Day 196-200

Very long time since an update.  Quite a bit has been happening, so here's the latest.

I was able to find a reproduction emergency brake boot that is a much better match.  I also found an NOS shifter boot.  They came from Germany and England, respectively.  Happy to have found them and at least I learned all about how to paint rubber  :)

I purchased a period correct Blaupunkt radio.  I sent it off to a repair guy that comes highly recommend, located in St. Augustine, Florida.  It is a US spec radio so it has radio stations all the way up to 108 mHz on FM which was very rare for radios of this time.  It's also date stamped so it was manufactured the same year as my car.  Very cool.

I sent the bumpers out to get chromed.  This is a large expense but will be well worth it because they are stamped VW!

I stripped the paint booth of all the plastic and have given the garage a thorough blow out.  I am going to do a nice scrub right before final paint.

I also wiped down the entire body today with wax and grease remover.  Most of the block sanding was done but there were a few minor areas where you could still see sanding scratches after I removed the dust.  I took care of them and got it ready for a wipe down and paint!

Today I also worked on my door panels.  Previously, I had bought a staple gun and got the correct length staples so they wouldn't puncture the material.

I have an entire replacement vinyl for this rip.

The other side is in ok shape.

My panels were in okay shape.  The color has faded which I will dye but the mounting boards are pretty much toast.  So I removed the vinyl and cleaned them today.  They cleaned up pretty good.  I used Simple Green and a heavy duty degreaser.

Top, original.  Bottom, cleaned.

I found the original style mounting board and had it delivered.  My goal today was to get my panels flat.  They are curved from many years in the humidity of Florida and probably getting wet a couple times.

I used the hose to get them wet again and then compressed them under a heavy jack.  I've done it on the back ones so far and they seem to be laying flat again.  The front ones are the real killers, I'll try those tomorrow.

I've also been trying to source the right vinyl.  I've found two suppliers that have the exact texture but the color is still alluding me.  The greens and greys aren't right.  I think I'm going to have to just settle on something that is close.

Option A is the right texture and close.

The samples are B, C, and the green Naugahyde brand (wrong texture)

So, still some decisions to be made on the interior.  I have the headliner all picked out, waiting on the rest to order.

Large expenditures coming up.

Chrome $1500
Interior seats $1500
Headliner $400
Paint $2500?

I am pretty much ready to paint.  I'm waiting for a good weather window and a break in the schedule.  I'm hoping within the next month.  We'll see...