Fixing up dad's old 69 SRL

[akara]

Been tinkering away the past week or two while the paint dries.
I want the interior to be a nice place to be, it was trashed before from sitting without a top, I ripped it all out and tossed it.
I wanted to refurbish my gauges, clock never worked. the trip meter never worked, the speedo would wave around, the tacho was slow and bouncy, the fuel and temp gauges worked sometimes but not others, the oil pressure gauge never read at idle, and the amp meter was blown and bypassed with melted wires behind the dash, in what looked like a roadside repair done decades ago and left...

I was able to revive the trip meter by lubricating the reset cable, and lubricating these three white plastic gears, They were seized up but they should move freely. I also lubricated the drive spindle area with 3-in-1 oil.

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An Autometer 2362 voltmeter is sacrificed for the greater good...to bypass the amp meter and allow a stronger alternator.
I couldnt figure how to change the silkscreening to my liking to say "volts" so I just left it be, I think you get the idea...
I did some prying to adjust the oil pressure gauge, I calibrated it at 5psi with a hand pump, and at 85psi with my air compressor.

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Autometer tach guts used for electronic tach, Id like to get rid of the entire distributor and oil line setup that feeds it.
The autometer unit is nice because it uses a stud mounted stepper moter that can be mounted in the original housing with a hand made bracket or two.

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Polished up the rings and fitted glass faces, just bought those from ebay by size, measured the old plastic ones.
The tach needle zeroes itself once it has power.

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Unwrapped the underdash harness and repaired the ammeter bypass, as well as a hazard light switch bypass someone installed to run the car without the console. Retaped the harness and replaced the old broken connectors, cleaned all the contacts with an acid cleaner.

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Chippin away at the ole sunbaked dash

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Test fitted dashcover, had to use some heat from a torch to form some of the holes around the headlight switch and dimmer knobs.

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I really didnt like how the dash cover fit around the defrost vents, and mine were broken.
Inspired by the vents Greg reproduces I thought I would put my own touch on it to make it fit my dash cover and hide the poor alignment. I also made the vents blow to the sides more so the windshield defrosts more than two little spots!

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Printed in black SLS Nylon, the texture matches well. They are definitely more "prominent" than the original vents, but they fit nice and flush so I am happy with it.

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All glued up, I used two tubes of silicone for this one.

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this is why the car didnt have the center console installed...its in rough shape!!

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Ive sprayed some Great Stuff foam on the missing chunked and roughed it to shape...

To be continued!

[spl310]

Those vents look like a huge improvement!

[akara]

Thanks! I can post the file to get them 3d printed if anyone wants it, I just glued them in place with a bit of 3M Black Super Weatherstrip adhesive. I had them made by a 3d printing service called Craftcloud for $20 or so.

Been working on the interior.

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Deans console cover, dull aluminum spraypaint
I used a stronger adhesive that also stays flexible, called Lexel, but it took a long time to dry (3 days)

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I bought a roll of some nice soft touch Marine vinyl that I really love the feel of called Eversoft Vinyl from Sailrite, Im using it to recover odds and ends of the interior, wrapped this shift plate with it using vinyl adhesive. Painted the shift pattern plate.

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Didnt like the look and feel of the ABS plastic cover for the armrest so i found this Volvo armrest for 10$ on ebay, they also sell the kit to recover the upholstery on it for 20$, now I have cupholders.
I got the original latching button on the volvo armrest to work, and I couldnt find a stock maplight so I replaced it with this small positionable aircraft style maplight, and put a button for it where the lock used to go.

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Original radio console was beat

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Chipped all the stock vinyl off of it just leaving the foam

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Hit all the knobs with a little polish and then some black trim restorer, and then white paint.

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Heres a fun one, the plastic locking cam mechanism broke, so you always had to hold the choke open by hand while the car warmed up. it sucked. I welded a big glob of metal on the shaft and ground it down to the shape of the original plastic locking cam. This one can't break! Now it works nicely.

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Had a local shop upholster the console for me, reinstalled knobs and retrosound radio with early VW faceplate covers up the hacked opening.

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[70-1600]

Would love to get that file for the vents and have a pair made for my '70. Pulling the dash and refurbishing it and the gauges is on my to-do list in the not-to-distant future. They look great and I suspect will function very well.

[Gregs672000]

Wow, nice work, looks great!

[Steve_69]

I like what you have done with the console! I have yet to start mine and I can borrow some pages from your work. Nice!

[akara]

Thanks! I am happy with the console as well, I'm glad that Dean makes the cover, I reccommend some extra trimming and a strong but flexible adhesive for a proper install, something a little stronger than silicone. It was hard to find a good maplight but I like it, its made by a company pilotlights.

ere's the link for the dashcover vents. It can be made by a service like craftcloud out of SLS Nylon.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nWvhgk ... sp=sharing

I designed some clips on them but they didnt end up working out for me and the alignment will be slighlty different for every dashboard, so glue them in place with a little black 3m super weathertrip adhesive.

[akara]

More updated on what I've been up to!
Recovering more of the interior with this Eversoft vinyl from Sailrite with RH Adhesives vinyl cement.

