Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Bryan Boyle on Thursday,October 19, 2023, 11:56:55 AM
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Started upholstering the new eyebrow that a fellow denizen here shipped over from the mother country. Lots of tugging, aligning, and making sure the french seam is on the peak of the front (which, being made of 2 fiberglass parts, had to be sanded down smooth and radiused properly so the resulting cover was properly aligned and straight. following the curve over the instrument and glovebox areas.
Think it came out (the top and underside are not attached yet) OK so far. Figured I'd start at the front (which everyone will see...) and work my way back. Going to be a chore to get it all smooth, no ripples, but I'll do my best.
Also dropped in a photo of the upholstery adhesive I'm using. Hands-down the best for doing this work; I use it when redoing aircraft interiors, and never had a problem with pull-away or bond failure. Just FYI, no $ interest, etc.
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Off to a good start!
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:I-agree: Good work, Bryan!
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Kudos. Looking good.
Upholstery is one of those things I avoid, as it tends to activate my perfectionism and I am never satisfied with the result. If I farm it out, I am far less bothered. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with yours. Very tidy so far.
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Bryan,
Does that cement work for headliners, too?
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Your doing great Bryan, wow, I didn't even get that stuff on commercial aircraft. I might add, your facia looks amazing.
Pfreen, also did his and it came out perfect from what I saw. You may want to PM him and compare notes on the finishing and cutting part.
Dakazman
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Bryan,
Does that cement work for headliners, too?
Yes, I guess it would, but, you'd need a couple cans to do it. I like the high-strength 3M headliner spray for that particular job. What I've found in the years I've used both is 1) don't be stingy with the application (cross patterns for the spray, iow), 2) let the cement flash off as the instructions say. Go hit the Keurig for a cup of joe. 3) Rough up the surface a bit so there's a 'tooth' (not a problem on the reverse side of fiberglass), and 4) start from the middle and work OUT to the edges.
Oh, and a heat gun to gently relax the vinyl for compound curves is always something to have in the toolbox. Not on the "hinges of hades" setting, though.
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Your doing great Bryan, wow, I didn't even get that stuff on commercial aircraft. I might add, your facia looks amazing.
Pfreen, also did his and it came out perfect from what I saw. You may want to PM him and compare notes on the finishing and cutting part.
Dakazman
Will ping Pfreen...thanks for the heads-up. Was pondering that last evening while doing other stuff.
Yeah, been dealing with Dodge Stretch (owner of Airtex) for a long time (since I did my A&P training at Lincoln Tech in NE Philly back in the 90s at night). For the general aviation bugsmasher rides, they're pretty much the go-to shop for interior kits, since they provide the burn certs and yellow tags to "legally" install the kits, and interior refreshment is an allowable maintenance task for an owner under Part 43.
I got the facia from australia, believe or not...fellow owner on groups.io list had a new US-spec one that he had no use for, since it came with a car that was imported from the US and being converted to the RHD formula, so it was excess to his needs. Eyebrow came from a buddy in the UK. Together, with shipping, total was less than the usual suspects are getting for just the eyebrow these days. Either that, or it's the collective here and on groups.io that are taking care of each other (as it should be!).
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Bryan,
Does that cement work for headliners, too?
DAP Products Weldwood Landau Top & Trim HHR Solvent Type is good for headliners. 1 gallon is the smallest size though. Some product loose adhesion in the heat.
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Bryan,
Does that cement work for headliners, too?
DAP Products Weldwood Landau Top & Trim HHR Solvent Type is good for headliners. 1 gallon is the smallest size though. Some product loose adhesion in the heat.
You are right; the airtex is meant for aircraft interiors...which sit in the sun most days...and seem to hold on nicely. I can see the Landau top and trim adhesive would be a good choice (especially if you have a black car like mine....).
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going a little further, but first, the flange of the fiberglass which meets up with the back of the dash was cupped and not at the right angle (90 degrees?) to set the dash in properly. Long piece of angle aluminum, gently heat with the heat gun, and work the flange back to the right angle so the dash sits in properly, and the nose doesn't hang down in front of the gauges.
Then...start with the contact cement (2 coats cross-shoot) on the base and vinyl for the bottom. Flash off. Then, working from the french seam down to the flange...smooth the vinyl to the base, leaving edges free. Did just the dash side of the eyebrow for now. Trim the flange edge of the cover. Test fit the dash. Think it looks fine.
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Nice job Brian, it’s looking very good.
Could you be more specific about your affinity for the Airtex? Are there other characteristics you like besides the long term holding power. For example, once contact is made can you peel it back for repositioning?
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Nice job Brian, it’s looking very good.
Could you be more specific about your affinity for the Airtex? Are there other characteristics you like besides the long term holding power. For example, once contact is made can you peel it back for repositioning?
Can you peel back...yes, but...there is a short window before it becomes a case of having to strip back a ways, lightly reglue, flash, and then reattach. I find the easiest way to do it one and done is to fold the piece in half over your hand with the glue side of the vinyl up, and work the vinyl flat as you unroll the cover as you move out to the edges. Light heat to ease the vinyl works for complex curves (like the 'horns' of the eyebrow) and ensures that the adhesive is fully flashed.
