Super Unknown -- interior restoration

[monterey1962]

Replaced the headlight switch. So freakin' sick of trying to get to the knob shaft release button, so I made a permanent fix. Ripped the chrome knob off of the original shaft, re-used the chrome ring, and installed a '90 black knob. Couldn't use the black ring since it isn't deep enough for the black knob to get a bite on the shaft. Looks decent, too.

Wheelskins leather wrap installed. Color is "sand". The original leather was pretty well deteriorated, and what I found underneath was ugly. Cut the original leather off and cleaned the goop off with GOJO orange pumice hand cleaner. New leather ended up being about an inch too long. Yes, I ordered the correct size. No way was I installing over that old leather. Ended up cutting it down to size. Looks decent enough. The feel makes up for the small blemish.

Next up will probably be the doors.

[87gtVIC]

Thats hardly noticeable. Looks really good.

John you are right I should have stayed watching you make Frankentripminder.

[monterey1962]

For those looking to purchase Wheelskin's leather wraps ...

Since doing the SU's steering wheel, my '89 CV's steering wheel started looking awful. It is blackening and degrading like SU's was. Before ordering this time, I decided to strip the wheel and measure to find out why the previous wrap was so over-sized.

Here are the numbers:
Wheelskins size for these cars is "A", 15"-16" outside diameter, 2 3/4" to 3 1/8" grip circumference.

Actual size of the steering wheels on my cars:
With old leather, 14 1/2" OD, 3 1/2 GC
Without leather, 14 3/8" OD, 2 3/4 GC

No wonder I had to cut it down. The OD isn't even close. I plan to order my gray wrap for the CV on Monday. I'll probably go the 14 3/8" OD, and maybe down just a hair on the GC to 2 11/16".

As a warning, if you plan to go with their wraps, measure before ordering. I'm going to leave the one I have on SU alone for now. Will wait and see how the new wrap for the CV turns out.

[Lincolnmania]

keep us posted, i would like a leather wrapped wheel in the towny......the factory plastic wheel gets sticky in the heat.........i have a leather wheel with no leather from toms vic to rewrap

[91grandmarquis]

Those leather wraps come in blue? I would like to give it a whirl on my wheel.. even though it has the airbag and such... it will protect the stock grip from wear too.

[monterey1962]

Will do, Scott. 91grandmarquis, check out Wheelskins website.

As an added note to the steering wheel sizes ... I measured my '90 GM's steering wheel today. Sizes are as follows: OD with leather is 15", GC with leather is 3 1/2". Maybe this is what they are going by with the pre-made wraps that are available to order.

With SU, I finally got to the front doors. I recently stripped a '90 GM with the same interior color as my '88. I love the '90 style door speakers. The pre-89 style is ugly and hard to hear, with or without map pockets installed.

I shampooed the "new" door panels with Bissell foam and hit them with the shop vac after they had dried. I test mounted the '90 panels, marked my holes, removed panels, and drilled away. Found out that '90 doors are molded different. On the '88, there's a large hole in the area of the top front tab on the speaker grill. I used this to my advantage, but I'm not sure how it will hold out in the long run. For the rear-ward tab, I drilled a hole, then angled the bit to oval the opening. Seems to have worked. Speaker mounts screw right into the factory holes on the door. My Pioneer speakers matched up to two of the three holes on the mount. The third was as simple as drilling a new hole. Was only about a 1/4" off from the original mounting hole, anyway. Speaker grilles easily cleared my 4-way Pioneers.

The result? Night and day difference. The sound simply blew my mind when I turned the stereo on. It was as if I had added some expensive new speakers. It was so clear and so much easier to hear, I just couldn't believe it. Well worth the work. Not mention, it looks so much better, too.

Next on the list should be covering some minor interior details and the trunk.

[91grandmarquis]

Thanks.

[Lincolnmania]

oh yea those newer ones look much better!
keep up the good work mang!

[87gtVIC]

Damn. I recently dropped that speaker project because I did not want to ruin my door panels...but the outcome is soooo nice that I may have to revamp it again. Great job.

[monterey1962]

Pulled the trunk apart, but ended up getting cooked out in the sun. The trunk liner is filthy. My rear quarter panels have gone through. Left side was full of dirt. Two of the small floor plugs have surface rust around them. Found one other small surface rust area. Easy fix. Otherwise, the trunk floor is solid. Trying to figure out how to get my sound deadener padding to mount up under the rear deck and behind the rear seat. Yanked the factory premium sound amp out for a little more room.

The one thing that confuses me is the "Tokico" branded gold box on the right side. Part #E6AC-5K860-AA is printed on the sticker. Only thing I found on the 'net was THIS. Anyone know what this is for? Website states that it is an ECM of some sort. Haven't found it in my Service Manual, yet.

[cadfan64]

That is the level ride control module, Justin

[monterey1962]

That is the level ride control module, Justin

Ah, I see. Thanks, man.

[gadget73]

yep, auto-level controller. Interesting that its still in the back, though they moved the compressor up front in 87. In 86, the brain and the compressor were together in the back.

[gadget73]

For the tripminder, sandpaper, very fine grit sandpaper.
http://www.coolcats.net/tech/advanced/tripminder.html
I made a completely functional tripminder out of a few broken ones from Scott at scottfest last year Dave, you should've stuck around my car that Saturday morning.

If the contacts aren't too bad, you can sometimes polish them up with a dollar bill passed between the contacts. Currency leaves no lint behind. If not, I've used 2000 grit paper for that stuff before. Have to be careful to only clean it, not sand through. It only takes a couple of passes to clean it up.

[Lincolnmania]

oh fun.....at least it isnt as nasty as thains 1/4 panels.......take a cordless sawzall to a rust free 1/4 section if you can