Neither of my Capris have a centre console & for many years I have been looking for a decent one at an affordable price. Anyway, after a casual conversation with one of our very good Capri club members, I now have two. They have been stored for a number of years & needed cleaning & refurbishment but were intact with no major flaws.
The first stage of their restoration was a good clean with water, soap & scrubbing brush. They also had remnants of glue & carpet on the underside so all of this was scarped off & removed. After drying, they started to look good but a few scratches & blemishes were noted, as well as a few extra holes on one but no real problems.
I then used some grease & stain remover to get to some of the harder marks & the dirt in some of the grooves around the top. They are starting to look much better but some slight scratches & marks are obvious.
Next, I tried some Armorall on a small section & it came up well but it didn't really cover the marks satisfactorily.
Next idea was to try some vinyl paint however my can was very empty, so off to Supercheap & I bought a can of Dupli-Color Fabric & Vinyl Coating. I took some time deciding whether to buy the black full gloss or the matt satin. In the end, I decided on the matt & I am glad that I did.
Back home & another good wipe down with the grease remover & then several coats of the paint. They seem to have come up really well with the paint covering all the scuff marks.
Next thing is to get hold of some of the wood grain panels & I think they will look really good. Not sure what to do with the clock space though. I don't think I can afford the $675 clock on EBay at the moment!
This how they turned out. I bought one set of the laminated plastic inserts & used them on the white XL. I used them as templates to cut out another set of thick but flexible cardboard. I sprayed them with several coats of the matt vinyl paint & fitted them to the Deluxe which has a black interior.
I have not located a suitable clock as yet, so in the white car I have added a spare amp gauge (not wired) to fill in the hole. In the other car, I have relocated my tacho & with some Velcro tape have managed to place it in the vacant space.
They both have tuned out fairly well but I have not screwed them down but rather I have used two side Velcro tape to fix them into position.
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