A TCL First? '67 Rolls Royce project thread...

11 minute(s) of a 242 minute read

interior parts are now at the upholstery shop. i took all the front carpet and kick panel sections down there as well. theyre working up a couple quotes and checking their sources for color matching, particularly on the carpet sections... (my quick search didnt yield many sources for green wool carpet)
should know in about a week or so what they come up with

3-28-2013

none of it is rocket science, and with the right tools i think most reasonably handy folks could figure it out. i wont lie though theres definetly some added stress at times knowing that if something gets broken the replacement is potentially rare or expensive, but im mostly gotten over that as time has gone by and weve sort of learned our way around the car a bit better.

i wouldnt try this with a simple socket set and jackstands in your driveway though!


no pics for now, waiting on parts to return before things start going back together.
i have some minor wiring troubleshooting to do while the interior is out, mostly centering around the radio and speakers. which reminds me, i need to go buy a new batterytoo

4-5-2013

just got word back this morning from the upholstery shop that theyve worked up some more detailed quotes on the carpet and rear shelf and dash cubby work.
he found some good sources for original carpet... ill be headed down there to check out some samples on saturday and they'll get started after we pick the right stuff. im hoping for a quick turnaround there.. pics to come as things progress, maybe this weekend from the sample selection, just to keep the thread alive

4-8-2013

Yeah I guess it's hard to appreciate how advanced some of the tech in these older cars was.

Still haven't run our new clock yet but we should be getting close to putting the interior back together..
I stopped by the upholstery shop Saturday and picked out the carpet and trimming materials. Should be a really good match, and they'll be done in the proper Wilton wool.
Also should be bolting the brakes back on in a week or two as those parts start to come back.

Nothing new to take pictures of yet...

edit, because iOS auto correct

4-23-2013

just browsing ebay tonight and wow...

this popped up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/28-00...d0ef873d#v4-36

that color combo!

4-28-2013

woodwork is back!

still a lot to do, but its all manageable stuff. one door is completely done, both vanity mirrors are in, and the left front door is nearly finished just ran out of time yesterday.
still need a couple parts back before the dash goes back together, but the dash top and windshield surround is going to look incredible. it turned out amazing

anyway, onto the progress...




everyone take pictures







new vapor barriers are clear 10mil vinyl so theyre hard to see, but there is one on there







one door, all the way done! with freshly polished shiny bits as well.




front door barrier and wood is on, but needs the door panel and trimmings.
its taking a bit more time to build the barriers, but it should all come together in another few days once i can find a coupe free nights to work on it.



and, as a refresher, heres what it used to look like...




i clearly wasnt the only one taking pictures this time around, and i didnt take many closeups of the woodwork so ill see if one of the other guys can post some shots to the thread as well

4-29-2013

yeah its great seeing it all come together. its been apart so long we were starting to forget what it looked like! ha

ill keep the suspense building on the dash pieces until they get installed, but needless to say these guys did an incredible job.
the match is pretty close - unlikely that anyone will notice in photos - and the staining (i assume it was the staining, i dont know much about woodworking) really brought so much depth out of the natural patterns on the wood, it looks amazing.
the parts that go around the dash top and windshield, i just cant say enough about how great that turned out. that part was in especially bad shape and the difference is really striking.


the downside of building new vapor barriers means the whole car smells like a freshly refinished bathroom, but i think once everything dries itll be back to its usual old library smell

5-2-2013

another quick update....
our rebuilt ignition switch is back now, all the freshly redone brake parts should be here early/mid next week, and i hope to be picking up the redone carpet and interior panels by next weekend.

plan for the weekend is to track down as many new dash bulbs as i can, and get the dash and interior put all the way back together. there'll be plenty of pics to share after thats all together

so far all the doors are finished, except the drivers door which still needs the panel and trimmings put on.
also managed to figure out why the rear drivers side door was inoperable from the inside - id heard lots of stories about door lock mechanisms going bad and how expensive/hard to find they are - turns out ours just had a linkage piece that had been knocked loose. after that all the door handles and locks work properly, and the interior is really starting to come together!

id also like to sort out why the radio wasnt working, before the speakers get hidden again.
it looks like someone had added a different head unit and ran two speaker wires to the rear shelf (which would explain the random holes and fading on that panel) in the past so im guessing its a matter of just tracking down the right power wires - hopefully not too much of a rats nest back there... aftermarket radio installs in old cars always scare me.

anyway, stay tuned, good stuff coming over the next week

5-7-2013

interior got put back together this weekend. everything looks amazing, and the ignition switch actually works smoothly now.
i put new bulbs in all of the gauges while everything was apart, so im hoping its a little less dim at night now

need to hook up the battery and do a quick check to make sure i got the wires on the ignition switch back on right, and take some pictures of the finished interior... should be doing that tonight.

brakes should be here this week (along with possibly the carpet parts)

stay tuned for more pics, and maybe even some driving shots at the end of the coming weekend if the brakes all go back together

i would have taken pics as i was finishing up, but it was really late on saturday and i was pretty beat already. theyll be worth the wait though, i hope hah

yeah im more about the mechanical soundness as well, but its sometimes fun to see things improving visually as well.
i generally tend to hate interior work but this hasnt been nearly as bad as i was expecting. its a simple enough car once you know where to pry that it comes apart and goes back together without a ton of work.
i think i could have the dash stripped again in an hour or so now that i know where all the hardware and clips are hiding.

progress has been in spurts as ive had time, i consolidated my daily drivers into one car in the hopes of having more time to work on the projects, but still somehow manage to always be busy with other things.... so my rapid advancement isnt nearly as rapid as id have liked
hoping thatll change over the next couple weeks as life settles down a bit. luckily i dont have a house to do spring time yardwork or chores on

5-8-2013

this page is in desperate need of some pics!

heres where its at now... excuse the lack of front carpet.

also, i have to say using a heavy duty stapler on this woodwork was easily one of the most stressful parts of the project in recent memory. was really worried i was going to crack something







i dont think we had any detailed "before" shots of these corners, but suffice to say the finish was in really really bad shape...

more to come soon