When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Nice work Vikingtrad3r, curious on how well your new interior fits? My car the rug is in awful shape. Its funny on how a few new parts can just bring the car up to almost new status.
When I had my dash pad out, I noticed a bunch of broken pieces hidden, bubba worked on my car as well. I put the dash back in for now. Best to hide it for a later date project.
Nice work Vikingtrad3r, curious on how well your new interior fits? My car the rug is in awful shape. Its funny on how a few new parts can just bring the car up to almost new status.
When I had my dash pad out, I noticed a bunch of broken pieces hidden, bubba worked on my car as well. I put the dash back in for now. Best to hide it for a later date project.
Hi Mike,
There were alot of options and I chose auto custom carpets on ebay for a full set. and also ordered new mats. it fits great actually. there are no holes cut for things like the seat base bolts or the seatbelt bolts or the targa top storage towers but i learned that the best way to install is to simply put the towers right on top of the carpet and screw through it. i compared this method to the set that i took out of the 86 and a previous owner had attempted to cut certain holes in specific shapes and it turned out badly. same for my 87 daily driver. looks a million times cleaner to simply install right over the carpet. where there are studs (like the targa mounts and the seat base bolts and the hidden ones under the retractable cargo shade, i simple pushed the carpet down and the studs poked through. very clean install. very easy. i should also say that i cleaned up my parts entirely and applied a mist coat of OEM matching "landau black" to match the color back to spec. I also sprayed the two nuts in the tower so it all matches.
there were plenty of places where i trimmed an extra inch or two. for example where the rear carpet goes up the wall and under the cargo shade, there was extra length. i cut it off about a cm at a time so i didn't do any 'whoopsies.'
i also trimmed on the rear wheel well along the top edges where it tucks under the slide guids for the cargo shades. if you do not trim then you end up with extra material creating a baggy effect.
i also trimmed under the 'waterfall' piece that goes up behind the seats, over the tranny tunnel hump. it rolls over and i trimmed it and placed the edge under the frame of the cargo tray plasic. Then i screwed the cargo tray right through the carpet. it took a bit to line up the holes but the install looks completely professional.
i am under no time constraints and so i wasn't rushed and if I didn't have a plan that was obviously going to workk then i just put the carpet down and left it with my subconcious to come up with a betther install method.
the door panels carpets....it took me a while before i had all the material and metods prepped in my head before i tackled it. but when i did pull the trigger it was easy peezy. here is the post on my door repair thread.
overall, extremely easy, and very satisfying result.
i have to say though, i was stressing at first about knowing "exactly" where to put the holes for all these studs. then i realized...just put the carpet in place and push teh studs through. easy peezy.
Congrats on the cheap purchase price on the car. Means you have more money to buy parts to get the car to 100%.
With the door repairs and new carpet, has brought the you car back from the dead.
I just finished putting in a LS engine into my car (LQ9), just doing some transmission leaks and a couple minor tweaks. Sure an improvement over the L98, almost hard to compare them.
yeah i saw you commented on its amazingness in another thread. ill be coming to see your handi work.
u r in airdrie right?
I have yet to put the throttle on the floor the LQ9 and my 700r is already slipping some in 2nd gear.
Not sure what I'm going to do for a transmission yet once 700r gives out. I wished the it would lasted longer
I really want to put a T-56 in my car, plus a decent set of gear. The 2.73 are way to high speed.
My oil pan on the LQ9 is leaking at the rear of the pan, at least I hope its from the oil pan. I might scream out some nasties if its the rear main oil seal.
I fixed the oil pan up last weekend. The previous owner of the LQ9 did a sketchy repair on the oil pan. I wonder why the engine looked so clean.
I add more pressure to the TV cable for the transmission and seems to work, as 2nd gear is holding for now.
I picked up brake calipers off a 2010 vette with Z51 brakes. 13.4in front and 13in for the rears. They fit the caliper adapters I bought online from ebay. Should look good with the c6 rims I also picked up.
Interior is looking excellent. seat belts were disGUSTing. I knew they were bad but when there is new carpet and cleaned up panels and seats they stuck out.
before. pics never do the grime justice. no that isnt shadow!! i used a soft SOFT brush with spray n wash on the counter. the liquid grime was brutal. after the light brushing satruated in spray n wash i soaked them in a bucket of warm water saturated with sunlight laundry detergent. gave them a light brush while in the detergent bath then rinsed twice in warm water. they look new!
and my research showed this method was acceptable for not damaging integrity of the fibers.
the motor in the antenna on the 86 was running continuously. likely a broken band inside the motor im told so it doesnt retract the antenna and keeps running till it does.
im pleased to report that my 8$ amazon stick on hiddennwindshield antenna works great on fm and am!
ground went to the radio ground on back of stereo and power went to antenna power (blue).
note that until it gets proper quality ground and the antenna power the reception was good on fm but crap on am. fully installed both bands are clear as a bell.
the motor in the antenna on the 86 was running continuously. likely a broken band inside the motor im told so it doesnt retract the antenna and keeps running till it does.
im pleased to report that my 8$ amazon stick on hiddennwindshield antenna works great on fm and am!
ground went to the radio ground on back of stereo and power went to antenna power (blue).
note that until it gets proper quality ground and the antenna power the reception was good on fm but crap on am. fully installed both bands are clear as a bell.
