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

[dmorales-bello]

Nice job on that stitch Charlie! Maybe we could work together 

[charliekwin]

Well I kind of jumped ahead in my excitement, but the job's done! So to recapping the last of it, I decided to glue down about 3/4 of the cover to the wheel: all of the back part where the finger dents are, the outer edge and the spokes. I left the inside section where the stitches were run un-glued so I would have the ability to move things around a little bit if needed. That seemed to work pretty well.

The accent stitch was the easiest part of the whole job. I'm happy everything came out mostly uniform.

One miss: I didn't realize it when I marked the holes, but I ended up one stitch short on the left side of the middle spoke and it threw off the look. I punched some holes and put another one in there, and unless you look for it specifically, it blends in well.

Last job is to clean up the spokes. I trimmed each one to length and glued them in place, then cinched the ends down with a double loop of black thread to finish it off.

It was a lot of work, but considering it's my first time, I don't think I could have done a much better job. Still have to drive it, but I'm super pleased with the end result. Final pictures:

Got an idea for the horn pad, too...

[dmorales-bello]

Seriously nice job!

[Captain Obvious]

No kidding! Looks great!

[grannyknot]

Very professional, must feel pretty good in your hands.

[wheee!]

Excellent work!

[charliekwin]

Took a couple of drives to get used to the smaller diameter on the steering wheel, but I'm quite enjoying it. It's nice having a high-quality item that's such a prominent touch point.

Meanwhile, I've taken on a few miscellaneous projects. I got a Technoversions differential mount for Christmas that I was finally able to install. The car would jerk intermittently at throttle on and lift. The new mount has helped, but it still jerks sometimes (though less often and less violently). I'm thinking the transmission mount might be the culprit.

As for the horn pad: I never liked the one that came with the 280Z -- it really big and ungainly --  so I'm trying to make a new one. I have a bunch of 3003 aluminum sheet laying around and used the stock horn pad backing plate as a template for the new one. The aluminum is way too soft on its own, so I glued on some hardboard and MDF pieces for extra strength. Then used Great Stuff foam to get a rough shape. I have a Z sticker that sticker that I found in the car that might work as a center piece.

I laid some fiberglass over the whole thing and did a rough cut. I still need to sand and do some final shaping, then I plan to cover it with the leather I have left over from the steering wheel.

Also: power windows! A new set of door panels is on the way from Pakistan, so now's a good time. The door was pretty gross, so it got a decent cleaning and some lubrication to begin with.

I used the Spal kit, which is a little more expensive, but had better reviews than the cheaper knockoffs on eBay. Installation (as far as I've gotten) is pretty straightforward. This was the best configuration I could come up with to reduce the profile of all the parts to fit the door card. It bulges a tiny big behind the armrest, but it isn't very noticeable. With some Dremeling, I should be able to avoid the ugly plastic plug where the crank used to be.

Video time!

 

Still need to do the driver side. And run the wiring. If I had realized beforehand that running the wires was going to require removing the doors, there's a good chance I wouldn't have done the power windows. Too late now!

Edited June 12, 2017 by charliekwin

[grannyknot]

Great work, couple of questions, will the horn button still work and where do you put the controls for the window glass?

[charliekwin]

Yup, horn will still work. I'm duplicating the mechanism used by the stock horn, just changing the appearance.

The plan right now is to put the window switches in the center console behind the shift boot. The Spal kit I bought didn't include switches (shoulda read the description), so I got this from eBay:

They ended up being a little bigger than I'd like, so I may look for an alternative (switches are only a buck or two). Also, the chuckleheads who packaged it only wrapped the wiring harness in padding. A corner chipped off the bezel during shipping, so I'm working on a refund/replacement 

[dmorales-bello]

My power windows install is quite similar to yours. I considered the Spal unit (definitely one of the best) but decided to go with a kit from Italian maker Colibri because of the sturdy design of the belt drive and a shallow profile. It came with illuminated switches (red, I would have preferred white) which I mounted between the shifter and the ash tray. The speed is very much like yours, and very quiet. You can see the power door locks in the pics as well.

 

[charliekwin]

Your car was one of the inspirations for doing power windows. I came across the same Colibri kit when I was looking at options but it was apparently discontinued and the Amazon reviews for the knock-offs weren't inspiring. The twist in the cable on the Spal unit (it's supposed to be installed that way) is the main thing I don't like.

I'm on the fence about power locks. Seems like a nice convenience to have, but I came across one or two people who said they were a nightmare to install, even though it doesn't look like they would be. What was your experience?

[dmorales-bello]

16 hours ago, charliekwin said:

I'm on the fence about power locks. Seems like a nice convenience to have, but I came across one or two people who said they were a nightmare to install, even though it doesn't look like they would be. What was your experience?

The power lock install was actually very simple once you decide the placement for the actuators. By using the metal brace (see pic in the post) the actuator can be placed in such a way that the hook that connects to the door mechanism rod can be bent in the angle needed for smooth operation.

They work great and gives me the peace of mind that a sharp edged key will not damage the paint job. Definitely go for it.