With my start date for returning to college looming on the horizon, and my desire to sell the Neon for tuition money, the need to make the Valiant run and ride as good as possible for as little as possible has lit a fire under me to get her back in fighting shape.
The old Flying Valiant has been without a driver's door panel for a few years now, and as I watched the passenger door disintegrate before my eyes, I decided now would be a good time for me to make some new panels while I could get the pattern. Home Depot sells some spiffy 1/8" Ecuboard in a 4'8' sheet for $6.75. Two sheets of that, 8 bucks worth of batting, and 20 bucks worth of fabric from Jo-Ann, and I have enough materials to do the doors, rear panels, trunk divider and speaker tray. It was a fun weekend project with my father in law.
We added some sheet plastic for water resistance and held it down with Gorilla Tape...which is awesome.
We sprayed to board with gloss black paint for some extra sealant, then held everything down with spray epoxy. Turned out pretty well, I think.
While I had the side trim pieces out, I decided to swap out the windlace with the door gaskets from a 94 Chevy S-10. I'd heard it works, and I does! Sort of. Here you can see it in place.
As you can see, it doesn't quite make it all the way around, but that should be covered by the trim piece...if it fits. I haven't tried it yet. The doors also have to be slammed quite a bit harder to close, but I'm hoping over time they'll compress down.
Once we got the door panels figured out (and I discovered how much I like Gorilla Tape), I decided I was tired of picking pieces of rotted foam and fiber off my clothes, so one thing led to another and...
Voila! Redneck plaid. Time to throw a blanket over it and hope it holds until I'm done with courses in 2011.
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Chuck and the Flying Valiant
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