Rescue of the Goblin..

[rwheadon]

When I got the windshield replaced on the Goblin the glass guy leaned his power tool into the dash pod area and mad a circular crack on the dash.

Nobody owns up to this kind of stuff on a 20 year old car! So I've been on the hunt again. 5 more Legends hit the yard this week and 5 more Legends all had cracked dashboards.

I did have some secondary good fortune though!



I got a non-warped hood in the right color for this old green slushbox.

rich

[rwheadon]

The Goblin got a little attention today:
* Driver's window switch - This one isn't chipped and the AUTO feature works
* Driver's inner handle - The old one was peeling and wobbled because the rear tab was missing.
* Center console burlwood - The new one isn't chipped to pieces
* Dash trim - the right color. Old one had started to turn yellow.
* LF door speaker.
* An attempt to rescue the old hood insulator failed. I'll be ordering a new one soon.

On a bright note I found a flawless dash for it today.


On the downside I blew out the left CV boot today. Fortunately I knew it was coming and I have an axle ready to put on the car. Along with a P/S rack waiting to be resealed and installed.

Expectations are that I'll be dumping this car when the DMM Coupe is ready for my household teenage driver to start terrorizing the streets.

rich

[rwheadon]

Power Steering rack job was uneventful, but the next job was a little more challenging:



So the yield so far:
* Power Steering Rack
* R&L Rear Toe arms
* R&L Fender Liners
* Front rotors & pads
* The front windshield trim is back on
* Left Axle
* Windshield washer lines installed and nozzles replaced
* Both rear UCA
* Alignment
* Cluster spots (Amazon type74 LEDs burned out)

The list of needs for this car are dwindling!

rich

[rwheadon]

I put a "better" console wood in her a long time ago and have been toying with the restoration of the original beat up console wood.







After working with a number of chemical solutions that were total fail I stumbled upon Mercedes/Jaguar folks that have been removing the finish with heat guns. Although the chemical wipedowns had greatly hardened my finish, it came off over time. I did end up with a blemish and some burning while learning the process... but the results are (to me) acceptable.

I'm color blind so I think I got the red tone off a little, but it looks good to me.

















Now to see about doing another practice run for the black GS

rich

[One6DSwifflY]

Makes the wood look like aged bark. Like old wood floors refinished. Now, do you think that heat gun would melt the alpha console's gold 'legend' inscription off? I've been looking for a way to redo mine without ruining the gold legend lettering on it...

[rwheadon]

Originally Posted by One6DSwifflY

Makes the wood look like aged bark. Like old wood floors refinished. Now, do you think that heat gun would melt the alpha console's gold 'legend' inscription off? I've been looking for a way to redo mine without ruining the gold legend lettering on it...

Yup, you take the finish off you take the gold flake off. Thing is, if you can get a good svg repro of the Legend scripted on your console then you can get gold flake decals made... but they are fragile and won't be cheap.

The reason my wood console has the grain definition it does is because instead of tinting the urethane I stained the actual wood. My next experiment will involve tinting the urethane and I will probably brush it on for better gloss control. I don't have a spray system so upon tinting the urethane brush will be my only option. Really the learning curve is removal... the application of a finish is pretty much academic for me and I don't have a huge preference except that I definitely want to use a durable spar urethane since the poly blends supposedly will cloud more over time.

rich

[One6DSwifflY]

seems like im gonna have to find the font & do the reproduction myself with a good gold material that wont be damaged during the process. Thanks for the POV & i like ur results!

[lanzarlaluna]

Originally Posted by rwheadon

The reason my wood console has the grain definition it does is because instead of tinting the urethane I stained the actual wood.

I've been messing with several consoles. It is definitely a learning process. Evan has mixed in some color with the clearcoat, similar to what you are saying. Although he has access to all that fancy spray equipment...

[rwheadon]

Originally Posted by lanzarlaluna

I've been messing with several consoles. It is definitely a learning process. Evan has mixed in some color with the clearcoat, similar to what you are saying. Although he has access to all that fancy spray equipment...

Indeed, the difference in my approach and Evan/Honda's approach is equipment and material. I don't know how many coats Evan is doing... but my console has upward of 15 spray coats on it. With good equipment and a fast drying polyurethane you can lay down the equivalent of about 5 coats in one swipe, but alas I'm hanging around in the old school.

I've seen 2 of Evan's consoles and they are very nice. His price is excellent for the work and results, I'm too broke to pay attention though. (Plus I like the challenge of doing it myself.)

Removing the plastic pieces to prep for removal / application of a finish is especially aggravating to me but we do what we gotta do.

rich

[>>---------->]

Looks great Rich!! Nice work.