Well then, Now I have a genuine Granada story to tell.... Its a tale of joy and sorrow though...
You know my previous slot at the upholsterer that was located so far away had come and gone because of the fuel tank issue. Well, last Friday I had my second chance. My boss was kind enough to let me go even though I had just had the week off a few days before.
With the car still mostly prepped for the trip I did not have to do much other than take the camera, some lunch, a drink for the trip and the syphoned fuel with me to be off. So by 8:30 I was set to go. I started the car and.............it immediately fired up and off I went! What, did you expect anything else from an old Ford??
Anyway, on with the story. I was a little apprehensive behind the wheel, setting out on it's first 160km, 1 and 3/4 hour trip. How would the car behave? After the first 25 km that was pretty much over with and I enjoyed my trip a lot. Even though the weather was foul and wet. The rain-x on my windscreen meant I had to hardly ever wipe despite te rain, not bad for a 10+ year old product.
It was after the first 100km's that I started to get a sinking feeling in my gut. The rear of the car was getting louder and louder and it wasn't the exhaust... it was the diff! By the time I got to the motorway exit, it was howling, louder than a fire engine's siren! I had kept the speed constant and listened to where the diff sounded happiest. So motorway speeds were still 100, 110 and 125. Below 90 the sound was scarily loud. And then came the exit and a few miles of village driving. That meant 30-50kmh and that meant a whole new soundscape. This time low grumbling noises and deep wailing came from the rear end. It was always present upon acceleration/keeping pace, and went and came upon deceleration, probably as and when the auto box shifted down... curse word!!!
But I know the old ford diff is pretty much bulletproof so I was strangely not really worried about not making it to my upholsterer friend or even getting home. And 5 minutes later I pulled up at the upholstery shop of my friend. Parking behind his own Granada sedan.
I went in to introduce myself and was immediately welcomed. It felt like coming somwhere where you are a regular even though it was my first time there. Refreshing! Within a minute my friend Ben said now let's see that beauty of yours, only to conclude it looked better in the flesh than on any picture I'd ever showed. Although he was the craftsman, he complimented me on my interior build quality. Admiring how far I had gotten without any real knowledge or training. Just by persevering and trying.
And then we had a look at what were to be the jobs of the day: the side bolsters and the speaker pods. I showed him the plan and my desired solutions and I set about removing the parts. At that point his lovely wife came out to look at the car after my by now excited friend went to tell her she really needed to see this. Lol. It was then that I was introduced to one of the most lovely ladies I've ever met, although I didn't know that at that moment. It would become apparent during the long day I was there. The same can be said for my friend, as I now have no problem calling him. A seriously cool guy with serious skills.
Ben started on my bolsters immediately while I extracted the speaker pods (which wasn't by far as tough a job as getting them in originally for some reason). It was quiet in the shop at that time and the desired shape was soon formed and glued in place.
He was even able to stretch the original material on the bolsters so far that the pieces to be let in would basically be invisible once mounted. Bonus as that means the structure of the visible material is the same all round!
In the process he taught me some tricks and while he was working his wife started chatting with me while she was working her own furniture project in the same area. And that is where some magic happened. We hit it off big time. Leading to me telling about personal stuff like the cancer my daughter survived that I do not usually go around shouting off rooftops and her sharing some of their personal stories. All the time with her husband joining in. That was so cool, meeting someone for the first time and feeling so comfortable with oneanother that you can open up so much. The fun thing was that her husband who was working on my stuff thought that my attention was more with her, but I proved him wrong when I recited a few things he'd been saying and made some comments about the environment I was in and next steps in the process he was probably going to take. That was a laugh as I apparently shared the ability to let noting much go unnoticed with his wife who's also able to see exactly what he's doing even when in another room, creapy sometimes lol.
Anyway, meeting these people was great and stimulated my creative genes. Fun thing is that he taught me some tricks, but that I also have enough feeling for his work that I understood exactly why he did things and what his next move would be. However he had a tough job to finish still. The side bolsters were relatively easy. Shaping the foam to be added being perhaps the most tricky but not too complicated. Great to see how a pro wields his tools! Before long bolster one was done and test fitted.
Which led to this (just a quick testfit mind you not properly installed yet):
Which compared to before like this:
PS. These bottom mounts were purely an aid to fabricate the final beefy pieces and holding them in place during the design fase.
It was exactly right in one go! So he started on the second one. That was soon done as well.
Testfitting the other one as well:
By then lunch had been enjoyed (thank you Johanna) and work contined. This time with several interruptions as it was business as usuall as well for the two shops they run from the same building. Still my work got done and seeing how the pro handled the speaker pods and calling them a challenge even for him made me feel better about giving up on doing it myself. But I picked up a few tricks now so who knows in the future... I'm well chuffed with the end results.
With a repeat for the other one. Slightly tougher job as the pods do not have the exact same shape but the cover was made with the same template as the first. Still Ben made it work well.
As the sun had by now appeared a few customary shots were taken of the two brethren...
There was no time for final fitment of the parts as I wanted to beat traffic and I saw they had to get back to regular business as well. I was by now getting preoccupied with hopefully making it home on the damaged diff...
Warm goodbyes were said, materials I had brought and that still remained on the table were loaded again as well as all the newly upholstered stuff. And then I set off. Embarrassed going through the village with my loud car.... Still it went and went and went and cruised at 125 kmh for miles and miles hitting 165 in a short dash as well. Engine and box not missing a beat and fuel consumption much much better than expected. I never even needed to add any of the 25 liters I had with me. The diff being loud and the front speakers out of commission still, the radio was on full blow!! And by now the sun was out so I thouroughly enjoyed my trip back despite the diff. Worries of not making it home had vanished. But it just wouldn't sound healthy...
I was home exactly in time for making dinner... With the car parked up. Me being proud of how it behaved apart from the diff. I think that is all down to me anyway as I reused a crush washer that I couldn't get a replacement sourced for.
Next day the sun was out and a space opened up in front of the house so I got the car and worked on fitting the pieces permanently. Well pleased with the end results. Don't mind the interior intself, it needs a good post restoration clean!
And not such a good view of how they look from the rear through the window (couldn't get a better result with the phone)
Now to investigate the diff. Still wondering what to do. Get a replacement one (already sourced) on there (a 400km trip) or fixing the current one.... I guess it depends on me acquiring a new crush washer. I'll try and source one monday.
Anyway I had a great day and great day after and although in pain from all the strange angles I worked in, I was well happy! I'm still well happy actually!
Interiorwise I now need to finish the cubby area besides the lower rear seat which will house usb and regular power sockets for the kids. Also the centre console will need to be finished, but that is coming along now.
So a few wires to route for the rear power, and some minor work should see the car nearly completed after having been technically ready for a while now. I'm stoked! Unfortunately kids schoolwork is keeping me from achieving much this week I guess...
As a side note... Someone is experiencing problems viewing my images. They come up only as a placeholder saying the destination is not found/reachable. I and some other persons I tested with always see my images and both on wifi, 4g, home or company networks, mobiles, tabs and laptops/desktops even different browsers. So it's a small mistery so far... Do any of you also have problems with my images?
