Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Bob. I'm shocked at you. Have I EVER missed a deadline or budget amount?? Oh yeah, there was that little thing about $ 3K............... I swear the Dodge is going to be low key and low buck.


Today I called the upholstery guy and he said the T is more than half done, so I drove over to see it. Let's just say I wasn't real impressed with the interior job so far. I assumed every upholstery guy in the world knew what rolled and pleated means, and I even explained to him when I took the car there what it should be like. However, what he had done looked more like a sofa than a car interior.

The roll around the back was not smooth, but instead he had gathered the material up and sort of fluffed it into folds. The pleats are about 4 inches wide, and not straight at all. I really hated to tell him, but I have to live with this interior, so I told him it wasn't acceptable. I ran back to the shop and got some hot rod magazines to show him what a proper rolled and pleated interior should look like in a T bucket, and he said with the time alotted he couldn't do that kind of job.

So I told him to tear it all out and I would go with just the foam. I didn't want people seeing the car to think I actually wanted this kind of interior. Finally, we took a look at what was good and bad about the interior, and reached a compromise. The carpeting is ok, and the little seat pads are ok too............not exactly what I wanted, but ok. What needs redone is the roll around the top of the body and the pleats on the backrest and sides. I told him if he was able to get them looking as good as the seat pads I would be ok with that. Somewhere down the road I will take it to a shop who knows traditional interiors and have it torn out and redone, but for now it is something to sit on.

I worked on Don's T and got his steering column in and his brake light switch bracket built. Tomorrow the three of us are going to hit hard on wrapping up the welding on the steering shaft and final wiring. By tomorrow night he should be able to take it for his first spin. Here is how the column and gauges came out.

Don