhesive directions said spray, let dry to tackiness, then join both sides.

b.


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

TTC2k5 said:


> Carbon..that's so 2010. Go alcantara...it's so 2011. ;-)




Well, it is a 2001. I guess I'm just shooting for more of a "period correct" look.:laugh:

I can appreciate alcantara, but just don't care too much for it.


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

TTC2k5 said:


> W225: So how long does degas/cure take? By degas /cure, what do you mean? Is it: spray, let dry to tacky, wait for some additional period of time, heat with dryer, then join both materials? Adhesive directions said spray, let dry to tackiness, then join both sides.
> 
> b.


You could speed up the process by hitting the freshly sprayed adhesive wit a hairdryer. If when you get in your car for the next few days, you notice a hazy film on your windshield, that's the affect of degassing. It's just the fuels being released in the atmosphere because the chemicals/vapors are still present in its wet state. Spray then let it set up (without being sandwiched between material) till the adhesive DRIES. Then, get out the hairdryer to "reactivate" the adhesive. Once reactivated it should be noticeably stickier than without letting it cure first.


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

:thumbup: Good advice. I will be sure to remember that.:beer:


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

Forty-six and 2 said:


> :thumbup: Good advice. I will be sure to remember that.:beer:


Lol, I learned the hard way:beer:


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

warranty225cpe said:


> You could speed up the process by hitting the freshly sprayed adhesive wit a hairdryer. If when you get in your car for the next few days, you notice a hazy film on your windshield, that's the affect of degassing. It's just the fuels being released in the atmosphere because the chemicals/vapors are still present in its wet state. Spray then let it set up (without being sandwiched between material) till the adhesive DRIES. Then, get out the hairdryer to "reactivate" the adhesive. Once reactivated it should be noticeably stickier than without letting it cure first.


OK. I sprayed both surfaces and let it dry for about 10-15 minutes. It became tacky like the sticky side of tape (but no longer wet) to the touch. Then I joined the two materials. I won't be reinstalling the headliner for a couple of days...hopefully in that time it will degas.

Because it was still tacky, I was able to work it and get a good fit in the compound curves. But, you do need to work relatively fast.

cheers


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

You don't want tacky, you want dry. Which tells you that all the liquid has been turned to gas. THEN heat it up to make it crazy sticky.

The good part about the hair dryer is that you can let the material dry, then reactivate with the hairdryer as you go. You still have to work kinda quickly, but not as much of a hustle since its already dry.

Edit: you might be ok, but if you start to see areas that aren't sticking, you'll know why.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

warranty225cpe said:


> You don't want tacky, you want dry. Which tells you that all the liquid has been turned to gas. THEN heat it up to make it crazy sticky.
> 
> The good part about the hair dryer is that you can let the material dry, then reactivate with the hairdryer as you go. You still have to work kinda quickly, but not as much of a hustle since its already dry.
> 
> Edit: you might be ok, but if you start to see areas that aren't sticking, you'll know why.


I'll try that approach on the next piece...rear headliner panel and A-B-C pillar plastic.

If I understand you right, you're saying:
1. spray both surfaces
2. let both surfaces completely dry...no tackiness
3. heat surfaces with hair dryer to achieve stickiness
4. join both surfaces.

another question: if the surfaces dry and you find you need to separate them to achieve a better "fit", will the heat from the hair dryer soften the bond enough so that you can pull them apart without damage and re-fit the piece of cloth?


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

TTC2k5 said:


> I'll try that approach on the next piece...rear headliner panel and A-B-C pillar plastic.
> 
> If I understand you right, you're saying:
> 1. spray both surfaces
> ...


Thats exactly what im saying. Take your time and lay one layer of material at a time. Obviously the foam layer isn't going to hold up like the fabric/leather will once you start moving it around. 



TTC2k5 said:


> another question: if the surfaces dry and you find you need to separate them to achieve a better "fit", will the heat from the hair dryer soften the bond enough so that you can pull them apart without damage and re-fit the piece of cloth?


