Headliner:
Next up was to finish the headliner repairs.
Due to the nature of the material I used, it was very obvious that there was an mating seam under the headliner material. So at the suggestion of multiple people and upholstery shops, I did a second layer, with a different material, on top. Although I had my reservations, it worked amazingly well.
You can see here the headliner as it was with layer 1:
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So we laid the new material out
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Sprayed with 3M…
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And this was the results:
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Install:
Now before we could install it, we had to change the overhead console wires AGAIN. Due to the length, and the power requirements to run a relay coil for the switches, the 28 GA wire was deemed too thin. So this time I ordered constant motion silicone jacketed multi strand multi conductor cable. This will eliminate the worry of flex over time, as well as making it a cleaner install. A single ¾” diameter cable has 36 conductors within the tightly wound jacket. Being multi strand, it allows me to heavily flex the cable without cracking the wires. Only issue is, I needed more space for the cables to now come through as it is two single cables vs a bunch of small ones. So Andy got the job of cutting the roof, mostly as that part of the roof and I are still not on communicating terms since the screw incident. 😉
This is the cable:
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This is what Andy started with:
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Made into this:
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And then the sharp edges were dealt with and then the cables pulled through:
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Then the headliner was stuffed in:
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And this was the result. World, meet a real gen 1 crew cab headliner. 🙂
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Overhead Console Part 1:
Next was the reassembly of the overhead console. Remember this?
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Well, that was sent for paint and came back in the black to match the SRT theme of the interior, but also the red of the gen 1 interior. I wanted to keep the matching theme going. This is what I got from the painter in my custom masked two tone:
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Oh yeah! 😀
So, to assemble, I collected all my stuff together that goes into the console. That is what is in this shot: (there is more ot one of these consoles than you think! Assembly time was 2 hours!!)
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So I started assembly with remounting the side rails to give the long flimsy plastic some strength. As they are heat melted tabs that hold it on from the factory, I drilled the holes out, tapped, and added screws:
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Next was to start working on the end caps. The one end has a light that needs to be reinstalled, the other has two map lights, and they both have snare clips.
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These are the component of the light when disassembled:
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Reinstalled back in the cover:
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Slowly more and more components starting going back on:
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Next, I had to add the factory style foam padding back into the flip down doors. These can hold your sunglasses but wont do much for them if they slide all over the hard plastic. So foam adhesive was added back in after being cut to size:
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Then the spring winders were added. These prevent the doors from just dropping down at full speed. They allow the door to slowly open.
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For the rear compartment, I needed to add the rear seat heater switches into the lid first:
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Bezels:
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Switch:
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More foam for the next door. This one normally has a DVD player screen in it but I am not running any of that at this time.
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Now we are starting to look like a console again! Now was wiring harness time:
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Next was to connect all the factory wiring harness and run through. All must be nice and neat.
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Next is the rocker switch panel. This turned out really nice:
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Once the panel was installed, the wood supports were added in:
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Pilot holes were drilled, and then screws were put into place making all the wood frames connected into one solid frame.
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Then it was populated with switches installed by functional theme. Aka, all lighting together. All pneumatic/air components. Etc.
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Back side view of the switch panel once complete:
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The final result turned out actually better than I had visualized 8 years ago when I first came up with this idea.
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Interior: Dash and Shifters
Next was to tackle some interior items. The shifters now are complete on the bottom side connecting to the 205, but we now need shifters up into the cab for easy drivers reach. It is also time for the dash cluster, A pillar trim, headliner trim, etc to go in.
Dash:
We have a lot of wiring on this insert due to the two fuel gauges, tach, speedo, turn signals, headlight beam, etc all mixed in. But the trick is to get it all connected and reinstalled with tight spaces and a heavy insert.
The dash:
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A close up of the custom wiring harnesses to ensure we don’t mix up the wires:
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Shifters:
First step was to shape the shifter to sit closer to the driver. Second step for the shifters was to made the rubber cushioned shifter more solid. This is the original 5 speed Getrag shifter off the G360 I got this truck with. For nostalgia purposes, and the fact it is almost perfect in length, I decided to add it into this truck again:
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So I drilled a few holes through both the shaft and the handle:
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And then added a couple split pins to help make it more solid and prevent it from falling apart again:
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Dash Insert:
First we started off with a spare insert to ensure all the wiring now in behind clears, and we have no obstructions.
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With a fair amount of time, and slight tweaks as the back side of the gauge mounts were hitting the dash, we got the insert in:
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We had to make a slight tweak to the factory accessory controls area to clear the new tach controller lettering:
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A better view of the insert:
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Next was to get the column assembled:
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Center Console:
The center console needed it last item installed: The CB mount. So the console was placed in the truck and measured to where the lowest point of install could be so the bottom of the CB would not be sitting on the carpet. You can see the blue masking tape used for sharpie marking still on it:
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Then to the bench for leather punching (if you screw through the leather it will snag on a screw and start winding around the screw so you have to create a screw hole so to speak with a leather punch).
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CB now mounted:
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And now all went into the truck at the same time giving a final shot of the CB, A pillar, Dash, column, etc:
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This is actually an update that for some reason got skipped last year. So will post that now while I wait for my pics to upload of the progress from the last couple weeks.
Wiring and small stuff
Back to more wiring. The bottom side of the truck is almost 100% wired now and all the wires are being pulled to the soon to be electrical panel that will be behind the rear seats to keep the electrical system out of dust, dirt, and water like it would be if done under the hood.
Here are some under body shots of the custom wiring harnesses being brought into the rockers and up the C pillar to be behind the seat:
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And a view of the back seat area as it currently sits with more and more wires being pulled here every day:
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The Rear Winch Power cable was also done at this time:
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That left the rear 7 pin harness to be finalized. As I am running a Y between the in bed mounted connector and the bumper connector, I didn’t want it solid connections soldered to the 7 pin harness that runs from the front of the truck to the back. So I picked up a Curt replacement pigtail so I could use that as a intermediate connector.
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That allows me a connector like this into the main line:
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So that then the pigtail, is what is soldered to the main 7 pin line from the front of the truck:
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And that again brings us up to speed for the moment!