M. Requin

>Yes, hammer and dolly... boy that dent was in a tough spot... Couldn't get to the nuts that hold the bumper on without straightening the dent...

Hey that's nice work- I had to do the same on my 86.5 and it is definitely a tough spot- I would do a little, rest a lot (PBR break) do some more, but it finally got done. Yours looks really good! If that's your first, you've got a darn good feel for the process (which I find really rewarding).

4drgl

Thanks,

Here's updates... been working on it most of the day...

Trying very hard to keep the body line, and make sure the fender line is straight. Have some more work to do around the corner... Tapping high spots and such.




Getting there... I think one more round and I'm done... Only a couple high spots left...

I'm glad there's no more dents like this anywhere on the car... rumpled fender lines and everything.

4drgl

Here's a thought...

Since the dashboard is sun dried and crispy, along with the gauge pod... I'm going to attempt something... Besides if it ruins the dash... well, it's already ruined... No harm no foul.

I've become quite proficient at reupholstering vw's and their notorious headliner falling down problem... and most recently door pockets, and door handles, door cards, etc...

So my thoughts are this... The cracks in the dash are deep but not all the way through. So if I was able to locate a filler (some sort of epoxy, or something) to fill in the cracks permanently, then scuff sand the surface down smooth... Then re-upholster the dash in a real nice black suede fabric. That would remedy my nasty dash problem without having to replace it. Yeah, it's not factory and no it's not leather. But it would look nice and I wouldn't have to worry about further cracking problems, not to mention I won't leave the car in the sun for years at a time!

For reference... Pillar pieces and sunroof motor cover for a passat... By the way this is what my GF wanted it matches her Burberry purse as close as I could get anyway with my local fabric selection.





I'm not thinking anything this crazy! But some re-upholstery is most certainly needed after the body is painted.

It's also an automatic so I could make a shift boot for it and elimate all the nasty broken plastic-ness mess from the po as well. Hmmmm.

Thoughts?

For all the purists out there don't flame me... Trying to save $$ for other parts of the car. I've already saved it from the crusher, at this point it would be easier! I'm not talking racy painted air vents, and spray paint on the interior, just a refresh, simple and clean...

pcar928fan

I like it... You don't want to do that dash like that because of nasty reflections...in fact I would suggest an alcantera in black or vinyl in black vs. something like that pictured. Now the rest of the car...go CRAZY on that! There are more than a few of the Euro cars that have the basic pattern you show above on the seats and door panels! I like it personally. I am not sure I have ever seen that on a US spec car...but I like it!

Looking forward to pics of your work.

Mrmerlin

The upholstery job looks good, and you can cover just about every thing in the car with what ever you like.
For the dash others have filled the cracks and then recaoted the dash with paint from SEM go for a satin dark color, .I like the Alcantra idea as well. anyway with a light colored dash you will have a lot of sunlight reflected back into your eyes, my dash is white and its really bothersome on a sunny day, i had a pod cover made to fit the top of the pod.

danglerb

I have a pod and shifter in black Alcantara, and I am thinking about the dash, almost 100% decided on headliner. Its synthetic ultrasuede perfect for a headliner, but I am not so sure about putting it on the dash due to potential fading and heat.

If you search a bit you will find several good threads on how to repair the dash as well as a guide on Rob Budds web site www.928leathershop.com .

4drgl

Thanks for the help and support.

The Alcantara fabric I have looked up is SUPER expensive... $75 per yard purchased at a 3 yard, non returnable minimum... Hmmm... As having worked with re-upholsters, does anyone have experience working with either of these fabrics, meaning how stretchy are they?

Maybe i'll source a Milano Micro suede and see what that costs per yard. I'd like to do a beige/tan interior. But my color schemes are open for discussion!

More Pics...
The old paint and I got down to business!



A bit blurry but, passenger side door sill...


The dent work still progressing... A bit more working and I think I've got it. The body line is pretty dang good finally, I worked it with a longboard and some 80 grit... So I'll hit it again tonight get rid of the few remaining high spots and sand it with 120.


Passenger quarter panel... couple little dings, nothing major.


Pulled the bumper cover last night, stripped down the inside of the drivers door. Bagged and tagged everything... Then worked on the motor for a bit.

Thanks to "Mrmerlin" for clearing my fuel pump out. The car is running... It runs rough like it has a bad ground or not enough fuel... I cleaned out the filter, and that seemed to help... So I'll buy a new fuel filter this week. I pulled the passenger Timing cover and checked the belt. No fraying, no oil damage. Belt looks rent (within last several years) Tension??? Water pump is not leaking. The T-belt is a square tooth.

danglerb

For the dash I think you need a premium UV treated etc. automotive grade of Alcantara, which I think is more than $75/yard, but headliner I was planning on furniture grade ultrasuede which is much cheaper (less than $20 retail a yard).

