Nomad interior design sneak peek :)

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I'm just about ready to start foaming and fiberglassing my door panels so I thought I'd post some pics of them now. I have the base panels fabricated and the removable "modules" fabricated and fastened to the base panels in front. I had to do some design changes recently, but they're now pretty much "finished"....I hope .

Here's a sketch I did a while ago showing the interior concept I was looking for....

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The dash will probably be charcoal leather on top, and the bottom will probably be painted charcoal, either flat or glossy. The beltline molding will either be leather-covered, or painted to match the dash leather color. I don't know what I'm doing for a valence yet, or how I'll finish the dash inserts. The door and rear panels will be charcoal and tan leather, with charcoal carpet at the bottom. The headliner will be a Mercedes wool material, and the carpet Mercedes wool too....both will be charcoal. I wanted a dark headliner to show off the chrome bows in the Nomad. I am trying to not make it too dark in the car, though.


Here is my original door and rear side panel design, based on my original sketch and using actual dimensions, and a few other ideas I had. At this time I planned to use the OEM door handles I bought:

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I ended up using the Clayton Machine door handles and they're pretty darn nice. One thing I like is they're chromed, unlike some of the others that are just polished aluminum. I also like how they go together. The base is mounted directly on the door before the door panel is installed, so you can attach and adjust the release cable easily. I decided to put them behind the grab bar, since that's where everyone thought they looked best. That also resulted in me moving the grab bar forward to make them work ergonomically. They kind of go contrary to my desired "OEM look" but they work best in the overall scheme.



Here's the "final" design of the panels. This is after I realized my armrests were too low in the initial design. My upholstery guy suggested I get rid of the diagonal bars behind the grab bar, and since I moved the door handles there it looks cleaner without them. I raised the armrests in back so they're usable and curved them downward in front so they flow into the speaker area. I also tilted the door handles a bit to go with the curved design better. The overall design could be "tweaked" a bit in the speaker area after I start sculpting the foam:

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I'm also using one of Clayton's courtesy lights on the lower rear of each door, and some more on the console. They are a perfect match with the door handles and actually use the same bezel.





Here's a pic of one of the panels showing the design and the removable modules. My upholstery guy wanted removable pieces everywhere two panels touch, so he can make a clean line there. You can also see the two handle locations I was contemplating. I welded covers over the door clips so they don't push back into the foam when installing the panel. I still have to do that on the modules since I had to drill clearance holes in them. It was quite a bit of work making the aluminum panels fit the doors but they fit great now! All of these panels took some shrinking and stretching....makes me glad I bought my shrinker and stretcher long ago . They have really come in handy and I don't know how I could have done this without them. The pic of the panel on the door is the old design but it's the same base panel with the newer modules.

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Here's a pic of the rear side panel, before I trimmed it at the door opening. It has similar concave curve as the door, and the top curves outward so I had to bend it to fit the inner quarter. There's a pretty big bulge right where the stock seat bracket was, so it took some fitting to make that work. It fits behind the armrest well. My seatbelt will go behind the armrest and the side panel if all goes as planned.

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I've showed this before, but the console will be full-length with custom bucket-type seats in the rear. I made a custom rear seat frame and had to accommodate the tubs. I have a "package tray" that will house some more speakers...Polk Audio 6x9s and possibly a 10-12" sub.

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After the door and side panels are finished, I plan to finish the console and valence design and construction to complement them. I have a basic console built but still have a lot to do there. I also need to come up with a seat design soon so at least my interior guy can get started on the panels, and even on the front seats, before the car is painted. Hopefully that will make assembly go much faster and minimize the time he has the car.

I still have a ways to go, but doing this myself sure gives me an appreciation of what it takes to build a custom interior. I don't know how many hours I have in this so far, but it's a lot. I'm hoping my interior guy can whip out the leather work without too much pain once I'm done. And it should save me some $$bucks.

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Looking good Laszlo!

[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

will be looking forward to seeing the finished ones. they should look great. thanks for sharing.

[56-210Sedan]

Look's like it is coming together Laszlo, anxious to see the final result's

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Marty, I am too. It seems like everything takes so much longer than I expected and I re-do everything at least once. I almost farmed out the door panel shaping to a local metal shop, because I fought it for a couple of weeks. Then it all clicked and I got it done.

My next step is to have all the panels "inspected" by my interior guy so I can trim them to final size exactly where he wants them. When he made the cardboard ones he cut them to the door size then trimmed 1/16" off with a file to cut them back the leather thickness. He's really picky about this stuff.

The only thing I haven't picked out yet is the final tan color. I have a couple of samples that I'm considering but I want to see them next to the exterior color of the car to make sure they work together. He wants to get the leather on order soon because he said it takes a couple months to get it. He uses only top-quality aircraft-grade leathers that are fireproofed and stain resistant. They also feel softer and last a lot longer and wear better than standard automotive leathers, according to him.

The foam part is going to be interesting, because I've never done it before. I'll post more pics once I get the foam sculpted. I just have to make sure I have all the brackets, clips, and everything on the panels before I foam them. Since I need to somehow anchor the grab bar solidly to the door, I will probably have a removable armrest. Not sure yet how I'm going to attach that.