So how hard is a full interior swap?

2 weeks ago I purchased an '05 OBXT ABP with black interior (I wanted an LGT wagon, but nothing was available in my price range). Well a few days ago one popped up here, so I'm jumping on that one too. It's an '05 LGT Wagon 5MT ABP with tan/taupe interior. I'd prefer to swap the black interior from the OB into the LGT before selling the OB.

 

Just how difficult is a full interior color swap? Getting the seats out are no problem, but the carpet scares the hell out of me. Along with the glove box and minor little pieces around the dash and b-pillar, and wagon area.

 

Anyone do this swap before want to chime in? I've never ripped the carpet out of a car before, and am wondering....is it held down with adhesive or anything?

 

Any input would be helpful. Thanks.

 

And yes, I've searched....all the interior swap threads I've seen have all been either people just wanting to swap, or people doing swaps from different years and running into problems with compatibility. I don't expect to run into any issues with things plugging and playing. Just want to know how difficult things are to get done.

Hard...time and space consuming. If you want it bad enough....you'll do it.

Hard...time and space consuming. If you want it bad enough....you'll do it.

Well, I'm thinking it'll add a tiny bit of resale value to the LGT, whereas the OBXT will probably fetch the same price with either interior.

 

However, the Taupe interior is in a bit better shape than the Black interior. Decisions, decisions.

it can be done if the obxt has the LGT style front seats. the hard part is the carpet. everything else is just bolt in.

it can be done if the obxt has the LGT style front seats. the hard part is the carpet. everything else is just bolt in.

What are the differences between the seats? They look/feel/seem the same to me. They are both the same year (2005), and both "Limited" models (power/heat/etc). Were there differences other than that that I'm not aware of?

if you look at the legacy gt seat and the 2.5i seat, they are shaped differently. the gt has more side-bolstering and some other differences. my outback 3.0r has a leather 2.5i seat. im sure there are pics of the the two different seat on here somewhere.

if you look at the legacy gt seat and the 2.5i seat, they are shaped differently. the gt has more side-bolstering and some other differences. my outback 3.0r has a leather 2.5i seat. im sure there are pics of the the two different seat on here somewhere.

Oh ok. I believe the LGT and the OBXT share the same seats.

I am pretty sure you can do it damn easy just about all subby parts swap over.

And so it begins....

 

 

Worked on the rear hatch pieces today for about an hour or so. Slow going trying ti figure out how everything comes out without breaking anything. Will post pictures when my internet comes back up. I will say its hot as hell out there..so that may factor in the slow going so far.

Mr_Luv did this on his sedan.

Still outside working on it. Freakin' mid-90's. Ugh.

 

 

Most of the hatch/rear seats stuff is pulled out on the LGT. Midway through on the OBXT.

 

Here's a pic from about an hour ago. More to come later.

just curious if your doing both at the same time as you go along or just one car at a time? i figured this way if you work as guiny pig on the one your going to sell then you have an idea what to do on the model your keeping with out breaking stuff.

also just a sugestion maybe as you take stuff aprt take many picture where things go with like a digital camera that way if its many hours later when you re assemble stuff you can click threw your camera to reference stuff. just an idea

Ok. Done what I'm going to get done today. This will probably take me a week or two of working on it slowly to get finished.

 

Swapped the rear seats, and have pulled most of the rear trim out of the LGT (tan) and cleaned them up a bit. I wish I had a garage.

just curious if your doing both at the same time as you go along or just one car at a time? i figured this way if you work as guiny pig on the one your going to sell then you have an idea what to do on the model your keeping with out breaking stuff.

also just a sugestion maybe as you take stuff aprt take many picture where things go with like a digital camera that way if its many hours later when you re assemble stuff you can click threw your camera to reference stuff. just an idea

I'm kinda going in 'sections' (at least how I'd like to do it). And I'm going to do both cars at the same time. Rear hatch areas was today and tomorrow, then I'll work on the front stuff later. There's not much place to get confused with how things attach. Most of the panels are the pop out/pop in type...only a few screws/bolts. Plus I always screw the bolts into their respective bolt holes so I know where they go if I'm not going to get right back to it.

 

I do need to go to work tomorrow morning, and then mow my yard (I had meant to do that today, but there was a HUGE wasp nest in my shed, so I had to give them time to vacate the premises.

Ha ha thanks for the update. to bad you dont have a covered out of the heat area to work. and very smart about the place the bolts back in there respective bolt holes not alot of people smart enought to do that and just leave stuff laying around in the car to get lost or throw stuff in a bucket just to get mixxed up lol.

keep up the great job.

I will say pulling things apart is extremely straight forward. I had really never messed with interior stuff (other than front seats and audio equipment), and this is really quite easy (just time consuming). I picked up a 5 piece trim tool set from Harbor Freight for $8 that has been invaluable to doing this. Makes things go so much faster. If you're on the fence about pulling interior trim pieces, don't be, it's extremely easy and intuitive.

Legit this should just take a little time thats all I plan to swap some wrx interior in my bh in some point in time.... but back to the topic keep us updated with pictures please!

Working on it a bit today, but it's really f'ing hot outside. Hopefully will have most of the rear hatch area on both cars back together by the end of today.

Well, finished up getting both rear parts of the cars back together. I've got all the rear hatch interior trim pieces swapped over, and the rear seats also. I haven't put down the seat cushion yet, because that blocks access to some of the carpet that needs to come out in subsequent weeks.

 

So it looks like all I need to do to finish the swap is the trim around the doors, the door trim, the front seats, the center console, the front seatbelts, and the tan dash parts. Should only take me another month.

 

Finished rear pics.

 

Outback (formerly black interior....now 1/2 tan interior )

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/Daytwo1.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/daytwo3.jpg

 

 

 

 

LGT Wagon (formerly tan...on it's way to being black)

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/Daytwo2.jpg

You are a brave soul. I would dread the thought of getting 90% done then finding out that some dash piece was different.

 

I would expect the dash pieces to be the most difficult, not the carpet. Although I don't know how much of the dash you're actually going to swap.

You are a brave soul. I would dread the thought of getting 90% done then finding out that some dash piece was different.

 

I would expect the dash pieces to be the most difficult, not the carpet. Although I don't know how much of the dash you're actually going to swap.

Well, I've had most of the dash out in an '05 LGT before (I had an '05 LGT sedan a few years ago), and the dash pieces aren't too bad. I do expect a hassle getting the glovebox fully removed though. I've never messed with pulling the full carpet before so I'm a little cautious about that.

 

 

Here's a shot of when I installed the Highline CA dual din kit I bought like 2-3 years ago (before the JDM dual din kit was an option).

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/Picture002-3.jpg

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/Picture002-4.jpg

Honestly noone is suggesting you celebrate getting the back done with a tall Black n Tan?

 

Honestly though, thanks for the tip on the trim kit. Going to go head first into my "hard" CarPC installation as soon as I get my wheels back and that will speed things along.

Got a little more done today. Not too much, but slowly getting there. I hope to get much more done tomorrow. We'll see.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/daythree3.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/daythree2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/daythree1.jpg

Working on them today. Have the full interior, carpet and all, out of both cars, and am going to start reassembling them after a short break here.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/dayfour2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/zmarko/dayfour1.jpg

You must gain about 2" of leg room without that carpet in there.