Armrest Accent

[Gwfl]

The recent discussion about repairing the plastic armrest cup holder got me to thinking about painting mine for more accent to the light sand interior (I always wanted a full accent interior). So I took the dash kit piece and made a cardboard copy and painted it to see how it would look.

Now I'd like the groups feedback...but let's not let the discussion get into mods or no mods which has already run its course eleswhere, I'm just wondering about this car, this mod with this color for my interior.

Gary

[Guest]

Re: Armrest Accent

Gary, I think it looks great. It brightens your interior even more. Go for it.

[Nicky-The-Squid]

Re: Armrest Accent

I think it looks good Gary but again it kind of makes me ponder a bit as well. I've been looking at it for ten or fifteen minutes now. I even went onto Dot's site to make some comparisons with accent interiors. I think picture one looks nice by itself and picture three looks nice with the seats and other painted trim. But in picture two it is the opposite of the center armrest. your center armrest is black on top and sand sides. Just the opposite from how you have the door panel armrest. That looks a bit conflicting to me. I think I would try a painted cardboard on the section of the door panel that top piece rests on. Like the 007. But that may be more color than you are looking for.
So I guess I'm saying yes I like it and am offering another suggestion. Just my opinion of course.

[bronzebird]

Re: Armrest Accent

Gary

I think it looks fine in the photo but I think real leather would make it look even better.

Here are some photos of my center arm rest that I had recovered to match the sand interior. The leather used is from a Lincoln LS and the color is called Camel but it is identical to the Sand used in the T-Birds.

It cost me $75 to have a local upholstery shop do the work. I would have made templates for the door arm rests as well but I had already used the wood trim kit in the Bird's Eye maple for the doors.

Bronzebird

[Gwfl]

Re: Armrest Accent

I brought the dash kit template to an upholstry shop and they said it could not be covered in leather (sections are just to thin)...even if I had a metal (stiffer) template made for the job....but leather was my original choice and would have looked great.

Gary

[Brad]

Re: Armrest Accent

From purely a color standpoint I like it, however when looking at it in that picture from slightly above I wonder from a "flow" standpoint if that panel should match the section around the shifter (or maybe add the color to that panel too).

I'm taking the cue from how Ford did the full accent with everything below a certain level getting the color.

[texasbird]

Re: Armrest Accent

Gary,

IMHO, Rick's armrest looks best. Did you do the mod to a photo in Microsoft Paint or some other photo editing software?

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Rick,

When I looked at your photos, I was immediately reminded of the british sports cars of 3 decades ago by the look. Black dash, wood trim, etc. Never thought of a retro T-bird having that appeal until seeing your photos.

James

[Gwfl]

Re: Armrest Accent

Idealy I would like to have the armrest covered with the bronze metal that's used elsewhere in the car but I haven't seen a bronze dash kit except for the one from Philip of Powersports, but that's around $300. or more. It would be the perfect match for the interior and make the most sense.

Would anyone have this kit or armrest pieces to sell or know of another source.

Gary

[Black Bird]

Re: Armrest Accent

Gary........ Idea........ Take your tempplate pattern and make it out of thin solid fiber
board. Next use vinyl material like what I make my headrests, visors and recover of conv boots. It is the material that is used on boats, it is thin flexible and stretches.
Next cutout the vinyl to match your pattern and glue it onto the fiberboard and then glue the fiberboard onto your arm rest. It should not stick up enough to be noticable
and would look like part of the car. You can do this yourself or suggest it to the uphosltry shop. BY using the vinyl the armrests will not get dirty like leather and can be easily cleaned. Lou

[Gwfl]

Re: Armrest Accent

Lou: I did go to my uphosltry shop and ask if they could wrap the template from my dash kit with matching vinyl and they said they couldn't do it even if I made a stiffer, thinner template.
I gues if they cut the vinyl to size and did not try to wrap it that might work...but what about the edges being exposed?

Gary

[THHNDR]

Re: Armrest Accent

Idealy I would like to have the armrest covered with the bronze metal that's used elsewhere in the car but I haven't seen a bronze dash kit except for the one from Philip of Powersports, but that's around $300. or more. It would be the perfect match for the interior and make the most sense.

Would anyone have this kit or armrest pieces to sell or know of another source.

Gary

I have the bronze kit from Powersports and it looks good. Only thing is that is lazer cut so you need to burnish the edges to get rid of the flat look. Also rolling the edges some makes it easy on the hands when using it.

[Black Bird]

Re: Armrest Accent

Lou: I did go to my uphosltry shop and ask if they could wrap the template from my dash kit with matching vinyl and they said they couldn't do it even if I made a stiffer, thinner template.
I gues if they cut the vinyl to size and did not try to wrap it that might work...but what about the edges being exposed?

Gary

Gary.


Paint the edges either the same color as the vinyl or paint them black.
The black would just look like a thin shadow. I understand that the wrapping would be too thick that is why I suggest you do it this way.
Using the fiberboard will give you an edge to paint, and then just glue the vinyl on the flat top surface. Lou

[Gwfl]

Re: Armrest Accent

Lou: I understand what you mean and that just might work....I'll look into it.

Gary: Do you have any pics of your interior with that bronze kit...I'd love to see them especially the armrest.

Thanks all,
Gary W.

[Gwfl]

Re: Armrest Accent

Well I finally got my armrests painted. I went with a color that closely matches the center stack. It's a 2006 Ford Accent color called Arizona Beige Metalic. I'm very happy with it as it looks asthough it should have been done as part of the original interior.

Gary

ps. photo is not the best I will try more when I take the car out this weekend with the top down.

[Ediron]

Re: Armrest Accent

Adds a nice clean touch to the interior.Now how about the eyeglass case ?