[7t4mula]

Seems like it’s been a while since I posted an update, lots of stuff going on with deer hunting and was struggling with a stubborn kidney stone. Thank God, I passed that giant and didn’t have to have it surgically removed!

As I mentioned in another post, my Christmas present came early, legendary seat covers for the rear seats! Got those completed this past weekend, so thought I would share some detail. I noticed that Legendary did not have an installation video for these, only instructions. Hopefully posting that information sheet along with some pictures I took will help anyone else who has to do this process.

I was fortunate that the foam on mine were all in pretty good shape, having been out of service since 1980! After reconditioning the frames and painting, the first step is to attach the foam bun back to the seat spring base.
Then you can flip it over and turn the cover inside out, place it on top of the seat and center it as best as possible. There are small notches on the underside of the cover to show centerline.

You can then flip it over upside down and attach the back edge of the seat cover to the springs, starting in the middle, working your way out to the corners. (sorry, forgot to take a picture at that step.)

Next, flip it over right-side up and fold the front edges around the foam, stretching around the frame. You can then flip it over upside down again, and put a board across the springs to be able to kneel on to put pressure down on it and staple across the front edge. Again start at the middle and work your way out to the corners.

[7t4mula]

Next, you would staple the sides to frame, starting at the front corners working your way back. Then fold the small thin strips at the back corners up and attach them to the seat springs.

Lastly, attach the remaining side portions to springs, paying close attention to how it looks, as it stretches the front. If at any point, it looks uneven or not stretched properly, just clip off the hog rings and start the process again.

I think these turned out really well, and I’m quite sure that once they get a good soaking in the sun all the small wrinkles that I see on the top yet will disappear.

[7t4mula]

Here are the instructions for the rear seat top portion. This was pretty easy I thought. The toughest part for me was having to re-create the burlap strip that went across the top that holds the frame to the foam. It has these long wires going all the way across that are shown into the material. I had to have my body man stitch this up out of some heavy curtain material that I had used for the burlap replacement on the front buckets. It worked quite well!

I wish I would’ve taken a little closer pictures to explain what that new piece was, but as you can see original here, it was really falling apart in the burlap dept! This flexes across the top edge when you sit back in the seat, compressing the springs.

Once this is all centered on the frame you can staple the foam to the frame in a few spots on each edge to hold in place.

[7t4mula]

You can now lay it with the foam side up and cover it with some whisper plastic, to help the seat cover slip over easier. I used a dry cleaning garment bag, taping it to the springs on the other side to keep it in place.

Place the cover over the foam and plastic, fitting the top edge across over the frame. Make note of the center mark on the inside of the cover again, and where it aligns with the center of the frame. Staple the cover in the middle there and one on each corner of the top.

Then flip it over right side up again, and stretch the bottom corners over the foam and frame. Once this is complete, you can flip it with the spring side up again and use the board to kneel on to compress the springs, stapling the center bottom and those bottom corners in place.

Once you make sure that everything is centered you can begin stapling the remainder of the top, sides and bottom. It doesn’t hurt to be flipping it back-and-forth quite a bit, making sure that you are stretching evenly and not creating any wrinkles.

I forgot to mention, I was working in a fairly cold basement here, so used a small heater and hairdryer to warm the cover material at times to help make the material more plyable and for stretching.

I propped the seats up together to check the total look, and I’m quite happy with the way it turned out!

[7t4mula]

Once again, times got busy and I don’t keep up with updates here. Trust me, I’m not standing still! Even on the days when it was -10 I was trying to stay busy with work in the basement shop. Dashboard and gauge resto was a fun time!

Blew it all apart cause I needed to replace components that needed AC vents, as my ‘73 donor didn’t have this. Biggest challenge was punching the 2” holes in the gauge bezel without screwing it up!

The gauges needed serious cleaning and lens polishing also.

[7t4mula]

Taping up and clamping firm to bench with a board under is a must. Don’t want things to move. I found a nice used fine tooth holesaw worked better than a brand new carbide tip one. That thing started to jump around and almost blew it!

Thankfully it cleaned up nice with a dremel tool and sanding drum. Put it all back together and it fit and looked great! That new Milwaukee Tool precision blower is fantastic for cleaning and drying off parts!

Had lots of small paint spatter specks from drywall painting overspray by my house builders back in 1995 which I didn’t realize until now! Thankful it all came off!

[7t4mula]

Polished up lenses and gauges looked great! Looks so much better that the toasted, faded 70 dash was after all the fun CA sun exposure!

This 73 dash only saw 7 years of WI service before I stripped that car down. It’s been in 4 different apartments and two houses in its 46 year hiatus!

[7t4mula]

Another fun basement project… restoring this hornets nest ‘73 wiring harness! Went through it one section at a time, scrubbing and re-wrapping. Replaced connectors as necessary, like the differences between the parking lamp sockets in these two years.

This mesh style wrap is so nice to work with, much better that the plastic corrugated stuff I used back in ‘82!

[7t4mula]

Next I decided it was warm enough to do short projects back out in the garage, so I installing new front speakers. These dual kickers should work nice up there!

Put an additional soundproof matting on rear trunk wall, before reinstalling rear seats. Oldest grandson got to be the initial quality control agent, and he approved both the seats and lap belts!

[7t4mula]

Next, I had to restore some additional parts to complete the dash. Having to convert from a non-AC dash, needed to paint match donor parts with black. This satin black works quite well. Gotta have a nice clean ash tray, so nobody will ever smoke in it!

[7t4mula]

Assembled dash looks great! Just waiting for faceplate I ordered for the Vintage Auto radio. Cool unit, very compact & has Bluetooth capabilities for your phone!

The new Holley Ultra Double Pumper 750 arrived and looks fantastic! Cool comparing it to the original Quadra -jet and the 780 Holley vac. secondary that I had on the motor the first time I built it back in the 80s.

And the new Progression Ignition distributor arrived also! Nice looking unit, will be great to be able dial that in once we’re up and running!

[7t4mula]

New Be Cool radiator and fan setup arrived. so beginning plans on mounting details there. I think I’ll need to purchase a top cover panel to attach it to core support, but don’t want to completely cover top of radiator if possible? Crome fan mounts look too nice to hide!

[F Body Freak]

Things are taking shape. Very nice looking!
Especially that dash. Gorgeous! 😎

[76TA462]

Awesome seeing the progress. I installed a Be Cool rad and fan set-up as well, on my second gen TA. I am sure you have your own ideas for the top cover panel, but I thought I would send what I did for the cover panel, just for the sake of it. It is aluminum and I had it bent at a local sheet metal shop. The third step down is the rad (shroud) itself so it isn't hidden.

[7t4mula]

Thanks guys, I’m really liking both the dash and the radiator setup.
Very fortunate to have this dash in great condition! Always loved that Formula dark wood grain look.

Thanks for the idea on top plate 76TA462! I may end up going with a custom bent one also, I’m not seeing anything that fits the bill yet.