Hello Friends,
One the way in to work this morning (with Yes playing on the Cayman’s
stereo) I found myself pondering car projects for the long weekend.
One of those projects is to make a little more progress on the SIII
E-Type interior restoration. Here’s what I’m thinking and a request
for ideas.
My car’s interior is really nice, for the most part, but the carpets,
leather and vinyl have faded, and the upholstery surrounding the 2+2’s
rear hatch window is damaged. The dash and console are already
restored and beautiful. I believe the quest for the weekend should be
to restore the rear hatch upholstery.
A paint shop (Tasco) near me sells the hardboard for door panels,
etc… Unlike that which was used originally in my car, this new stuff
is waterproof. And water damage to the old trim is the problem. The
39-year-old substrate has swelled and broken and the staples holding
the upholstery in place have pulled out. That repair will be easy, if
time consuming. I’ll just remove the vinyl and use the old substrate
as a template to cut new hardboard. The harder bit will be to replace
a part of the trim that is missing. I’ll have to make a template,
trial fitting and trimming until the shape is right. I’ll then make
the new piece and cover it with generic vinyl of similar ‘grain’. As
I am respraying all of the vinyl with SEM vinyl finish (in Palomino),
all I’ll need to do is find a replacement vinyl in tan or even white -
an easy color to cover with the new ‘paint’.
In this picture you can just see the damage to the rear hatch
upholstery. The part of the rear deck over the fuel tank has been
resprayed with the new color. The rest hasn’t.
http://www.aubard.us/Jaguar/HPIM0399.JPG
Here’s the spare tire cover with the new finish drying.
http://www.aubard.us/Jaguar/HPIM0401.JPG
And here’s how the new color compares to the old, faded color.
http://www.aubard.us/Jaguar/HPIM0403.JPG
And on the console.
http://www.aubard.us/Jaguar/HPIM0407.JPG
Yea, its not a ‘correct’ color, but it will look nice in this white car.
http://www.aubard.us/Jaguar/g4.JPG
A year or two ago I bought new rear hatch hinge covers here from a
kind list-member. They’re black but a little plastic primer and a
coat of the SEM vinyl paint and they will look ‘as new’ in Palomino.
The question I ponder is how best to cut the hardboard. In the past I
have used a saber saw with a fine-tooth metal-cutting blade, then
sanded the cut edge to smooth the rough edges. And that whole process
is very messy. Do you know of a better way to cut this stuff?
regards,
-rick
'73 2+2______________________________________________________
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