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Steering wheel looks better all black now.
Are you going to have more wood accents on the dash or console? Might look out of place if you only have that one piece where the map pocket was.
Steering wheel looks better all black now.
Are you going to have more wood accents on the dash or console? Might look out of place if you only have that one piece where the map pocket was.
Hey Battmann,
I bought the total package, covers all the gauges, HVAC, radio, shifter plate, and the rest of the console except the console lid. I really like the look, so excited.
By the way, I received the needle pointers yesterday. You packaged them so well for the trip. I opened everything with tiny surgical scissors, so as not to break anything. Thanks so much!
Installed needles from battmann, hat tip, and installed gauges back into dash.
Went to install the lens, and even after polishing from 350 - 2000 - compound - polish, still looked crappy. Unacceptable.
I almost put it back together without any lens. Searched the web for an hour for a new replacement, but found nothing. Then remembered I had some plexiglass remnants from other projects in the garage. Found some .090 thickness of sufficient size and made my own lenses. Perfect!!!!
Perfectly clear, just "JB Quicked" it onto the bezel. Nice!
My old shifter position plate was cracked and faded, found a brand new one on eBay, received today.
even had a brand new cigarette lighter for added touch.
With the burl wood
Went to install new gauge lens, Oh No! no hole for trip counter!
I temporarily put console back to mock-up the wood grain for a look see.
I am liking it without the wood grain on the gauges. May just trim out the AC vents in the center and the headlight switch area on the left, and leave the 4 circular gauges with no wood.
Or may use an extra piece to trim around the far left AC vent for balance. This is so exciting. Everything is looking brand new for the first time since I have owned this fine automobile. BTW, I found a brand new headlight / parking light switch that is on the way.
The far left piece is just taped in for evaluation Welcome any opinions!
Yes, I ordered the one with 4 circular cutouts, but they sent the one that you show. Either way, I don't like the wood covering the gauges, and will modify accordingly. Poetic license and all that.
Got my new turn signal stem installed today. When I ordered it, was really looking to make sure it had the cruise control on it, didn't realize until I unpackaged it that it didn't have the delay feature printed on the stem, but I think I still have that feature because the switches are not part of the stem, but are inside the column.
I also mounted my new horns, and wanted to check the operation with my new steering wheel. Also wanted to check the new LED gauge bulbs since replaced all of them, so I powered up the electrical system for the first time in about 8 years! The only bulb on the dash that worked was the one illuminating the fuel level, nothing else. Also, I had left blinker, but not right. Bright light did light up. Comical note, I did get a "check engine" light with the key in the run position! (motor is not installed, check engine, duh). The head lights worked perfectly, I had cleaned the commutators years ago when misbehaving, and have worked well ever since. Anyhow, I pulled the gauge panel, and started troubleshooting, checked each bulb some came on with a little wiggle, but most didn't come on at all. Then I found that the 12V LED bulbs are polarity sensitive. Had never heard that. No old 12V bulbs were sensitive to polarity, but these LEDs are. I went by trial and error, and finally got all the bulbs to come on, even the right blinker. Looks really good now. And the horn blasts awesome.
Did notice the tach and other gauges off, but not sure how they behave with no input signal. Is there a way to make sure the zeros are correct? Also my courtesy lights (new LED bulbs) came on with a little wiggle, but will not turn off, even with both doors closed. Any ideas???
Your LED lights are polarity sensitive because you bought cheap ones. All the ones I buy are not. And the reason they are polarity sensitive is because a diode only lets current flow in one direction. A filament doesn't care which side the angry pixies come from
Yeah, LEDs have polarity. What color are those? Hard to tell in the pic. My original backlighting for the instrument cluster is orange.
The tach should go to zero when the key is turned on, but since you have everything disconnected unter the hood, not sure if it will or not.
Fuel gauge reads full (whether the tank is full or not) with key on when no ground is present. I think the rest of he gauges just float at random values when disconnected...
Yeah, LEDs have polarity. What color are those? Hard to tell in the pic. My original backlighting for the instrument cluster is orange.
The tach should go to zero when the key is turned on, but since you have everything disconnected unter the hood, not sure if it will or not.
