Most of the shots were completed on the weekend in a deserted industrial area of Salisbury, Brisbane. I am not sure when or if the photos & story will be published. Here are several examples.
Monday 6 August 2018
Capri - Magazine Photo Shoot
At the recent All Ford Day, our club President, Anthony, was approached by the photographer representing Restored Cars Magazine, to see if he could do an article on several of our cars. The publisher of the magazine specifically asked for the Capris. He asked for a 4 cylinder & a V6, so my Jewel Green 1970 Deluxe & Anthony's Yellow Fire 1972 V6 were the examples.
Most of the shots were completed on the weekend in a deserted industrial area of Salisbury, Brisbane. I am not sure when or if the photos & story will be published. Here are several examples.
Most of the shots were completed on the weekend in a deserted industrial area of Salisbury, Brisbane. I am not sure when or if the photos & story will be published. Here are several examples.
Capri - Instrument Pod Recovering 2
After some initial fitting of the new vinyl cover, I was rather apprehensive that I could do it successfully. In fact, I couldn't see how it was going to fit well at all, especially around the rounded corners. In fact, I walked away for a while.
Back to the task & this time armed with a hair dryer (I think the heat gun might have been too severe) & a lot of clamps. One of the difficult parts of this job is keeping the seam straight & it fits on the edge of the pod. So, with the clamps in place & some heat, especially on the corners, I could see it fitting OK without any bunching up on the corners. It took several attempts to secure it in the correct position, ensuring that there was sufficient overlap on all sides.
At this stage, I was fairly confident I could do a reasonably good job. Next job was to glue it down. I used the spray on adhesive that I have used before on other similar jobs. However, I did it in small sections using the hair dryer to smooth out the corners & making sure the vinyl wrapped around all sides. At the end, I was fairly happy with it & how the seam followed the edge of the pod.
While I had the facia out, I decided to do a bit of refurbishment on it as well. The wood grain colouring that I had used previously was a bit light so I went for a darker stain (walnut). After a good cleaning down, a very light sanding & three coats of the stain/varnish, it has come up OK. I also retouched the silver gauge surrounds & the black inner sections. This is a fiddly job requiring a lot of patience, something which I am starting to lack. All of this was done over several days so it is not something to hurry.
Now it was time to put it all back together! I was quite concerned about this as I didn't know if the extra layer of vinyl over the original covering would allow the facia to fit in. My first couple of attempts were very frustrating as I didn't want to break any of the plastic facia. There was already one small crack/break under the lowest switch. I then realised the wiper switch was catching on the metal frame & that was not allowing it to slide in. I removed this, spayed some WD silicone spray on the corners & luckily, it slid in but very tightly. That didn't worry me - it was in & fitting well.
The reassembly was the opposite to what I have written above. There are several very fiddly parts - screwing back the instrument panel into the facia & then re attaching the speedo cable. Thankfully, with a bit of a turn & twist, it went back on. the whole pod then fitted back on really well with the three screw holes lining up well. On putting it back together, I came across a new issue. The radio control spindles were sticking out mush further than before. A bit of a walk through Bunnings found me some black plastic spacers that I used to cover the space. Next day, I found that all this time had been wasted as I forgotton to replace the radio facia panel which I had stored in the car for safe keeping!!! Just make sure all the switches are fitted correctly & that all the wires & bulbs in the instrument panel are slotted in & firmly fitted.
In retrospect, the whole task was more difficult & time consuming that I anticipated. However, this how it all looks now & I am happy with the result & it is much better that it was previously.
Back to the task & this time armed with a hair dryer (I think the heat gun might have been too severe) & a lot of clamps. One of the difficult parts of this job is keeping the seam straight & it fits on the edge of the pod. So, with the clamps in place & some heat, especially on the corners, I could see it fitting OK without any bunching up on the corners. It took several attempts to secure it in the correct position, ensuring that there was sufficient overlap on all sides.
