More Interior Prep

Today I assembled the door panels, including the aluminum trim I had previously buffed out.  Here's how they turned out.

I won't know how they fit until I get the car back, but I think they look pretty good!   I've found that the white vinyl shows dirt extremely easily, so I suspect I'll need to keep a bottle of vinyl cleaner in the car.

I only had a few issues putting these panels together.  I tried to reuse the old chrome backing plate for the window switches on the driver's side, and I broke the metal tabs off.  For this picture, I just pushed the switch into place, but I need to buy a new backing plate and install it correctly.  The aluminum "swoops" at the back of the trim plates above the arm rests were a pain.  They had little aluminum nails meant to hold the trim to the door panel.  The right side still had the nails, so I drilled the panel and was able to push the nails through and bend them over to hold the trim on.  The left side nails had been cut off, so I had to drill out what was left of the nails, then fish some stainless wire through the holes.  I used the wire to hold the trim to the door panel.

In the early T-bird interior, the arm rests, aluminum trim, and garnish rails on the doors blend smoothly and curve into the dash board.  This creates a remarkable surround effect when sitting in the car.  Here is an example that I have shown before.  Notice the subtle curve of the dash as it meets the door, and how the arm rest and door aluminum curve to meet the dash.

Note that the ash tray (beneath the radio and above the shifter) and the glove box both participate in this effect.  They, and the entire lower dash, must be the same color as the arm rests.  That has been one of my challenges when Upholstery Guy made the seats in a non-stock color!  Luckily, my local automotive paint store has a very good color matching lab, and I was able to get a pint of acrylic enamel that should do the job.

Today I painted the ash tray with this paint, over coating the black hammer tone texture that I applied yesterday.  Here it is on the door panel, so you can see how it looks compared to the arm rest.  I think the texture, color, and sheen match the arm rest pretty darn well!

Encouraged, I decided to tackle the glove box lid.  Here's what I had to start with

The decals on the back of the glove box are original, and I don't want to paint over them.  I will mask off the back, and only paint the front.

It was easy enough to get apart, but I did have to bend the aluminum a little.

I masked off the back and top of the glove box door, lightly sanded it with 400 grit, wiped it down with lacquer thinner, then used the same black hammer-tone rattle can paint I had used on the ash tray.  I waited until it was dry to the touch, then mixed up a small amount of the dash paint and sprayed a couple of coats.  It ended up having a little more texture than the ash tray, but I think it will look good.  This is probably what the rest of the lower dash will end up looking like.

While I had the aluminum trim off, I spent some quality time with it on the buffing wheel.  Some of the scratches won't come out, but it looks much better than it did.

I also applied some bronze wool to the glovebox emblem, and freshened the red paint.

OK, so this isn't as dramatic as starting the engine or taking my first drive.  Still, I feel good.  I'm feeling better about having to wait for Paint Guy to finish.