The interior

The interior of a Sterling kit car is anything but luxurious.

It is basic, hard, and resembles a 1970's ford F-150 pickup in creature comforts.

So the interior was very much on my to do list.

First the Hurst style shifter was replaced with a shortened shifter, shift base, and illumination ring. And a built in secret!

Next was to come up with a concept that would work inside the cockpit of the Sterling. This car is extremely small. To put it bluntly you wear the car, you dont just sit in it.

Another challenge is the car is also very low. So low in fact the driver of a 2015 Corvette would have to look down to see you!

With some inspirational sources, and a little photoshop the interior was firgured out, and the process began.

The new dash was created using a ladder form, and spray foam. This was then covered is stretchy fabric and fiberglass in place.

A new center console, and rear console were added. This completes out the interiors major parts.

Still lots to do before I get to a final product.

2008 Honda CBR 600RR gauges were found to be the right size, and analog despite looking digital. So they were added to the dash. A 2008 mini cooper convertible steering column was added along with a MOMO evolution steering wheel.

Soon the seats will be modified to match the new design.

The interior of the Sterling leaves a lot to be desired. Frankly, it looked like a quick upholstery job that had been done on a sand rail.

Given the direction I was taking on this car, this had to be fixed. Especially the seats.

After a long search, finally a set of seats that were found. They were similar in shape, and design to the sterling seats. The donor car was to far up the automotive eschelon to be considered. So I set off to redesign my seats to be more like these.

With some automotive insulation I started cutting panels to fit in the seat pan.

Once the panels were in place, I could see some modifications were in order. Nothing major, but some carving and cutting would be needed prior to finalizing the new seat shape.

While I was at it, I could install a reinforcement frame, and a reclining function.

This is similar to the intended final completed interior.

The combination of all the new pieces and parts in the new interior will look stunning once the upholstery is finished.

But I have to wait. The upholstery is the last step even after the paint has been finished.

The front center console is getting some updates now that all the components for it have been chosen. Electric E-Brake, rear defrost, AC, roof, power vent windows, hot/cold, air position switch, and fan speed switches have been finalized. Some aluminum will be added around this new center console face as a garnish to the high gloss carbon fiber.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 will be featured in this dash as a solenoid driven pop up info-tainment system.

In these two shots you can see the pocket it will fit into, and its positions both up and down. It will be mounted in a moving panel that will remain closed wen the car is turned off, and open via a button on the steering column stalk.

Now that the basic shape has been acquired, its time to add some symmetry to the shape.

Here the centerline has been laid using a laser and physical measurements on the car itself. Unlike many other car buils or re-designs this car everything thing must be thought of, and designed for. The interior of this car is absolutely starving for space, so any change must be well thought out. So the center console seen here must be just large enough to fit the gauges, switches, and knobs (including their legends) while still allowing the occupant and driver enough room for proper function and comfort. Nothing on this build is off the shelf. Everything is hand made or modified. In the end, the hope is to have a fully OEM quality interior fit and finish.

Update 6/21/2015

The center console got some work today. The skin was removed, and the underlying structure was rough clearanced for the components that will be installed.

Everything is just roughted in place so I could clearance the outer skin

The info-tainment system will fold into the dash when off.

Power windo switches are being added. The windows will be powered via power vent window actuator from mini-vans.

This is the canopy switch taken from a honda S2000. The ebrake switch is from a 2003 jaguar.

These two knobs didnt get any love today, but theyll get there place in the dash too.