A while ago we covered interior electrics upgrades – swapping-in the
instrument panel or installing the trip computer from a higher trim level
version of your car. Well, now we’re back doing a similar thing – but this time
we’re not confining it to electrics and the whole lot was done for AUD$50 and in
a single hour. None are cutting-edge, earth-shattering changes – they just make
living with the car a little bit sweeter.
The car is an EF Ford Falcon Futura – but the ideas are near universal.
Ashtray/Radio Surround
Here’s the standard radio surround and ashtray. As you can see, the moulding
also contains the cigarette lighter. There were two things wrong with the
original part – firstly, the ashtray catch was broken so the ashtray always
stayed open, and secondly, the ashtray had to be open if the cigarette
lighter socket was being used. That made using an MP3 transmitter/player (that
plugs into the cigarette lighter socket) look pretty ugly.
But undo just a few screws, undo the light and pull off the power and earth
feeds to the cigarette lighter socket...
...and insert the same part from the next model EL Falcon! With the change, the
right-hand screw loses its locating hole so you need to use one with the right
sized head that engages with the new fitting, but as for difficulties, that’s
it! Five minutes to have a better looking, more practical assembly.
Sunvisors
Stepping into the Futura (one up in trim level from bottom!) meant I noticed
lots of cost-cutting – one example being hard vinyl where a more luxurious car
would be running soft-touch velour. But upgrading to velour parts can be as
simple as a two minute job - just unscrew the standard vinyl sunvisors and
replace them with velour ones from an EL Fairmont model. They look and feel much
better.
Switches
At this stage, this one’s also for looks alone. Most downmarket models have
lots of blanks in the dash where their upmarket brothers have switches.
The blanks look lousy...
But a fix is only moments away! The new button is meant for the radio aerial
up/down control, but at this stage I haven’t connected it to anything: I just
wanted to fill the gap. But in addition to the aerial control (just install the
electric aerial – the wiring appears to be there), the extra button could also
be used as a thief-proofing fuel pump disable or to switch on and off anything
you like.
Rear Footwell Light
In this model, the back of the centre console looks like this: air vents and
a blanking panel that’s almost unnoticeable.
But pop out the blanking panel and you can see the mounting hole for a light
bulb – and grab the light lens out of a Fairmont and it clips straight into
place. The light bulb and its holder can come from the same source.
The wiring connections for the new lamp are most easily sourced from the
ignition keyhole light – just run a pair of wires to it and tap into the power
and earth leads.
Wow – looks factory... cos it is.
Switchplates
And while strictly speaking it’s not an upgrade, if any switches or lettering
are worn, pick up another while you’re at the wreckers.
Conclusion
They’re a bunch of little things. But they increase my enjoyment of the car,
cost stuff-all – average of AUD$10 each – and took just 60 minutes to
complete!
|