Yes, I think the next 'camp' will be summer now... things got a bit busy over winter - that and I was recovering from a long 6 weeks away working, and Sloth and I were recovering from hypothermia after doing my engine swap in January...

Think I'll wait a bit for it to warm up again, and have a few days with a bit more chance of sunshine... which will be useful if we have a production line of headlinings being done!

I'm going to make a thread soon actually about ideas/dates etc for this years 'camp'... I think it was about this time last year that I was starting to think about it - so should really put some wheels in motion.. will only have 1 workshop bay this year, as my '98 is in the other half and I'm slowly starting to pull bits of it off, to strip it back to something of a shell, so I can then start building it back up...

Might have to try and con Sloth into doing a couple more sets of brake lines with me at some point too... ;)

Grom arrived this morning, so fighting the temptation to fit it straight away. Must get the window switch panel refurbished and finish renovating the front seats first.
Tomorrow it'll probably go in.

Do it nowww.

It's a new toy, get it fitted, the other bits are only cosmetic!!

Noooo...
Must, must, must stick to the programme. Car's been off the road for a few days now and need seats so I can drive it.
They're sitting in the corner of the workshop shouting "get on with me".
Stop trying to tempt me form the straight and narrow you two.
Patience is the cars name, and patient I must be :)

Yes, but fitting a Grom takes about 30 seconds to plug it in, and about 10 minutes of playing around getting it paired.

Plug it in! :)

What? You mean fitting a Grom is more important than having made this shiny, functioning and lovely?

I know a guy who repairs the window switches if they are intermittent or faulty... think he's got about 6 of them sitting on the shelf too. You keep your wood front piece as he just sends the actual switchpack to swap over

Just go plug the Grom in.. then you can get some music going whilst you work on the other bits, and we'll then know if it does just work on a DSP system (I'm 95% sure it will!)

Who is that magical switchpack fixer then Marty? Does he do door latches, HEVAC, BECMs, EAS as well? Man must be some kind of P38 guru :)
I've got lots of music in the workshop already- couldn't function without it! Currently enjoying a Norman Brown compilation.
Oh alright then- I'll temporarily connect the bloody Grom

Grom works fine with bluetooth music from phone. Nice Nav lady goes "louder, louder" through front speakers when I press setup button and music quietens. Nav displays map. Steering wheel controls work...
Bit of a result there :)
Let's face it Marty- you know more than Grom do about interfacing their system!

Now if only I'd fitted the Grom while I had the dash in bits and centre console out. Cable runs for the hands free mic and the aux/ usb feeds to where I want to mount the phone dock would have been oh so simple...

👊
That has just ocurred to me too....

Ever wish you hadn't started something?
Anyone ever tried steaming a seat back with a side airbag in it?
Who knows, this might be my last post on here, but at least I'll go the way I wanted- with a face full of pyrotechnics...

Still alive, but haven't started the back yet. Quite pleased with the result though:

Wow that's impressive. How did the cracks get closed up?

Orangebean wrote:

Quite pleased with the result though

IMHO you just used a different camerasetting ☺

Just kidding, looks perfect!

Praise indeed coming from the ultimate shiny seat man :)
After a damn good steaming, I had to abrade quite a lot of the original top coat and sealant, which flattened out the finer creases. Then an hour or two with repair paste on the larger ones, then completely re-dye (airbrushed with Glyptone dye), then sealed with a semi-matt sealer.
Time consuming- not sure I could make a living out of it!
EDIT- you're almost correct about camera setting Ferry, the after pic was taken while it was still under a heat light. :)

Hah, my seats aren't as good as that. The fronts are showing cracks on the front third of the squab. I think it's time to give them a real clean and see if getting the dirt out will save them before they need anything more drastic.

Progress report...
Front half of interior now all back in and restored to as close to as it rolled out of the showroom as I can get it. Really needed the carpets dyeing but I got bored with searching for Lightstone carpet dye and just steam cleaned them. They're a bit faded, but the mats cover most of them anyway.
So, Audi matrix in- no faults on HEVAC, stereo works (and sounds really good), Grom in and works as it should, factory nav still works and I've managed to find a 2015 disk for it (not loaded yet). Gear selector cable replaced. Steering wheel kind of needs a refresh, but I don't yet have the Ash Grey dye. It can wait until I get a new cotton reel (old one's done 280 000 miles and must be getting tired although no faults yet).
Headliner temporarily repaired until Summer Camp and a new one.
Some interior "after" pics:

and the temporary headliner fix

So tomorrow, 4 new UJ's to go in. Old ones look a bit neglected, no bills for replacements ever and I've found 4 GKN joints for £10 each, so may as well replace them.
After that, back seats and boot area, but next week I'm going to take it away on a bit of a road trip for a few days to put some miles on it.

Is this the pile of shit you go off EBay?? Cos you've done a damned good job if it is.