July 27th, 2013. It was an overcast, cool Saturday and the first local car show since we finished our Mini Mark. The La Porte County Historical Museum was hosting a car show and I had decided it was time to see how the public responded to the Mini Mark. There was a nice turnout of cars, and spectators as the day went on. All total there were probably close to seventy plus cars on display all ages, makes and colors.
There were many owners and spectators who were interested in the Mini Mark and stopped by to see what it was. Probably the most asked question of the day was if the Mini Mark was a kit car since it had a VW engine and pan under it. I had put together a history book of the restoration, and took some time to answer their questions and explain that it really was a factory built car, not a kit, and built in Bremen Indiana, only around fifty miles from the museum.
Three o'clock came fast and it was time for the awards and results. All of the owners gathered around the registration tent and I waited impatiently to see if the car would be awarded. There were a few trophy's presented and then number 16 was called, (that was the our registration number). We had won the President of the Museum's Award! Wow, not a bad result for the first showing after the restoration. It gave some confidence to all the work which we had done for the restoration. It was exciting to share the car with the public, and educate some of them on this stylish little car.
I am not sure what the rest of the summer and fall will bring, time will tell, but Saturday turned out as a big positive!
With the carpet complete, and the end in sight, it was time to move on to the last stages of the interior. We had decided to do the upholstery work ourselves after delays with the shop we had chosen. The seats were the main concern, but I started checking the web and found that Pacific Customs Unlimited had narrow width custom seats available at a reasonable price. After working back and forth with them to verify the dimensions, the materials, the designs, the cost, we crossed our fingers and ordered two new non-returnable seats. The only difference I was able to identify was that they did not extend up to match the curve of the rear deck. They offered a few different options of head rest and high back, but we decided to go with the standard seat.
We ordered additional material, both in the grey suede and black vinyl so that the balance of the interior would match the seats. Delivery went faster than promised and within three weeks everything was here. I rough fit the seats and made new mounting angles to the adjusters. The door panels and side trim panels were the next task. We did away with the buttons and just did a vertical seams with foam backing. The door panels and side trims turned out great, good look, good color contrast with the red body and black carpet. It was really coming together and looking great!
The last challenge was the console. We had saved that to the last. I had enlarged the hole for the door, and added two speakers to the console up towards the top facing the seats. I took around three hours cutting patterns taping patterns, cutting material and in my mind figuring how to sew it all together. With all of the contours the final count came down to four panels which needed to be sew together and then assemble on to the fiberglass. We seamed then french stitched the panels, taking time between each step to test fit it onto the console.
It was Sunday afternoon when we finished sewing and it was 92 degrees outside, not much cooler in the workshop. I started with a small section and spray glue. A half hour later, I decided to call it a day and rethink what I was doing. All of the way through the rebuild, (going on three years), and inches from the finish line,,,, problems. I spent the next few days starting from page one on the attachment of the vinyl to the fiberglass. I re-started by sanding all the fiberglass, removing all the old paint and the glues which were on it. I followed up with landau foam, contact cemented to the console. I left spaces between the foam panels for all the seams on the cover. The next few evenings were spent contact cementing section by section to the foam. FINALLY after a week of small glue ups I was finished. I called it a night and planned on the final install over the weekend. Saturday morning I made a few patterns and glued carpet to the interior of the console. A few final tucks and staples around the speaker holes, installed the speakers, and into the car it went. A few loose wires to attach for the speakers and interior light and the console was bolted in place. Eight nuts to attach the seats to the adjusters, and it was finished. We learned a lot about upholstery, and finished the job under what any of the upholstery shop's had quoted us.
It was hard to believe this was the same car that barely made it home almost three years ago. Yes there were hours and hours of work which went into the rebuild, but they were well worth it. The day was still young so we took it out for a nice afternoon drive. It really does have the effect, people driving up along side with thumbs up, honking, waving, and just stares. There is a lot more summer to go and it will be fun just getting out on the road and driving. There is a local car show next weekend, and if the weather is nice, it will be in the mix.
FINISHING TOUCHES~ Since we had decided to purchase new seats, there was that small area on top of the seat that didn't meet up to the curves on the top of the body. After driving the car a bit, and looking at the seats, I finally came up with an idea of a finishing touch for the seats. I began crafting small "head rests" to cover that open area above the seats. We had additional grey suede material left over from the seats so that would be the covering for the head rests. We thought of giving a little identity which would be visible when the car was parked. Why not embroider the Mini Mark name in that small space. I did some research and found Dale at Precision Ink & Stitch in Galien, Michigan. I sent him the same script we had used for the wheel covers and he had it digitized, making it ready to embroider on the suede.
I drove to Dale's on Saturday and watched as he put the Mini Mark name on the material. It looked GREAT! I took them back home and within a few hours we had the two head rests finished and installed. This was that finishing touch needed for the seats, and gave a little extra identity to the car for people wondering what it was.
