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Artemis Update | Tackling the Interior

To catch everyone up, our ’98 GMC Sierra known as Artemis has been fully bagged on a bolt-in air-ride suspension from Ridetech. We added 20-inch wheels and some upgraded EBC brakes before sending it off to Glarb Designs for a one-of-a-kind vehicle wrap like no other. Light-up panels and reflective vinyl highlights help this “Ready Player One” inspired OBS stand out at the truck show. A full bed wood kit covers the freshly Rhino-lined bed floor, and all new light housings were added both front and back. Now, the truck looks good and runs flawlessly, so we need to focus on the weakest link: that old worn-out interior.

When we picked up this completely stock GMT400, the interior was complete but brittle and breaking at every connection. The seat frame was broken and lopsided, and the dash was smashed beyond repair. So, the challenge was picking a direction for the design. Do we stay stock and simple, or go as wild as the wrap?

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The choice was made to ride a fine line between classy and custom while incorporating a center console and rear speaker box. Memphis Audio 6.5-inch subwoofers powered by their signature VIV line of amplifiers will provide an audio pounding, all controlled by a state-of-the-art control center from Voxx Electronics. The steering wheel will be replaced by a super smooth billet wheel from Eddie Motorsports, and Autometer’s newest digital gauges will be wired up for style points. Finally, a new dash cap will cover up the current cracks just long enough for us to find a clean, uncracked dashboard to replace the original.

The icing on the cake will be a set of TMI Pro-Classic Universal Sport-VXR seats that will fit the contour and design of the new interior. A few last-minute touches include some wood inserts made of the same wood in the bed of the truck, stainless cup holders, new seat belts and a billet rear view mirror. The interior is where we spend our time, so attention to detail will be appreciated on those long trips to out-of-state events. We are getting ready for Slamfest ’21, which event are you excited for?

To kick this interior overhaul off, we had Corbin from Florida Boy Customs replace the headliner material and visors since the old stuff was falling off.

We are adding some serious sound to this custom truck, so a full CNC cut box and center console was designed and built out of MDF wood with the proper air spec requirements. The amplifiers also have a home in the design sitting on display to see. A set of 6.5-inch subwoofers from Memphis MOJO are small but powerful. VIV SixFive Series amplifiers boast big power and acoustically accurate performance wrapped in a beautiful anodized brushed aluminum package.

To control the audio and air suspension, we are installing this Voxx Electronics entertainment center. It features a 10.1-inch capacitive multi-touch digital LCD display, Android 8.0+ operating system, 8GB Quad Core Processor, 16GB built-in memory to download off-line content from apps such as Netflix and Prime Video, and even built-in Wi-Fi.

We are swapping out the original gauge cluster with this new Autometer Invision kit. This dash display is designed specifically for the ’88-’98 Chevy truck and offers four user-selectable screens. It monitors the speedometer, tachometer, fuel level, oil pressure, water temperature and volts all in one place.

The interior is where we spend our time, so attention to detail will be appreciated on those long trips to out-of-state events.

The most exciting part of this interior overhaul are the new TMI seats we have headed our way. They are perfectly designed to fit our wrap scheme, and they offer the brackets specifically for this truck. Until they arrive, we decided to put new seat covers on our factory seats just to clean it up a bit. The Pro-Series seats from TMI come fully assembled and are 100% ready to bolt in with the appropriate mounting brackets.

The factory installed steering wheel is an eyesore to say the least, so we are swapping it out with this billet wheel from Eddie Motorsports. These steering wheels are precision CNC-machined in the USA from high quality 6061-T6 billet aluminum. The wheels are 15 inches in diameter and include a synthetic leather half-wrap grip. Combined with their billet steering wheel adapter and horn kit, Artemis will look killer!

The final stubborn part of the process is going to be covering up these cracks on the dash until we can get our hands on a clean, uncracked original. That may take a while. For now, a new dash cap from NPD will do the trick. Stay tuned!

 

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