Yes, but like the above statement, if there is a foam layer in the middle, say bye bye to your foam layer. For this reason, I decided to skip the foam. If your worried about noise, while you got the headliner off is the time to throw up some sound proofing.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

warranty225cpe said:


> Thats exactly what im saying. Take your time and lay one layer of material at a time. Obviously the foam layer isn't going to hold up like the fabric/leather will once you start moving it around.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but like the above statement, if there is a foam layer in the middle, say bye bye to your foam layer. For this reason, I decided to skip the foam. If your worried about noise, while you got the headliner off is the time to throw up some sound proofing.


Doing the headliner has actually been over a period of several days and a multi-step process. The old material, foam, and glue was removed on the 5th. then the bare headliner sat for 3 days. The new foam headliner material was glued-on on the 8th. That has been "drying/curing" until today when I glued-on the microsuede. 

b.


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

TTC2k5 said:


> Doing the headliner has actually been over a period of several days and a multi-step process. The old material, foam, and glue was removed on the 5th. then the bare headliner sat for 3 days. The new foam headliner material was glued-on on the 8th. That has been "drying/curing" until today when I glued-on the microsuede.
> 
> b.


Then your probably good. It's the conversion from liquid to gas, while sandwiched/trapped between the material that causes issue.


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## Neb (Jan 25, 2005)

I've never heard about the reheating to stick part.

I do know that 3M super 90 (NOT super 77) would be the can to get if you went the 3M route. I've always just followed the directions on the can so it doesn't sag. I'm sure while the reheating will give the security, if you use the right product from the start it should be ok too :beer:


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Neb said:


> I've never heard about the reheating to stick part.
> 
> I do know that 3M super 90 (NOT super 77) would be the can to get if you went the 3M route. I've always just followed the directions on the can so it doesn't sag. I'm sure while the reheating will give the security, if you use the right product from the start it should be ok too :beer:


Yea, using 3M super 90 was actually my plan, but as I read the directions on the can, it did not specifically list "foam" so I was scared away...Loctite did.


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## Neb (Jan 25, 2005)

Did you just source the foam from a local fabric store?


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Neb said:


> Did you just source the foam from a local fabric store?


Yes. In pic #2 above, you see "headliner material" from JoAnn Fabrics. It is a gray material bonded to a thin foam layer. Under $14.00 per yard. I glued that (foam side down) to the headliner first, then glued the microsuede to the new surface.

They also have it in black and tan.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

New pic added in OP.

cheers.


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

That's funny. I got my leather from "Joann's" also. Something like $75 out the door. Leather isn't cheap, bu it sure is sexy


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

warranty225cpe said:


> That's funny. I got my leather from "Joann's" also. Something like $75 out the door. Leather isn't cheap, bu it sure is sexy


Joann's had some pale gray (black and a few other colors) microsuede, but it seemed rather thin, and lower quality then what I got at the commercial store. But, they were the only ones with "headliner" material (material bonded to thin sheet of foam.)

Post-up some pics of that sexy leather. ;-)

cheers


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## 1.8Tbug (Jun 17, 2008)

nice job did mine about a year back in suede it looks amazing and i love it 

how did you remove the backs of the rear seats i wouldnt mind doing mine?


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

TTC2k5 said:


> Joann's had some pale gray (black and a few other colors) microsuede, but it seemed rather thin, and lower quality then what I got at the commercial store. But, they were the only ones with "headliner" material (material bonded to thin sheet of foam.)
> 
> Post-up some pics of that sexy leather. ;-)
> 
> cheers


I'll take some pics soon. And yeah, micro suede is much thinner than what I used. My buddy that owns an interior shop said that if you go to thick with the adhesive and it bless through to the other side, gasoline will clean it up. Pretty crazy


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

warranty225cpe said:


> I'll take some pics soon. And yeah, micro suede is much thinner than what I used. My buddy that owns an interior shop said that if you go to thick with the adhesive and it bless through to the other side, gasoline will clean it up. Pretty crazy


thanks for the tip.

cheers.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Got these^^^^ bi&ches covered today...I hate compound curves. But they do look sexy now. 

cheers


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## Mantvis (Jan 1, 2010)

How much total fabric did you need? will be doing this soon


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Mantvis said:


> How much total fabric did you need? will be doing this soon


I bought 5 yards.

