Lock down jobs...

[Taff50ish]

Hi all,

Well as we're all locked up in our own homes, I decided to get a few of those fiddly little jobs done, that you just never seem to get to... As you know I just got the dash bulbs all done, So onto new tasks.

So as I have just recently had a new windscreen fitted, this seemed to stop the leak I had of rain water going straight into the passenger footwell. Unfortunately though, when we had some rain a few weeks ago, there it was again, a rather large puddle... Crazy, so I changed the door seals for the CCI ones which I had in the garage for a year or so now, thanks to Nick!!! Cheers buddy, so I got to fitting these and they went straight on no problems, go them cut to the correct size and used the small joiner. However, once fitted it was nearly impossible to shut the doors, I adjusted the strike bar to allow them to close,, but this then made the doors look terrible when closed. Anyway, I left them on thinking they would crush down a bit and stop the leak, but come the next rain fall, the puddle was back so the door seals were removed and the originals put back on. Has anyone else had problems with the CCI door seals?

Anyhow, I then noticed the Window strip was starting to crack, so I thought this could be where the water is coming in, so I got the new seals from CCI and got the one fitted to the passenger door, again not overly impressed with the fit as this is definitely narrower than the original and does not quite meet the window glass at the front, but it looks so much better than the old one and it gave me chance to paint up the trim while this was off...20200419_171901 by jon taylor, on Flickr

Please excuse the state of the car, the next door neighbours are having an extension built so it looks like the Sahara has dumped on the car...20200419_171906 by jon taylor, on Flickr

Anyhow, it leaked again so this now was time to pull out the Glove box and trace back the water marks, as it definitely was not coming from the door area...
20200419_162029 by jon taylor, on Flickr

So I looked up behind and found a rotten grommet for the alarm wires, I thought this was it, but once sealed I put the hose over it and looked inside again and I could see the water literally pouring in. So I had to get my head right in and then spotted 2 holes straight through the top of the bulkhead, looks like the original owner was going to have the alarm mounted there till they realised the bonnet would not close... Doh!!!20200419_162059 by jon taylor, on Flickr

Once I got these sealed up too, the hose pipe came out again and at long last, I have a water tight interior!!! (Well as good as Ford made them anyway!!!) So it was out with all the carpet and sound deadening, got this all dry and back in. Brilliant.... So then it was time to address the hole in the drivers seat bolster, it was quite worn and with me getting in and out it finally gave up the ghost. I do want to get these professionally re-covered eventually, but its just not worth it yet as they are overall, still in great condition. So having seen how easy Mr Brewer makes leather repairs look, I bit the bullet and got a repair kit, you have to push a mesh through the hole and glue this in place with the special leather glue, once this is set you rub down the area, clean it all up and use the special leather filler and slowly build this up allowing drying time between layers. Once this is done you start using the dye, again taking your time, allowing drying time between layers till you're happy, then use the sealer. I've not used the sealer yet, as I'm still adding the dye in small amounts, but I think you'll agree, for a home repair it ain't too bad. It will certainly let the seats live on a bit longer. Unfortunately I did not get a pic before I started, I thought I had, but didn't... Sorry, the hole was approx 6mm X 3mm....

I'm still building up the filler at this point, you can see where the hole was...
20200415_192221 by jon taylor, on Flickr

Now rubbed down a bit and some dye added...
20200416_160332 by jon taylor, on Flickr

More dye being added slowly...20200423_140205 by jon taylor, on Flickr

And just about ready for the sealer now...20200423_140243 by jon taylor, on Flickr

As I say, I'm well chuffed with this result and all for only approx £20 for the repair kit then the CCI dye kit....

Has anyone else being fettling with their Cappa during this lock down... It is just a great time to do these crappy little jobs... Stay safe everyone, all the best for now,

John...

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi John,
It's great to see that you're putting this lock down time to good use!
The leather repair looks fantastic, you're right to be chuffed with the result. The colour match is spot on.

Andrew.

[D366Y]

Very impressed with that leather repair! Looks brilliant good job!

[Taff50ish]

Hi Andrew, Danny,

Yep, sometimes its these small jobs you can take a real satisfaction from, especially when they're not actually 'important' to the running of the car. Probably why they keep getting put off!!!

Thanks for the kind words on this repair... Cheers guys, all the best and keep safe,

John...

[andyd]

Hi John
Good result with the water leak, they are always a nightmare!
Seat looks really good and should last for some time

Spent an hour in the garage this morning, started by cleaning the engine bay but the more I looked the more I saw so gave up

Decided to remove a couple of shelves that were a pain especially when you bump your head on them, (the joys of a smaller garage) and filled in a few holes in the brickwork, pretty much sorted now.

