410 replies to this topic

[1982gl4]

Thanks! I haven't been a fan of the snake skins as well, especially when they are attached to a live snake (only had one of those so far!)

[1982gl4]

Fixed my window frame today.


I also picked up some fabric to recover my headliner in. Should add a unique touch to it

[1982gl4]

Today I wrapped my headliner, and por15ed the front fenders, valence, edges of all the doors, inner front fenders. The headliner came out pretty good for my fist one. I just hope the glue holds up!

[1982gl4]

My flocking came in so I started on the dash.
I first sanded it down with a grinder getting the high spots down


Next came the foam to fix the giant crack.

Edited by 1982gl4, 23 December 2011 - 02:56 PM.

[1982gl4]

On to step two of my trial and error dash repair. I sanded everything down. Looks like it will be a good base.







These are they only two tools I've used so far. A "cheese grater" and some 80 grit sand paper.

[Virrdog]

I would hit the dash with some high build primer, too. And give it a final sand before putting on the flocking.

[1982gl4]

Will primer even stick to vinyl? I was thinking it would be a good idea to seal it up, I wasn't really sure what to use. I also have to use some fiberglass over the foam that's been put down. It will all be sanded before the flocking goes on.

[Virrdog]

Do you have Bulldog adhesion promoter? I guess I did not think about the vinyl part. If you scuff it up good and use Bulldog, it should stick.

[Idasho]

Looking good. I dig the headliner material :cool:

Have you chosen a color for the body?

[1982gl4]

Do you have Bulldog adhesion promoter? I guess I did not think about the vinyl part. If you scuff it up good and use Bulldog, it should stick.

I've never seen the bulldog stuff around here, I'll have to look into to it. Painting over vinyl worries me a bit... Although I've seen overspray on dashes and such and that stuff never comes off!

Looking good. I dig the headliner material :cool:

Have you chosen a color for the body?

Thanks I took me a long time to decide what I was going to use for the material, I was thinking houndstooth, or plaid, but then I saw this and new it was going to be perfect! As for the exterior I'm thinking white will be perfect paired with some factory looking black or dark blue vinyls to match the interior. Kind of hard to see but like this hatch back in the front along the bottom of the doors

[1982gl4]

Got some more work on my dash done so far today.
I'm using short haired fiberglas for this stage. I've had very good luck with it in the past and it is very strong, but it's kind of a pain to sand.

[1982gl4]

I'm on the 4th layer of fiberglass so far... I'm hoping to get it finished tomorrow so I can flock the dash. I haven't taken pics because the dash looks no different then the pics above. I've also done a bit of body work, but progress is slow. This stuff takes time

[1982gl4]

Dash ready to be flocked! I decided to just prime the fiberglass sections I have to clean it now, and then I'll start flocking. On a side not the primer cracked the dash as soon as it touched it. I fixed the crack with some more fiberglass, it was just a little mishap along the way. More pics to come :cool:

[ftwneon]

I like where this is going, being very tempted to try and fix my dash after seeing your attempt so far.

[1982gl4]

You'll be even more tempted now, it's flocked I just hope my fiberglass work holds up. I would recomend the flocking to anyone. The stuff works wonders, and is very easy to apply and clean up even!

[IMG]http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb463/1982gl4/Cali%20wagon/4-14.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1207.photobu... wagon/3-22.jpg



[/IMG]

[1982gl4]

More flocking has been done.

Steering column surrounds


Bottom kick panel under the dash.


And gauge cluster surround


I'm not doing the glove box, and heating controls because I taped off the dash like this.


Plus I thought it would look goofy to just cut off at the heating controls and leave the stereo, and center console blue so now the dash will be a two tone. Also the flocking takes forever to dry I picked up the paint stick I used to stir it yesterday, and it's still wet after being in a heated basement all night.

[tundrabrat]

Looks great!

[1982gl4]

Thanks! I'm super pleased with the way it came out. I'm looking forward to see how the repair holds up!

[Virrdog]

Looking good! Makes me wish my dash was cracked... so I could do something about it.

[1982gl4]

Trust me you don't... Fixing it was a pain. It was worth it, but I don't think I would do it for fun. For updates I installed most of the dash today. I have a feeling I'm going to have quite a few screws left over on this one I have no idea where some of them came from. Dash looks really good in the car. It's the first ea81 I've ever seen with a black dash and I like it. All of them where tan, grey, or blue. Nice to have something a bit different. I stopped working on it today after I broke the turn signal switch. Luckily I had an extra in my shed I grabbed it and will be putting it into tomorrow. I also Picked up a rare 4 spoke steering wheel for it.

[1982gl4]

Fixed the back side of my steering wheel, and flocked it today. I also spend a long time wiring in my stereo, which I picked up for free I also I another forester digi compass to put in this as well.

Fixing missing chuck in wheel with epoxy.


Flocked


And in the car.


I also got my dash defrost vents in


And here is a shot of the new stereo. I'm going to be making a surround out of sheet metal tomorrow hopefully. I'm also trying to figure out a rear speaker that is going to fit in the rear doors...

[Crazyeights]

Love your Wagon, and your shop is GREAT! Looks like everything that you would need!

[bigjimd]

I found these mounts at the jy they are out of the front doors of an early Mazda van. I liked em cause they pulled the magnets out of the door and fit 6.5" speakers. Plus the angle did'nt hurt anything either. They may help you with options. If you have some extra seat fabridk you could glue some on the mount that would show through the door card. Just a thought.

[1982gl4]

Love your Wagon, and your shop is GREAT! Looks like everything that you would need!

Thanks! Not sure which shop you mean, the one at my house is just a small two bay that my dad and I work on our projects on when we don't need a lift, and the other is where we both work. It has three bays and lifts.

I found these mounts at the jy they are out of the front doors of an early Mazda van. I liked em cause they pulled the magnets out of the door and fit 6.5" speakers. Plus the angle did'nt hurt anything either. They may help you with options. If you have some extra seat fabridk you could glue some on the mount that would show through the door card. Just a thought.

Hmm I'll have to look into it. Doubt there would be any old Mazda vans in the yards up here, I haven't seen one in years. I was planing on keeping the stock speaker grills, but I don't think I can because the don't make a speaker that's 1.5 inches thick anymore I can't imagine why. I may just get some speaker boxes for the back and put some 6x9's in the hatch area. That may be my best bet.

[bigjimd]

Those mounts may be in the older Ford Aerostars as well. Don't know if they shared between the 2 like they did with the B2000 and Rangers. Maybe pull some other door panels off. we put 6X9's in the rear hatch. Hardest part was pulling the wire through the existing rubber boot giz. Worked a piece of safety wire through first then used that to pull the speaker wires. Oh and the added weight means you have to have good struts. Don't ask where the lump on my head came from.