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Top of the doors, nice to have a soft touch vinyl where you rest your arms.

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A pillar and brow finishers all covered up in matching vinyl.

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Carefully fold and glue and hide the seams behind the top clamps

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Polished trim, doorseal, #4 stainless oval screws.

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Dry ice and oscillating scraper tool removes the sound deadening

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Can you tell which side still had the drain plug in the floor?

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I think Greg said I would find more rust holes on the floor, he guessed right!
Under the overlapping steel for the seat mounting. I cut it out and made a quick patch.

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After that I painted the whole inside of the car with Ospho, and then let that sit overnight and then did the whole floor with POR15. Some people dont like this stuff but it works well for me.

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The seats are in rough shape but I am going to save them

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Rusty rails havent moved in decades and sat in water on the floor.

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Webbing is well and thoroughly stretched

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Removed 4 layers of seat covers and makeshift foams and got them down to frames.
Going to sandblast them up and try to revive the sliders next!

[akara]

Finished up the seats this weekend.

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Sandblasted the frames

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welded on new studs

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blew all the sand out of the rails after blasting and was able to free them up, had to bend em back into shape.

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black epoxy coating and new webbing

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Lubricate the inner pivots and cable for the release mechanism now, you cant do it after
spray adhesive and new foam from distinctive industries

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Dorman seat heater kit fits well

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covers fitted, the headrest holes dont line up right, I wont run headrests so I will just fit some blanking plugs for now.
If you plan to use headrests, be sure to fit the headrest on while you install the seat back cover so it all lines up.

[notoptoy]

They look great!

[akara]

Thanks, I was nervous because ive never done seats before but the local shops wanted well over 1000$ to do them and i was able to fit them good enough for my liking

More work on the car this week, found a broken wire in the wiper motor park switch, thats why they never worked properly. Resoldered it.

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Added wiring to the harness for the electric tacho

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dicovered some previous owners artwork

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Someone cut holes in this car for 6x9 speakers, this drives me nuts. Its the worst spot for speakers acoustically, and they wont be heard with the top covering them, and worst of all they hit the trunk hinges, and weaken the body....just no!
Ill be patching these holes up

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Proper sound deadening, mass loaded vinyl over a decoupling foam. much better than the original crappy fiberboard screwed the to firewall.

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Sound travels thru air gaps, the sound deadening is fitted and sealed on the edges with vinyl adhesives

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Fitting the foam backed vinyl to the firewall, floor, and rear panel might seem silly on it a convertible, but it will get rid of fatiguing engine, road, and tire noise and give the car a much more "solid feel" that im after.

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More sound deadening, probably a 50lbs weight penalty overall here but Its worth it for me.

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I put the original carpet snaps over the sound deadening and will use the snaps to hold the carpet down

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the rear 6x9 are a nogo for me but I still like having an audio system
I will be installing 4 speakers WITHOUT cutting the cars metal body, and installed a 10" subwoofer under the dashboard in the uh, stock speaker location!

[akara]

Been fiddling around with the lights,
Got my tail light parts rechromed, cut some cork lens gasket by hand, new rubbers, new screws, a little polish on the original lenses.

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OId light housings reflect more light with a white paint than with a "reflective" paint, so the parking lights and tail housings got some fresh bright white paint.
I want bright lights that can easier compete with the brightness of other modern cars on the road, so I tested 4 different style LED bulbs in the Roadster tail light housings.

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Some LEDs are worse or the same than the incandescent and are a ripoff, but I found a good "projector" style LED lamp that favours the Roadster taillight housing design and gives a MUCH MUCH brighter light. (the bulb on the right)

Here is the Roadster brake light with a 25W incandescent bulb.

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Here is the Roadster Brake light output with just the LED upgrade, same distance away.

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My original teardrop markers were pretty beat up but saveable
.

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Replaced the socket with a dorman unit from the auto parts store.

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Dressed it up with a bit of automotive grade chrome vinyl tape I had some extra laying around.

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Polished up the lenses, some new rubber and screws and wires.

[Gregs672000]

Again, GREAT WORK! I look forward to seeing the tail lights in person... anything to get people to pay attention!

[akara]

Thanks Greg!! Its definitely roadster driving weather here and I wish the car was ready to go but I still have some work left.
Spent all weekend on the cut-n-buff and polishing trim, the aluminum trim is extremely pitted and is presenting a challenge.

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Hard block sanded with 1000

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DA sanded 2000-3000 with Mirka Abralon soft pads

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Cut with Griots Fast Correcting Cream on a DA with 6" microfiber pad

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Finished with Griots ceramic wax polish

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this is my first time buffing soft fresh clear, I accidentally hit this edge with the DA on full blast, and burned thru.

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basecoat/clearcoat paintjobs are forgiving to repair, spotted some clear in

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Front grill getting attention, Vietnam surrround, painted the original back mesh with epoxy, plated and painted the badge

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[theunz]

Outstanding work and the car should be a real joy to drive. Would you mind sharing the brand name of the tail light bulbs you liked and where you bought them.