I'm progressing on the dash project.   As I'm sure I've mentioned
before, you cannot put the dashboard back in until the A-pillars are
recovered.  I'd had the dash pieces sitting in place but not permanently
installed as I procrastinated covering the A-pillars.  I'd left the
original vinyl on during the painting and restoration so I could see how
they were fit and what shape they were cut.

I got some black vinyl that looks to be the exact same brand as the
original from my upholstery guy along with some contact cement.  After a
few minutes of coaching from him I undertook covering one of the pillars
last night.

Upholstery is one of those artforms that takes years of experience to do
just right.  There are all sorts of tricks to getting wrinkle-free
upholstery.  Hopefully my work will be passable.

It was actually not that hard............the vinyl that I got stretches
one way, and does not the other, so you align it to stretch it around
the pillar, rather than up and down the pillar. Contact cement on the
bead of the door frame (will be covered by the interior trim piece) and
some wood strips held by clamps does a good job of keeping the vinyl in
place until it dries, which is not too long (I left it on overnight to
make sure).  The trickiest part is the bottom where it wraps around the
side of the dash, but some relieving of material in the corners and some
careful stretching seems to do the trick.  The coupes came with some
thin foam that helped form a nice shape beneath the vinyl, and
thankfully mine was still intact.

When the A-pillars are both covered I should be able to put the dash in
permanently.  At that point I can begin getting the lights and wiring
sorted out in preparation for baby's first run!

Regards,
TJ

TJ Noto		AFM #134  	Cowpoke Racing-"Friends in Slow Places"
95 Ducati 916 Strada		96 Ducati Monster 900 (Chela's)
70 Norton Commando Fastback	61 Ducati Falcone 80
73 BMW 3.0 CS (Katrina)		77 Mercedes 280C (Mimosa)
00 Ford F150 Supercab		97 BMW Z3 (Chela's)
87 Suzuki RG250 (For Sale!)