Slewthy's Interior resto

Much of the interior arrived last month from the trimmer.

Very happy with all but the binnacle - not trimmed far enough in. To be fair, he didnt have the instruments or details of how far back it should go although he did have the original to copy.
This has been solved by fitting some alcantara I had left over from the sun-visor trim (given to me by Colin Parry  - 'Choppa') After rough shaping, the edge was folded and sewn making a very neat looking thing. That now covers the top and bottom of the binnacle inside. Pics not good its all just black and doesnt show very well but for the record,

Most of the interior refit went well apart from the fact that the old velor was squashed over 25 years or
so whereas the leather wasnt, hence a rather tight fit in places.
The gearshift gaiter was also not to my liking where it pokes through the fascia. This was solved by using a strip of scrap leather, creating a sewn bead and gluing it around the aperture.


Now just awaiting seats and door cards.

Well, second attempt to make my own car mat is here. This is the passenger side and will do the driver side next.
The two little carpet parts at the end on the foot wells are trick due to their size and sharp bends but they are not seen easily so I'll see how I go.

Very exciting!! (well for me)
The bit of the dash next to the windscreen is called the screen landing and is, infact, part of the bodyshell i.e. not removable. As outlined in other threads, this was trimmed at Lotus before the screen went in, so unless the screen is out/broken/removed etc, it needs to be retrimmed insitu, screen in the way. The problem is that there is a very narrow space at the junction and whilst it is part hidden from the outside by the black screen finishing tape, from the inside it is very much on show. SO, here is my procedure for retrimming this with minimal fuss.
The arrangement is as follows

You can see the narrow angle that needs dealing with. My original solution was to use Timebond adhesive on the premise that I could slap it on and then ease the leather down the space. Forget it! Timebond allows only fine adjustments to be made and my tests showed this technique would not work at all. Its also a very strong glue so a mistake would be costly. It has another useful property however in that it is much more solid than other impact adhesives so doesnt drip and clart everything else up. It can be applied with a spatula or brush.
So, I applied a thinnish layer of timebond with a decorators spatula/scraper(the kind you might fill wall plaster with) to the tricky part of the screen landing and the edge of my leather piece. Once dry, it only really sticks to more stick so doesnt mess everything else up. The leather is then laid down with the glued edge rolled back as shown

The edge is then gently worked down the crevice with another clean(and not too sharp) spatula untill fully seated. A decorators painting edge was also useful here. It was then left for 24hours until fully cured.
Next, the leather was held up to the screen with some tape - I now use Gorilla tape, its the best - and adhesive applied with a brush to everywhere else. It was then a very easy task to smooth down the trim over the entire dash, taking care to avoid wrinkles.

Here is the finished dash

The image doesn't illustrate the area at all but hopefully you get the idea.
This next image demonstrates the area under the binnacle. Note that none of the holes are cut yet untill the adhesive has set fully. Also, the VIN plaque poses a problem - the front edge of the leather needed a 5mm cutout to accomodate this as the leather would not push down as far as everywhere else.


Job done!

Well, as many of you know, my restoration goes in fits and starts but infact, its all steam ahead in the background. Every night involves planning, rejigging the work order, all on a spreadsheet s even when I'm not in the garage, it at leastfeel s like I'm doing something!

The restoration advances on many fronts. The interior has been on my mind for a while and I have to look at the shocking state of it everytime I walk into the garage, its time had come.
The headlining has to be first so it's installation doesnt marr anything else. It is in a dreadful state - the foam has disintegrated into what looks and stains like curry powder. Here is an example of the headlining trim from the header rail, my first port of call

Just awful. So, having looked around abit, I ordered what seemed closest from Woolies trim. Its light grey headlining material with identical ribbing and foam thickness to the original. About £8 per meter so I bought 3 meters to be sure. Also bought some grey thread but I suspect originally, it was sewn in white.
Then, I unearthed the sewing machine.....OK, I've had mixed results with this when doing my rear carpets but, practice makes perfect as they say

Well, it took 2 goes but here is the centre cover around the clock

Here is the passenger side done and clock in.

Thats it for tonight - missus insists that I spray glue outside (abit  unreasonable, don't you think) and the light has just gone, but you get the idea.
So far, quite pleased with results. and much smarter than what was there. Next is full headlining in - a simple rectangular piece - but with several problems - do I sew 4 straight dividing lines in it? Will it go on without crinckles and will I remember to use a roller to avoid finger prints?
You'll read it here first.....