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 Post subject: Mikado interior restore
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:23 am 
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I am kind of new to this considering I have never owned a chevy before and the Luv I just purchased is the first. I am wondering if there is anywhere to get replacement interior parts for a 1980 chevy luv 4x4 with the Mikado interior style?


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:41 pm 
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Well, you're speaking with your competition, really. Things like dash vent grilles and radio components seem to be the hardest to find, but instruments, switches, and switch panels seem to be steadily available. Just keep an eye out for people parting things out.

When it comes to aftermarket interior fabrics and textiles, the links section has got some good resources, best of which seems to be autoupholsterykits.com, but I admit I have gotten no response to my emails regarding my mikado interior. Frustrating, as their site seemed to have some version of the various fabrics used throughout the years in stock already.

Can not speak for dash caps. I am suspicious that they'd look about as convincing as a plastic carton on top of an old turtle shell, so I am holding out on dashboard repair/replacement until that group of guys on here with the original in-box dash finally produce the molds they promised us ages ago(I'm rooting for you guys)

Good luck! Let us all know if you find Mikado fabrics and textiles somewhere!

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:15 am 
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Here's a pic of my dash cap installed. If you take your time during the install you can hardly tell it isn't factory.
Image

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:00 pm 
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Wow, thank you. I'll take photographic evidence over speculation. Do you happen to have any detail shots showing the junction between OEM dash and aftermarket dash?

And where on earth did you and your dad find those dashboard vent grilles? Do you know of someone that produces a replica?

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:50 pm 
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Haruspex.....That is a nice looking interior!!! Wish mine was as nice.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:45 pm 
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do re mi ka do wrote:
Wow, thank you. I'll take photographic evidence over speculation. Do you happen to have any detail shots showing the junction between OEM dash and aftermarket dash?

And where on earth did you and your dad find those dashboard vent grilles? Do you know of someone that produces a replica?


I'll get a picture later this week when I'm actually at home when the suns out. The dash vent (I assume you're talking about the defroster vent on top) is the stock unit, I just removed it, cleaned it, and dyed it black before I put the cap on. The rest of the vents were in decent shape, I just touched up the silver trim.

donhaywood: Thanks. I was lucky to find this truck. 47,000 miles, great interior, not a dent on the body, and no real rust. The thing hasn't ever left central Texas: It was purchased new about 30 miles from my house and just made trips around town for 30 years until I acquired it last year. And I got a GREAT deal.

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:39 pm 
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haruspex wrote:
do re mi ka do wrote:
Wow, thank you. I'll take photographic evidence over speculation. Do you happen to have any detail shots showing the junction between OEM dash and aftermarket dash?

And where on earth did you and your dad find those dashboard vent grilles? Do you know of someone that produces a replica?


I'll get a picture later this week when I'm actually at home when the suns out. The dash vent (I assume you're talking about the defroster vent on top) is the stock unit, I just removed it, cleaned it, and dyed it black before I put the cap on. The rest of the vents were in decent shape, I just touched up the silver trim.

donhaywood: Thanks. I was lucky to find this truck. 47,000 miles, great interior, not a dent on the body, and no real rust. The thing hasn't ever left central Texas: It was purchased new about 30 miles from my house and just made trips around town for 30 years until I acquired it last year. And I got a GREAT deal.


Cool, thanks regarding the photos.

And yes, the defroster vent is what I was referring to. If it's indeed original, it's in the best shape I've seen. Mine is so brittle, I'm afraid another slat will crumble to dust every time I hit to big a bump in the road. Hah. Someday I'll find one...

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:59 pm 
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do the vents really get that bad? my entire dash cover is gone but my vent is still sitting there not attached to anything but its hangin in there.

that interior looks incredibly nice for a 30+ year old truck! how long did you spend blending the dash cap in with the stock dash? i cant find a spot where it looks like it was connected anywhere

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:40 pm 
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Not terribly long, 1.5 hours maybe. The hardest part was taking a box cutter to the oem dash so the cap would sit flush. I had to excise a few large chunks so it took a lot of faith that the cap would look good.

This isn't the best picture but it gives an idea of what I started with:
Image

I had to cut out close to an inch of dash on either side of the cracks, and quite a bit near the windshield where there was some pretty severe curling. I glued the vent to the cap itself to make it a little more flush.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:55 pm 
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love4theluv wrote:
do the vents really get that bad? my entire dash cover is gone but my vent is still sitting there not attached to anything but its hangin in there.

that interior looks incredibly nice for a 30+ year old truck! how long did you spend blending the dash cap in with the stock dash? i cant find a spot where it looks like it was connected anywhere


Mine is cooked. I suspect it's due to my locale. The sun beats down a little harder in these lower lattitudes, and I found this truck 7 years deep in a backyard-full-o-cars way out in bright and shiny Victorville, CA.

The speaker/defrost grille and the rear view mirror took the brunt of it, Both are as brittle as burnt cigarette ash.

Image

Brittle. Replaced with $16 OEM mirror from Ebay with about half as much life on it.

Image

The dash, oddly enough, seems to have found homeostasis and has survived the heat well. Big crack on the far side beyond the cluster.

Image

Image

Factory radio from Ebay arrived yesterday. 31 bucks! (sans harnesses and mounting hardware) I'd have paid double that for the custom faceplate by itself (and I'm considering creating replicas if there is any interest)

Image

Image

If anybody has any good images of radio hardware and harnesses, I'd be very grateful to see them.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:11 am 
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Here are some pics...

Driver's side:
Image
Center:
Image
Passenger's side:
Image

You can see the seam next to the vents. but unless the person is very familiar with Luvs, they typically think it's supposed to be that way. Best $60 I spent on this truck.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:53 am 
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Wow, that looks....good. Seems like a great ROI. Thanks for coming through with the photos, haruspex.

