barn find 1968 rambler american eco project!!

[slownugly]

You can see in the one pic the door panels are slightly warped. I used an iron and spray bottle to get them damp, then put heavy objects on them to straighten them out( let them sit for 1-2 days while repositioning objects)Then I cleaned the panels very well and painted them. Same thing with the armrests and sun visors minus the straightening part. With the visors I polished the mounting arm and put shrink wrap tubing on the pointy end to make it clean. The little details count!!

I used dupli- color vinyl and fabric coating (dye) purchased at autozone. Its in a regular spray can. They have a range of colors but no teal so I optioned for a double black interior. Everything will be black except the seat vinyl.

I'll post some more pics in a little

[night9]

Very nice! The fabric dye really makes a big difference!

[slownugly]

interior is fully stripped. time to start sanding and painting. i can also order the inner window fuzzies. after that its time to start chopping away at this floor pan. also some pics of the headliner refurb. stay tuned.

i know most of this stuff doesnt even relate to ecomodding but i hope its still entertaining and maybe some tips or tricks can be learned along the way.

[night9]

Restoration of a vehicle is the ultimate way to conserve. So it fits. Every new vehicle = an increase in pollution. Manufacturing of a car creates a ton of CO2.

Its also very interesting to see how you restore different part of the vehicle back to new. I think this is even applicable for other members that are trying to keep their favorite eco car on the road that much longer.

[slownugly]

Very true. I didn't think about it that way

[arcosine]

Looks good. A teacher in high scool had a rambler american that cracked in half one day when he was driving it to school.

[slownugly]

Haha oh boy. Hopefully it's because it was rusted out!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by night9

Restoration of a vehicle is the ultimate way to conserve. So it fits. Every new vehicle = an increase in pollution. Manufacturing of a car creates a ton of CO2.

You might also remember that newer cars are getting heavier, and their electric systems are harder to deal with, so refurbishing an old beater and eventually retrofitting some more efficient components is perfectly reasonable.

[slownugly]

And don't forget!! Ramblers are cute as a bug in a rug!!

[slownugly]

Started on the headliner. Trying my hand at fiberglass which I never did before. Goal is to have less than 100 bux into the headliner rather than 300 on a new plastic one.

The original is cardboard :/ it actually stayed in one piece save for some tears around the visor mounts and dome light. I saw a video where a guy used the fiberglass resin to make felt cloth rigid before applying fiberglass cloth for strength. I applied the same idea. I thought of putting a couple coats of just resin onto the headliner and let it soak in. It worked well. It did not soak through like I had hoped but it made it more rigid. I still have a coat to put on and I might put a coat on the back side. Then I'm going to order the fiberglass cloth and apply that to strengthen it up. Here's a pic of just the resin setting. You can kind of see the shinyness.