Jan 2024 - Aug 2026
Oh boy, it’s been a while. Other priorities took precedence, and this project had to take a back seat for a bit. However, every now and then, some progress has been made.
Round two of plating was a success.
With a pile of shiny parts standing by, things had to start going back onto the car. Sunroof installed.
Calipers got plated, then painted silver using Foliatec Brake Caliper Paint Kit. It had some good reviews, so hope it will last.
Hood catches - no olive green for me!
My colleague was visiting some facilities in Texas in December 2023, so I was able to have a hydro booster kit from Jay delivered to him. To be honest, I don’t recall much about installing the new seals, but I guess it all went smoothly.
One of the connector tabs on the brake reservoir cap decided to split in two. After taking a closer look (and being daunted by the price of a new one) I came up with this. The contacts can be pulled out of the cap, so I used a 6.3 mm pin to make a new one. My multimeter agreed with the fix.
Early-model-year-correct front apron — check.
I assembled most of the door hardware off the car. The gaskets got a good soak in Gummi Pflege. A few parts had to come off again after I discovered that assembly order does, in fact, matter. New clips for roof trim.
Door mouldings looked like crap, so I decided to try sanding them. IIRC, I went from 800 to 2000 grit wet, then applied Gyeon ceramic coating. We’ll see how they hold up.
As the old window guides were turning to dust between my fingers, I spent some time online trying to find a suitable replacement. In the end, I settled on this
TSEC2300, 16 mm. Ordered 11 metres, which should be enough for all four doors with a bit to spare (in case I mess up). The original channel was asymmetric and sits slightly differently, but this one seems to seal well. Still need to glue the corners.
I messed up installing the passenger-side rear window. I didn’t loosen the centre divider between the rear window and the small triangular quarter window, so the glass got stuck while I was installing it. In the process, I managed to scratch all three black trim pieces on the front and rear doors, so they needed to be repainted.
The driver’s side went better, although the front door glass didn’t move particularly well and made all sorts of noises going up and down. I blamed the aftermarket window channel. (Recently, it turned out to be a sticky power-window gearbox)
By this point, I was getting pretty fed up with the doors, so I left them in that state for a while.
Installed hood insulation which I had ordered from
here.
The cable housing for the hood opener was broken in a couple of places. I got some replacement housing and end caps and made a new one. And, as luck would have it, I scratched the paint next to the cable…
A few photos of the steering column, heater core and dashboard being installed.
The last photo is more recent and shows the windshield installed.
I initially bought a URO Parts gasket. After numerous attempts to install the glass with it, I gave up - the upper corners just wouldn’t go into the gasket. I tried the old OEM gasket I had, and the glass went in without an issue. The URO gasket is definitely a no-go. At least I got plenty of practice installing the windshield.
I’ll try to find a used gasket in better shape, though. This one has some mildew spots.
Turns out there’s more to cover than I anticipated, and this post is becoming longer and longer. Seems like a good place to split it. Part two coming soon.
) 