General Road Rat interior progress.

[default_user]

As promised in my earlier thread; some progress on the Road Rat. No complaining, no moaning, just pictures of stuff I've managed to get done despite other setbacks.

As previously stated I've been concentrating on the interior so here's what I've done so far:

First picture is of some of the panels I've made this time. The three panels in the picture are the two interior side panels (one finished, one unfinished) and an aluminium floor panel I just had the idea to make today.

As you can see, the finished side panel houses a rather nice speaker. The unfinished panel will look like this tomorrow. The aluminium floor panel has cut-outs for the gear lever and handbrake lever. This was quite labour intensive and took me hours of drilling, cutting and filing to achieve. I'm really happy with the end result.


The next picture shows one of the two panels I made for the rear of the cabin.

And the next picture is the other panel that finishes the rear of the cab. Both rear panels are finished and finally fitted.

The next picture shows the aluminium floor panel in place. This will be finally fitted when I have carpeted the floor. It should look pretty good polished up in contrast to the dark grey carpet. The seat is in to check that none of the panels foul the seats as the side panels have an inward slope from top to bottom.

In the next picture I have put the centre console panel in to check the overall look.

And finally a different view from through the windscreen aperture.

I'm quite pleased with the way the interior is shaping up. I have also fitted the door rubbers around the door apertures to make sure that the panels don't interfere with them and trial fitted the drivers side door to make sure that the rear upper panel does not foul it. It's a perfect fit.

 

[jangcy]

what to say...

 

[purple haze]

Rick.......A great job!!.....Simples!

 

[CLXCraig]

looking good rick. will there be any sound deadening under the carpet?

 

[default_user]

I hadn't planned on any sound deadening but once the ICE is up and running and I think it needs it, it will be a simple matter to put some in.

 

[CLXCraig]

I expect some of the foam type stuff will be needed on the panels behind the speakers. wait and see. cheap enough to buy anyway(see group buy sectionn too)

 

[pandamonius_maximus]

Wow, great job there!! Going to have some nice surround sound in there too by the look of things

Si

 

[Plug]

Glad to see you pressing on! It's looking

Cheers,

Plug

 

[weta]

Nice job, have you coated the wood with a preservative?

 

[default_user]

Preservative? Erm, no. Never thought of it to be honest.

Thanks for all the positive comments.

I didn't get all that much done today, mainly small fiddly niff-naff stuff that takes ages but when you're finished it doesn't look like you did anything at all.

I did finish the other interior side panel and made two more small side panels to finish the sides. These will be covered in carpet and fitted tomorrow probably. See the pictures below to see where they fit in.

 

[udtrev]

Looks good Rick

 

[CLXCraig]

bit late to suggest this now... but interior footwell lights that work with the courtesy lamp by the rear view mirror?

Only need some small lights(numberplate ones could be used i guess) and some wire.

 

[default_user]

Footwell lights are a good idea and because all the wiring is out (while I sort out a replacement loom) it will be easy to implement when I'm rewiring.

 

[VmanC]

L.E.D's are very flexible and can be bought in all shapes, sizes and colours to siut most applications.

 

[CLXCraig]

have to make a surround and muck about with resistors though. but i see your point. very bright to some of them.

 

[VmanC]

have to make a surround and muck about with resistors though. but i see your point. very bright to some of them.

Some options have resisters already built in which simplifies things if necessary.

 

[CLXCraig]

true. Given me something to think about at work tomorrow now.

 

[default_user]

Very little progress today and heading back to Wales tomorrow. Overall I'm pretty disappointed with the way this week has gone. I really should be close to completely finishing the Rat now and I feel I'm going backwards rather than forwards.

There may be one more trip before Christmas if my wife continues to be as supporting and understanding as she has been up to now but I won't blame her if she puts her foot down next time so it may well be early in the New Year when I next get to work on it.

Next summer will mark six years since I first bought it and I've driven it less than a mile in all that time.

Hope I'm finished by then!

 

[default_user]

Last update this time.

OK, I decided this morning to get as much as I could done today before going home so I tackled a couple of jobs:

Small front interior panels.
I finished these off yesterday so I fitted them today.

Side repeaters.
I've been wondering what to do about the side repeaters for ages. They were mounted on the A pillar originally and I didn't like that. I was given some flashy (no pun intended) BMW 7 series items ages ago and I decided to make some small panels to mount them on the outer side panels just behind the front wheels.

Only managed to do the one side but it didn't take as long as I thought it would.

Other jobs I managed to get done were replacing the door rubbers. I was using the original ones for while I was fitting the internal trim but they were worn and damaged. So today I threw them away and fitted the ones from the donor Panda. They look miles better. I also adjusted the handbrake as it was hardly working at all since I had the handbrake mechanism apart last time I worked on the car.

One more small job was to cut and fit some heater hose between the heater windscreen outlets and the screen vents.

 

[pandamonius_maximus]

Cool like the side repeaters. Thats a mini heater right? I am sure that no other car has a heater that basic

Si