Greg D.

Well, here's a quick photographic update on the Bozomobile interior updates...

Here's how it came:



A slightly bent Lecarra wheel, black *****, 80s tape deck...

I started removing parts and stripping them. Off went the steering wheel, steering column, steering tube and coupler, thought not necessarily in that order ;-)

Here's the turn signal assy being stripped of its green paint...



Got a new steering tube with both brushes holders and painted it the correct beige... (paint and bushings from NLA)



She's spending a lot of time with her mouth open these days :



So here goes now: forgive the wiring mess under the dash, I am still not done there. Anybody got that metal tab hiding the wiring between the turn signal stalk and the dash ?



All the ***** are now beige... The ashtray is still out of the car, I am redoing the ****, it picked up dust while drying...

Note the turn signal stalk chrome: I slipped a piece of
radio antenna on top of it and repainted the end. The dash
pad is so-so but better than nothing for now, and of course the
new wheel with horn ring which I painstakingly sanded and painted and sanded and.... ;-)

My next crazy idea ? The seats. I am toying with the fibersteel outlaw speedster buckets, upholstered... Someone want to talk me out of it ? ;-)

SoCal Mike

Nice work Greg! Interior looks alot better. No arguement from me on the Speedster buckets

RJT

Greg,
I've got Speedster seats in Max, my 1955 356 Continental Outlaw. They look great, BUTT for comfort, (get it, BUTT?) it depends on the size of your caboose! Speedster seats are very narrow with high bolsters. They do a great job holding you in, but if your butt is wider than the seat it can be pretty uncomfortable. Also there is only fore and aft adjustments, NO recline or tilt. And if you carry your wallet in your rear pocket, it will have to go somewhere else while driving.
So find someone with a Speedster and take a sit test before you order seats!

kpr

looks very sharp - especially that horn ring

Greg D.

Thanks for the advice... I did find out that fibersteel.com sells repro outlaw speedster seats for $250 + another $250 for upholstery. Times x2 for a set and it becomes a bit pricey vs rechroming the sides of my seats and maybe recovering them... I need to do the math...

Meantime, I still have to replace the drum shoes, make the flat spot from the carbs go away and maybe a clutch job -at minimum a clutch cable... I wanted a project, no complaints !

Greg D.

Correction: they emailed back and the upholstery is now ridiculously expensive:

2 seat shells............................500.00
upholstery for 2 shells...............900.00
4 hinges..................................100.00
2 alloy gt frames .....................250.00
4 upper seat rails....................196.00
2 hardware kits.........................24.00

We are now hand sculpting the foam to be exactly like originals.
No flat foam like most of the 356 upholstery shops. That's why the cost has increased.


Well, never mind that idea !!!!

RJT

The ridiculous prices are probably due to the almost hysteria right now for restoring Speedsters. Absolute junk Speedsters are going for 50K. And it's easy to put 35-50K in restoring one with these prices for seat parts, and everything else that is needed.
I just replaced the GT gas tank in my 55 with a FuelSafe, and I've been offered $2000 for the old tank already and it hasn't been completely restored yet, it still needs painting. I've heard of a set of Rudge knock-off wheels selling for 12K!!!

Cupcar#12

- just a thought
the GT 90 liter tank is going for more than 2K now days (think 2800.00) restored. ouch....
i too like the speedster seats - just buy the shells and have auto Intl cover them maybe /maybe not the same price - but the quality is super high.
they charge 1200.00 to restore the stock seats if i remember correctly and did an awsome job on my interior - restored seats (no chrome work), new interior panels, recovered dash. looks killer but cost a bunch (6K? - i don't look at receipts anymore
my 59' is mild outlaw i guess - she looks stock but has a lot of tweaks, front discs, larger A/R bar, camber reg, adjustable shocks, hard bushings, 912 big bore build for torque, different gears, dash plaque, etc. it also has pitted chrome, and the pitiana of a hard 45 years of being on the road with 2 enthuasitic owners.

Greg D.

well, you saw the chrome on my seats (top photo) ;-) It's not pretty ! Which is why between the upholstery and the chroming I figured I might as well go with speedster buckets. But not at that price ! I'd already be above $1000 in hardware and they are not even upholstered ! I'd rather fix my mechanical issues or even pay $1000 for a new wire harness ;-)

Cupcar#12

that is what i was thinking as well but since i was rebuilding the motor and all - my wife gave me the Ok to do the whole shebang - this was after i decided not to renew the body so we had a little extra in the budget.
my reasoning is pretty simple - it's a driver and i drive it to work, park in tight parking garages and the like and i would hate to see that first ding.
plus the fact that there was no bad rust anywhere (just some surface rust on the tow hook where it would scrape.
bottom line - if it looks OK - your OK as a driver i would let it go a while longer an concentrate on the mechanicals first (that wiring harness is a big project but worth while)