Stan's 78 mini restoration

[MiniGene]

I thought there was a ghost in the paint booth until I realized the car's door was open.

BTW, That door hardware is nice!

[stan360]

Yes, it does look like a ghost, ha. Today i am prepping the seat frames , covers are done and ship today, so i better hurry. I didnt seem to take pics of the back seat during tear down to remember what to do with the back pad.

[MiniDave]

This is the most fun part of a build, finding cool new bits and everything you do makes it that much more of a car....fun times.

[stan360]

Dan brought the mini home today and of course he did an amazing job fixing the quarter , doing some dent popping and buttoning up some loose ends for me, thanks again Dan

[jeff10049]

car looks great!

[stan360]

Well, i put another dash pad on today as i didnt like the dented one. This time i took the switch panel off instead of cramming it over top the thing. Pad looks good, is secure but i cannot get the damn switch panel in yet. What a pain. I need to fiddle with it to hit the holes and then put the chrome strip on. I did get the main rear carpet pad tacked down and trimmed and will do the front pad tomorrow .

[MiniDave]

Whenever I encounter a tough assembly like this I try to figure out how it would have gone together on the assembly line.....

[stan360]

I'll try to channel some ziggy stardust  ;D

[94touring]

You may need to lower the heater box to get behind the switch plate.

[stan360]

I had it off to install pad, but yeah, I think I need to drop it to mash this panel in there.

[94touring]

You shouldn't have any wonky switch grounding/shorting issues with the panel installed properly now though. 

[stan360]

I think that fog lamp switch is cheap, i messed with it a bit and see where it is loose, i may order new cheap switch. Ha. Maybe just open it up and see what is loose

[stan360]

I got my discontinued small washer bottle in mail today. With the new wiring the big one is a no go, so after some digging i was lucky to find one online, woo woo. Not that using the wipers on this car is going to do much, and i probably wont be driving it in the rainy weather. 

[94touring]

The big bottles always looked out of place to me, nice find with the small one.

[stan360]

Carpet is DONE!  What a pain in the ass, this was.  So difficult to make it look perfect, but i think it is close.

[94touring]

Looks good from here!

[MiniGene]

Are you going to make people take their shoes off before they get in?  I would--That looks great!

[stan360]

Ha, i may do that. Put car slippers in there for driving. Ha. Today i got the shift boot sorted and finished front seat foams. I still cannot quite remember how the back seat foam attaches to wire frame and the strip of board,  so trying to figure that out  now. Tomorrow i will install the seat belts as the rear belts arrived today and wait for seat covers and door cards.

[MiniDave]

One tip for putting the covers over the foam - put a dry cleaner's bag over the seatback first, then the cover will slip on much easier. Without it, they can be "difficult".

[stan360]

Yeah, the seats had a plastic cover on them as i disassembled,  but i think i tossed them. Damn,  but i do have some plastic to help, .04 sheet of plastic  and a couple dry clearer bags  also.

[gasmini]

I still cannot quite remember how the back seat foam attaches to wire frame and the strip of board,  so trying to figure that out  now.

Without looking at the seat covers I would say they attach with Hog rings ( at least that's what I call them, I don't know the real name for them).

[jeff10049]

my foam was spray glued and hog ringed to the rear wire frame and board.The hog rings don't hold in the foam great but that's how it was.

[stan360]

Yeah, I cannot remember the hog rings on mine, but its been 3 years, and it makes sense.  The board appears to be at the top of frame flat across top and tacked to the top of foam,then  folds over on to frame. I will go to hardware store and get some rings and crimp them on. 

I got the seat belts in today.  Glad I saved the old set so I could use the spacers. Still waiting on covers and cards and trying to prepare myself to fight that switch panel , ha , then DONE ! WOO WOO

[MiniDave]

If you're talking about a board sewn to the front of the  top seat cover, it goes in a slot in the foam, to pull the fabric tight and make it follow the curve of the backrest, after you push it thru the slot, it flips down to lay flat.

In this pic you can see how the fabric tucks in tight near the top of the backrest. There's also one on the bottom cover, that does the same thing towards the front of the seat cushion. On my seats it was right where the fabric changes from the pattern to the solid.

[stan360]

Dave, i am working on the backrest of the rear seat. I did get the belts in and speaker board i made for it. No dash stereo but will ad an amp and speakers in the board and run a wire and play from phone