hey guys, i'm poor (cuz of buyin the 92 sc300) and I've been reading a bunch of threads. a lot of nice cars on here. some of you guys are really creative. i am not. i need some ideas for some cheap/easy enhancements. I think i would rather enhance the interior then exterior...mainly cuz exterior will cost more. anyone got any good easy ideas for how i can make a major impact in my interior, for not much money. Also considering im a perfectionist, and could never find the '*****' to take my car completely apart in fear of what i would screw up.

 

welcome to the club.
First things first. Give the car a good detail job. You can find a lot of pointers in the car detailing forum here.

Also the search function will reveal a lot of answers you are looking for.

As for the interior I would start with the following.

The black plastic pieces in the center console can be buffed to a nice shine, it really makes a huge difference, also thoroughly cleaning and conditioning the leather, and shampooing the carpets will make a huge difference on how the car feels on the inside.

good luck and i hope you find what you are looking for here.

 

I'm with VS.

Go to your local autopart store and stock up on carpet cleaners, vinyl cleaners, glass cleaner, leather cleaner, etc. Get a good vacuum cleaner. Remove the front seats (easy, watch those plugs!) and vacuum the entire thing out. Be sure to get the rear parcel shelf. All kinds of bugs accumulate there.

Buy yourself a coke with all the change you will find under the seats. Break out the carpet cleaner and follow the instructions carefully. Do the whole carpet.

With vinyl cleaner go over all the surfaces in the car. Dash, seat guards, door panels, rear panels... Scrub good and watch the color change to a lighter, brighter interior.

Hit up the rear seats with leather cleaner, then install the front seats and clean those up. Write a list of the panels that are damaged beyond repair and call junkyards to find replacements.

After all that the interior will be good as new. Oh, and if your ignition key bezel is all beat up like mine was, pick up a new one at the dealer for around 3 bux.

Good luck!

 

hey....mine is a tad beat up as well, looks like im spending 3 bucks soon

 

What did you use on the plastic on the center console. Also, the A/C control unit has that white film around the buttons that I see on a lot of used SCs... can that be fixed too?

 

3M plastic polish, the same one i used on the headlight

white film? no clue what you are talking about... picture?

 

you know what else you can do... since you say you gotta 92.. take off your tail lights and paint the orange part candy apple red.. you can get a can of transparent candy apple red paint at any hobby store for around 3-4 bucks.. some advice would be to make sure to shake the can up real well, don't overspray and paint both orange and red so they match better..

 

I'm having a hard time picturing that...you got a picture I can see of that done?

 

Actually, there are a lot of DIY threads located on this forum. You can modify your SC with a little bit of money, but a lot of time and work: Clearing tail lights, clear corner lights, drilling holes in air box, installing a cup holder, in dash LED work, etc, etc, etc. You should definetily start by detailing your car out inside and out. And then changing out all of the damaged, worn down parts with new ones or good condition used ones from the junk yard. Welcome to CL!

 

you're telling me you cannot picture 92 tail lights in red instead of red/orange? odd..
before:

after:

 

are you gonna do that to your tail lights too Calvin? I say go with the red/clear look. It looks way better.

 

haha, i am doing the red/clear mod. i've actually emailed TAP recycling for extra tail lights, headlights and sidemarker quotes so i can work on them while i have the original set on the car.

 

I don't think you'll even need a replacement set. The process should take less than a day to clear out your lights.

 

Another idea could be to work on the maintenance. A 92 must need something done under the hood. Check the distributor o-ring. It leaks with age and drops fluid into the alternator. A cheap fix that can cost big time if left undone. How are your gaskets? Any leaks? Give the engine bay a thorough inspection. You'll be glad you did.

 

well, i just bought it, its got like 49k miles on it, and its been garaged for a while, knock on wood, it shouldnt need any work. knock on wood

And yes, I can picture the lights red, but the way I read your sentence, i was unsure of what you meant, so just to be sure, wanted to see what you were talking about, and to make sure i liked the way it looked

in either case, thanks for getting me a snapshot