Wheels

When I got the car it came with alloys. I wasn't a fan of these and wanted a more original look, so I traded them for some steels. I cleaned up the steels, took the rust off, primed (picture of primed wheels shown down below) and then painted. They turned out pretty good. Next I'll have to clean up the caps and beauty rings.

Dash

Started working on re-upholstering the dashboard. Still not done, but its coming along. I had trouble doing the two top pieces, so I took them to a shop. When I came to pick them up I was quite surprised to see that they had stitched a seam along the entire piece. I think if I kept trying even I could of done it with out the seam.

Carpets

I decided to take the cheap root and just re-use the carpet I have. It's not the original color or texture and will be replaced one day, but it still has some life in it. I cleaned it my best with a can of carpet cleaner then gave it a vacuum, and it turned out OK for the most part. When I was taking out the carpets before the floors were replaced, I did my best not to have the loops pull threw when pulling up on the carpet. For the major parts where it did pull threw the backing, I tried fixing this by pulling it back. Didn't turn out so well but it'll due. All I used under the carpet was carpet underlay.

Steering bushing replacement

The steering was really loose when I first got the car. The steering wheel could be turned pretty far before anything actually connected. After reading up on the problem I thought it might be the steering coupling bushings. I ordered them from the dealership and about 10 days later the bushings arrived from Germany. Next came the task of taking my coupling out and replacing them. It was a pretty easy job, only took a couple hours. First I strapped up the steering box to the brake booster so that when it was unbolted, it wasn't going to fall down anywhere. Next I unbolted the 3 bolts from the drivers wheel well that bolt into the steering box.
These are shown here (When I did this job, I didn't take the wheel off, this is just a photo showing the bolts):

I didn't have any carpeting in, but if you do, you'll have to pull up the drivers floor carpeting around where the steering column goes into the firewall. Then unbolted the steering column plate that's bolted to the firewall. Pulled it up on the column so I could access the pinch bolts on the coupling. Then I loosened the pinch bolts on the coupling. Now came the hard part. You have to wiggle the coupling off the steering column and the steering box. You have to make sure that you mark where the coupling is coming off the spinals so that it can be put exactly where it was taken off from. If its not placed back on right, your turn signals wont auto cancel correctly. Here's a shot of my coupling once it was free from the car:

A close up of what was left of my bushings, nothing really:

Here's the bushing all cleaned up and new bits ready to go in:

The bushing were pretty easy to get in, but then had to be compressed to get the cotter pin threw. I then wiggled this back on to the steering column and onto the steering box. I tighten up the pinch bolts and then torqued the steering box bolts. Then bolted the base plate of the steering column back on.
Close up of coupling back in:

No steering components had to be taking off or touched, so it was a pretty simple job. Only tools needed were:
-Socket wrench
-Torque wrench
-Rope (to hold the steering box once it was unbolted)
-17mm socket (for steering box bolts)
-6mm allen key (for coupling pinch bolts)
-10mm socket (for steering column base panel)

Back home

Got the car back home, just as summers coming to an end. Over the next little while, I'll be putting my interior back together, as well as some mechanical jobs and driving it of course.

Onto the dash

Got the dash fixed up and re-painted while it was at the shop. When I bought the car, it was covered in vinyl, when I pulled that off, I soon found out why. It looked as if someone tried to bust out the ignition cylinder, resulting in the dash around it caving in.
Ready for paint:

Glove box door with fresh paint (also replaced the old wires going to the light while it was apart):

Sadly the hole cut into the radio plate for the previous radio is too big for the becker, a small gap can be seen on the drivers side:

Door jams and sills also painted up:

At the shop

Some pictures of the new panels going in.
Just some of the metal that came out of the car:

Rocker all ready to go in:

Passenger rocker in:

Drivers rocker in:

Passenger foot well area getting cleaned up and new metal in:

All floor panels in:


Floors sprayed and done:

Couple shots of the underneath:


Rear drivers wheel well all cleaned up and sprayed:

Front drivers wheel well all cleaned up and sprayed:

To the shop

After years of just adding on new metal under and over the old rusty bits it was time to get proper repairs done. It was pretty messy under there, and with the sloppy previous repairs it was too dangerous to drive. New floors have been welded in, all galvanized steel. The new bits are front and rear floors, rocker panels, sills, and rear trailing arm supports. Pictures show the before.

This is where my seat belts were bolted to:

Here's a shot of the drivers foot well:

Here's the passenger:


Shot along side the drivers rocker panel(didn't look so bad till it was picked at):

Passengers foot well:

Passenger side rear suspension support:


Here's a shot with the passenger side rocker cut out:





New panels (doesnt show the two trailing arm support panels):

Soft top

Cleaned up the soft top frame, lots of work getting the old glue off and the rusty spots. Stained the wood, cleaned the chrome, and re-upholstered the vinyl bits, think it turned out pretty good. New top to go on soon along with seals.