Fred comes home! Pix

[NYNick]

After more than 3 years Fred the '74 tii finally is up and running! There's still a number of sorting issues to deal with, but he drives great, sounds awesome and handles well. I got him up to 90 on the entrance to the Saw Mill already and he had plenty more to go. (don't worry, I wasn't being THAT stupid. Just kinda stupid)

 

Many thanks to all my fellow FAQ'ers, Graham at Bimmers Only, Gaspare at Gaswerks and especially, Steve at Bluntech. I seriously couldn't have done it without my FAQ buddies and I REALLY appreciate the help. I'm sure I'll be asking more dumb questions down the road. And now...pix!

 

 

[Simeon]

Love those seats. 

[MattJ]

2 hours ago, Simeon said:

Love those seats. 

I need to know more about them, they're amazing!

[JohnS]

Fred looks great.  Reminds me of the old HO scale slot cars

[mvliotta]

Congratulations Nick! Can’t wait to see him in person. 

 

Vince

[Mike A]

Very sweet example

[Mike Self]

She's lookin' good, Nick.  Way to go.  +1 on the seats,  please tell us more.

 

mike

[NYNick]

12 hours ago, MattJ said:

I need to know more about them, they're amazing!

 

9 hours ago, mike said:

She's lookin' good, Nick.  Way to go.  +1 on the seats,  please tell us more.

 

mike

Ok, here's the story on the seats. Bear with me....

 

POS, black Recaros, off CL for $400. I took one with a rear door card to my upholsterer to find the proper tan vinyl to match the interior. After paging through his books, we chose one that was as close as we could get. (My car is very unique with an original tan vinyl interior instead of marine blue with a Polaris exterior. One of one!)

 

 Next, we started looking for some houndstooth. Nothing was any good. I specifically wanted a hint of tan within the black and white pattern, so I went to the web.

 

I kept coming across the same material on all the cloth suppliers sites, but it was NLA wherever I looked. A buddy of mine finally suggested Stefan at GTS Classics, so I gave him a ring. He sent me a few swatches, one of which was perfect but, ahem, expensive. It was a fine German wool, imported of course and $115 A YARD! I bit the bullet and ordered 3 yards from him. I still have some left that my wife may make into some small car pillows.

 

He suggested doing the inserts on the headrests; good idea! I suggested the sewed horizontal seams to give them some texture; another good idea. When I got them home, I just switched the seat rails from my stock seats to these and they bolted right on.

 

Originally they were supposed to cost me about $2K all in. For reasons unknown to me, my guy charged me a lot less for his labor. I think I'm into them for about $1400 total.

 

Here's the new vinyl, new houndstooth and new esty carpet.

 

 

[Mario Falfan]

Those seats look awesome ! 

[dirving]

Love the wheels and center caps. I have the same and almost left them black. Ended up painting them silver.

[NYNick]

4 hours ago, dirving said:

Love the wheels and center caps. I have the same and almost left them black. Ended up painting them silver.

Yeah I dig 'em too. Kinda falling in love with the way they offset the Polaris.