Retrimming has begun!

I got a price back from my retrimmer guy for the A4’s headliner and pillars and it was almost what I had budgeted for the headliner, pillars, dash and centre console. So after going over my options I decided to tackle the headliner and pillar retrimming myself, but leave the console and dash to the professionals.

I scoured the ‘net for ‘how-to’ guides and after a couple of days researching I had supplies and various Alcantara and Alcantara-like fabric samples showing up at my house.

The genuine Alcantara sample I received seemed to have less stretch and be more difficult to work with than some of the others. I ended up settling for a cheaper alternative (7 times cheaper!) which had a nice colour, texture and reasonable stretch. I ordered 8 meters of this as well as 6 large cans of high-temp spray fabric adhesive.

I started with a simple, flat piece from the rear of the headliner. The spray adhesive is horrible to work with and you have to be really careful to not get any on the good side of the fabric.

Here’s the first piece I finished:

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Lovely texture that you can write in 😉

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That’s one down, and a whole stack of parts to go!

// Matt

2 thoughts on “Retrimming has begun!

  1. Hey Matt,
    Messaging you from the USofA, had to ask, where did you end up getting your Alcantara from and which type did you go with? I have a B7 S4 Avant that is all black, looking to lighten things up a bit so might go a lighter gray instead of all SABRE.
    Going to go with a leather covered dash with contrast stitching, maybe add some stitching to the upper portion of the door cards and/or elbow rest(s) as they look so barren compared to today’s Porsche/Audi/Lambo’s. As a fellow architect/designer a big THANK YOU for posting the AIRBAG eps file. If you wouldn’t mind messaging back any recommendations on how/where to best source leather/alcantara I would greatly appreciate it.

    Lastly, I’ve tried 3 or 4 times to get ahold of Luke at Plush for work but I don’t think they bother returning emails from the states for some reason? I would LOVE to have them do a set of covers for my RS Bucket seats but I literally have never been emailed back by them. If you’ve got a contact you think might respond would appreciate it. Thanks again and good luck on your new ride!!

    Cheers!!

    1. Hi, I got my “Alcantara-like” fabric from a supplier I found on ebay. I asked a load of sellers for samples and most were happy to send some free or very cheap, I just picked the one I thought would work best.

      The genuine stuff is far better quality. Other than the headliner all the parts I did myself with the non-genuine fabric began to fade after around 2 years of sunlight bleaching, while the genuine Alcantara is still jet-black. If I was going to do it again I’d shell out the extra for the real thing, it is absolutely worth the money. Plush supplied the genuine Alcantara for my dash and centre console and made a point of telling me they don’t work with anything but the real deal.

      Your plans for the leather and contrast stitching sound awesome! And you’re very welcome for the airbag logo, pleased to hear people are finding it useful.

      Plush have exploded over the last couple of years, I think I was lucky to get in when I did and for them to have been so accommodating. Their workshop has expanded and they seem to have a cars rolling in and out for air suspension installations constantly. They are super busy now and simply may not have time to respond to overseas enquiries which they might not currently cater for anyway.

      I’ve noticed they seem to respond to comments posted on their instagram (@plushautomotive), so maybe that’d be worth a try? Even if just to ask whether they’ll deal with US customers. If not, there must surely be some good trimmers/upholsterers more local to you?

      If your car’s on instagram, tag me in some snaps of the S4 (@matteastagram) I’d love to check it out.

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