Decided that I wanted door seals finally. I had them sitting in the garage for months, I just never put them on:

Then I got a flat on the way to work... so now Im rolling around with a spare until I can get a new tire. Apparently I have some magical size that no one carries in my area. So the front passenger is back to the Aero rim:

Ok, here we go... a little story before the pictures. The door lock pulls were horse sh*t in my car. They were dry, cracked, sun-bleached white in some places so I decided to pick up some new ones. I only knew of two places to get them. There were OEM replacements available at a merchant whom most do not do business with and a member here on Ratsun who made aluminum ones. Well, I hated the style that were offered here on Ratsun (Im sure they were great quality), so I bought them from the other guy.

Needless to say, they sucked. I know he doesnt make them himself, so I really dont fault him, but they felt cheap and crappy, a few barely threaded on... they sucked.

So I decided on a style I wanted and cut my own. I can now call myself a real machinist now as I have officially designed the part, setup to machine from scratch, cut the part manually, and finished them myself. All work done by me and I think they came out fantastic. 100% happy with them. I have a bit more bar stock left so Im contemplating making a decent run of them. We shall see what happens, but either way Im loving them so far. Onto the pictures:

OEM piece:



OEM reproduction:



Parts I designed and cut:



Locked:



Unlocked:



Outside in the rain picture:



They are currently a mostly shiny silver from the cutting process, but Im probably going to brush them up to match my sill plates.

Made a small purcahse from a friend in Japan:





Before:



After:

Decided to make a few more parts on the lathe:

OEM lock pulls:



Column shift knob:

Figured I should update this... I apologize for the missing pictures. Unfortunately they were lost on my Flickr account and I have no way of getting them back. Ill just move on.


Its been awhile since I updated this, but Ill condense everything thats been going on:

I powdercoated some engine bits

I picked up a SSS air cleaner as well as some bike carbs (not mounted yet)



I picked up a new sunroof to replace the old crappy leaky one

Picked up some more parts...


 

 


Installed some NOS Euro lenses

Installed the visors


 

 

I bought a complete second dash to refinish

Dash complete:



Torn apart:



New cap:



LEDs for my gauge retrofit:



New vents:

At this point it was time to disassemble the dash and swap in the powdercoated one I refinished:
 

 
Convenient nut and bolt holder:
 

 
This is how dirty it is inside the dash:
 

 

 
Random wires that go to nothing and wrapped around other things:
 

 

 

 

 
Old radio harness can come out:
 

 
Dash finally out. Took me 2hrs...
 

 
Removed all the heater plastic and will be cleaning that as well. I wish I had time to refinish the heater assembly, but there just isnt time right now. Eventually I get it out, swap in a newer fan and clean the core. Until then, clean plastic will suffice:
 

 
Removed the front seats in preparation for the new carpet I bought:
 

 
Even with the inch or more of standing water over the Winter due to a leaking firewall, no rust. I was going to seam seal the whole floor and use some sound deadener, but I dont really think the sealer would do much good. Im just going to pick up some sound deadener tomorrow and lay it down before the carpet:
 

 
New carpet next to old carpet (obviously not the same color, but IRL the new isnt as bright as that):
 

At the same time I had the Coupe grille refinished:


 

engine bay is looking sweet! cant wait to see the interior refurbishment.

 
Test fit new front seat-
 

 
Space either side of seat when centered correctly-
 

 
Carpet installed-
 

 
Cleaned the front seat. Shout out to Laecaon and RedBanner for the suggestions on cleaner and Magic Erasers. Worked out perfect-
 
(after/before)
 

 
New cleaned front seat installed with carpet. I also cut off the curled vinyl torn areas on the seat, ran the seat belts up, and put the beads back on. I need to get some string or something to mount the seat covers more permanently as any time you move they slide down the seat-