Interior Project

Bought all the stuff to redo interior. Going to make my own seat covers and side panels.

Seat covers to? You must have a heavy duty sewing machine Swamper..... If you do you could make up seat belts also?

I'll post a picture of one of our machines tonight.

Cool Swamper....have you ever thought about doing seat belts you can get the webbing pretty cheap.

Camera batteries dead, Ill try tonight again.

One word of warning, and I hope you are already aware of it. Be careful to not make the door panels too thick - makes closing the doors a real pain! I installed some deluxe panels (from Moss I think) that are well padded and very nice, but just way too thick! It actually affects the door fit and makes the doors a real trial to get shut. I'm thinking of getting some different ones just to aleviate the irritation.

Paul Briggs

Here is one of the machines I'll use, computer cad driven.

Nice!

Very Nice

Ron

Looks like it should handle the job. How did you create a pattern?

Dave

From an old seat cover then transfer to cad.

Would you make the cad drawings available??? :eyeroll:

Nice setup. Good Luck. The closest I got to making panels was redoing the kick panels using the old ones as patterns. Turned out nice. I just don't have the talent or the equipment to do all that. Currently, my interior is stripped out of the car except for one seat. Going to put in the steel dash and set to take it over to my buddy who can weld (something else I wish I could do) in the next week. Putting in new carpet, redoing the seats, etc. It wasn't in terrible condition, just not up to my standards and I like the look of the steel dash. That padding just doesn't do it for me. I like my cars like I like my women, with a little less padding lol. .

Cad drawing will need to have the equipment from which I make them on to be read. If you have a Statler Stitcher you would be able to use them.

How about a padded metal dash? I just finished this one on my C GT today.
I did not like the pillow either.

Craig

I like the look of that dash.
Something else that I did to the interior was to install the old type door handles instead of the middle handle. Used parts from a 1966 MGB-GT parts car. Was a bit of work, but I think over all the look is better especially with the metal dash. Gives it the appearance if an older British car. I do have to say th window crank and door opener are a bit close, but works. Plan on using chrome door openers and chrome window cranks. I also have a pair of rare (very rare I am told) arm rests that were installed in a few 1966s MGB-GTs.( I do not know if this was an option or a specially made arm rest for the car) I am having the arm rests refurbished. in black to match the black/red piping interior. I have a photo of the original car that it came out of. I was skeptical at first thinking some one installed later model (1973) arm rests, but these are completely different iin size and shape. also installing a chrome face Becker tri band Euro radio (Europa model). mainly to use for my iPod. The chrome in contrast to the black wrinkle finsih is striking.

I also had the old style shift knob (pair shape) reproduced in a black material to fit the shifter and gives it a more upscale look. Never really cared for that eight ball look. If anyone is interested in this mod and I think it makes the interior look better, please PM me. I own the CAD drawing to make more. WIll screw right on to your existing chrome shifter.

Looking forward to getting this project done before Spring.

Craig that is one of the best looking dashes my eyes have ever seen, congratulations on a job well done.

Augustine you better watch it or Rick is going to get on the original band wagon.

For the most part the car is stock. I do like a few creature comforts Since the steel dash was a stock item in the cars (GB and Europe) that makes it pretty stock. Just a few things about the interior of the car that could be spruced up to make it a bit better than the average MGB. I think if BL had spent more time on the car, they could have had a winner on their hands and one of those items such as a spruced up interior. The car has the makings for a desirable car, smooth inline 6, the tranny is tough and shifts chrisps, the rear end takes the extra torque. . The bonnet with the bulges tell you this is something different than just an MGB. The 15" wire wheels stand firm and tell you it means business. But when you get inside, welll except for the speedo and tach there is nothing to distinguish the difference. I really like the look of the early inside door handles up near the front of the door. Adds more to the door panel and doesnt break it up right in the middle of the panel and makes the red pinstripping stand out . Harkens the look of the early jags, astons and of course MGs. I am told that the arm rests were put in the car at the factory. So it can be documented. Photographs exist of this. As far as the shift knob, the pair shape knob was the best knob INHO made .Easy to grab, makes the shifter look sleek and special,,Not like a pool que hitting an 8 ball again harkens the early jags, astons, etc. I still have an orginal 1966 pair shaped shift knob off of a 1965 MGB-GT. Its what we used to make the mold.

The Becker radio really adds to the dash with the chrome face and brings out the chrome rings on the speedo and tach. I will post some photos here in the near future and you can see what I'm saying.

While it may not be totally stock, it comes pretty close. After all, I did add a third carb and in the process of putting on a dual exhaust. Lets just say the car is "bespoke" to my taste. MUch like the photo of the dash above to its owner.

Craig

Very nice job. How did you do get the color on the dash and console etc, I assume they used to be black and did you paint or powder coat the dash, what about the console? Looks like an automatic too. Makes me think about doing something like that on my GT. I was thinking of a later dash, more avail and they have center vents I could use for my A/C. I have already installed a new orig dash so will proabaly not go back and change it. Will just hand my 4 A/C vent outlets as you see in most cars, one outboard each side, bottom of dash and one each side of the console. As I said before I just rehabbed a MGB unit with some upgrades.

Still having engine problems and getting closer.

New rule for me, never accept a rebuilt engine by anyone........When I bought the car the motor was rebuilt, by whom, dont have a clue. Dont trust it yet. I will always build my own, even just to tear it down and check everything and put it back together. If you have a reliable engine builder that you trust that is different.


So far it has been the camshaft, the head, oil leaks, carbs, dizzy, that neeed work.

Sorry to get off topic but patience is not one of my virtues and this thread is not about virtues.

Ron

Ron, The honey tan you see on the dash/console is vinyl. The interior (seats/panels)is a MOSS kit. I ordered 2 yards of matching vinyl from them. I put a thin padding on the dash and glued the vinyl to that.
Craig

OK, So I never got them started:(, but today I'm going to get the ball rolling:D. Going to make it out to the garage and make the seat covers happen::o. May take me awhile to get them completed as I'll need to fit them into my schedule:P.

Go Swamper go!

I am eager to see how these turn out.

Good luck with them, Swamper!

Got the seats totally apart today:). The frames are in shall I say great condition, little bit of sanding and only require a quick topcoat of black paint(tu). The slides will only need cleaning and some new grease on them(tu). The foam is useable but I'll need to spend a little bit of time to correct some of the wear problem areas:(. All in all the condition of the total package was in surprisingly good shape considering how bad the covers were::o. I have new diaphragms for the bottoms, I'll have to clean up my clips but it looks as if this should go pretty wellB)-. The biggest problem would be the headrest(td). The internal foam in them has disintegrated to the point that if I want to redo them it will have to be everything new in them, I'll probably follow that article in the Know Cee Here;) I got a few weeks back.