58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[Carrera_The_Kid]

The Hefra fabric is used by "Gispen" a famous Dutch furniture brand known for some iconic design classics. We used to have some of their seats in our kitchen with the cord fabric and I can attest to the fact that it really holds up well. Over the years I have helped several 356 friends acquire material for their 356 restorations

[merbesfield]

Very cool back story with all this James, I love the hunt for the detail stuff! While I'm most partial to a Hotrod 356 I do get caught up in what was originally there and getting the most accurate replacement as possible. I want what's modified to be over the top but then what is left as original to the car to be "as original" as possible if that makes any sense. Hefra sounds like the way to go so I'll just need to decide on the shade of tan that looks the best as they seem to offer several versions. Thanks again for sharing this resource!
BTW: loading photos is very straight forward provided you are not using Firefox as your browser. The software does not mesh with this browser for file loading. Try Safari, IE8, or google chrome. Don't forget to hit the "insert: button on each attachment so it will display large.

4/6/15
Dash prepped for sealer then final color.

Took several sessions to carefully sand and prep all those nooks and crannies. Then a solid session more to carefully tape it off.

Glad to be almost done with this area. That floor and tunnel are not the most comfortable place to sit and lay on while you're sanding or taping.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

At least you have a floor to be sitting on! Looks great.

[James Davies]

Thanks for the tips Justin. I was using Firefox.

Here's some Hefra Manchester ribstoff compared to the original cord from my car.



Their beige is pretty close match for the beige that Porsches came with. Besides, the cord got lighter and darker over time due to soon or butts, and they yellowed. So as long as you're pretty close tonally (warm or cool) and you like it, you're OK I think.

This is the Howe of London cord, which has a heavier backing than the Hefra.

[JTR70]

At least you have a floor to be sitting on! Looks great.

Yeah, really... I have a clean solid floor in there, what the hell am I bitching about!? Thanks for putting that back into perspective for me Mark.

Glad we got you dialed in on the photos James. Thanks for sharing this detailed comparison! Looks like its going to be Hefra 5 then. I thought I saw more shades of tan on their site though.

Thanks for the confirmation Joris!

[S.J.Szabo]

Mr.Davies:

Good research. The issue of composition/longevity has me leaning toward Howe, but their grey is much too dark. The Hefra looks to be closer in texture and weight. So I must pose this: digital color rendition is a can of worms, but Hefra's 92 looks to be a fair grey, albeit a tad greenish. I'll have to send for a sample to confirm. But both of these seem to be better choices than others I have seen. Thanks.

Mr.Rio:

While I haven't had occasion to post many fotos, on those occasions, my Firefox did the job without glitch. Perhaps it is it's early generation.

[JTR70]

SJ you're the only one who has been able to load attachments using Firefox with this site. An upgraded version is the only reason I can think of too.

4/10/15

Dash goes into final paint tomorrow!

Masking of course was finally completed. Epoxy sealer applied and carefully hand sanded with 800 for a nice surface for the metal flake.

Will roll it over to Rick's tomorrow afternoon to apply the final finish. Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

4/28/15

Dash in final paint!

This first attempt a couple of weeks ago failed miserably. I didn't have that really nice white sealer Rick used on the bumpers so I just used my standby epoxy primer.

Rick laying down the first coat of base here. His son Rick Jr. is in charge of the hose.
Almost immediately after applying the first coat of base small pin-head blisters began to appear. We tried waiting a bit and another coat to try and bury them but to no avail. At this point it was far easier and safer to just strip it back down to metal (as I did not want to risk anymore reactions like this)and reseal it with the base he had used on the bumpers.

After carefully stripping it back down the face was sealed and am in process here of carefully blocking it smooth for the next try. Took extra time to wet sanding areas hardly seen but still found myself obsession over.

Once the basic blocking was complete all the old masking tape and paper were removed to file clean all the holes and openings of excess material.

Everything was eventually remasked. This mistake cost me a ton in redo effort and time!


The weather was finally perfect enough to try again. BTW: for little areas like this face you can get clean job without a booth but once we go to the body and its panels Rick will set up his spray booth.

Base laid on beautifully this time. Almost looks like fish-silver here with this blue hue but I think it was just the sky creating this effect.

Clear going on now.

Done!



a couple of tiny lint heads to block out but it won't take much.



Okay, now this dash is officially done! I'll be masking and sealing off the interior next so the body and jambs can go into sealer.
So wonderful to have this one in the books! Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

The true test today: how it looked in sunlight.