[Jasonmarie]

Hello John
You really have been busy I am glad the water leak is sorted and you did a fantastic job of your chair it’s perfect. Glad your well mate and keeping busy . We got a book any date with Santa Pod for your drive of somebody’s Capri so let’s hope we can do that this year .

[Caprifan Rob]

Nice job John. Must be satisfying finding the source of that leak. Seat repair is excellent. I’ve used that dye on the gear knob & it looks brand new. Hoping to do the same to the steering wheel but too busy enjoying the sun at moment

[Not_Anumber]

Great job on finding and sealing the water leak. That seat repair looks excellent, some real care and attention has gone into that.

[DBSV8]

Likewise after getting the capri srted after 3 years and while waiting for the delivery of kenlowe fan and wheel studs , thought i should tackle a really silly dent i accidently did to the car when pushing the other capri into the garage ...doh

quite substational ..



first used a jack behind the wing



then glue dent pulling kit















then ball pein hammer , given a coat of galvafroid which will take 24 hrs to dry then i can add a layer of filler and rub down

cheers

[andyd]

Likewise after getting the capri srted after 3 years and while waiting for the delivery of kenlowe fan and wheel studs , thought i should tackle a really silly dent i accidently did to the car when pushing the other capri into the garage ...doh

You must have felt sick!

How fast were you pushing the other Capri

[DBSV8]

it was really tight i had the yellow capri hard against the wall and pushing the blue capri in the front nose crushed the wing ... really stupid mistake



theres actually another car buried in there .....it was because i inherited my late fathers wood working machine that over did it .....


as the garage is now




still got to use the dent pulling kit ... tomorrow can start filling and priming

[Arnoldhar]

John, the CCI door seals are most likely Kent’s trims. The problem is the air can’t leave the deal fast enough that’s why the doors don’t shut. What you need to do is make the air holes which are under the fold of the rubber larger and a few more

[rob_scott92]

I've had exactly the same thing with the door seals. Only manged to get a chance to sort it during the lockdown. I ended up cutting the bottom run with a stanley blade. Still seems to seal ok and door now closes properly with a bit of a push (i used to have to really slam it to get it to close, no good at all)

I've also got my rear washer working at made a start on my new parcel shelf, just need some longer rivets for the trim at the back

[Taff50ish]

Hi again,

Thanks for all the kind words ref the small repairs I've been on with...

Andy,
defo that dam water leak, it was driving me nuts... I had tried everything, I honestly can't think why I didn't just look behind the glovebox and up in the first place!!! Poss all the horror stories of the screen seal etc... Hey Ho....
I actually started on the engine bay myself Andy too, but like you I gave up, more and more to be seen as soon as you start...

Jason,
Yep, as said cheers ref the water leak fella... And the chair, I am well made up, but I will admit I'm not 100% convinced this is a dye... Seems like the more you rub it in, the more the previous lay seems to come off, but as said, I've not used the sealing paste yet... Something else I ain't done too, taken a certain Cappa and Ragged it up the 1/4 mile at Santa Pod... Got to give it a go as soon as he turns his back at the next show!!!

Rob,
Yep, cheers again ref the water leak, it is just one of those crazy things... Very interesting what you say about the gear shift knob, as if this Dye resists gear changes, it could well work on the steering wheel too and I will admit, I have removed this, rubbed it down a bit and started building up the colour, as mine was nearly black as opposed to light grey!!! I do tend to just jump in and drive more than anything else... I'll let you know how it goes... Actually, hang on....

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Here goes, this is with 3 passes made, getting there, but it will need the sealing compound I recon. Did you have to use this on the gear knob???

20200426_170914 by jon taylor, on Flickr

Cheers also 'Not a number', Well chuffed with the repair yes thanks....

DDSV8,
what a crying shame for your wing and self inflicted.... I would have been devastated if it was me, but you certainly seem to be taking this in your stride... and what a cracking idea with the Jack... Also, is that one of these 'Glue' dent pullers? They look like a great idea, but I guess this was just too much for the first pass!!!

Andrew,
TOP TIP Buddy!!!! These bloody door seals had driven me mad, I fitted the first one some time ago and ended up taking it back off. I had a chat with Nick about it as he got some also, so I think he decided not to try them, I got onto East Kent to ask if they'd heard of this etc and silence!!! I had but given up and was going to make flammable ash trays out of them, as that's all they were good for in my eyes!!! So having seen your TOP TIP and also Rob (not to take anything from you also, thank you for this... ), I set to looking for these mythical air vents / holes and hey presto I found the Punch marks, NO holes but about 4 punch marks in each seal.... Useless!!! I heated up a 4mm drill bit and set to, opening up the existing, non existent holes, then adding about 8 of my own, right up against the channel as you said.