About 3.8 or so here:










and another 1.2 for the headliner:










Because of the compound curves, you really need extra so that you have enough to wrap properly...then trim the excess. Like here with the foam backed headliner material: this piece was 1.25 yards (45inches) from front to back.











cheers


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## lite1979 (Sep 9, 2005)

Is the car at all driveable while you have these pieces out? I'd like to tackle mine soon, but I can't have my only car off the road for a week. I'll be taking it off the road for a few days to do the heater core pretty soon as well.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

lite1979 said:


> Is the car at all driveable while you have these pieces out? I'd like to tackle mine soon, but I can't have my only car off the road for a week. I'll be taking it off the road for a few days to do the heater core pretty soon as well.


Sure, it's more noisy, but no reason not to drive it otherwise. The only electricals that were disconnected were the overhead lights and the motion sensor but neither affect driving.

cheers


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

I drove around one winter with an upper dash, steering wheel, shift rod/knob, drivers seat, window switches hanging from a zip tie in the empty door frame.

no carpet. no spare tire. no headliner. no lower dash. no radio. no heat. no center console. no passenger seat.

It was awesome.


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## Audiguy84 (Nov 14, 2006)

Wow dude..... May i ask why??


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

Audiguy84 said:


> Wow dude..... May i ask why??


Because Pal, "race car" :laugh:


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

Audiguy84 said:


> Wow dude..... May i ask why??





warranty225cpe said:


> Because Pal, "race car" :laugh:


Mostly what Eric said . I pulled the interior to anally clean it all, do my headliner in black suede and install an audio system. Drove it once around like that and I was addicted so I kept it stripped for maybe six months.


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## [email protected] (May 14, 2009)

warranty225cpe said:


> Because Pal, "race car" :laugh:


:laugh:


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## jbrehm (May 16, 2006)

DougLoBue said:


> I drove around one winter with an upper dash, steering wheel, shift rod/knob, drivers seat, window switches hanging from a zip tie in the empty door frame.
> 
> no carpet. no spare tire. no headliner. no lower dash. no radio. no heat. no center console. no passenger seat.


 
That sounds absolutely terrible! I think I'm going to try it...


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

jbrehm said:


> That sounds absolutely *epic*! I think I'm going to try it...


FTFY ^

Heated seat, sweatshirt, hat with ear flaps, gloves, windows down, headphones in, pedal to the floor.


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## lite1979 (Sep 9, 2005)

Thanks for the response! I have to do that heater core really soon. This could get ugly. I bet that was a fun winter, though! I'm developing a little rust near my rear window, but I'll probably still be driving my TT in the snow this year. Maybe I'll rock that barebones interior after I get the heater core installed.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

A few crappy pics of covered panels. 























































cheers


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## Neb (Jan 25, 2005)

Nice work on the trunk piece. Are those 3 handles difficult to remove?


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Neb said:


> Nice work on the trunk piece. Are those 3 handles difficult to remove?


Handles??? Do you mean the trunk piece lower leather handle and two upper tie-down points? If so, the leather handle and tiedown points were very easy.

1. tie down points are screwed in...lift the chrome anchor and the two torx screw are easily accessed.

2. removing the leather handle is also easy. On the back side, you'll see a small panel that is secured by 1/4 inch staples. Remove the staples and the panel will fall to the floor. You'll see the back side of the handle that is also staples in place. Remove those staples and it slides out. The two metal gromets are a PITA to remove. I used an old knife to pry up the edges (from the back) and then knocked them out. the reinstall was actually more of a PITA.


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## Neb (Jan 25, 2005)

Thanks, and yes that's what I was talking about.

For the re-install did you restaple and put in a new grommet?


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Neb said:


> Thanks, and yes that's what I was talking about.
> 
> For the re-install did you restaple and put in a new grommet?


Restapled with (1/4 inch staples in a staple gun) and reused the old gromets. I don't know if new ones are available so when I took out the old ones I was really careful. I originally thought they were ally, but are actually brushed metal/stainless steel.

Also, my tie-down anchors were originally gray. OEM are the black plastic you see above, but Audi covered them in some type of rubberized paint for the AG interior...it's something like plastidip maybe. Anyway, my were worn/scraped/nasty looking and feeling so I used ordinary rubbing alcohol to clean them up/remove the gray rubberized coating. They look so much better now.


