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

[Captain Obvious]

Right! Something like that! I've got a vacuum pump already. I could build that.

I sure wish they had kept the camera rolling longer so you could see what happened when they pulled that thing out of the frame. Seems silly that they did a video of the process, but stopped without showing the finished product.

I'm suspecting that a lot of the problems of working with that material is because of uneven stretching. I think a vacuum forming process would do a better job of applying even pressure where it's needed without the pinching and bunching that you're seeing doing it by hand. I bet the original plastic shell (before the foam) was made with a vacuum forming process. Either that. or it was sprayed into a mold before the foam.

[charliekwin]

Yeah, curious to know how it came out (not curious enough to register on the Celica site, though).  I did a lot of Googling and that's the only DIY attempt at vacuum forming a dash that I could find.  Just Dashes has a good video that shows their entire process as well:

One of the primary reasons I've backed off the vacuum forming idea is that I don't know what to cover it with.  It looks like Just Dashes uses a thermoformed plastic, and I have neither a source nor capability of working with something like that.  I was thinking about 4-way stretch vinyl that's used for upholstery, but I'm not sure how well that works with contact cement and vacuum forming.  The Hexis would probably work well with vacuum forming initially, but I'd be concerned with over-stretching and subsequent lifting.

[charliekwin]

Finished the one I was dreading the most: the vent tank cover.  The PO started breaking it in the past, and I finished the job when I removed it last year, so did more of the ABS cement and fiberglass to repair it, and patched up a few other holes and cracks at the same time.

Since it's getting wrapped and I'm not too concerned about what the panel looks like, I also wanted to test a restoration option: acetone.  It brought back the shine and color to the shock tower trim, and did the same on the backs of some plastic panels.  I did a fast, light wipe of the panel with a paper towel that was soaked with acetone.  The results were surprisingly good.  I don't know if it'll hold up over time, but for anyone looking for a super fast, easy fix, it's something that might be worth considering.

Wrapping was a tough job.  4+ hours for the whole thing.  I ended up cutting 3 seams into it but tried to keep them in areas that aren't easy to see; someone who's better at this could probably do it without cutting.  There's also some wrinkles that I wasn't able to get out but those too should be in hard-to-see places.  The face of the panel looks pretty good, though!  Hopefully I can get it back in the car easier than it came out.

[grannyknot]

You're too hard on yourself, those look awesome, there is a real depth to the look of the vinyl covered panels compared to uncovered panels, it's almost a soft look. Besides you have them out in the light and fully exposed, once they are mounted back in the car you would have to look pretty hard to see those flaws.

I'm kinda wishing I hadn't ordered the SEM paint now.

[charliekwin]

Thanks for the reality check...I know they won't be seen much, but damn if those wrinkles don't bug me every time I walk past that thing sitting on top of the bar   These pieces do make for good practice, but I'm really thinking hard about trying to farm out the dashboard to one of the vinyl guys here in the LA area.  I'm pretty sure I'd end up with one of those creases right in the middle of the dash, taunting me forever.

[Captain Obvious]

Vacccuuuuuuuum Taaaaaaaaabble...

Build it. You know you want to.

[charliekwin]

It's in!  First a few Raammat tiles on the tank cover and a little foam to prevent any rattling.  Smartly protected the edges with masking tape after learning that lesson the hard way on the other side.  If there's any way to get that piece of plastic back in place without cursing and snapping it in two, I couldn't figure it out.  Since something was gonna have to bend, I picked the hatch strut support.  I've also been using plastic christmas tree clips instead of the old expanding rivets to hold all these things in place.  They're cheap, and I like the look of these better than the original ones.  They're not perfect, but I tried a number of alternatives and they're the best ones I've found so far.  Looks decent!

I do want a vacuum table!  I still have a few pieces left to do, including the shock tower caps.  That might be a good one to do a proof-of-concept test on.  We'll see...

[charliekwin]

Took an unplanned detour this last week, which started with trying to make a rear deck.  I started on that, then realized I needed to re-install the taillight panel first.  But before that could go in, the old weatherstripping had to come off, then the hatch came off...it all ended up being a bigger project than I expected.  If you give a mouse a cookie...

The old weatherstripping came off easily enough -- albeit in about a thousand pieces -- but there was a ton of stubborn, old adhesive left behind.  It took a combination of heat, chemicals and brute force with screwdrivers and putty knives to get it off, but it's clean now.  A lot of the paint and old sealer went with it, so I masked it off and my plan is to shoot some black rust converting paint and call it good for now.  As long as it doesn't get any worse in the next few years when I can finally do (or pay for) proper body work and paint, I'm fine with it.  

[Captain Obvious]

Onions. Old Z cars are like onions. Peel them back in layers.

So why is it that you're making a new rear deck? Did you not have one before? I'm currently messing around with some changes to mine. I've decided that I want to reclaim some of the wasted space back there.

[charliekwin]

I have one, but it looks like this:

Smells, too.  It isn't the worst one out there, but considering the cost and difficulty of making a new one, I'm happy to do it.  I have some ideas for sticking audio gear under the deck eventually, but that's way off.

[Captain Obvious]

Audio gear was also part of what I was messing around with. I made a replacement piece for in front of the strut towers (so I didn't have to chop holes in my original one) and put a pair of 6x9's in there. Glued on some cheap under-covering to try to deaden the boom.

Sounds like arse. I have kung-fu in some areas, but fidelity isn't one of them. Instead, now I'm currently running a pair of pre-packaged tuned port speakers that originally came from a small home stereo system. Not great, but better than what I made myself.

I'm the guy who puts your amp back together after you blow it up, but someone else does the installs. 

[charliekwin]

I've done a few installs, and humbly consider them to be pretty good. My likely plan would be to do a fiberglass enclosure in the spare tire well to house a 10 inch sub, amp and DSP on the rear floor and wideband drivers in the dash.