Project Boondoggle (or, so I went and bought a Z!)

[charliekwin]

Not tremendously heavier.  I don't have a scale (or something to compare to), but probably only a couple pounds more.  The foam and shell don't weigh much by themselves...I'd guess the wiring and gauges make up about half the weight of the complete dash.

[Captain Obvious]

Cool. If I'd have slathered that stuff on, I'd need to add some additional dash mounting points to support the weight.

I'm picturing a cable from the clock up to the rear view mirror mounting screws... 

[charliekwin]

More sanding, more filling, more sanding.  But the effort is paying off.  I sprayed the dash again today and it's 95% there.  I built up the center gauge pods since they'd collapsed over the years, but the one for the clock has too much of a rounded profile and needs some reshaping.  There's a couple areas that need a little touching up, but aside from that, the dash is looking good.  I'll probably end up flocking it, so in the end, it may all be overkill.

And, Merry Christmas to me!  The wheels were a gift, the tires I bought for myself.  Aesthetics are not this car's strong suit, but the new wheels maybe bring it up from hooptie to beater.  

[charliekwin]

Done with that part!  Did a little more shaping of the gauge pods and the curved section and at some point you gotta say it's good enough.  And now, it's finally good enough.  I'll shoot some emails to some local vinyl wrappers and see if anyone would even want to take this on, but probably will be ordering the flocking stuff.

[charliekwin]

Emailed a couple people for quotes on wrapping the dash. One didn't reply and the other punted, which is probably the right decision.  I'm not 100% in love with flocking the entire dash, so I've been kicking this idea around in my head:

Flock the area in blue, since that's all the trickiest shapes. Then cover the rest of the dash in vinyl. The sides would need to be stitched to the top and front, and I don't have a good idea of how a hem where the vinyl and flock meet would actually look. I'm also considering the possibility that this is in fact a terrible idea.

In other news, USPS picked up the lug nuts I ordered on the 28th and immediately lost the package, so I still haven't been able to drive on the new wheels.  They only had to ship them 25 miles.

[Mike]

And, Merry Christmas to me!  The wheels were a gift, the tires I bought for myself.  Aesthetics are not this car's strong suit, but the new wheels maybe bring it up from hooptie

Looks better than a hooptie. What are the specs on the wheels and tire combo?



Sent from my iPad using Classic Zcar Club mobile

[charliekwin]

21 hours ago, Mike said:

Looks better than a hooptie. What are the specs on the wheels and tire combo?

 

That's because the pictures don't really show how bad the paint and body is...or stuff like the duct tape that's holding the air dam together 

16x7 Rota RB wheels.  Nexen tires sized 225/50/R16.

[disepyon]

I think your dash came out pretty good. You ever thought about adding on to the dash, like another gauge pod or anything else.  What about wrapping in a black suede? I guess that would require stitching as well. Also not sure how well it would hold up over the years.

[charliekwin]

Here I am with my nice new wheels, waiting for a tow truck. Puked all the coolant on the way to the gym this afternoon. Happy Saturday!

[S30Driver]

Do you know yet the cause of the coolant loss?   (the wheels look nice!   just like mine ...)

[charliekwin]

The $51 hose responsible...

[Patcon]

Hate that. Looks really soft, should probably check them all