No pictures tonight but I was able to get a lot done today. I hid the brake booster between the inner fender and firewall, safely out of way of any road debris. I made a brake line from the master cylinder to the booster and a line from the booster to the bias adjusting valve.

I pressure-bled the system and before I could get the wife out to the garage to do the down-down-up-up bleeding procedure, I thought I should put a seat in the car for her. I was going to put the freshly re-upholstered passenger seat in the driver's spot, but much to my surprise the left and right seats are not interchangeable. So she got to sit on the original driver's seat that I had started dissecting.

After a final bleeding, I hooked up my brake pressure gauge and saw that I was getting about 300-400 more psi with the booster than without. I need to bleed the rear brakes tomorrow then we go for a test drive. I really hope the booster gives me the pedal feel I am looking for.

 

I got a lot done today. On my first test drive with the new brake booster, I noticed that at first the brakes were slow to release and then after about a mile of driving it was obvious the brakes were on. I pulled the vacuum hose for the brake booster off the manifold and capped the fitting and took it for another test drive. No more locking/sticking brakes and the pedal feel was great - with the brake booster plumbed up but not connected to engine vacuum. I am not sure what's going on with the booster but my plan is to leave it plumbed into the brake circuit but not connect it to vacuum. I had to mount it more vertical than the instructions suggested and I wonder if that was the problem.

On to driving, I have several immediate observations:
- the clutch pedal is light and perfect. To the extent that that I got in my MGB after driving the Jaguar I thought something was wrong with the MGB clutch because it was so relatively harder to push. It's the stock MGB clutch and I've never thought it was heavy before.
- I charged up the AC system and from now on Vintage Air are the only AC units I am buying. The fans move a lot of air and it cools down quick.
- the accelerator pedal needs some help. I ordered a new one to see if I could tighten it up with some bushings. The current one has too much side-to-side play
- there is a trouble code for the mass air flow sensor but I will test that tomorrow
- on the tollway at just over 70mph I was showing about 1800 rpms which is right where I wanted it to be


The new cruise control system arrived today and I need to look at installing that. I also need to start working on the rear seats too. I should probably decide what I should do with the brake booster as well.

 

I bet that makes quite a Splash on your neighborhood streets!
(';')

 

LnrB,

Somehow I have completely missed the fact that you owned a Fairlady. I have always wanted one, but the right one just hasn't come along.

Cheers,

Don

 

This morning I was able to trouble-shoot the mass air flow sensor issue to a blown fuse - that was an easy fix.

Then I decided it was time to hook up the cruise control kit. For the last 5 or 6 years I had been using Dakota Digital cruise control kits but those are now over $600, so I decided to go with the Rostra unit. It's still more expensive than I think it should be but on a 2,000 mile road trip it will be worth it.
The first step was hooking up the pull cable to the throttle. Luckily the LT1 has a provision for cruise control on the throttle which makes this step easy.


Next up was mounting the cruise control unit on the right side inner fender.
After that I covered the wires with black fabric loom and ran them behind the firewall to the inside of the car. From there it was hooking up +12 volts and ground.


Yesterday when I was driving I decided the shift lever was about 3" too short. I designed a prototype in AutoDesk and 3d printed it so I could check for clearance, specifically around the air conditioner.
The stock T56 lever is on the left, the prototype is on the right.


This is the right length but I want to redesign the top part to have some more meat to it.


After dinner I decided it was time to stop testing my wife's patience with car parts in the basement and moved the rear seat to the garage so I could work on it there. This upside-U shape is the top of the back seat.
I am starting to learn how to work with this material and was pretty happy with how this turned out. I bought an electric bread knife to make it easier to cut and shape the foam - and it seems to be helping.


After that it was time to remember how the rear seat back fits together and guess which pieces go where. I'll have to work through this tomorrow.


Finally, Dad sent me a picture of his work on the left side glove box. The upside down U shaped cutout is where the steering column goes and the round circle above it is where the automatic transmission shift lever passed through. With a manual transmission I no longer needed that hole, so Dad made a wooden plug to cover the hole.


After that, he re-veneered the piece to hide the plug and it turned out really good.

 

Your Dad is a craftsman of immense skill. You owe him several crates of his favourite beverage.

 

Your seat wrinkles might go away if you let the car sit in the sun for a few days. Especially a black interior in a black car.
Might be the right time for a Death Valley road trip

 

You might be on to something there!

 

Today I realized that my Route 66 trip is in exactly 2 months and my 2,000 mile road trip is in just over 5 months, so I decided it was time to get busy.

First up was covering the rear seat back spring pads in 2 layers of burlap.


Then I used my electric knife to cut and begin shaping the foam.


With the left and right side of the seat back done, it was time to remember how the arm rest was put together.


I need to spend some time with the heat gun to smooth out some wrinkles but the rear seat is coming together.