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## [email protected] (May 14, 2009)

Awesome work!


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> Awesome work!


thanks.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

A few of the rear seatback work...now done.




























cheers.


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## Forty-six and 2 (Jan 21, 2007)

Wow! That is impressive work on those latches, pulls, and tie downs.:thumbup:


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Forty-six and 2 said:


> Wow! That is impressive work on those latches, pulls, and tie downs.:thumbup:


Thanks. Only problem is I'm approaching "shark-jumping" status with this mod. ;-)


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## RabbitGTDguy (Jul 9, 2002)

looking so good! You are right...hard to film!


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## hunTTsvegas (Aug 27, 2012)

Very impressive work! My hat is definitely off to you as I would have probably given up and went to mess something else up. I've got a real short atten........ squirrel!!


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

hunTTsvegas said:


> Very impressive work! My hat is definitely off to you as I would have probably given up and went to mess something else up. I've got a real short atten........ squirrel!!


My OCD counters my ADHD nicely. 

:beer:


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## seth_3515 (Dec 26, 2008)

How much was the suede per yd?


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## dogger (Jul 29, 2005)

Someone got a little carried away... Your bedroom isn't wall to wall suede too? Dog in suede?


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

dogger said:


> Someone got a little carried away... Your bedroom isn't wall to wall suede too? Dog in suede?


Perhaps a bit carried away. Walls and dog are not suede. 

cheers


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

I'd suede the dog if I could. I don't think he'd like the staples though.


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## dogger (Jul 29, 2005)

TTC2k5 said:


> Perhaps a bit carried away. Walls and dog are not suede.
> 
> cheers


Its pretty common over the last 10 years or so. People get the fake suede bug and start covering the whole interior of the car. 



warranty225cpe said:


> I'd suede the dog if I could. I don't think he'd like the staples though.


Use good adhesive and you shouldn't need staples.


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

dogger said:


> Its pretty common over the last 10 years or so. People get the fake suede bug and start covering the whole interior of the car.


I can see why it is common on old cars, but I've never been a fan of reupholstery re-dos just for the hell of it. In my case, OEM material was failing so I had to do something and using new OEM material was not an option. Vinyl is just too tacky and real leather/suede is too difficult to work with plus its too expensive for an old car IMO. Microsuede (like alcantara) is much easier to work with...but there's just no reason to spend huge dollars on Alcantara-brand microsuede ($100+ per yard). I don't need those bragging rights.

cheers


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## Dark Zero (Feb 17, 2005)

That came out great. The curves look really clean and I can imagine it was a pain to do. I noticed my A-Pillars starting to have a slight lift towards the windshield and this is reawakening me wanting to do it as well. I wanted to do it on my Jetta previously but never did, but now it really needs it. Maybe I'll use it as practice before doing my TT.

You suggest getting the microsuede from a commerical shop? The time I tried Joann's the selection was sad and extremely thin.


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## Chuckmeister87 (Nov 10, 2009)

Put everything back in the car already! opcorn:


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## TTC2k5 (May 23, 2008)

Dark Zero said:


> That came out great. The curves look really clean and I can imagine it was a pain to do. I noticed my A-Pillars starting to have a slight lift towards the windshield and this is reawakening me wanting to do it as well. I wanted to do it on my Jetta previously but never did, but now it really needs it. Maybe I'll use it as practice before doing my TT.
> 
> You suggest getting the microsuede from a commerical shop? The time I tried Joann's the selection was sad and extremely thin.


Yes, commercial shop...at least here, the commercial upholstery/fabric shops have higher quality microsuede. Our local JoAnn's had more "colors" but the quality was obviously lower than what i found at the commercial shops. I'm not saying J's was bad, but it was obviously thinner/weaker feeling..like maybe too much stretch or stress might cause the fibers to pull apart. That being said, they were the only ones to have "headliner" material: thin foam with a fabric cover.



Chuckmeister87 said:


> Put everything back in the car already! opcorn:


I finished getting all the panels back in the car last night but I still need to install the visors. Pics soon. 

EDIT: link to final thread. 

http://forums.fourtitude.com/showthread.php?5875069-Microsuede-interior-Done!!!

cheers


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