I think most of this type of fabric has a limited stretch in one direction.

M. Requin

Actually if you check the mfr's info, Alcantara is the automotive version of Ultrasuede. Headliner might be a good use of the less expensive Ultrasuede (hadn't thought of that), but for anything exposed to UV I would certainly stick to Alcantara (there have been a few discussions about this here- might be worth a search). My dash is also toast, so I'll be following this thread with great interest! And once again, kudos on the bodywork, and though I'm more an Aquascutum guy than Burberry, I like what you did for your GF!

4drgl

Thanks guys. I didn't realize that alcantara was the automotive brand of micro suede nor did I realize it has UV protectant in it... It's impossible to keep up on all the different facets of the industry!

I will look into this further, and will keep posting with updates.

As for matching alcantara and ultra suede via mail... I will have to order swatches, because last time I checked the local fabric shops they only carried suede, leatherettes, vinyl, etc. There has to be a furniture maker somewhere in CO... hmmm, I'll keep on looking!

The reason I am asking about stretch is because to get the fabric over the edges and down into the crevasses without stitching is very difficult with some fabrics... and I am not good at sewing! I attempted it previously, not sure what I was doing wrong but either way the sewing machine is put away and I am not interested in any way shape or form... The seats will match but I will have them professionally upholstered if I do not find something nicer in the meantime! They're at the very very bottom of the priority list!

BBX

Wow, that was so cool of you to hook your GF's car up, it looks awesome! I bet she loves it!
I think you can buy the actual Burberry, L.V. and gucci pattern material on places like ebay, i think.

Your coming along great great with your car, I have been stripping my interior out for a month now...lol...

4drgl

Here's a point of interest...

When the car is idling... I have the fuel pump (I'm going to abbreviate fuel pump, FP) relay bypassed 30/87. Just to be sure I have full voltage getting to the pump... At the pump I have only 9.90 vdc.

I have checked the ce panel and there is no corrosion visually that I can see on the bolts heads or the box, the fuses are clean and shiny new, as are the contacts... So my bet is on a bad ground to the FP, but where does the FP ground??? Is it up by the passenger tailight?? It looks like there are 3 or 4 ground wires stacked together there. They are a bit crusty, and the ground wires that attach to the trunk latch as well were rotted off completely. There's a couple of ground problems up in the console that I found as well... I'll take more pics tonight.

4drgl

Additional Pictures...

Since you guys like it... She loves it! I'm in the process of changing the interior from grey leather to black... but ran into a snag... The drivers b-pillar is bent from a badly repaired accident and the driver rear floor board is bent and I'm not sure if it can be pulled properly and may end up scraping the car.... which sucks after all the work. I'll find another one and use the parts from this car and put on the next one!! It was only $600! But license plates again... argggh!







Anyway! All my cars are unique project cars... All are daily driven, run well, and are unique in their own ways. People ask her at stoplights who did it!
Some elbow grease about 6 cans of Super 90 and a lot of patience!

4drgl

I scraped window tinting off last night until I couldn't stand the smell anymore

So I gave that up put the hatch window away, and went back out to the garage!

1. Cleaned all coil connections.
2. Cleaned all contacts inside the distributor cap.
3. Cleaned the rotor.
4. Pulled and cleaned all spark plugs.

Gave her a shot of starting fluid went to start it and wham it fired and ran good. Idling about 900, little miss (consistent throughout the rpm band), but I believe its fuel related. Reason being that about 5 minutes into running it shuts down. The idle falls off and it dies and won't restart (until FP cools). The fuel pump is still running after it dies ( because I've bypassed the relay for troubleshooting purposes). However the engine won't restart. So I hand checked the fuel pump, and it is hot and if I tap on it, the pump whirring changes pitch... My $ is on the fuel pump, and filter.

I re-played the scenario about 4 times and the same outcome each time. The alternator is charging circuits properly, the battery is holding at 12.5 when the motor dies. So the circuits are not draining the battery, the motor has good spark, and clean connections...

Where can I purchase one of those thread on fuel pressure gauges for my fuel rail??

Mike Frye

Hey, nice work. I like the interior of that VW. Check out the link in my sig for what I did for my daughter's Saab (zebra print!). She calls it the Saabra.

On the running thing, I'm sure you've found the list of ground points to check. I'd verify that you're getting good voltage at the FP now that you got it running. I'm also leery about the starting fluid idea. One guy blew off one of the intake side boxes doing that and it left a dent in his hood (or the refrig next to the car, I forget which). Anyway, you should be able to get it going without it if the car is pumping any gas and if not, then getting it running without isn't going to help for long.