Installing vinyl interior

[cbudvet]

Hey everyone,

Tomorrow I hope to start installing the interior vinyl in my 240z. I was planning on starting with the wheel well arches in the rear. When I removed the old vinyl years ago, I am pretty sure they were glued down to the metal, not any underlayment. When I dry fit the vinyl, they seem huge with lots of room and bagginess. I have put down a layer of FatMat so I thought it would help some but not appreciably. When you install the vinyl, I assume the spray adhesive is a contact adhesive that you apply to both the arch and the vinyl. Do you turn the vinyl inside out and start from the top and work your way down? How do you deal with the folds and excess space? Any thoughts and advice would obviously be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

carl

[AZ-240z]

Carl,

Related to your questions, my recommendation to anyone attempting to do a proper restoration of there 240z would be to, first, get a copy of Wick Humble's book " How to Restore Your Datsun Z - Car. This book addresses many, many questions seen in these threads, including yours, and leads you through the process with great illustrations.

Now, get down to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy and you won't be sorry, FWIW.

Dan

[cbudvet]

I actually have one somewhere! I just need to dig it up. Thanks.

carl

[conedodger]

I am doing this now too... There are cardboard pieces that go on the top and inboard sides of both shock towers that take up some of the slack. You need to stretch the vinyl onto the arches so it goes down and underneath the carpet and other vinyl pieces. Use an adequate amount of the adhesive on both surfaces. Allow it to tack off before putting the pieces on. If it doesn't go on right, pull it off and do it again. Ask me how I know you can do that!!!

[kjphilippona]

I purchased one of these books to help me replace my weatherstrip. I am a more picture person, show me how something comes apart and i can fix it, the pictures are not good and the instructions are more directed to some one that has a very good mechanical background and not the common Joe.

[JohnnyO]

Carl, the early Series 1 cars did not have the cardboard from what I can tell. I installed mine last weekend. It was pretty easy. Use contact cement. I used the brush on type so I wouldn't have to mask everything off. They seem baggy at first but by the time you stretch it out at bottom it all stays smooth. The towers were probably the most challenging but not really difficult. Start at the top and work your way down the the perforated portion of the tower and then pull at an angle to the bottom while smoothing out the wrinkles. If you do not like how its sitting pull it up carefully and reapply. If you get the seems at the top lined up the rest should just fit. If the contact cement doesn't seem to hold well after pulling it up it reactivates easily by reapplying a light coat to 1 surface.

The order I did mine was:

Strut tower

Wheel house

Tranny tunnel

Riser

You will need about a quart and a half of contact cement depending on how you attached your tunnel padding and firewall insulator. You will also need it if you plan on replacing the padding around the windshield. If you do decide to do this I found a pretty much perfect match to the upholstery. It is called Lexus Black and is available at Joanne Fabrics for $35/yard. (My wife found a 50% off coupon in the Sunday paper) You will need 1 yard. They also sell a foam for underneath. I bought black headliner for $15/yard (half yard needed) and glued 3 strips together for the windshield pad and over the doors and used a single strip for the pillars.

Hope that helps Carl. Heading out for the night. PM me and I will reply with my phone if needed.

P.S. Wick ws with me during the entire process....

[JohnnyO]

I purchased one of these books to help me replace my weatherstrip. I am a more picture person, show me how something comes apart and i can fix it, the pictures are not good and the instructions are more directed to some one that has a very good mechanical background and not the common Joe.

Wick's book is still the best reference out there next to this site and an important PART of any Z owners reference library along with the FSMs, Haynes manuals, club cd, etc.

John

[beandip]

I used the spray adhesive and didn't have any trouble , but you do need to be a little careful.

I didn't use fat mat , but I did use B-Quiet ultimate through out the cabin . I even put in on the back side of the plastic panels in the hatch area as well as in the cavities where the evap tank use to be and behind the inner rear fenders as far as I could reach. These plastic trim pieces are so thin and with the little extra layer it help with the sound transfer.

If you put your fat mat inside the doors on the door skin, it makes them sound solid . Stops the drum effect. I used

100 sq ft of the stuff.

Gary

[cbudvet]

Well I did the strut towers and the came out ok. I used the spray adhesive included with the vinyl and it was a major pain in the a$$! The vinyl back kept sticking to itself and I had to keep pulling it up to try and straighten out the wrinkles. The vinyl was not a great fit but it will do for now. I think the other places will be easier because there are not as many angles and surfaces to get to line up. What do you do about the joint where the wheel arch and strut towers meet? Do you use a razor and trim the joint edges smooth? I will have to post pictures sometime.

carl

[JohnnyO]

Carl,

The pieces will stick together no matter what adhesive you use. That is just part of the game. Like I said earlier, once you get past the towers the rest goes fairly well. I did not know you were installing new vinyl. I thought you were reinstalling the old. I have read here that the new stuff requires some stretching to get it to fit which is a good thing. Make sure it is warm, use a heat gun or blow dryer if needed and be patient. If you are having problems you could always apply adhesive to one area at a time then apply to the next. It slows the job down but you will get the job done confidently.

The wheelhouse trim goes on top of the strut tower edge. My original ones were seamed where they met the strut towers. So, the strut tower vinyl gets stretched down to the deck and slit in various places along the way to keep the vinyl smooth. Then the wheelhouse trim goes on top of that.

Do it in the order I said above.

Hard to explain, maybe the pictures will help.

John

[cbudvet]

Thanks for the pictures. The rest is going must easier and I am going to take your advice and do a small piece at a time. The larger pieces are just to big and unwieldy to try and glue down all at once.

carl

[EScanlon]

You do NOT want to do much stretching. If you do, you run a good chance of the vinyl not laying down properly and in time may come unglued and then "snap" back to it's original dimension.

You want to pull it taut and that will require pulling, the problem comes in when you use a heat source as that will allow the material to stretch.

2¢

E