Car interiors seem to never get cleaned properly I guess it’s partly down to the fact they’re always a pain to clean and there’s usually loads of places you can’t reach without removing stuff. Well the Elise interior has been superficially well looked after by previous owners but it still needed a deep clean.

Some of the cleaning products I used.

I started by removing the hardtop to get better access inside then I noticed how grubby the rear window seal and glass was so I got started cleaning there.

Much better after a clean.

Removing the general build up of grime that gets on glass.

Seats out next to find this mess hiding.

Carpets out too.

General mess lurking under the carpets too.

Grubby speaker mounts and seat belt reels.

Some time spent with these.

To get to this.

Same the other side.

Mats and front carpet sections cleaned and ready to go back in.

Inside brushed, vacuumed and wiped down.

This Elise still has the original floor panels in very good condition having not suffered the corrosion many others have. They’re very unlikely to get wet during my ownership but I figured a very light coat of ACF-50 wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Carpets back in.

Looking much more clean and tidy.

Unfortunately I could’t get the seats back in straight away as the Elise hasn’t been immune from the common used car problem of ‘previous owner / garage numpty’ who thinks he knows what he’s doing. All the screws that held the luggage net in place were not in great condition and very tight maybe cross threaded? Also a couple of the bolts that fix the seats to the floor were not quite right and one of the seat belt threads into the seat felt quite tight.

The seat belt bolts as I removed them. Left one is ok but the right one was not great.

I didn’t want to reuse these so I ordered some new replacements. Not so easy with the seat and I was a bit worried I’d have to start pulling it apart to replace the encapsulated nut or buy new seats. I had a good look at the thread though and ran the correct 7/16 tap through to be sure it was clear of any of the damaged bolt or previous thread lock and fortunately it seemed fine. I also ran a 7/16 roll cage eye bolt I had through as it didn’t have thread lock on it (the new bolts I ordered came with thread lock already applied) and it ran in and out without any resistance and tightened up fine so I’m happy it’s all safe.

New seat belt and seat bolts.

A couple of the original seat bolts, the first one not looking too great either.

I decided against reusing any of them. The replacement seat bolts.

So eventually I got the seats and belts safely back in the car despite the previous owner’s or garage monkey’s failed attempts at the simple task of fitting a few bolts!