I installed the last of the gauges in the car, and got the steering
wheel back in place. The interior looks pretty good! My only complaint
is the wrinkles on the transmission tunnel down by the parking brake handle.
They will probably go away when the leather shrinks a little.
I'm very pleased with the small gauges faces with their new plastic
inserts. It's even better that I got to remake them at half the original
cost! Don't forget to get your order in for these lenses so you too can
get them done for this price! Click here for the
details.
I still need to address some small issues, but the interior is basically
done! I spent some time vacuuming the carpets, and cleaning all the leather
surfaces. I used prep-sol, a product that is commonly used to wipe down
a car before painting. This solvent cleaned up all the chalk, pencil, and
grease marks that were made on the leather during installation. It's gentle
enough not to dissolve the dyes in the leather, but strong enough to get
greasy fingerprints out.
Upon wiping down all the leather surfaces, I found a few minor scuff
marks in the leather. When I began this interior restoration, I was very
careful not to damage any of the leather, so these scuffs were not taken
lightly, but now that it is finally finished, I'll have to stop considering
these scuffs as disasters, but rather added patina to the interior of this
car!
Looking back five years ago, you can see this interior has come a long
way!!!
With the interior done, one of the main hurtles in getting this car
back on the road is a pesky fuel leak that developed while the car has
been at the upholstery shop. I have struggled with leaks in the rear of
the car before, and just when I thought I had found all the leaks, this
one arose!
I wasn't sure how easy it would be to spot the leak considering the others were not so easy. I had made elaborate plans to pressurize the fuel lines with air to find my leaks, but I figured I would first see what would happen if I simply took a look under the car as the fuel pump pressurized the system. Within minutes, it was obvious where the leak was coming from, so I managed not to get too involved in the testing. The leak was from a short piece of flexible hose below the fuel filter. It looks like the interface between the banjo fitting, and the hose has failed. Since the hose has to be taken apart to be resealed, I'm going to order a new section of hose and start from scratch. These hoses usually unravel when you try to take them apart, so it's safer to start with a new one to insure a leak free fit.
Since I had the battery connected, and the fuel system pressurized,
I just had to fire up the car. She caught on the first turn of the starter
after almost a year of sitting! I didn't run her for long, but it was nice
to hear that V-12 fire up!
To remove the hose, I had to drop the left rear exhaust, but luckily,
I've removed this so often chasing the other fuel leaks, I was in good
practice. While I was removing the hose, I also pulled the main fuel hose
from the gas tank out as well. This hose was cut slightly short, so I wasn't
happy about how it would have to be routed, so I'm replacing it with a
new one.
While I was working on my fuel issues, I stopped every so often to
look at these seats. These belong to a Ferrari 275GTB Frank is re-upholstering,
and these seats are nice. They are the same seats that go into a Lusso,
and are a classic sports car bucket seat. I kept walking around this seat,
admiring its shape, and graceful lines. It's simplicity hides a really
beautiful shape. Top this shape with a nice soft piece of leather, and
you've got something pretty sensual.
Although my seats were pretty complicated to recover, these were certainly no easier. It was a lot more work than I would have expected, but well worth the effort!