Project Boondoggle (or, so I went and bought a Z!)

[ksechler]

Looks like getting the seat belt redone could be pretty easy.  I found this almost immediately:

 

http://www.safetyrestore.com/seat-belt-repair-service/11-seat-belt-webbing-replacement.html

 

 

[charliekwin]

Things have been moving along. Took that first cut and started with the carpet. It's the ACC kit, so it takes some work to get it to fit (I took a number of pictures and some notes with the intent to write up a how-to, since I couldn't find a detailed one), but it came together well, especially considering all the extra sound dampening I put in.  Too bad I accidentally tossed the rubber trim pieces for the seat belts.  Started working on the front half this evening, which -- after wrestling with the cuts to get it under the dash and into the footwells -- seems like it'll go a bit quicker.

The one thing I've flip-flopped on at least 5 times already is whether I should put the carpet over the seat rails, or bolt them on top of it.  Right now I'm leaning towards on top.

Other things...lots of visits from my UPS and USPS friends!  All my floorpan plugs needed replacing, but I blanched after seeing Nissan's prices.  I got a full set of replacements on eBay for ~$40 shipped by getting parts for Jeeps and Fords.  Interior Innovations finally shipped my shift and e-brake boots, and I got the supposedly-not-legal-in-California contact cement and re-wrapped the scuff plates.  And I splurged a bit on a new shift knob.

[charliekwin]

Got a nice delivery today. Many thanks to Captain Obvious for the new cover. Good advice I'll try my best to follow! :-D Capt, I owe you a beer.

[Captain Obvious]

Haha!!! That's good advice!! 

And I'll try hard not to drop my beer! 

[dmorales-bello]

Hey Charlie,

Great job on those floors, soundproofing and carpeting. Just wanted to point out (having done the process recently) to be aware that if your material (foam, soundproofing and carpeting) are layed on the drivers side transmission tunnel they might push the position of your foot on the gas pedal over toward the brake pedal. Depending on your shoe size, this could be an issue.

[charliekwin]

Thanks for the comments, and you're right, space is limited!  Already expecting to have to do a little trimming to get the seat bolt holes on the driver side to line up where the cat tunnel is, and like you said, I might need to do the same down by the gas pedal.  Finally getting to the end of this part of the project, and after all the contorting it required, my back will be relieved to have it done.

[charliekwin]

It's been a while, but things are actually starting to come back together.  Lots of little projects here and there, of which I was apparently better at photographing the before than the after.  Put new bushings (used the Chrysler door hinge ones) in the new shift lever, and that's made a huge improvement.  No surprise considering the shape the old one was in.

The seats will get a full restoration, but in the meantime I gave them a good cleaning, including all the mechanisms.  I had the bright idea of swapping the driver and passenger seat cushions, then realized they aren't interchangeable after taking them apart.  Whoops.  Also put a band-aid on the one especially bad chunk that was missing from one seat back by stuffing in some closed cell foam and gluing vinyl over it with contact cement.  It's a good-enough job to last until I get to the seats in the next few months.

The turn signal has always been mushy and right only worked half the time, so that was disassembled and cleaned and the loose spring pivot epoxied into place, then given a light spray with lithium grease.  A big thanks to Hardaway and Capt. O for their detailed posts on fixing the turn signal, they were very helpful.

The carpet is in!  A big chunk of the firewall insulation was bad and had to be removed when I did the floors, so I finally got around to making a patch for the missing piece.  Now there's only a bit of final trimming left under the dash and at the bottom just behind the doors that'll get addressed when the dash and trim pieces go back in.  Fitting wasn't quick or easy, but my patience was rewarded and I'm rather pleased with the end result.  Also trimmed and fit the Kia weatherstripping and put the scuff plates back.  I suppose I'll get to cleaning and painting the sill trim eventually.

At the moment, I'm working on cleaning up the dashboard, the last bit keeping the car off the road.

[rossiz]

amazing what a difference new carpet makes!

funny thing is, you can spend weeks and $$$$ doing floor pan replacement and nobody notices (but you) but drop in a new carpet and whammo! new car!

