Car Running Countdown

We will hold you to that promise!!
It is high time!!!!

Do you have any idea when the big "start her up" day will be?

 

I'm shooting for tomorrow. If all goes well today, I'll get the battery in and test the electrical wiring for errors, and install the carb and hoses.

 

Good Luck with that Norman and make a Video..

BTW don't forget to prime the engine before starting.

 

Ran out of juice after I took the pictures and uploaded them to the PC. But I got the pics! Next Post!

 

I've done upholstery before, but I didn't do these seats. They're pretty nice, except for one worn spot on the driver's. Also, its been a year since I took them apart, but I had all the seat hardware together and it took me some time to reacquaint myself as to what went where. They are reclining seats, so the hardware is different than normal buckets. And just to make things interesting, I had the hardware mixed with the donor car's stock bucket seats. Mine had a bench seat in front. These seats came out of a 1982 4-door sedan, not a wagon. The difference is the rear wagon seat back has to be modified and sewn with new side panels to fit on the hard plastic fold-down back.

From the back side. Note the fold-down center armrests, and the seat rails, clean and rust-protected. The rear seat bottom is the same as the wagon, size wise, but this seat has more of a recarro type shape for side passengers:


From the Passenger side:


Better shot of the Reclining function. Both seats have it. And a better view of the rear seat cushion:


From the Driver's Side, with a good shot of the rear seat and belts. The 1978 manuals say the wagon didn't have seat belts, but the 1979 was set-up for them but didn't have any:


Another shot from the Driver's door. I have a medium blue tarp strung up above, so it makes the colours look more 'orange' than they really are:


Didn't get all the door panels done, and as you can see it was pretty dark when I took that picture. I used Pro-Form's dum-dum strips (non-drying sealant) to locate and hold the plastic dust shield. It's nice to work with and doesn't stick to your hands.


Then I finished trimming the perforations for the handles and glued them to the back with contact cement. Also removed the door handle and push-down lock to get the rod silencer tubes on.


Installed the new spare and stock, whimpy Fairmont Jack and laid down the moveable cargo carpet. It attaches to the back of the fold-down seat, so I wanted to position it to get a look at its new colour. All the carpets and door/seat carpet inserts were dyed with the SEMS Vinyl dye.


From the tailgate:


From the inside:


I'll finish the other 3 door panels tomorrow morning and advance on the fold-down seat mods.

 

Norman,What a great job... It looks Brand New inside.I know you and your wife will have a lot of enjoyment driving a new car again.Bravo

 

I haven't even sat in them yet. My clothes are too full of dust and sand, from checking stuff under the car. I dyed the headrests, because they were faded, but I like the contrast.

I thought I had to put those rod silencer covers on all the doors, but already did the front ones. It's a pain, but I didn't want them getting wet all winter and spring.

Ah yeah, I forgot to mention that these door panels go right over the metal and have their own weather strip belt, so I have to take the original ones off again, after cleaning the old ones up. These are in better shape anyway. The original door panels only went up to the metal door sill 'pad'.

So what do you think about my old seat velour on the door panels?

 

It looks incredibly nice!!!! This car will be better then new, certainly because you have used options from different years. That is really neat! Thanks for the pictures and the update, I think I speak for all of us, if I say we really enjoy this.
God, even if you are so far away and we actually never met, the suspence of the finishing is almost killing me!
Good luck today! :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Thanks. My luck is running good. They were forecasting rain from last nite to tonite, and then they changed it again to 5:00 PM. I think they hire summer vacation students of witchcraft with a dart board and a crystal ball at the Federal weather service.

Anyway, finishing the doors and folding seat and then the engine compartment. More pics to come.

 

What an incredibily beautiful job you've done. I only wish my car looked that nice. My plastics are in pretty poor condition compared to yours.

That interior is really nice Norm. It would be worth the trip up there just to see it. You should be very proud.

Show Car! Now it'll have to be a trailer queen!

 

Not a chance! My wife's the only one that qualifies... just need a long whip to get her to pull the trailer. She's not home.

Thanks TBird. It's coming on strong now. I've got the 3rd door panel almost on, and the fourth is ready to go on. Then the rear seat back, hopefully this evening before the rain. If it doesn't rain, I'll get it done and install late tonite or first thing in the AM.

It's the hole locating and cutting - measure twice, cut once - that takes the time.

Got pics, but not posting yet.

 

OHHH you know how to hurt a feller by not posting pictures.

 

Can't have that!

Next post - A minor Pic-Fix.

 

Sail mirrors on a Fairmont look sharp, and although there was another traditional 'post' type, most came with the Sail mirrors. What is important to know is that when the door panel has a padded sill on the inside or if you picked one up at the Pick & Pull, GET the Inside sail mirror trim plates too. You'll need a star screwdriver and a small Allen key (1/16" or 3/32"). I did get the driver's side. The trim plate is 1/4" shorter than the one for the unpadded door panel (on the LH) -the door sill is painted metal) and the padded one (on the RH), with their respective trim plates:


It's not a good picture, but this is where it goes:


The Passenger side, unless it has the remote 'joystick' too, is a Plastic plate. I have 2 of them, so I'm going to trim it down on my bandsaw, until I can find the right one.

Just the trim plates (RH is for the padded sill type door panel):


Driver's Rear panel (taken tonite again, but was done last nite):


Driver's Door:

Note the Mexican Serial Plate.



Passenger Rear Door:
I had to remove the hardware because I had the bars tangled up and couldn't get the rod silencer covers on the rods. These rear doors are the most work-intensive part of this project! The Division bar weather-strip can't be replaced without removing that fixed window, and that is a delicate, physically demanding, hand-scarring job. And getting that hardware in under the division bar is a fine art of "Get A Bigger Hammer" without the hammer. PITA, PITA, PITA!!! :banghead3: :banghead3: :banghead3: :banghead3: :banghead3: :banghead3: :banghead3:


Passenger Front Door:


I actually had the Driver's door done this afternoon:


But under the blue tarp, it doesn't 'glow' the same, like under moonlight!

Why did I take the doors apart? Rust Protection and Sound Deadener. I've always done my cars that way, but I've never done a door with a division bar like that, and a packed hardware system inside.

Was it worth it? Oh yeah. They close so quietly, no rattles and they sound so solid.