I had forgotten that the rear parcel shelf needs some attention. I use this one as a template to trace the shape onto some fiber board; I will cut that out tomorrow.


Then it was time to put 2 layers of burlap on the seat bottom. I need to wait a few days to start covering this as I am waiting for more seat foam to arrive.

 

Somehow I am not buying the idea that you have not been busy already! Your amazing progress proves just how very busy you have been all along!

Cheers,

Don

 

Tonight I was able to finish the left and right front carpet sections, which means that I am now done sewing.



Tomorrow I should get the last delivery of foam so I can finish the rear seat.

 

Thomas,

What density of foam are you using, and where are you purchasing it?

Thanks,

Don

 

I'm interested in getting the group's opinion on a radio for the Mark VII. I have been hesitant to commit to adding a radio because there aren't many great places to unobtrusively mount speakers and I don't know how well it's going to sound when driving around. But I also acknowledge that if I want one, now is the time to do it. I would use as a head unit but speakers would be much harder to figure out.

What does the group think? Add a radio or just listen to the engine?

 

I like the idea of a classic-looking-radio. Would there be room in the front kick panels or the sides of the center console to mount shallow speakers?

 

Listen to the engine!

 

Don,
I am using the Medium Extra Heavy foam from DLT Upholstery Supply. The "excellent for high end applications" is what sold me on that particular grade of foam.
Thomas

 

Trucklet came with a high-end sound system (for which the seller wanted to add Big Bux) and I've only had it powered up to retrieve and return a CD left in the player.

In my experience, out on the open road a radio or such is quite useless anyway as Road Noise requires volume turned up to at least 8/10 to even hear. And besides all that, I find the added noise Very distracting as it covers the sound of things going wrong.

Nix's "radio" was never even connected to power! Suited me Just Fine!
(';')

 

I got my last shipment of foam today and started working on the rear seat bottom.


Here's a close-up view of the plastic rod/welting that is sewn in the section between the pleats and the flat section. The idea is that you hog-ring the plastic rod to the spring base to give the seat shape.


Here I am starting to mark where the plastic rod will be; I cut along the blue line so I could hog ring the plastic welt.


Checking the fit in the car before I finish nailing the edges down.
This weekend I should be able to push the car out of the garage and get more room to finish this up.


Next up was cutting a new parcel shelf out of fiber board. In this picture I am putting on a coat of Thompson's water seal to protect it from any moisture.
I had to make it from two pieces as I did not have a piece long enough to go from side to side.


Tomorrow I pull the driver's seat out and start recovering that.
Also, after doing more math and consulting the bore diameter/brake pressure chart, I decided maybe the 1" master cylinder was too big. I ordered a 7/8" bore master cylinder this weekend and see if that makes a difference in brake pedal feel. I am pretty happy with how it is right now but if anyone else drives the car they may find it too much.

 

I think that's the problem I have - there is not really a good place to mount speakers. Cutting the dash is a non-starter for me and there really isn't room under the center console.


I thought about speaker pods on the front kick panels, but my left leg would rub against it when I pushed in the clutch.


The front doors aren't really a great location either.


I could mount speakers in the rear parcel shelf and they would be well hidden and unobtrusive, but that still leaves a large hole in the front.

I think for now I am going to put the radio idea on the shelf and use my if I feel the need for tunes on a long drive.

 

I started off tonight by finishing the rear parcel shelf panel. This is hidden between the rear seat back and the very tiny rear window and will never be seen unless someone is looking specifically for it, so I decided to experiment. I glued a 1/8" piece of fiber to the panel first.


Then I wrapped it in vinyl, exactly like I did the front kick panels. The thin layer of foam gives the parcel shelf a little more depth and makes it more appealing.
But like I said - no one will ever see this piece.


Next up was pulling the driver's seat out of the car and stripping it down.


After cleaning up the frame I cut the inner section of the seat bottom.


This is the underside of the seat bottom. The section with the pleats is the inner section where your butt goes, and the smooth part is the outer section where your thighs are.


This is the seat bottom still upside down, with the inner foam section in place. You can see the plastic rod/welting - that is tied down to the spring base to give the seat shape.


Here is the seat bottom about halfway done. You can see how the seam between the pleated section and the smooth section has some shape/depth to it - this is the result of the plastic rod/welting pulling the cover down to the seat base.


When I disassembled the seat back I kept the horseshoe-shaped piece of fiber that goes around the edges of the seat.
You can also see the new piece of foam I cut for the inner section of the seat back.


The horseshoe-shaped piece of foam is far less pronounced than the stuffing I used on the passenger seat and - as I suspected - the top corners of the seat back are noticeably less puckered up than the passenger side.


The goal tomorrow is to finish up the driver's seat. After that I need to start draining the brake fluid so I can replace the brake master cylinder with the smaller bore master cylinder.