Edited February 6, 2016 by rossiz

[charliekwin]

Well, balls.

Worked diligently and put the car mostly back together, test fired and everything was fine. Bolted anything up and was ready to take it on the road for the first time in months, and.... nothing. Fuel pump isn't working. I suspect one of the fusible links went bad, so now I have a gremlin to chase. The joys of classic car ownership!

[rossiz]

all part of the fun... but you don't have to live with electrical gremlins! it just means replacing, cleaning, re-working the electrical system - a pita yes, but once it's done it's done (for another couple decades). mine is a DD so it has to start & run each day or i miss work. for this reason i started at the battery and replaced the entire primary system with all new marine grade wire. brought the feed into the cabin with 4 ga. and installed a maxi fuse block, getting rid of the fusible links. moved all the relays inside as well, mounting on a bar on the firewall just below the fan. the next step in reliability was to yard out the entire efi system, harness, ecu - the whole steaming heap - and replace w/a set of su's. there's no more wiring in the engine bay other than the ignition system, lights and the dash gauge sensors.

i used up my AAA towing allowance in the first year of ownership due to that miserable efi system - it was literally a roll of the dice as to whether i'd get to work and back under my own power. now i pull the lovely choke lever, twist the key and off we go. that's the joy of classic car ownership!

[charliekwin]

My multimeter bit the dust a few months back (I left it in the Z's hatch over the summer and it got nicely cooked), so I had no way of testing continuity on the fusible link, but I fiddled with it this afternoon and the fuel pump came back to life, which is evidence enough for me.  I had planned on eventually replacing the links with a proper fuse box, so now that's a little higher up the list.

I've been lucky thus far: even though the car had a lot of rough edges when I bought it, it's always run reliably and I haven't been stranded yet!  (I'm still thankful that my Costco membership comes with free roadside assistance, though.)

I'm fond of the look and simplicity of carbs, but unless CA relaxes their emissions regulations, sadly, it's a non-option for me.

[charliekwin]

This past weekend was all about the dashboard and getting it cleaned up and reinstalled so I could drive the car.  First job was cleaning, and a lot of it.  I am amazed how much dirt and grime was embedded on just the surface of the dash.  Even after 5+ times using heavy duty cleaner, the scouring pad was still rinsing off stuff that looked and smelled like Tijuana street runoff.  After a couple light wipe-downs with acetone, it actually picked up a decent shine and color and if not for the huge cracks, actually would've looked pretty nice.

The rest of the bits and pieces -- the vents, hoses, ductwork -- all needed similar cleaning.  I'm considering it a minor miracle that I didn't come down with Consumption.  And Red Seal RTV should be kept out of the hands of amateurs.

A little more about the dashboard...it's been a lower-priority item for me, but after getting the carpet finished, the dash is so unsightly that I've decided to take it on before the seats.  The plastic on the top is unsalvageable, so I've already decided that I'll remove all of it and overlay the entire dash with fiberglass.  My ambitious plan is to attempt to wrap the whole thing with a single piece of vinyl, but I wasn't sure how it would look, so I started with an easy test run that's also a temporary half-fix for the next couple months.

First step was using some 60 grit to knock down the highest points in the big cracks.  Even though it's all coming off later, I didn't want to remove too much so I can still reference it in the future.  I had some leftover seating/tablecloth type vinyl from Joanns; it has a cloth backing that's glued on but can be removed with acetone, making it stretchier and more pliable.  Then, just glued down the edges the contact cement and trimmed a shape to roughly match the dash.

I'm really pleased with how it looks.  The stock dash finish is definitely one of those areas where you can really tell the car's budget roots, and the vinyl dresses it up nicely without looking particularly out of date or incongruous with the rest of the car.  The dash shape has a few tricky curves, but I'm optimistic that it can be covered with a single piece.  At least, I hope so.

As for electrical problems: I rolled the dice with that fusible link and drove it to work today.  Finally!   The sound deadening effort was entirely worth it, but my favorite part was rowing through the gears with a proper shifter.  So satisfying!