280z Interior Refresh

[S30Driver]

Finally made some time over the last 2 weeks, and took advantage of the last of the near 80 degree weather to get going on the interior refresh of my 77 280z.

Took out the seats, carpet & under padding, revealing the floors have still survived in very nice shape - only a little surface rust in a few of the low areas.

Wire brushed the surface rust, cleaned the entire floor with marine clean, and applied POR to the needed areas.

 

Decided that while I was replacing the carpet, to install Fatmat sound deadening.  The weather cooperated to get this installed until last Thursday which is when I completed it.  The warmer it is outside, the better it likes it.  Also invested in a heat gun which came in handy for some areas.  A tedious job to get it all installed, much measuring & cutting, and you &cant work with too large an area at a time.  I used around 41 Sq Ft to do the entire floor & tunnel area to the rear deck bulkhead.  I have about 8 or 9 sq ft left over from the 50 ft roll & will probably need another 10 sq ft to complete the rear deck area.

 

The carpet kit was purchased from Chester & Herod Vintage Auto Carpet, and am in the process of completing that installation.  Mainly trimming in the console area & where the seat belt retractor bolts down.

Ended up re-using my original underpadding which was in great shape.  The new jute underpadding looked to be of fairly low quality and not enough supplied.

 

The new carpet makes my parking brake boot look shabby - will have to get a new one!

Now its on to installing the beautiful Interior Innovations leather seat kits & the seat heaters as soon as my hog ring stuff arrives....

[gwri8]

Nuthin' like a fresh interior.  Looking good!

 

Couldn't help but notice the two relays under the passenger seat. One is for the brake light, but what is the other one for?  My 01/77' only has the brake light relay.

[jfa.series1]

Really nice work, James.  Anxiously awaiting the next installment - pun intended!

[Pmg]

Looks great! I hope to do the same with my '77 after I finish with the suspension refresh.

PMG

[Patcon]

James

I would love to now what you think of the before and after effects of the sound matting..

[Mark Maras]

Nice work Jim. I would think in Arkansas everyone would have hog-rings.

[siteunseen]

Hey S30 driver man.

 

Do you have a part number for your carpet kit?  I've been looking at getting ACC 16605.  Is that written anywhere on yours?  Mine is the early one with the sloped rear deck.

 

Thank you!

[S30Driver]

"Couldn't help but notice the two relays under the passenger seat. One is for the brake light, but what is the other one for?  My 01/77' only has the brake light relay."

Greg - I think the 2nd relay if for the seat belt interlock.

 

Charles - I will report back on the effect of the fatmat when I have the rest of the interior in & can drive the car again - hope it cuts down a little on the road noise & maybe some of the tunnel heat.

 

Cliff - The number on my invoice shows 801, no number is on the carpet.  I was specific that mine was a late 77 model, 6/77 coupe.

 

Thanks for the kind words guys....

 

 

[gwri8]

Cliff, my carpet kit part # from MSA was 40-2578 for an early '77.  Fit was very good and the jute is thick.

[wheee!]

How are the seats coming? Curious to see the finished look!

[S30Driver]

After a big delay this winter, and with the help of warmer weather, I finally have almost completed the interior refresh.  Just some minor things left such as the door panel wood accent strips. The seats were the big project, worked on them on and off over the last couple of months.  Tried working with the seat leather over the winter but it was difficult when cold and I did not want to use a heat gun on it.  The warmth of the sun on my porch made it more pliable and less chance of damage.

I used Hardway's excellent DIY seat restoration as a guide.  It's very comprehensive and gave me the confidence to attempt the seats myself.  His suggestion to use tie wraps to pull the flap up thru the foam where you can hog ring it to the springs works great.   Many thanks Sir.

For the seat covers I used Interior Innovations leather seat kit.  The quality is superb,  all leather including the non-seating surfaces, they let me customize the embroidery on the headrest, (I sent them some high res pictures of my Datsun deck emblem)  and the buying experience was one of the best I have ever experienced.  They are made overseas and I was notified of their status every step of the way, including a call from DHL asking if I would be home the next day for their scheduled delivery.

The seat foams were purchased from Banzai Motorworks, also very nice quality, and a super smooth transaction.  Thanks Mike.

From Amazon, I purchased the foam for the back of the seats.  it is 2 or 3mm thickness & a roll is 36" x 60" which was perfect for both seats.  It is a nice density closed cell foam, about $8 .  Also used a small amount of it to fill out the top of the head rests.

Also from Amazon, I sourced a seat heater kit, very nice and about $60 .  For the integration of the switches into the console, I took a page from Rossiz's interior book & mounted them in the flat area ahead of the ashtray.  They look like they belong there.   Thanks Geoff.

One thing for sure, this is not a trivial job.  At least not for me.  I probably took 5 times longer than the average person - I am so paranoid about the fit & symmetry, stitching straight, etc.  It would bug me forever if they did not look right.   Hardway was right... check your work as you go.  This was one of his best tips in his guide.  It's a real workout to stretch and hold the covers on the frame while you hog ring it or fit the covers over the tabs.  i found the seat back to be a degree of difficulty more than the seat bottom.  

I probably deviated from Hardway's write up in two places.  I inserted stiff coat hanger wire in the edge pockets where the seats get hog ringed as I did not totally trust the cotton cord sewn in for reinforcement.  The factory covers have wire in those pockets, some of which I re-used.  Probably a little over kill.  Also, I purchased a single hole punch to make clean round holes in the two flaps behind the reinforcing wire to allow big tie wraps to pass thru and pull the headrest cover tight to the frame.  This allowed me to fasten the headrest flap from the top of the foam as opposed to under it which risks bending the seat back foam and breaking it.  i used three heavy tie wraps and added some hog rings as well.  I used three big tie wraps on the seat bottom flap to the springs as well, and added more hog rings. 

All in all, I think the seats look good.  I have about 80 miles on them - they feel great!   Let me know what you think.

Before I forget, now that the new sound deadening, carpet, and seats are in, Patcon asked about improvement in cabin noise.  I would say it has made around a 50 to 60% reduction in cabin road noise and still have some of the deck area to complete.  With windows up, it's a dramatic drop.

 

the 

 

[siteunseen]

Fantastic!

Harbydways are also. You guys set the bar waaaay up

there!

Oh yeah, Captain Obvious slipped in a picture of his not long ago. They should be stamped "DO THEM LIKE THIS".

Rossiz I can't remember seeing your's,  just hearing about the butt warmers.