Project "Let there be light"

TYP 8Z

Member
As posted yesterday I finally managed to secure a pristine, 37K miles petrol A2 with twist interior. My long term ambition, since catching the A2 bug, is to have a silver exterior with the beige/ twist interior. Perhaps this is because I fell in love with the A2 since those early Al2 prototype images ,showing this color combination.

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So far I owned two A2's, both with black interior. My current one, aka the keeper, is a low miles silver A2 with working OSS and immaculate soul black interior; whilst this interior is very classy and neutral (and easy to keep clean) I always found the black cabin a bit oppressive, whilst lighter interiors feels more relaxed and airy.

SO, the grand plan is to perform an interior swap with @timmus, transferring the mint black interior to the newly acquired red A2 and put the beige interior to the silver keeper. At the end of this ambitious task I will have the A2 I always wanted whilst the 37K miles red A2 will have a pristine, mint soul black interior and will go up for sale as unfortunately I don't have the space and time to look after 2 A2's (the A2BA club will forgive me I hope). I am a bit OCD when it comes to originality so everything will be done tastefully with no oddities and according to the OEM bible.

To complete this task I will need few bits as unfortunately my silver A2 is a 5 seater whilst the red is a 4 seater. So keep an eye on the parts section...The most urgent part I need is a mint rear two seats in soul black, fabric. The two split rear seats in twist leather from the red A2 will be up for sale soon.

As this project will move forward I will post pictures along.

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Jeez, that's quite an investment for a cream interior. Full on A2 commitment there.
It is Steve, and it was not an easy decision.....but mint beige interiors are nowadays almost impossible to find. Once completed the red A2 will be still a very nice, desirable, ultra low-mileage car to put back on the market at a realistic price. That's the plan. Go big or go home as they say ;)
 
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I admire your dedication and entirely understand your thought process, sometimes needs must - to get what you want. It will be worth it in the long run and of course bring you smiles which is priceless. :)
 
After months of preparation the moment for the big swap arrived and "Let there be light" project finally happened!

Time and place agreed and on the hottest day of 2019 @timmus arrived and so it began what I can only described is the most audacious and insane "upgrade" I ever embarked on.

Two days to transfer the immaculate twist interior - dash included - from a 37K miles A2 I recently bought into my silver A2 (the keeper) whilst putting back in the red A2 my equally pristine soul interior.
As if this was not enough Tom even managed to throw in a BOSE upgrade and heated seats. Yes, in two days folks.

I thought to share some photos to commemorate this epic weekend. Epic on many levels....the heat, the ambition, the amount of work , the fun and most of all the epic skills that Tom has demonstrated, leaving no doubt he is possibly the most knowledgeable figure in Europe when it comes to knowing every, and I mean EVERY little part and component on an A2. The fact that he is a wonderful, thoughtful , charming person made this marathon ever more enjoyable!

As we speak I have now the A2 I always dreamt of, chasing that aesthetic and vision first introduced with the Al2 concept, a silver A2 with cream interior.
It has been a long journey, started in 2011, waiting for the right cars to come on the market. Few bits still missing but is all there....

In the end both Tom and I agreed that somehow both cars now look better than before: the red one with black interior feels nicer ans so does the silver with the warm, cream interior.

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Both car ready for the transplant

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Tom nibbling away the interior from the red A2

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Dashboard removal in process

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In the afternoon time to remove the soul interior from the silver A2

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Few hours (and cold drinks) later

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An interior-less A2, a thing of beauty.

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Sunday, putting the twist interior into the silver A2, whilst adding Bose and heated seats.

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Project completed :) In the end quick scan with VCDS and both cars without a single error message or fault code!

PS: the 37K miles Amulet red A2 1.4 petrol, will be soon up for sale, so watch this space.
 
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Oh my goodness me that's a big job - brave is scarcely enough of a word for it. But if there's anyone who can do it, that'll be Tom ?
It'll be worth it for that lovely clean Twist interior though, that really does look nice. Hope you can keep it that way without too much difficulty!

Can't work it out with the shade differences from the pictures, but what did you do with the headlinings? Did you have a Twist OSS one ready for the silver car and a Platinum non-OSS one for the red car?
 
@Proghound The headliner was retained for both cars and it works really well. You hardly see the difference.
Yes, it was truly epic and Tom made it happen.
The twist interior will stay clean thanks to my cleaning OCD and the fact that my A2 is no longer a daily driver, having acknowledged its classic cars status :)
 
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Nothing quite as satisfying as seeing Tom with his head under an A2 dashboard :D

Definitely OCD but full admiration to commitment on this one and you'll have a nice A2 to sell on at the end of it
 
I would say that a twist/cream interior into the silver bodywork colour A2 IS unique? I may be wrong .... I changed the dash in my Azure-blue A2 from black to twist and the seats/interior TWICE. Oh, door panels, etc, too. I went from twist to platinum to blue with the seats, etc. The door panels are fully leather clad in platinum. It's good to be "different" and your thread title is one that I've genuinely used before "let there be light"!

David
 
@DJ 190 You’re right, silver body with full twist interior is indeed very rare. I’ve only seen one or two in the past 10 years ?
 
I was going to edit it but thought better. Sorry TYP 8Z....some brilliant photos and a lot of work involved. Cracking colour combo now. ?
 
A brilliant read. Many congratulations on securing two fantastic examples and for the perseverance to see your vision realised. The twist interior is simply stunning, I doff my cap in respect. A classic alright in more ways than one and a very nice and rare one at that.

Completing the respect for young Tom, who never ceases to amaze me with his energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the cause.

Happy motoring and hope to see your new prize and yourself at a social sometime.
 
A brilliant read. Many congratulations on securing two fantastic examples and for the perseverance to see your vision realised. The twist interior is simply stunning, I doff my cap in respect. A classic alright in more ways than one and a very nice and rare one at that.

Completing the respect for young Tom, who never ceases to amaze me with his energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the cause.

Happy motoring and hope to see your new prize and yourself at a social sometime.
Tom's energy and stamina contributed to make this swap feasible, under a cool 32 degrees sun. I was completely knackered at the end doing very little (mainly passing parts and tools). I guess Tom's mountaineering fitness regime paid off ?
 
Just to get this straight...

Tom did dashboard and related trim part swap in 1 day?

Impressive if that is indeed the case. Did you time it for the guiness book of records? ? ?
 
This was indeed a marathon, though extremely satisfying.

It took me two days to remove the entire interior from two A2s and rebuild them the other way around. However, in those two days, I also retrofitted heated seats, Bose and cruise control. Other little jobs like swapping electric window switches between door cards also took a little time.
I started at 9:30am on Saturday and stopped work at 9:30pm. I then resumed at 9:30am on Sunday and finally finished the job at 9:30pm. So, 24hrs in total, though that time also featured many drinks breaks and a few excellent meals.
I can say with absolute confidence that every single clip, nut and bolt went back into its rightful home. Both interiors have been rebuilt exactly as per factory.

I've got to say, I feel as though some of my soul is in the final product. Working in 32-degree heat, I can't deny that this was hard work. However, I was realising someone's dream, and the satisfaction in that is immense. The final product is aesthetically so close to the Al2 concept car. I will smile every single time I see it from now on. :)

Cheers,

Tom
 
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