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Thread: Roadster NA

  1. #16
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Roadster7's Avatar
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    Painted the bottom of the dash and finished the glovebox today.

    Dash wiped down with SEM Plastic Prep (38353):




    Here you can see the the discoloration of the tan plastic around the glovebox. Looks like some kind of chemical was used previously:


    Bad photo, but the area near the hood latch release was not pretty either:


    I used SEM Camel Color Coat (15173). I did not use an adhesion prompter, although that is recommended apparently.
    4 coats later:




    Area near the glovebox:

    Yes, yes, I didn't remove the rubber bumps. They didn't come out easily, so I left them in. Not a big deal.

    Hood latch release:


    And the final look of the glovebox (lighting in this photo makes it look like the latch and glovebox are different colors, but they are not):



    Overall, I am very impressed with SEM products so far - the finish looks fantastic. The crash pad will be repaired and painted later this week.

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    BRGNA8 (04-13-2017),Greasemonkey2000 (04-12-2017),JamieH (04-12-2017),oldgrayleather (03-09-2018),Paul B (04-12-2017)

  3. #17
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    That SEM camel colour looks amazing! Great work man! Is the SEM colour code 15173?

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    Roadster7 (04-13-2017)

  5. #18
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Roadster7's Avatar
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  7. #19
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Roadster7's Avatar
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    Adding some additional photos from the last couple of years.

    Pre-radiator (Mishimoto) installation and engine bay cleanup:


    After:




    Antonov AN-124 had a pit stop at CLT. Crazy to see one of these in person, it's enormous.






    Exclusive Detail did a fantastic job polishing up the paint, I was absolutely stoked when I went to pick up.

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    JamieH (04-14-2017),MiataQuest (04-13-2017),oldgrayleather (03-09-2018),Paul B (04-13-2017)

  9. #20
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Montego Blue + Tan interior = simply gorgeous!!! Love the RPF1s on it too! looks really nice and suits it!

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  11. #21
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift theothersawyer's Avatar
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    Great work on that dash! Looks fantastic!

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    Roadster7 (04-14-2017)

  13. #22
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Roadster7's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BRGNA8 View Post
    Montego Blue + Tan interior = simply gorgeous!!! Love the RPF1s on it too! looks really nice and suits it!
    Quote Originally Posted by theothersawyer View Post
    Great work on that dash! Looks fantastic!
    Thanks fellas.

  14. #23
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Roadster7's Avatar
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    From a recent cars & coffee.







    This one is recent. Morgan 3-wheeler - impressive in person, and makes a great noise.

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  16. #24
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    Gotta love the three wheeler

  17. #25
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Roadster7's Avatar
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    The hardest part of the dash restoration was completed on Saturday. I can't tell you how nerve-racking the entire process was. I was not looking forward to laying down leather, and was terrified of making a mistake. One error, and I have to start from scratch. What I was afraid of most was not being able to wrap all of the corners, curves, and nooks of the dash, but that turned out to be a piece of cake.

    Here are the materials that I used (and scissors):
    1. SEM 38353 Plastic & Leather Prep
    2. DAP Weldwood Contact Cement (The Original)
    3. Bondo rubber spreaders/putty knives
    4. Brush
    5. Blade
    6. Scissors
    7. Mask




    Here is my leather "scrap" that I purchased from a local shop. Enough material to cover 2 dashboards, and around $50. Prior to these photos, there were a ton of wrinkles in the hide; not natural wrinkles, but creases from the leather being balled up and tossed in a scrap bin. This was fairly easy to correct with some brown paper, and an iron set to med/high. No steam. The wrinkles and lines you see in the photos are natural features in the leather.

    I traced the dash pattern onto paper, and then marked it down on the leather. Gave myself around 2-3 inches of excess on all sides.





    Beautiful.




    Before we move on to the photos, this took me 8 hours to complete - I started at 14:00 and finished @ 22:00.

    First, spray with SEM and wipe with a clean cloth.




    Then, line up the leather, and fold over to one side. Brush a generous amount of contact cement on both sides and let it sit for 15 minutes. Anything under 15 minutes wasn't tacky enough in my case, and the leather wouldn't stick as well as it should.

    Slowly fold over the cemented section, and press down slowly and smoothly with your fingers or a cloth. Once the section was down, I firmly went over with a Bondo putty knife.




    I decided to finish the large flat section first, and leave the edges for last.




    Almost done laying down the leather and wrapping the edges in this photo:





    Cut SLOWLY and LITTLE BY LITTLE. This would come back to bite me in the ass when cutting out the windshield vents. I cut one long slit in the middle of the vent, and then made little cuts along each edge to help the leather wrap around easier. First of all, this wasn't needed along the straight edge of the vent, you only need to do this at the rounded ends, as the leather is flexible enough to wrap around the long curves. Second of all, when you do make these slits, DO NOT CUT IN TOO FAR. I did, and you can see these cuts when looking from the top, or from the side. I'm not too worried about this - will be cutting out some trashcan mesh like Revlimiter did for his dash restoration, and I'm hoping that will help conceal these cuts. However, it is the one thing I could have definitely done better, a little disappointed in myself with this part. Luckily these aren't too visible, and can also be concealed with a fine-tip sharpie.

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  19. #26
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Roadster7's Avatar
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    ANYWAYS, on to the almost-finished product. Enjoy!


























    I have to say, overall I am extremely pleased with the result, and can't wait to finish the entire project!

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  21. #27
    Idling - Listen to it purr... DarkSupra's Avatar
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    Wow looks good!

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    Roadster7 (04-17-2017)

  23. #28
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Paul B's Avatar
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    Great job! Would like to tackle this eventually


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Roadster7 (04-17-2017)

  25. #29
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Fantastic work! Looks amazing. I too would like to do this in the near future

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    Roadster7 (04-17-2017)

  27. #30
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift oldgrayleather's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update and tips. Such a fantastic mod and one I bet you'll take a huge amount of pride in every time you're behind the wheel. This looks exceptional!!

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    BRGNA8 (04-18-2017),Roadster7 (04-18-2017)

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