DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Just re-read the thread...bloody hell Mick, hats off to you mate !!! Car port spray booth is inspired

Nice work Mr Crowther !

Thank you all for your comments.

Chris- I wish my neighbours had shared your sentiment with the "shanty town spray booth"

The caps for the doors get a bit tricky. Sticking vinyl down the length was not a problem but once at the chamfered end I needed to get at bit rough with it.





It needed pulling tight but then bunching up to lose the excess. The lolly I had while giving the contact glue 5 mins came in handy.



Because of the bunching it left the vinyl a little rouched in places, but a lot better than the last attempt.

So the fitting.

The cap and map pocket are straightforward. On in a breeze.

I read MT's posts about fitting the repro pockets being a PITA. Well the real things are a tw*t too when it comes to the folding pocket. There is only about 5 mm of adjustment on the hinges and it doesn't give much scope. If you fit them to look right they won't open/close properly, if you sort the open/close they align badly.

With the amount of time I put stuff in them I've gone for 75% look 25% operation. I might have to slacken the bungee on the drivers side because its a bit like Arkrights' till.



The top edge on this side bows out a bit. The alumimium trim is still the motorcycle stuff and its not rigid enough to hold straight. If/when I find a better alternative this will be sorted.

The passenger side has the original un-bent ally trim but it doesn't follow the contour of the armrest very well at the back edge.





A post recently (sorry, I can't remember who/where/when) mentioned a Wurth product for dyeing black plastic. I got some to try on the armrests to hide the polished greying look they'd achieved and it worked very well.

Next was the rear parcel shelf...don't hold your breath. I've looked back at the photo's I took and my next post will be mostly descriptive.

Wow, they look really good

One of my favourite cars on DDK …….love how you tackle things Mick and the quality of your work.

Great job

Thank you fellas, I really do appreciate your comments.

Keep them coming like that Daz and I'll be happy to park next to you at the next meet...so long as its flat sturdy ground

I did pre warn you that this bit was going to be mostly a description. So apologies up front if I start telling you "how to suck eggs"

The shelf is made up of four parts. The first two I guess will be much like a Coupe. A flat panel for behind the seats and a curved piece that forms the bolster at the top. The flat panel for the shelf deck is curved at the rear edge then there is a bow shaped moulding to finish up to the glass.

Mine were all warped apart from the bolster part. The two flat panels were easy to replicate in 2mm thick plastic sheet. The bow is made from a thermo plastic and with a heat gun I managed to get it back in to a reasonable shape.

The first time I stripped it down I broke some of the "special" fixing that hold the seperate panels together. On stripping it this time I broke the rest. To get round the problem I used some M3 counter sunk bolts I had. The 2mm thick plastic allowed a bit of recessing for the heads and I bonded them in place with some resin left from the glass fibre kit. They were still a little proud and would show through the vinyl so I use some 3mm scrim foam to cover first. I covered the bow and bolster then bolted them together.

The lower panel for behind the seats is pop riveted in place. You need to trap the vinyl in as you rivet then pull it down across the panel with some more scrim foam underneath, tuck around the edge and glue.

I've either made that sound too quick and easy or harder than it is. If you ever tackle it (you know who you are) they are pretty straight forward. Stripping an original one downs shows the the process.

The back ends up looking like this.



The top like this.



Because I used the scrim foam on the top shelf it did leave a slightly wavy look again at the back joint to the bow. This was me and uneven tension on tucking the vinyl round over the foam. Once in the car its not bad. Although its very on show under a big piece of glass you are looking down on it from that angle and its not noticeable.

The caps for the sides are just shaped metal and are easy to recover.





All fitted back



The lower part should be the tan colour to match the sides but as I still haven't sorted that it get black for now. Its a part that rarely sees daylight anyway.



nearly there, knee pads and ash tray...

Nice thread and an inspiration. If I can get "Lucy" any where near example this I will be very pleased.

Quality work Mick. Must be incredibly rewarding when you just get stuck in and with some ingenuity and self skills come up with such a great result.

Thanks guys

Bez, I'm sure Lucy will be fine. Feels a bit strange writing that-good luck with it.

Tom, its probably just as rewarding as blinging up a manky old watch wish I had the funds to relieve you of that 1533G(?)

I wanted to finish up the tale of the black vinyl this weekend but I've been a bit busy to get around to uploading the pics. I've been out of work for a short while but a new start tomorrow in...South Wales has meant sorting other stuff.