At this stage, I was fairly confident I could do a reasonably good job. Next job was to glue it down. I used the spray on adhesive that I have used before on other similar jobs. However, I did it in small sections using the hair dryer to smooth out the corners & making sure the vinyl wrapped around all sides. At the end, I was fairly happy with it & how the seam followed the edge of the pod.
While I had the facia out, I decided to do a bit of refurbishment on it as well. The wood grain colouring that I had used previously was a bit light so I went for a darker stain (walnut). After a good cleaning down, a very light sanding & three coats of the stain/varnish, it has come up OK. I also retouched the silver gauge surrounds & the black inner sections. This is a fiddly job requiring a lot of patience, something which I am starting to lack. All of this was done over several days so it is not something to hurry.
Now it was time to put it all back together! I was quite concerned about this as I didn't know if the extra layer of vinyl over the original covering would allow the facia to fit in. My first couple of attempts were very frustrating as I didn't want to break any of the plastic facia. There was already one small crack/break under the lowest switch. I then realised the wiper switch was catching on the metal frame & that was not allowing it to slide in. I removed this, spayed some WD silicone spray on the corners & luckily, it slid in but very tightly. That didn't worry me - it was in & fitting well.
The reassembly was the opposite to what I have written above. There are several very fiddly parts - screwing back the instrument panel into the facia & then re attaching the speedo cable. Thankfully, with a bit of a turn & twist, it went back on. the whole pod then fitted back on really well with the three screw holes lining up well. On putting it back together, I came across a new issue. The radio control spindles were sticking out mush further than before. A bit of a walk through Bunnings found me some black plastic spacers that I used to cover the space. Next day, I found that all this time had been wasted as I forgotton to replace the radio facia panel which I had stored in the car for safe keeping!!! Just make sure all the switches are fitted correctly & that all the wires & bulbs in the instrument panel are slotted in & firmly fitted.
In retrospect, the whole task was more difficult & time consuming that I anticipated. However, this how it all looks now & I am happy with the result & it is much better that it was previously.
Capri - Instrument Pod Recovering 1
The original instrument pod covering on my white Capri XL had several areas which were in bad shape with the vinyl split or the foam disintegrating. Several years ago I had an upholsterer recover the top section but he did a very unsatisfactory job resulting in the glued ends starting to lift, as shown in the photos.
For some time I have been considering replacing or recovering the pod. I have tried several motor trimmers & they don't want to know about it, suggesting the Dashboard Doctor in Victoria. I believe that could be very expensive & with a considerable time delay so I did some searching & came up with two options.
One option is the reproduction fibreglass pods made by the Capri Club in the UK. I have heard that they are a good fit & pretty close match to the original vinyl. The cost of these is approx. $235 plus GST plus postage (not sure, but perhaps 20-30 pounds). So all up, the cost would be approx. $300. Here is the link to their site:
http://capriclub.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=pod
The second option was to buy a custom made vinyl pod cover from JF Customs in the UK. They supply this, with your choice of stitching colouring, for $110 including postage plus GST of $11. Being a cheapskate, I settled for this option. The vinyl match is not perfect but the difference does not worry me. Delivery from the UK took about 10 days. This firm has a wide range of vehicle products & has a very good review history.
Here is a link to their site:
http://www.ebaystores.com.au/J-F-CUSTOMS
This is what it looks like as it is unfolded & stretched:
So, to do this job, the pod needs to be removed. Here is how I did it:
First, undo the radio control knobs & the nuts holding the radio in place. Next, slide off the heater control knobs. Then the small bottom cardboard panel trim to the left of the steering column (2 screws). Undo the 2 bolts holding the steering column & let it hang down. The pod is held in place with 3 screws (2 on the bottom + one on the RHS). Pull out the pod slowly as far as possible. From the top, unclip the speedo cable (try not to move the car while this is off as it will be difficult to slot it back in). Once the speedo cable is off, the pod will come out even further, as far as the wiring will allow. This will then allow you to unscrew the 4 screws ( 2 top & bottom) that hold the instrument panel to the pod & facia. This requires a small Phillips head screwdriver inserted at the top & in the small space between the dash pad. Not easy, but it can be done. Once this is done, the pod comes away & the instruments will just sit there.