Of course the most crucial is the finish on the glove box lid. Couldn't be happier with it!

The flake all laid out nice with no tiger stripes or pattern disruption. A light color sand is all its going to need. Now its official, this dash is done.
Onto final paint of the body and closing panels.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Oh that dash looks wonderful The finish looks perfect. Such an important tip about sealer. Get the prep wrong ( through no real fault of your own ) and it will bite you. I know on mine, those pin heads came up to show me about 2 years after I last sprayed the body.
I did rub them down as I mentioned recently and luckily did not go through the top coat. But.. how long before the little devils return?

Its strange but only small areas were affected on my car.

If the body on your car turns out looking as good at the bumpers and dash then it will look amazing.

A really responsible job for your sprayer friend.I would be a bag of nerves making sure I didn't make a mistake with that gun. ( A good idea for his son to hold the hose, I let one fall on wet paint when doing mine the first time, always payed attention after that.)

Roy

[gkw]

That silver kicks back a lot of light in the sun.
Looks good. Gordon

[JTR70]

Thanks Gordon, I do love the glow it gives off in the sun.

Thank you Roy! I have a new appreciation and respect for sealers before final paint. I got the lecture from rick afterward; if you want consistency throughout then you must treat every part the same which includes applying a barrier between the old and your new final paint job. Fortunately I learned this one early. As far as pressure, he's a professional painter by trade and didn't flinch at the thought of shooting silver. We've had our hurdles so far with this but its nothing either one of us haven't been through or expected. Hell, I'd be a little worried by now if it had all gone too smoothly. Something definitely wouldn't have been right.
Thanks again you guys!!



5/4/15
Finishing touch on dash before sealing off the cabin.

Figured now was the best time to cut in the vent strip with a coat of semi-gloss black.

Less work and masking prep now than waiting until after final paint of the entire car.

All set.

A very silly factory detail from my memory. When my father got this car running in '79 the original cover was removed as it was badly rusted out in the corners and the old upholstery was very curly. This exposed silver panel had this black horseshoe shaped mess with several drops and runs in the center. I remember sitting in the passenger seat as kid and seeing those black stripes from my low vantage point. God knows why this stuck in my mind but it did. Of course I didn't know the reason for this mess at the time but this vent strip was originally painted in with a brush and the paint cup was set there with the excess running and dripping as the guy painted in the line.
When Rick shot this top a rogue chip of old paint came loose landed in this area. Rick wanted to reshoot it but I told him not to worry about it as the dash pad will cover it and I have just the thing to hide it. Anyway a very stupid detail to replicate but I just felt compelled to do it and besides it was sort of fun making the mess.

Dash is now set and will begin sealing off the interior off next.

In my excitement to assemble the dash I'm sending off this small batch of parts out to Victor miles this week.

Original ash tray was in pretty good shape but had light surface rust on the top. My acid bath stripped everything off including the CAD plate so this will be refinished along with some chrome plate. Again not cheap but you can't trust these parts to just anyone!
Thanks for reading this! Justin

[merbesfield]

Love the paint cup drop detail. It is trely all in the details

[JTR70]

Appreciate that Mark, Thanks!

5/9/15

Slipped the dash cover on to make sure that black paint went back far enough.

This upholstery job my father and I did back in '88 is actually the one and only thing we did to this car that I still agree with and will leave as is. It bugged me back then to see other cars with these pads really thick and/or fluffy just like a pillow. I wanted mine to be really firm and well contoured much like the dashes of newer cars I'd seen. The original Horsehair leading edge was of course very crusty so rectangular sections of hard-high density foam were glued to the edge of the original steel cover. Once set a basic rough contoured shape cut in with a knife. The final shape was then smoothed in using sandpaper. After that the entire piece was covered in thin high density foam pad to finish out the shape. This black vinyl covers it.

The padding will stay but it will be recovered in either leather or vinyl again. The original steel dash top from this car was severely rusty but the original dash top from my coupster project was perfect. Its been a fantastic parts car.

After the fun and games of dreaming about a finished dash it was back to the reality of aggressively blocking the body down yet again to get everything just a little thinner and straighter before the sealer.
Thanks for looking! Justin

[merbesfield]

Blocking again! I thought I read somewhere that you were officially thru w prep and ready for paint? LOL. Is it time for an intervention from friends?

[Jack Staggs]

The matte black paint on the dash was originally brushed on after the color was applied.