Oct 28 2003 - I started on the interior sidewall upholstery. First job was to make templates of the areas to be covered. Luckily I made these extremely accurate for reasons to be explained below, even though that was not the original goal.
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Oct 28 2003 - I started on the interior sidewall upholstery. First job was to make templates of the areas to be covered. Luckily I made these extremely accurate for reasons to be explained below, even though that was not the original goal. | ||||
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Why in the world upholster the inside of the flap compartment? *Practice* Besides, it might cut down on a little noise. I had a very tough time trimming the excess material on the edges, I had left roughly 1/2" all around as instructed by DJ and as detailed by other builders. I couldn't accurately find the edge of the metal flange and I couldn't get a good feel on when the fabric was completely cut with the results that the edges ended up frayed and not clean looking. I took a big diversion here and tried an experiment. I cut the fabric to the exact size of the template and tried a test piece. Perfect! As mentioned earlier, this does, however, require very accurate templates. The fabric can still be stretched or compressed a little, it is really easy to get a nice fit. | ||||
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Over to the other side, here is the rear bay above the flap actuator taped for spraying with the 3M 08090 Super Trim Adhesive. The spray pattern is nice and tight compared to 77 spray adhesive, the taping is probably overkill but I don't want to make a mess. | ||||
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Here is the fabric in place along with the armrest and actuator cover. I opted to just cover the outer skin and leave the riveted flanges visible. I thought this would look clean and I have no regrets. | ||||
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Another shot of the rear seat sidewall. | ||||
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Although the colors look vastly different, the seat and sidewall colors are the same. Just a single dark grey and a single light grey all around. I'm still not sure about the actuator covers - fabric or metal? I'm leaning toward leaving them painted as shown. When I finish up I'll take some leftover material and tape it in place to see how it looks. | ||||
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I made a little more progress on the RH side, now I need to catch up on the left and continue forward. The pieces that straddle the instrument panel are going to be the toughies. | ||||
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