Fuel gauge reads full (whether the tank is full or not) with key on when no ground is present. I think the rest of he gauges just float at random values when disconnected...
Hi TL,
The actual LEDs are white, but my dash appears kind of a greenish glow.
I installed the driver side coil spring, all buttoned up and when I de-compressed the spring, I could not remove the upper part of the spring compressor. I had it below the top turn of the spring, but apparently not enough. I figured I would just leave it in there and order another spring compressor to do the passenger side. April fools! I reinstalled the rest of the compressor, re-compressed, removed the coil again, re-positioned the dang upper grabber ears and repeated the whole process. Again, second time was the charm. Everyone is happy except I didn't get it all done today. But that's OK, I'm retired.
Love it when a plan comes together
Happy Resurrection Day!
Last edited by stuartswede; Apr 3, 2021 at 07:06 PM.
Nice. I never could get a spring compressor to work. I did mine years ago by jacking up the A-arm with the spring in place. Was a major P.I.T.A..
Not that it's important, but I wonder why your instrument cluster glows green and mine is reddish-orange. Both cars are 1983...
Nice. I never could get a spring compressor to work. I did mine years ago by jacking up the A-arm with the spring in place. Was a major P.I.T.A..
Not that it's important, but I wonder why your instrument cluster glows green and mine is reddish-orange. Both cars are 1983...
The first inner spring compressor I tried was not capable of compressing the spring enough to install, so I ordered a different one that ended up working.
This one didn't work for me
Nice. I never could get a spring compressor to work. I did mine years ago by jacking up the A-arm with the spring in place. Was a major P.I.T.A..
Not that it's important, but I wonder why your instrument cluster glows green and mine is reddish-orange. Both cars are 1983...
Hey TL,
I was thinking about your cluster glow question, maybe its the difference in elevation, air density and all that. I'm at sea level and you are at 10K feet.
Spent most of the day installing 2 layers of insulation, 4 inch metal tape
And the NASA air insulation. Used contact cement, came out pretty good. Installed new lock switches, the old ones had all the white rubbed off, couldn't tell what they were for!
Is it just me or am I the only one that thinks that this switch being placed what? 1 inch away from the actual door lock is the stupidest thing GM ever did??? And the window switches are in the center console. To me the door lock switches should be in the center console, and the window switches should be on the door.
I think I will correct this on my car.
Is it just me or am I the only one that thinks that this switch being placed what? 1 inch away from the actual door lock is the stupidest thing GM ever did??? And the window switches are in the center console. To me the door lock switches should be in the center console, and the window switches should be on the door.
I think I will correct this on my car.
Is it just me or am I the only one that thinks that this switch being placed what? 1 inch away from the actual door lock is the stupidest thing GM ever did??? And the window switches are in the center console. To me the door lock switches should be in the center console, and the window switches should be on the door.
I think I will correct this on my car.
Duh, so true, that reminds me of having to reach over to the passenger door itself to unlock. Same reason we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway.
Welded in studs to mount the cargo hatch lid, always wanted this feature. Just need to paint and glue in the carpet!! Got the new headlight switch, now all in new!!
Got the new carpet in, looking nice
TL
On the cargo lid install, I just marked the locations and welded 4 bolts in place to create studs. Then while browsing some of Battmann's threads I found where he created stud plates in post #2 of this thread. I think they are offset from the surface about a half inch.
The plates I welded in my car were the factory brackets that I removed from a parts car. These plates are spot welded so you can remove them from a donor car pretty easily. Your idea will work fine though. If you weld the bolt head to the floor, the head thickness is probably close to the offset in the factory bracket. You can then cut down the bolt to whatever length you need for the rest of the lid assembly.
There’s also some factory brackets at the back of the hatch (behind the taillights) that reinforce the plastic trim panel. I don’t have pics of these pieces handy.
Battmann,
Yes thanks for the info, I did see that my rear plastic (that covers the rear latch) lacks some features associated with the cargo lid. Will try to find a correct one, I bought the lock cylinder, and it would be nice to have it working. I found your earlier threads and before I knew it, 2 hours had gone by, I need to get outside and restore some of my own!
I do the same thing. I’ll search TGO for something and then realize I’ve been on here for an hour or two. I usually do my research late at night which causes me to go to bed after midnight a lot. Glad my posts are helping somebody though.
