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Thanks, very happy with how it's turning out so far. I checked with the upholstery place, sounds like the front seat will be done tomorrow or Monday. They should also be able to adjust the padding as well. With any luck I should be able to get the car back on the road next week, weather permitting.

"Weather Permitting" has been the running theme here in the Midwest these last few months. Let's just say it hasn't been.

Never trust an overgrown rodent for weather predictions!

More progress

I reinstalled the starter. I tried using a wobble extension and 5/8 socket, but it wouldn't work for me. The bolt that holds the return spring to the solenoid is right in the way, and solenoid is so tight to the engine that I couldn't get the extension to slide in and line up anywhere close to the bolt. So I got to climb back into the engine bay and thread the upper bolt in 1/12 turn at a time. Great times. Still need to paint the cover band and put that back on.



I dropped off the rear seat back to the upholstery place to see if they can adjust the padding a bit. I got a look at the front seat, which is nearly done. They are just doing the rope rails now. The seat looks fantastic.



And I ran into an unforeseen issue with the rear door panels I made. I didn't realize how much the trim piece pushes the panel in at the rear. I made the door panels with some stiff hardboard, which didn't allow it to flex as much as it needed. Here's the shape of the upper trim:



The door panel



I solved the problem by taking a dremel to the hardboard panel itself. I cut a slit through the panel a little longer than the trim piece



That allowed it to flex enough to get the trim sit properly

Seats are done! They called at the end of the day, so I made the drive down to pick them up and pay. It ended up being more expensive than what we had first discussed. But they had to make a few new ABS panels (the original cardboard was rotten), had to sew new panels for the rear of the front seats (was hoping to reuse the original vinyl, but it was unusable), and took an entire day to make the two rope rails. The more I looked carefully at their work, the more I'm glad I didn't attempt it myself.

They adjusted the padding on the rear seat and it looks much better now:



Rear seat






Front seat












Rope rails and new blue panels







Overall I'm very happy with how it came out. Looks great. I'll have to be gentle with the blue fabric....just like the original it's a pretty loose weave and tends to develop little tags. I think that will get better over time as the seats are used (I hope).

-Kevin

Other than the horrible door jambs, it looks great! Just kidding! The door jambs that you worked on so hard look wonderful too and the whole package looks like a new car.

Just think how much you would have to pay for a new car with a beautiful blue and white interior--if you could find such a thing. "This year we are offering upholstery in Olympic fog, Schuychil Coal Dust, or trendy Charcoal".

No kidding!

Thanks guys. Very happy with how it's coming together. I have just a few more small things to do on the interior, then I can call it done. The interior is essentially new from front to back. The only thing that I haven't redone is the carpet. The owner before had it replaced and it was good enough for me.

Looking ahead at the weather to see if I can get it back on the road this week. Should be able to tomorrow or Thursday. I spent some time yesterday going through things to prep it for awakening....checked fluids, topped off power steering since most of it is now in the drip pan, air up tires, top off battery charge, etc. I'll need to go through the process to get the transmission topped off, since much of that is also in the drip pan.

-Kevin

Got the Panama out of hibernation this evening. It was a fantastic feeling.

Disconnected the coil and cranked the engine a couple times to get oil moving. Connected it back up and the car started within about 5 seconds. Nice and smooth. The starter rebuild made a huge difference. Let it warm up, the checked the trans fluid, which was surprisingly mostly full.

My wife and I went for a nice 10 mile drive to check everything out. Ran great. The car is filthy from 5 months of sitting in the shop. But overall no major issues. I need to adjust the transmission linkage and pull the fuel pump to find the noise. Also need to adjust the valves for fun.

Quote:

Doesn't the Panama have hydraulic lifters?