20200426_170935 by jon taylor, on Flickr

And just fitted the drivers side (the pic is of the passenger side still waiting.... I just want to melt off the edging of the holes a bit to stop any tears, splits or chasing...) and STUNNED!!! The door closes perfectly, not even a huge amount of force needed, I did also drill straight through the rubber plug to join the ends, so the whole seal breaths as one big circle... It is brilliant.... Got to remember this and tell Kent Trim to check their Quality Control... Thanks again Andrew, Rob, I'm one happy bunny.... Ever so slightly over weight now and still growing with this lock down, but very happy!!! I did take a video of the door closing but I can't get it to load, I'll try again quickly.... hang on....

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Here we go, excuse the heavy breathing....
20200426_160033 by jon taylor, on Flickr

To pick holes (no pun intended....) it's a shame they are not in the light grey!!! But the old ones where shot, so these are a massive improvement... Cheers all, I'll post up the steering wheel when finished and any other little jobs I get done...

Anyone else want to add to this thread. Please do so with your projects, be great to see what everyone is up to.... Cheers all, take care & stay safe...

John...

[Not_Anumber]

What prep did you have to do to the steering wheel leather before applying the dye ? I want to tackle mine but the surface of the leather looks too rough in a couple of places.

[Jasonmarie]

What prep did you have to do to the steering wheel leather before applying the dye ? I want to tackle mine but the surface of the leather looks too rough in a couple of places.

I would guess six pints of beer before hand

Sorry looking good there John

[Andrew 2.8i]

That's a great tip about making holes in new door seals.

Andrew.

[Taff50ish]

Hi all again,

Well its been an interesting job the steering wheel and possibly not for the fain hearted??? I have finally finished this but only time will tell if this will hold or not. The first attempt (photo'd above) was a complete disaster. Each time I added a bit more paint (still not convinced its dye), it would lift some off, so it took an age to get enough layers on the wheel to look good and that's where it ended, looking good. As soon as I handled it and added the sealing compound, it all started falling off and rubbing off... So I got out the leather cleaner sent with the kit from CCI and wiped it over and the whole lot came off quite easily, hence when I picked it up it started lifting also....

So I now really went to town on the wheel, I used a lot more force with the Emery paper (P1000, very fine) and rubbed down all the imperfections, gashes where I'd caught the leather with my watch strap from time to time. Once I was happy with how smooth it was I set to with the cleaner, and took ages rubbing this till the cloth came clean and then gave it a few more wipes round... Once really clean I started to add the paint / dye again and again it wouldn't take too well, you cannot just wipe it on, you have to dab it on and work quick, but this time the paint / dye took much better, I still had issues of this lifting earlier lays off from time to time, but if I stuck with dabbing it on, it worked much better. Once I was happy with the finish, I very carefully worked the sealing compound in. The first layer went on and was buffed up, but the wheel still felt sticky, so I gave it a few more layers of sealing compound, leaving it on longer each time before buffing up. Anyway, as last it felt good to touch and no longer sticky. So it is now ready to go back in the Cappa and as I say, time will tell. See what you think???
20200504_181753a by jon taylor, on Flickr
20200504_182722a by jon taylor, on Flickr20200504_182746a by jon taylor, on Flickr

Like I say, time will tell. The repair on the seat is totally different, it really has taken well and was much easier to manage than the wheel. I will say the paint / dye I was sent was very runny and not really dye like, I have watched several YouTube videos on re-dying your steering wheel since I started this, to see if I had done anything wrong and the only thing which stands out is the cleaner, on YouTube this seems to be Alcohol based as opposed to water based and the Dye seems much, much thicker and seems to take being wiped on as opposed to being dabbed on... So if this does fail when I start driving again, I will let you know and I'll be trying one of these kits....

This one looked very good to me....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJShIYoISO0&t=67s

Not_Anumber, I hope this helps, if you've had the patience to read all that, ops, didn't realise I was waffling on so much!!! Defo use the very fine emery paper to smooth out the bad points, just don't go through... You could try the filler if the marks, scuffs in yours are deep, as I will say out of everything, this leather filler did a cracking job, sorry, a great job!!! Cheers Jason also, yep, you are correct, Alcohol helps with everything!!! Hic......

Anyway, apart from getting the passenger door seal fitted (still well chuffed with that Top Tip Andrew!!!) and this, this is all to date, except to add with last weeks rain and it being very heavy from time to time, my passenger footwell is still BONE DRY!!!!

Cheers for now all. Stay safe & well,

John...

[Andrew 2.8i]

Great job well done there John, the steering wheel looks really good.
It sounds like the job was a bit of a faff though!

Andrew.

[Jasonmarie]

Great job there John , yes I have the CCI kit and watched some you tube videos on this they spray the dye on as well I have seen as the one we have is runny . It looks good mate so I will buy you that pint when I see you .
Ps can rebook Santa Pod for your run in that Pinto in September