Your seats look mint. I’m very jealous. Wanna trade??? LOL
I was just showing what it could look like with a lot of care, sort of like your work. I ordered the black vinyl Procar front seats from classic, supposed to arrive this Friday. I wanted leather, but...
The reason for this post however, I saw you talking about your radio, wanting a certain model, I was looking for a manual for my Alpine, and in the old box was my original radio / cassette player. It has real "radio" buttons.
Let me know if this was possibly what you were looking for. I love my Alpine with the amplifier, so would be willing to part with the original radio.
Kind of annoying that those plates weren't installed in all thirdgens regardless of trim package...
Yeah, it makes for extra work when wanting to add an accessory later on. It's typical for other items as well. T-Top bag hook brackets, roll up sun shade, etc.
Ended up replacing all of the steering knuckles. Got the inner and outer on both sides installed as well as the center link.
I got a new higher flowing fuel pump, so installed that today using my secret compartment.
Adapters for my new seats came today from summit, but of course they did not fit. I will need to woller out at least one hole to allow proper fit. You would think this would have been worked out by now. Packaging clearly states 82-92! However, at least one hole is approx 1/8 inch off from clearing.
I guess if it was easy, they wouldn't need us, right? That's what I used to tell my co-workers in the space and aviation industry. I do kinda miss it...NOT! This is much more fun.
Looking good.
I wouldn't use wire nuts for the fuel pump wires. They are not for automotive use. You should at least use spade connectors (male & female) of whatever gauge wire that is, with heat-shrink tubing over the ends...
Today was console appreciation day. I sanded and painted the upper console with the wrinkle black, came out perfect. I really like that stuff, looks so right.
Looks like that was how it was supposed to be!
Lower console was not painted, I wrapped with vinyl. I found a darker beige I like better than the one I wrapped the lower dash pieces with.
You can see it is darker than the previous (which I re-wrapped later today to match, both sides. It goes better with the carpet color as well as blending with the gold in the sacred bird, IMHO Wrapped the other side, seam at the rear ash tray worked good. Didn't have a long enough piece to do the whole shmear. Seam at rear ash tray, barely noticeable. Don't anticipate anyone sitting back there anyhow.
Here is a view with both horizontal panels re-wrapped in the darker beige shade. I really like this combo.
Thanks NoEmissions,
I plan on using the same vinyl for the door cards, and I bought carpet by the yard to use on the doors and kick panels to keep everything consistent, and new.
Interior is coming along! what carpeting did you get for this and did it come with the piece to cover the cargo area cover? I like the Burlwood! keep the good work going
Where did you learn those vinyl-wrapping skills?...
I can't stand the thought of paying someone for something I can teach myself to do. It is a frustrating and sticky process, and the heat gun is essential for the complex curves. The inspiration for trying this stuff came when I saw a show on the car channel about the Trans am Depot, the guys who are turning new Cameros into T/A's. They had such cool interiors, basically all leather, and striking colors. So sweet!
There a cool video in the link below https://www.gmpartscenter.net/blog/c...am-conversions
Interior is coming along! what carpeting did you get for this and did it come with the piece to cover the cargo area cover? I like the Burlwood! keep the good work going
Zman,
Thanks for the kind comments, I bought the front and rear sections from Stock Interiors, it is their med. beige color, the cargo lid carpet didn't come with the kit, but I had ordered a couple extra "by the yard" yards to do the doors and kick panels, and have enough for the lid too, luckily.
You should never start a sentence with the word "So".
So I was trying to decide if I could even begin to clean my old seat belts, before ordering new, or very expensive replacements. I had bought some very good cleaner (Chemical Guys Stain Extractor) that I used on my door cards, actually very impressive results, but not good enough. Then I wondered how my parts cleaner would work... my 2600 PSI max power pressure washer, and dang if that didn't raise the grain on the nylon strap material!!!!
Removed 38 years of finger oil and road dust.
Before Before After After 2600 PSI argh argh argh!!
I ordered some tan RIT dye, to try and bring the bleached faded sections back into line. Will let you know how that works.
And the window switches are in the center console. 
To me the door lock switches should be in the center console, and the window switches should be on the door.