Sell, after bleeding the brakes, i felt it was safe to back the car out of the shop and into my yard to gaze at it.
There is a long list of other small things to do, but they are meaningless in terms of safety inspection and runability.
The interior looks...amazing. just amazing. everything now works as intended except the hvac controller which is on its way. and i know that undeneath that carpet is a clean disinfected fiberglass tub with zero rodent remnents lol.
here is a list of small things that i will now do as i drive the vehicle and enjoy it, in roughly the order of how i plan to attack them.
- fuel line id like to replace from the filter back to tank. this may be more involved than id like but it really should be done.
-eagle one etching cleaner on the top end of the engine while on the car (no signs of any intake gasket leaks so im not pulling them if not required.
-power wash suspension components and then treat visible
- valve cover gaskets with repaint
- water pump gasket
-pull vacuum on air conditioning system and see if it holds, fill with "duracool" which is amazingly easy and works perfectly. in canada this approved and i think its almost approved in the states.
- install fast ratio steering rack.
- windshield trim needs to be sanded and hit with semi gloss enamel trim paint.
- new weatherstripping from corvette rubber.
- slight shimming of the hood to adjust a gap.
- still need a passenger side kick panel with the light and vent outlet with the vertical vent piece.
- the seatback angle adjustment on the sport seats appears to be missing components in the seat buckets. im not to concerned about that het as we may be going aftermarket seat direction anyway.
- minor touch up pen work on the paintjobwhich i got matches using one of those light gun things and turns out its a mazda black metallic color.
- id like to get the onx (corsa clone) exhaust with functioning cat and weld it together. i want to learn how to weld so ill probably do this then.
- some fiberglass repair on the floor pans where people have damaged it with a lift.
- install a new set bilsteins which ive had for 6 months.
- steering wheel redurb. there is an incredible thread on this forum showcasing what a cheap repair kit and a bitnif time can accomplish and the work wS outstanding
so yeah....the project continues as my evening weekend tinker time. love it. but the car is now in far better shape than the average c4 and far exeeds the $650 i spent on it. looking fwd to my first drive in it.
Sell, after bleeding the brakes, i felt it was safe to back the car out of the shop and into my yard to gaze at it.
There is a long list of other small things to do, but they are meaningless in terms of safety inspection and runability.
The interior looks...amazing. just amazing. everything now works as intended except the hvac controller which is on its way. and i know that undeneath that carpet is a clean disinfected fiberglass tub with zero rodent remnents lol.
here is a list of small things that i will now do as i drive the vehicle and enjoy it, in roughly the order of how i plan to attack them.
- fuel line id like to replace from the filter back to tank. this may be more involved than id like but it really should be done.
-eagle one etching cleaner on the top end of the engine while on the car (no signs of any intake gasket leaks so im not pulling them if not required.
-power wash suspension components and then treat visible
- valve cover gaskets with repaint
- water pump gasket
-pull vacuum on air conditioning system and see if it holds, fill with "duracool" which is amazingly easy and works perfectly. in canada this approved and i think its almost approved in the states.
- install fast ratio steering rack.
- windshield trim needs to be sanded and hit with semi gloss enamel trim paint.
- new weatherstripping from corvette rubber.
- slight shimming of the hood to adjust a gap.
- still need a passenger side kick panel with the light and vent outlet with the vertical vent piece.
- the seatback angle adjustment on the sport seats appears to be missing components in the seat buckets. im not to concerned about that het as we may be going aftermarket seat direction anyway.
- minor touch up pen work on the paintjobwhich i got matches using one of those light gun things and turns out its a mazda black metallic color.
- id like to get the onx (corsa clone) exhaust with functioning cat and weld it together. i want to learn how to weld so ill probably do this then.
- some fiberglass repair on the floor pans where people have damaged it with a lift.
- install a new set bilsteins which ive had for 6 months.
- steering wheel redurb. there is an incredible thread on this forum showcasing what a cheap repair kit and a bitnif time can accomplish and the work wS outstanding
so yeah....the project continues as my evening weekend tinker time. love it. but the car is now in far better shape than the average c4 and far exeeds the $650 i spent on it. looking fwd to my first drive in it.
Amazing work. Will you be able to drive before winter or is it a goal for spring?
want to follow up on this one post with these wires. they were not remnant delco bose wires as i suspected. these were the sun visor vanity light and rear view mirror map/ambient courtesy light harnesses. i got sun visors and installed an im looking for the oem mirror with the little ambient light and the switched map light.
cheers.
Originally Posted by VikingTrad3r
decided to pursue dash repairs so i could get thegot the dash off. i was a bit scared of cracking it but it did hold up.
there was a bit of treasure hidden. some wires and harness. i assume it is the bose speaker harness.
this was tucked under the dash.
the speakers are alpine 4x6 again like the doors.
i winder what lies beneath the rears??
and if i have 6 speakers would i expect to find a small amp somewhere?
more fun to come.
oohhhh. wait.
you probably want to see what i found behind the bread box???
lets just say i sucked it up with a vacuum and sprayed the area down with lysol then wiped and wiped.
06-27-2017, 11:05 PM
Best to hide it for a later date project.
. Mine isn't as nice as your is. Most of my interior is out.
