Edsers 1996 GT Project, Car still in hibernation years later! Options

[JoshuaM]

A long time coming... but worth it! Hope you get some great use out of it this summer!

[Nial]

That looks great. I particularly like the work on the rear lights, I might have to have a go at polishing off all those marks from mine......hope I don't balls it up.

Nice job.

[cheela]

looks great! now drive it!!!

[Edser]

Its great to nearly have it going again, and this time looking goooood. Still, there's some work to be done. This arrived in the post the other day:

A CV joint and the boot kit for the other side too. They aren't the same but I suppose it doesn't matter, they are from different manufacturers. I got them on www.recambioscoches.es which is all in spanish but is located in Germany. The box took about a week to get here to Barcelona, although I ordered it on Thursday and it was only sent on Tuesday arriving 2 days later by UPS Standard. The cv joint cost 50.37 euros and the boot kit for the other side 8.22 euros, including postage giving a total of 80.85euros. I just hope they fit!

This post has been edited by Edser: Oct 11, 2014 - 11:15 AM

[Edser]

Wow! I think I've struck gold here. I went on to Milanuncios.com and saw an ad for breaking a Celica. I saw it appeared to have leather seats, although this was not stated in the ad, and so I mailed the guy about the seats. He said the seats and door cards were 550euros. I went to see them today and lo and behold, not only were the seats real leather and stunning, but the door cards front AND REAR were covered in stitched leather. We settled at 400euros for the lot, and I went home a happy man with a boot load of leather goodies.
The leather is very good, only one tear in the drivers side, but they need softening and a new colour as there is a lot of sun fading especially on the top of the rear seats. I'm thinking of a BMW red colour would look good in my black car.

What do you guys think about the change of colour?



This post has been edited by Edser: Oct 18, 2014 - 1:34 PM

[Rusty]

Left boot is inner & right is outer. Make sure when you're replacing them you put the metal ties on at the right moment so you don't have to remove it all again.

[Edser]

Left boot is inner & right is outer. Make sure when you're replacing them you put the metal ties on at the right moment so you don't have to remove it all again.

Um, actually I bought them online and they are both supposed to be outer boots. The CV joint came with one, and so I got a separate boot as well. I think the inner boots are in ok condition.I didn't order the inner ones, though I probably should have.

[Edser]

I started cleaning the leather interior. Its pretty filthy. I don't think the previous owner cleaned them often - or at all!


These are the back seats, not so dirty really.

The door cards were very clean too, not much to do there.
The upper part of the door card is covered in leather with only the pocket and the handles not covered.


The front seats are very dirty. I'll upload pics of those later. I need to get the drivers side bolster repaired. I haven't found and unwelcome surprises, so I'm still feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

I'm still thinking about the new colour for the seats. I'm pretty sure deep red is the way to go. I don't think I can stomach this orangey tan colour. If it were a bit browner and paler, maybe.

This post has been edited by Edser: Oct 21, 2014 - 3:21 AM

[njccmd2002]

that is some custom leather, pricy, but well worth it. looks comfy...

[Edser]

that is some custom leather, pricy, but well worth it. looks comfy...

Yeh I thought it looked a little too fancy to be stock. Someone must have been feeling very flush... I do hope it's comfy, I won't get a chance to try it out for a few weeks, maybe a month.

[Edser]

Some goodies have arrived!!!
I picked these up off Ebay or Amazon or something. I think they'll look pretty sweet.
More goodies will be arriving over the next week or two. I can't wait!!

[msk59]

Nice work. Love the seats

[Edser]

Nice work. Love the seats

Cheers thanks Msk59! Its been a long wait, so close to being back on the road now.

More goodies have arrived! I'm a shocked at the speed, I only ordered them two days ago. I guess they came from Valencia, and that's not too far away. A 5 hour drive from Barcelona.

So this is the Leatherique Restoration kit. It comes with everything I need to make my skin look dark red (Marroon 242) and make it supple and newish again.


I dropped off my drivers seat off at the leather shop Tapicería Meridiana to get the leather on the side of the seat replaced. The colour doesn't matter too much as I am changing the colour anyhoo. I'll get it back next Saturday.

This post has been edited by Edser: Oct 24, 2014 - 12:55 PM

[Edser]

The last few days I've been cleaning and preparing the leather for a colour change. So I finally started with the door cards.
The colour is pretty much what I was looking for. I think it looks good.

[njccmd2002]

wow, what an improvement, i am amazed. does that thing wear off?

[Edser]

wow, what an improvement, i am amazed. does that thing wear off?

It's supposed to last a lifetime, but I've got a friend how changed his seats from grey to black and he says that it can wear in some places.
I'll keep the bottle in case I ever have to touch up a worn area.

[Edser]

Just found a fiver when taking my seats apart. It was jammed into the back of the swivel mechanism. WooHOo! 5 euros discount! Just got to do some money laundering (Harr Harr!)

[Edser]

This just arrived! Looks really good, very classy.

It goes quite well with the new leather colour.

[Edser]

This just arrived!!

[Edser]

Finally the time has come to move the car from its place of hibernation in Lleida to its new home in Barcelona. I couldn't get the cv joint fixed in time so that'll have to be done here. I also need to prep the car for its car test.
I took the car out for a wash.



Here it looks nice and clean.


The dog seemed to like it, although who knows.


I haven't put the interior back in as I am still working on the leather seats. I drove home with no way of opening the windows or adjusting the mirrors. A/C worked great though, if anything it was a bit too icey, and I had to turn the heat up a little. The front seats in the car are the same as the leather ones but look to be in better condition (bases are all scratched and rusty) so I may just swap over the new leather parts to the original seat bases. should be easy, as there are only 4 bolts holding the base and 4 attaching the seat back. I'm not sure how they are attached to the floor, but I bet they will be easy to take out.

While I was out Lleida way, I picked up a 2001 steering wheel in Tarrega for 70 euros. I'll be re-trimming this in leather with red stitching when I can. The badge is a bit worn, maybe I can paint it or replace it, I don't know. I have been unable to find a badge for the front bumper, but I'll keep looking as it looks naked without one.