Modernizing/refreshing my 3.5

Clean it out. Freshen it up. Get as much as you possibly can back to like new condition. That will give you a great place to start mod(erniz)ing. Since it seems like you're starting with the interior, the mods you have done, and want to do, are nice mods.

You could also do gauge faces with chrome trim rings...




Shift knob...




and my personal favorite among interior mods...

Thanks for all the posts guys! I was getting bummed out yesterday when I saw my thread had zero responses for the longest time.

Speakers-I think this is an awesome place to start. Mine does sound pretty nice right now but I know they are the cheapo stock paper ones so I'm sure it could sound even better.

Steering wheel-AWESOME mod! I think that looks really nice. Only things that would sketch me out are the slight chance of not knowing if the airbag would deploy god forbid anything bad happens. I remember looking into this a lot when I wanted to get a corolla/celica wheel for my Mr2. I don't think any amount of convincing could get me to do this mod as much as I like it.

Shift knob- If I found the right one with an OD switch I'd be so down for it. I remember searching for this before and saw I'd be paying around $100 for one and possibly hacking up my shifter itself. I think if it were much shorter it'd look funky even if it's "sporty". I'm still willing to do this though as long as it looks stock in the end. Even in my own eyes I think this is kinda ricer but I think it'd look neat to get a shorter knob that looks like it could be stock and then put on a black shiftboot despite it being an auto. Part of me thinks it would look cool and the other part of me is telling me I'm being a ricer by doing that.

Gauge faces-The one mod I would never do. It looks tasteless to me. No need to take any offense at all. As you can see I'm very picky about a car being modded to look like it came from the factory that way.


As far as cleaning my car goes it's damn near spotless. Even my wheels are usually at least a 7/10 on cleanliness. Every time someone gets in I get compliments on how clean I keep it despite it being an "older" car... Guess that means it shouldn't be cared for? Idiots


OOOOH by the way I picked up a map light from the junkyard today before reading the posts on here. Call me crazy but I'm determined to make it work. Even if it might be useless. I think there is enough space for it. I just wish I had gotten the wiring for it from the junkyard too because I was thinking with my car being an XLE it might be pre-wired for it.

I would REALLY like to get a set of SE wheels and does anyone know if the black center tail light panel from the SE fits the gen 3.5?

Life2 said:

After 15 years and a mere 125k miles my gen 3.5 is still running like a top. Unfortunately it's age does show in certain parts of the car. I'm trying to make an effort to make my car seem more modern. Recently I did the first actual mod and put a headunit in that plays...get this..CD'S! For some reason my XLE did not have a cd player. Anyways, after that I made an iPhone dock in the little pocket where the e-brake is on the 4 bangers. Now I'm trying to come up with ways to just make my car more modern. I also want to put on some basic features the car should have come with to begin with.

One thing I will never is understand is why I don't have a map light. I mean the light between the sunvisors, not in the middle of the headliner. Is it because I have a non-sunroof model? Either way, is there a chance my car is prewired for it so I can just pick one up at the scrap yard and put it in?

In addition to that little thing I'm looking for suggestions on things I can do. An example would be an LED light conversion on the interior which i'm currently researching (any helpful links would be greatly appreciated). I want the end product to look as stock as possible.

Click to expand...

Changing the stock interior lighting is a great way to get started. That was my first mod. If you can find black gauges, go for it. Mine came black - bought mine used - and just changing the lighting made a huge difference. Looks like a different car at night.
Before:


Pretty standard. After some pretty stupid mistakes, which you won't make (like installing a NEOm LED with a metal screwdriver) because you're smarter than me, it now looks like this:



Still a little bit to do there. But, definitely less fuddy-duddy. My dome light is that color too. The shift knob is a pretty easy change, and it pretty much defines the interior, imo. I'm waiting on this one - should be here next week:


And I painted my factory rims. Gunmetal metallic - I used Duplicolor engine enamel with ceramic, for durability. Looks great, and it's dark enough that they don't outshine the body, with it's older sun-beaten pearl paint:


And someone said keep it clean. They are so right. That's a full 2/3 of it, really. If your car doesn't look like a show car, that's fine. But if it looks like it's been squatted in for a month or so, that's when the age shows. Shampoo the seats; I'm doing that before I put the covers on. I use Meguire's anything for the interior. I don't let Armorall anywhere near my car.

The LEDs can be go at superbrightleds.com
I ordered the shift knob at carbeyondstore.com
And I got some faux leather black and blue seat covers on Ebay. They'll be here next week. Now, I'm a little crazy. But, for the sake of ideas, I ordered a new molded carpet piece for my camry from stockinteriors.com
They have some pretty awesome colors.
sonicelectronix.com for sound
Crutchfield.com is pretty good too.

On the main thread page of the 3rd/4th gen forum, there's a huge DIY thread. Very helpful. There are a bunch of vendor sites listed on the TN main page. Scroll to the bottom and you'll see them. I hope you find something you like, and I hope you have as much fun realizing whatever vision you have for the car as I am (even if you want to tear out your hair sometimes - that's half the fun!)

:chug: