Tag: interior

Let’s button this up…

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I ordered a license plate housing gasket to replace the old, dry, cracked, and broken unit. Let’s add that to the “Easy Wins” list.

And then replaced it.

As I was trying to unscrew the nuts from underneath the engine cover, every one of them just unscrewed the stud from the cover itself. Either way, they all came out easily.

I didn’t think the gasket was going to fit. Using a flat blade screw driver helped stretch it around the edges of the license plate light housing. I was then able to tighten everything down.

Next, I carried both halves of the back seat from the basement and reinstalled them.

Kinda…

I have added a lot of additional padding in the seat base. The additional thickness against the bottom edge of the seat back is too much to fit once the seat back is bolted in place. It will take muscle that I don’t have available at the moment.

Let’s move on to the front.

More effort:

– Jam the drill with self-drilling sheet metal screws through the saddle blanket
– Through the fiberglass kick panels
– Through the actual sheet metal of the car.

Three days later, something inside my wrist-guts still feels out of sorts from the effort.

Anyway, job done.

Aaaaand done.

After the mess with the rear brakes was discovered, I got it all hosed down with brake parts cleaner. Then put it back together and tried adjusting the parking brake cable. Both sides would tighten all the way down without stopping the rear wheels.

Also, this is the first time I’ve had the car started up in around four months. That is by far the longest span it has sat. After four or five tries, she fired right up with no smoke, no warning lights. Ready to go.

She not stop, but will definitely go. I took a few trips back and forth in the driveway. Brakes suck. I’m tired.

Then I loosened the parking brake cables, just to make sure they wouldn’t decide to work at some point when I’m driving and lock up both rear wheels.

Now I move all the way back to the front and begin to reassemble the fresh air box. And packed everything neatly back up under the bonnet.

I’m half convinced that I am missing some parts. The center vent in the dash and the plumbing underneath doesn’t even closely resemble each other. Later, I read an off-topic statement in a post on the samba that said those parts don’t actually mate up.

As it sits right now, there’s no dash pad and no internal vents, so I just reassembled it without the center vent. If anyone has any insight into how this thing goes back together, I would appreciate a comment or a message here. Not that I plan to need the heater any time soon. It was together when I started and I apparently didn’t pay enough attention when disassembling.

Are those hoses that I replaced not actually drain hoses? Are they heater hoses after all? Is it safe to use the washing machine drain hose I purchased to push heat into the cab?

I Give Up.

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I came back out this evening after work with renewed determination to get the dash buttoned up.

After five or ten minutes of wrestling with the piece of garbage that is a $110 rubber dash pad, I threw it out into the yard and got busy reassembling the dash without it.

I don’t fully remember the story, but this plastic trim piece from around the glove box opening has been floating around in the car, laying under the passenger side seat. Screwed it back on using some of the now leftover dash pad screws.

I got most of the dash knobs and the ashtray mounted. The brake test button light thing doesn’t snug up into the hole in the dash panel. It is made to fit into the rubber dash pad.

Since the weather stripping wouldn’t stick to the underside of the bonnet, I instead turned it on its side and used that to replace the old gasket in the fresh air intake box.

Making some progress, getting organizized.

Since that mess of wiring is going to be behind and below everything else, I decided to get the stereo and speaker wires connected and routed through the car.

Not all permanently routed, just enough to be out of the way when I’m driving.

I can’t fully wrap my head around where and how those drain hoses work. My setup doesn’t match any of the pictures and diagrams I’m seeing online.

But that’s a problem for another day.

In the Continuing Saga of the Dash Pad

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After letting this crappy new dash pad upset me so badly before, I decided that I was going to make it work. I won’t be defeated!

I first mounted the large built-in bolts in the top corners, then mounted the grab handle above the glove box. The rest will be just a few little screws across the top and bottom.

It’s WAY too long of a stretch to get that screw from where it is to where it needs to be. Also, the provisions for the dash knobs are all wrong.

The ash tray won’t fit without a big trim.

Since the dash pad is rubber and is pretty flexible, despite having metal plates inside, I removed the grab handle and big bolts in the corners. I figured that it would maybe line up better if I started in the middle and worked my way out.

Nope. I still couldn’t get the screws close enough to mount them. The next surgery I attempted was to cut off the ears around the screw holes, hoping to let it snug up to the windshield.

Instead, I broke my tin snips. After binging Forged in Fire over the course of the last couple of months, I instinctively checked out the grain of the metal where it broke.

Anyway, I finished cutting the ears off. Still too far away!

I realized that the back side of the dash pad doesn’t have enough space for the rounded contour of the metal dash panel and won’t allow it to be pushed on any further.

I’m giving up for the night.

Dash Pad Install

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As I mentioned previously, the new dash pad appears to be very high quality, but at a glance, you can see it’s not an exact match to the old one.

When I got started installing it today, it became very apparent this was not going to be plug and play. First, I had to cut off a big section to fit around the ignition switch in the steering column.

Next, the glove box door was bound up and would need a heavy trim.

The kick panel speaker looks pretty good hanging out all casual over there.

In preparing to re-mount the decorative grill plates around the speedometer, I decided to use some of that black vinyl as a backing. The benefit is two-fold. It looks pretty nice, but will also block some air coming in from the poorly sealed front end.

The new dash pad has a speaker hole cut in it and there won’t be a speaker in there anymore.

Time to bring the Matte Vintage Blue out of retirement!

Apparently, I didn’t get them clean enough before spraying the first coat. There are lots of bubbles.

That’s nothing more coats won’t fix.

Defrost hoses

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I picked up this washing machine drain hose at Lowes (Lowes link) and it fits perfectly without the need for clamps. I cut both ends off, then cut it in half. It’s an 8 foot hose, which is way more than I will need, so I can cut each side to fit.

Since Dupli-Color engine enamel has been letting me down lately, I just grabbed this can of generic black primer and gave them a few coats.

The rubber gasket around the fresh air intake box is really hard and crusty and it’s always kind of damp under the bonnet, so maybe this foam window seal will work to bridge the gap.

It’s a nice thought, but the adhesive always lets go immediately on those things, so I don’t have very high hopes.

I pulled the speaker out of the dash. I was wrong before, it’s not a Kicker, it’s a Dual.

The hoses fit tight as a glove!

Told ya.

Kick Panel Speakers

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When I ordered the new vents for the dash install, I also added fiberglass kick panels to allow me to install front speakers. Because I have spent so much money already, I did the sensible thing and ordered Pyle speakers (Amazon link).

I have had nothing but good experiences with Pyle products in the past. They have always fallen into the “this thing has no business being this good” kind of category.

I previously had an 8 inch bass cannon (Amazon link), multiple sets of 5x7s (Amazon link), and my drum recording setup has four Shure 57 knock-offs (Amazon link) that were a fraction of the price. They have all been great!

I traced the openings using the paper template that came with the speakers. I drilled a hole just large enough for my jigsaw blade to fit through, then cut them out.

That is not the right blade, but it’s all I have. It needs to have much finer teeth.

Next, I put the speaker in place and drilled holes for the mounting screws.

Obviously, I don’t want to leave this ugly, raw fiberglass panel in view, so I started looking around for something to cover them with. I can order carpet pieces if I need to, but like I said before, I have already spent a lot this year.

I grabbed the bit of vinyl I peeled off the dash pad (what a fiasco), but it had too many cuts in not the right places.

Then it came to me! I had previously made a speaker hutch for the luggage compartment and just had a saddle blanket draped across it. There’s plenty of extra material there, so I cut off what I needed.

I’m confident in the strength of the 3m Super 77 (Amazon link) and have plenty left over, so I hosed the kick panel down and let the glue start to set up.

When I got the blanket fitted on the front, I flipped it over and sprayed some more glue around the edges on the back, to hold the blanket in place.

The pattern is a little crooked, but it was my first attempt. Now I know what to look out for next time.

I think they turned out great!

My original idea was to mount the speakers from the back and not use the speaker grills. The center bit of the speaker protrudes quite a ways and it wouldn’t have been flush with the face of the kick panel. OK, so I have to use the plastic trim piece and speaker grill.

I’m an idiot and got the first speaker mounted before realizing I needed the plastic trim piece under there to house the speaker grill.

Didn’t make that mistake again!

I think they turned out wonderfully!

A Few Easy Wins

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With all the failing that has been going on since I dismantled the dash, I felt it was high time for some easy wins.

When ordering the new padded dash, I added a few other parts as well.

My ash tray face doesn’t have the shift pattern printed on it, as I have seen in lots of pictures online and in the original owner’s manual. It’s also missing one of the press nut/washers that holds the plastic face to the actual ash tray. Someone had smeared RTV or something in there to glue the old one on.

The black paint is all chipping away off the spring mechanism and that’s certainly something I can rectify.

Or at least I could if I wasn’t still making silly string from yet another can of Dupli-Color 1634 engine black…

OK, maybe not an actual win, but it will look better once mounted in the car with the ash tray closed.

It’s not dead, just sleeping.

Anyway, next up we have a new, more Beetle-y looking gas cap.

This has a nice rubber gasket. The one that was in there originally had a paper gasket that looks like it has seen better days.

Last on the list for this wasted afternoon is the dome light.

The one that’s in there looks melted. Also, when trying to pull it out in the past to check the bulb and wiring, it felt like it was going to crumble into pieces in my hand, so I left it alone.

Now that I have the replacement part in hand, that is exactly what happened when I pulled the old one out.

The bulb is burned out and will need to be replaced, but at least the new one fit without issue and looks nicer. Edit: I didn’t bother trying to turn it on at the time, since the glass in the bulb was blackened, but it actually does work. Not with the door switch, but it does turn on with the switch on the light itself.

Fresh Air Fail

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The overnight rain that was supposed to finish up around 9AM lasted until noon.

Once I was able to get back outside to start piecing together the guts behind the dash pad, the first thing I noticed were these two plastic hoses, all cracked and broken.

They run from the center of the air vent assembly under the bonnet down to a pipe on each side of the car. Being a man of action (seemingly only when that is not what is needed), I went straight to the parts store, hardware store, parts store, hardware store, and hardware store, looking for something suitable to replace them with.

If I knew then what I know now, this afternoon would have been a lot more productive. Once I was in the store and looking at the different varieties of hose by the foot, I was concerned that there may be heat coming in or out through these hoses and didn’t want to risk melting vinyl, or at least heating it up and smelling bad.

So, after a bunch of runaround, I came home empty handed and decided to start googling the part. It turns out, they are just water drain hoses and anything that would fit would work. I found a post on the samba saying that washing machine drain hose worked. Now I have a plan for tomorrow.

The New Padded Dash Has Arrived

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As we saw last time, I had to order a new padded dash and it has now arrived.

The new padded dash seems to be very high quality, metal reinforced, and made in USA, which means different things to different people (re: PT Cruiser).

It is not an exact match to the one that came out of the car, which is a little concerning.

It also doesn’t have all of the screw holes pre-drilled, but that shouldn’t be an issue. My plan is to tackle all of this tomorrow and try to get the car back together and on the road for the first time this year.

It has been sitting too long!

All Hopes (Padded) Dashed

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I have been putting off recovering this padded dash for a while.

Knowing that I tend to overthink things and that my man hands aren’t well suited for this type of project, I asked my sister to help. She is super crafty and much better at those types of things than I am.

I had a long weekend away visiting family. I brought the dash pad, remaining roll of vinyl, and a bag full of glue, clothes pins, binder clips, and chopsticks with me. The chopsticks were to help push the vinyl down into the tighter creases in the dash.

In doing some further research, we decided that 3m Super 77 spray adhesive (Amazon link) would be the best way to go for long term adhesion.

The plan

My original idea was to get the top edge of the dash pad covered and let that sit. Once the bond is strong enough, move down, from top to bottom, affixing a little bit at a time. That would leave all of the complicated bends and contours on the face of the dash to be tackled later on.

My sister’s idea was to start in the center of the dash face, where the most complicated parts are, and work our way out from there. That was, in theory, a much better way of doing it. Somewhere along the line, we also decided to just spray the whole thing down at once, rather than doing it a little bit at a time.

And we’re off!

The process went exactly as you would expect, a nearly immediate disaster.

For a start, we didn’t get the vinyl positioned properly, to line up with where I had already started cutting in the contours of the air vents in the top edge. We then had to start cutting around the openings, like the glove box, radio, and speedometer to be able to push the vinyl into place. So, with it starting in the wrong position and now being cut even more than it was before, we quickly gave up on it.

Now I have this:

The crumbly old rubber dash pad is also now covered in spray glue for life.

So, I immediately went on the hunt for a better price than the $300 at jbugs. I found a seller on eBay that I had ordered from once or twice before and a new padded dash was only $110.

I will update here once the new dash pad is delivered.

On a brighter note…

My dad and I went out to a local U Pull It junkyard to walk around and look at cars and see if there’s anything we need. Years ago, last time I had a Ranger, it had no bed liner. We picked one up at the junkyard for $30-40, which was a steal.

The Ranger I have now has a nice rubber mat in the bed, but again, no bed liner. Once again, we were able to find a really nice one from a comparable year and it was $43.

I had to laugh, seeing the Ford bed liner in the back of my dad’s old Tundra.

We got it mounted up in the Ranger with little drama.

The rubber mat will need to be cut around the edges for a better fit. It wasn’t designed to be used with a bed liner.

I like the idea of not having stuff slide around back there, especially bags of trash going to the dump.