I've been using this particular adhesive for years in redoing aircraft interiors and it's worked pretty well for me there and in my other Europas I've resurected. Did my seats with it last year (as some may recall...) and it's holding up just fine. No financial interest, etc., just pleased with the results. I'm thinking that the other adhesive mentioned above would be just as good; may try that (though, I have no idea what I'd do with a gallon of that...but, I've a lot of nostrums and liquids on the shelves in my garage...;) You never know when you may have a use for it, you know?)
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Well...rainy day in Massachusetts...so no fun aviation this morning. What better day than to spend some quality time in the workshop...so, got top vinyl cover done. The forward edge is unattached to account for trimming fiberglass edge when installing. will finish the edge with black door edge trim as I did on 693R It's not perfect...had to work the vinyl a bit on one side with my thumbnail to compress it a bit...but, that's part of the charm with a handmade car, right? I think it came out just fine, though.
Cleaned it with vinyl prep, and dyed it to match the finish on my seats and door cards. Nice thing about the dye (made by a company called "SEM") I use is that it covers the white edge of the french seam backing that got folded back over the outside of the horns...and riveted down...pretty sure it will be hidden by the "A" pillar, so not worrying about it right now. Letting it fully dry in my living room (it's a bit chilly here today...and, yes, my house has that 'scent' from the dye..but that's ok. Just have to keep the new kitten from using it as a scratching post...lol.)
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Nicely done, Bryan!! :beerchug:
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Nicely done, Bryan!! :beerchug:
Now comes the Big Job. Pulling the windshield, removing the old one, swapping in the new dash, and refitting the eyebrow and then reinstalling the windshield (he says, smiling). Nothing is straightforward.
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Kudos. Looking good.
Upholstery is one of those things I avoid, as it tends to activate my perfectionism and I am never satisfied with the result. If I farm it out, I am far less bothered. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with yours. Very tidy so far.
I had thought about that, but, being the hands-on type...I don't know what I can't do until I try (most times, it works out ok...just have to motivate myself to do it to begin with...like pulling the lump and doing all that work...), so, worst that happens? Tear off the first attempt, bring to the upholstery guy and pay for it to be done. I'm satisfied with how it turned out, to tell the truth, but (there is always that, right?) in hindsight...I'd rather it be done in leather, which is easier to work with, believe or not. I have a nicely stored full hide of Connolly on a roll that I bought years ago, properly preserved, supple as the day I bought it (before they destroyed the cattle herds in the UK back in the aughts...which killed Connolly) that could have been used...oh well, hindsight, right?
(off topic: thinking of adding to the stable my second most fave Lotus)
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I’ve always thought the Elite (2nd gen.) was vastly underrated. Being 6’2” and comfortably sitting in the back seat of such a small car really leaves an impression! For some reason, I’ve been seeing a lot of videos about them lately. There weren’t many made and even fewer that still exist. Good luck Elite hunting!
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Nice job on the 'eyebrow', Bryan. The ends look really good and they seem to be the hardest part to get right . . at least that's what I found.
Yes, leather is nice, of course. The leather dash top on my Excel suffered very badly in our hot summers. It shrank so much that, over time, it bowed up the two fibreglass dash binnacle structures where they meet the windscreen quite badly. It turns out that leather is much stronger than vinyl in that instance. I reckon vinyl would have just split.
Removed the leather, repaired the fibreglass binnacles and recovered with vinyl. The final issue was getting a colour match for the disparate pieces. I was put onto a business that did custom colour matching of leather dyes. He made me up a dye suitable for leather and another suitable for vinyl - sprayed them on with a small gun. When done, no one would know what was what.
He also had a tip for fixing the scar on the long centre console where someone had dragged a shoe over it - apparently that polymer gutter sealant was the go. It can be smoothed into the scar in the leather, remains flexible and readily takes either type of dye.
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I’ve always thought the Elite (2nd gen.) was vastly underrated. Being 6’2” and comfortably sitting in the back seat of such a small car really leaves an impression! For some reason, I’ve been seeing a lot of videos about them lately. There weren’t many made and even fewer that still exist. Good luck Elite hunting!
Actually going to look at that one. The force is strong with it...from what I've been able to learn from the seller. Has the Delorto carbs, recent clutch. Needs some paint touch up (they all do) and doesn't have the rear lower link reinforcing fitting (but they are available), and the headlight vacuum pods are inop (he puts the lights up manually); could be vacuum issue or cracked lines...had the same issue on mine back in the day...with the vagries of how these things got titled back in the day...both the Elite and my Europa are titled as 1974 autos; I know there was some overlap (IIRC, the last Europa came off the line in spring of '75) at the same time the third gen cars were being rolled out.
(Photo is of my '74 that I traded 444R for from Marco Competition (Montclair NJ...other dealer was LaMonsa in Mahwah, which is where 3291R was sold from) in the fall of '84...sold that in '88 to get the funds to buy my first airplane...;))