Now you have the pod out there is one more tricky bit.
I was now working on my bench. Turn the pod over & there are about 10 very small plastic studs with spring clips attaching the facia to the metal frame of the pod. About 4 of mine were already broken so I was very careful in trying to prise off the clips. Despite this, I broke another one. I figured I could glue this back if need be. Turning it back to the front side, prise the facia out of the pod & now we are ready to do the job. That all takes time & I am very conscious about breaking bits as the plastic & trims can be very fragile.
The next stage involved removing the vinyl patch & thankfully, that came off without too much trouble, leaving the original cover intact. There was a fair bit of glue on it but with careful cleaning using a razor blade scraper all of this was removed. The original damage was also cleaned up & smoothed off using some very fine sand paper. After the pod was really clean & smooth, the main part of the task can begin. See Part 2 for the next bit of fun!
For some time I have been considering replacing or recovering the pod. I have tried several motor trimmers & they don't want to know about it, suggesting the Dashboard Doctor in Victoria. I believe that could be very expensive & with a considerable time delay so I did some searching & came up with two options.
One option is the reproduction fibreglass pods made by the Capri Club in the UK. I have heard that they are a good fit & pretty close match to the original vinyl. The cost of these is approx. $235 plus GST plus postage (not sure, but perhaps 20-30 pounds). So all up, the cost would be approx. $300. Here is the link to their site:
http://capriclub.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=pod
The second option was to buy a custom made vinyl pod cover from JF Customs in the UK. They supply this, with your choice of stitching colouring, for $110 including postage plus GST of $11. Being a cheapskate, I settled for this option. The vinyl match is not perfect but the difference does not worry me. Delivery from the UK took about 10 days. This firm has a wide range of vehicle products & has a very good review history.
Here is a link to their site:
http://www.ebaystores.com.au/J-F-CUSTOMS
This is what it looks like as it is unfolded & stretched:
So, to do this job, the pod needs to be removed. Here is how I did it:
First, undo the radio control knobs & the nuts holding the radio in place. Next, slide off the heater control knobs. Then the small bottom cardboard panel trim to the left of the steering column (2 screws). Undo the 2 bolts holding the steering column & let it hang down. The pod is held in place with 3 screws (2 on the bottom + one on the RHS). Pull out the pod slowly as far as possible. From the top, unclip the speedo cable (try not to move the car while this is off as it will be difficult to slot it back in). Once the speedo cable is off, the pod will come out even further, as far as the wiring will allow. This will then allow you to unscrew the 4 screws ( 2 top & bottom) that hold the instrument panel to the pod & facia. This requires a small Phillips head screwdriver inserted at the top & in the small space between the dash pad. Not easy, but it can be done. Once this is done, the pod comes away & the instruments will just sit there.
Now you have the pod out there is one more tricky bit.
I was now working on my bench. Turn the pod over & there are about 10 very small plastic studs with spring clips attaching the facia to the metal frame of the pod. About 4 of mine were already broken so I was very careful in trying to prise off the clips. Despite this, I broke another one. I figured I could glue this back if need be. Turning it back to the front side, prise the facia out of the pod & now we are ready to do the job. That all takes time & I am very conscious about breaking bits as the plastic & trims can be very fragile.
The next stage involved removing the vinyl patch & thankfully, that came off without too much trouble, leaving the original cover intact. There was a fair bit of glue on it but with careful cleaning using a razor blade scraper all of this was removed. The original damage was also cleaned up & smoothed off using some very fine sand paper. After the pod was really clean & smooth, the main part of the task can begin. See Part 2 for the next bit of fun!
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