My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[Mainemantom]

Don't bother trying to reuse it. Do you have an auto upholstery shop or supplier near you . Upholstery shops usually have headlining material. You don't need much. I would buy 1 1/2- 2 yards. That is more than enough.

[Arquemann]

Don't bother trying to reuse it. Do you have an auto upholstery shop or supplier near you . Upholstery shops usually have headlining material. You don't need much. I would buy 1 1/2- 2 yards. That is more than enough.

The problem is finding a suitable colour and material, most modern headliner materials are much coarser and not dark red. I'll pop by the 2 upholstery shops in town today.

[Arquemann]

No dice on real headliner materials, poor colour selection and too coarse. There's some felt mat type of stuff available for order, but I don't have a colour sample to match up to. Upholsterer said she could attempt on reglueing the old fabric to new foam backing, but the old cloth is so thin and stretchy that I'd be a one shot trial, she didn't recommend it.

I have errands in another town on Friday, I'll pop by a (specifically vehicle) upholstery shop while there. In a fabric chain store there's two shades of velvet-type thick upholstery fabric that should be available, it'd be usable and putting the "grain" of the velvet in a certain orientation would make it not too shiny. I also have some flexible thick plastic-cardboard sheet that I could use to make new backing boards for the C-pillars, since the old cardboard is kinda wavy.

Other news, the obnoxious resonance at 80km/h when the AC kicks on has been seemingly resolved. The belt was too tight.

[Arquemann]

New C-pillar interior pieces are done and back in. New backing from fiber board, new foam and new fabric. Fiber board was about 5mm, foam was 1cm, meaning the end result was much thicker than what original would have been. The fabric is kinda expensive turkish velvet, but it was the best colormatch and coincidentally also the most rich and plush looking fabric.
A couple minor gripes with how things turned out
- Original backing boards were concave, new ones aren't and it pushes the door opening trim so it doesn't quite sit flush with the door seal.
- The glue soaked into the foam and I left a couple depressions into it that don't seem to be coming out. Time will tell.
- Being velvet it plays funky with light so the color doesn't always match the headliner, depending on viewing angle and lighting.

Atleast it's not the old, hanging cloth and crumbling foam anymore. It's a damn interior c-pillar, no one will notice it, except me!
Whenever there's a next time for interior upholstery work, I'll leave it to the professionals, FFS.



I was going to redo the parcel shelf, but the backing is effed up from the 3-point belt reels. Oh well.
Got a shop visit lined up in a couple weeks, they'll put in new wheel bearings, axle seals (again) and axle shafts. I might be broke but doing the wheel bearings is such a shit job in the driveway.
Pieksämäki Big Wheels -event is on the 22nd, I'd like to take Maisa there again. But only if I have time to drive it enough after the shop to make sure I'm not slinging gear oil from here to there.

[87gtVIC]

Looks good to me. Nice work.

[sly]

Looks really nice to me.

[Tiggie]

Looks good to me. A worthwhile improvement for sure.

[Arquemann]

Thanks guys, I kinda get bummed out when I could've avoided easy mistakes and ended up with a better result. Like not putting the piece on a bucket and leaving a round depression in the foam...

[Grand1]

Nice dude, thats on the list for my 79. Thanks for the info.

[clutch47]

Nice work.

[Toploader]

Nice maintenance work.

Dave that is high praise coming from you

[Arquemann]

She got some badging back on finally. I've had the trunk lid bare since we did the buffing, I kinda liked it but it did look a bit empty.
I put only the GM badge back on, I quite like minimalist look:


And no, it's not crooked, the top edge plays with eyes.

[87gtVIC]

Very nice. Whats absent is a script Mercury?

[Arquemann]

Very nice. Whats absent is a script Mercury?

The cursive Mercury from the right side of the trunk and the LS from just right of the GM badge.
I also have a Palm Beach Lincoln-Mercury dealer emblem.

Kinda so-so about adding the LS back, but the Mercury script is staying off, IMO it doesn't really fit with the straight lines and formality of the box MGM.

[Arquemann]

Right, got her back from the shop, 500€ ouchie. Why? Apparently the axle savers I put in were reeeeeeally hard to get out. They needed a hydraulic puller. I just tapped them in with a normal hammer?
So I'm broke and something in the rear makes a hum now.
C-pillar trim repairs didn't hold up too long, the cloth is "bubbling" a bit here and there as the backing is settling into its concave shape.
And the weekend trip to Pieksämäki Big Wheels won't be happening.

Oh well. But it looks like my money and sanity will run out about the same time, which is kinda convenient.