I'll bring it up to date soon-ish.

Mick -

I missed this update earlier....this is looking really good. Your car was brilliant anyway, but loving this interior work, you're keeping a great balance between refirbishment and not looking "new"

Hats off to you, you're doing it yourself and it looks really professional. Way above my skills-grade

R

Thank you Richard-but it turns out the next bit is way above my skill grade.

I'll just finish off the pictures of the black stuff first.

Tugging, stretching and gluing...and all done







Now on to those seats.

I finally found a shade of vinyl that although not the best match to the original I liked it. It was also a 12.5m roll end for £80 which was the clincher. It's called Biscuit and I'm told its a shade Jagaur used.

I mentioned earlier that I'm no seamstress but the posts by Garry (visualfx) of his recovered seats gave me the inspiration to have another go. They say "a bad workman blames his tools" well...last time I used a borrowed domestic sewing machine. I checked out youtube and learned I needed a beefier machine with "walking foot needle feed"?? So I trawled e-bay and found a used one at an affordable price. My plan is to use it then get it back on e-bay to recoup some/most/all of its cost.

The seat frames needed some repair (detatched captive nuts, rust) and the foam of the later Recaro's needed work too. The later Recaro's are the first to be done. These will likely be in the car the most but are ultimately not that important. They are going to be my steep learning curve.

They were stripped and coated



The base had an extending front edge. I've always thought these were a pointless gismo so its getting binned.



I'm only keeping the foam of the bolsters, the seat pad and back rest will get new firmer stuff. I had to repair the bolsters by plugging and gluing the divots and tears. I then covered them in a thin scrim foam to smooth things over.



I used the old covers as templates but with the previous results being baggy a bit of guess tweaking happened. I think I had a spot of beginners luck.



With a new lumber support



and foam cut for the back rest





The internal curves came out alright



the external curves were abit wavy in places.



This was a problem on the seat bases. The rounded nose of the sides was tight and I couldn't get the vinyl to sit right. I had 2 goes and the second was no better. I had a third go and used piping on the seam, this helped the vinyl stay smooth on the curve.



I didn't have enough vinyl to redo the upper part with piping if I was going to do the standard seats too. So I'm living with mis-matched seams on these I keep telling myself these are just the practice anyway!

The new foam for the base is angular and over long, but once the cover is pulled tight it rounds the front edge quite well.





The posts for the headrests are wider apart than the standard seats. This is a shame because I would have just done the peanut type ones and used them on both types of seat. So although these are a bit Bodie & Doyle they have been done too.



The rears seat covers and door cards are done so just the two standard seats to go. I have just enough vinyl left (I think)

Stripping down revealed the hessian had torn along the bottom



These parts weren't sent for powder coating because I didn't want to disturb the webbing.





With the back rest not getting too much hammer with weight the matting and felt was in good shape. I just added a layer of the scrim foam to smooth them over and decided they were ready for covers.



The base pans were blasted and coated.



The springs seem in good shape so were left alone with the padding thats attached. Looks like they used any old bits off material for the stuff that was hidden.



The felt and matting needed a bit of work



Again I used the old covers as templates. With the later seats the shape had come from the foam and it was just a case of making fitted covers. These were a bit more tricky in that the covers needed to be quilted in part to give the desired shape.





They are a swine to fit.



The back rest is made up like a sack because of the panel on the back





It's not too bad but far from perfect. From an agle all looks ok



but head on the ribs don't line up very well



Also the stretching and tugging to get the covers on has left the ribs a bit wonky, especially on the base. I've still one seat to do (but I'm taking a break from it) if I can get that one to line up better I'll drop this cover off and refit it nudged over to the left by 1/4 of an inch.

Most jobs I tackle on my car I enjoy. Some, like stripping the engine then rebuilding it to find it still leaks oil are frustraiting. But I will quite happily have another go at that because its the sort of job thats satisfying. Not so with this which has been arduous, they may look ok in the photo's but close up there are quite a few faults. I can't blame the tools this time. In future when I see a car with a refurb'd or custom interior I'll appreciate that someone with patients and skill has performed an art.

Having said that, if you fancy ago don't let me put you off. In a while I'll have a more than capable sewing machine for sale

I'll post some pictures of them fitted...when I fit them.

Hey don't knock your hard work mate.

I think they look great!!

Agreed, I think you've done a superb job