Once I find a new defrost vent, I may seriously consider one of these guys.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:30 pm 
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just noticed the pedals :lol: gotta love the bare foot pedals first place i ever saw one was in my uncles jet boat and since then they been bada$$ to me 8)

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:23 pm 
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Hi Guys...Great photos....Is that '73 orange LUV?? I have the same thing and color here in Phoenix. I also have a'77. Both of my defroster vents are trashed from the hot Az sun and...like others have said, It falls apart more even on a smooth road. I have been think about forming one of the vent pieces out of flat stock sheet metal. Has anyone else tried that yet? I do still have a good stock plastic one that I could use as a template. Of course it would not be an exact match underneath the grille part but I think one could do it well after a couple of tries.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:44 am 
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donhaywood wrote:
Hi Guys...Great photos....Is that '73 orange LUV?? I have the same thing and color here in Phoenix. I also have a'77. Both of my defroster vents are trashed from the hot Az sun and...like others have said, It falls apart more even on a smooth road. I have been think about forming one of the vent pieces out of flat stock sheet metal. Has anyone else tried that yet? I do still have a good stock plastic one that I could use as a template. Of course it would not be an exact match underneath the grille part but I think one could do it well after a couple of tries.



'75 actually. Series 4. Spent a few years in somebody's backyard, but didn't fare too badly.
As for the defrost vent, seems like a lot of people are in need of that. Got any pics of yours? Does it have the same 70's plaid interior? I hate to love it, but it's kind of charming. Couldn't imagine going any other way than identical fabric were I to ever get it reupholstered.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 12:36 pm 
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do re mi ka do wrote:
donhaywood wrote:
Hi Guys...Great photos....Is that '73 orange LUV?? I have the same thing and color here in Phoenix. I also have a'77. Both of my defroster vents are trashed from the hot Az sun and...like others have said, It falls apart more even on a smooth road. I have been think about forming one of the vent pieces out of flat stock sheet metal. Has anyone else tried that yet? I do still have a good stock plastic one that I could use as a template. Of course it would not be an exact match underneath the grille part but I think one could do it well after a couple of tries.



'75 actually. Series 4. Spent a few years in somebody's backyard, but didn't fare too badly.
As for the defrost vent, seems like a lot of people are in need of that. Got any pics of yours? Does it have the same 70's plaid interior? I hate to love it, but it's kind of charming. Couldn't imagine going any other way than identical fabric were I to ever get it reupholstered.


Do you have any more pictures of the seat upholstery? I like the funky Mikado patterns. My truck has the white and blue knit vinyl that was offered in '78, I love it but I am slightly envious of the plaids I see on some of the trucks.
Image
Image

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:32 pm 
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haruspex wrote:
Do you have any more pictures of the seat upholstery? I like the funky Mikado patterns. My truck has the white and blue knit vinyl that was offered in '78, I love it but I am slightly envious of the plaids I see on some of the trucks.

Sure, here ya go. The color values are kind of all over the place; the first photo captures the actual color best. As you might notice, the fabric has become very weak. A rough vacuuming would probably ruin it.
Anybody have any other variations? It almost seems like different regions of the US had their own upholstery package selections, although the parts catalog and sales brochures don't support this claim.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

I've spent a few hours clicking about for a suitable replacement, but as it turns out, nobody on the internet agrees upon any single nomenclature when it comes to descriptions of plaid textiles. Who'd'a thunk?
Just this morning, though, a guy named Doug at SMS Auto, a classic car restoration house up near Portland, OR told me that they've 'got something like that'. I'll post an update when the sample arrives late this week.
http://www.sms-auto.com/

My plan for the rework is to cut the existing material off of the seat, decouple it from the faux-leather trim and create a flat pattern for replication. The foam in the seat is pretty gritty, and will probably also need to be changed. I've had some solid heavy-duty upholstery work done here in East LA by a friend's mother who sews for a living, and I think I'm just gonna take the finished patterns back to her to reintegrate with the faux-leather(if I don't trash it during removal), as opposed to taking it to a proper upholstery shop and spending the $. If I fuck that up, or, as is probably the case, the stock material is impossible to reuse, I'm going to go all-out and switch to leather trim and bust out the big needles.

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Last edited by do re mi ka do on Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:40 pm 
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haruspex wrote:
Do you have any more pictures of the seat upholstery? I like the funky Mikado patterns. My truck has the white and blue knit vinyl that was offered in '78, I love it but I am slightly envious of the plaids I see on some of the trucks.

haruspex,
Are you happy with your replacement carpet kit? It looks good! Mind sharing the seller info? I've emailed and called autoupholsterykits.com(from the link page) repeatedly, all but offering to throw my money at them, and still no reply. Others on here seem to be very skeptical of Ebay carpet kits, so any advice or info would be helpful.

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:58 pm 
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Do re mi ka do

Noticed you have aluminum slots, I looked high and low trying to find caps for mine and settled in a set from some late model Eagle wheels. A little careful measuring drilling and tapping and I got them mounted helped the looks a bunch! Also using a dash cap myself.

SRAD

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:58 pm 
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Do re mi ka do:

Very cool! I've seen a great red plaid somewhere on this site, large bold squares as opposed to the smaller patches yours came with. There was certainly some wild interiors in these trucks.

Believe it or not that's the factory carpet, it's a bit darker under the floor mats and where the seat rests against the door cards. I have some samples from stockinteriors.com and the carpet itself seems to be of good quality. I can't speak on the fit and finish of their LUV kits but they sent out my samples quickly so I imagine they'll answer any questions in a timely manner.

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