Seats: The original seats are a bit tired. The drivers seat foam is a bit compressed. The white car's seats have perfect foam. So now that these have been unbolted from the white car, all I need are heated seat elements $150, and new seat covers $? I can't find any information on replacement OEM upholstery, so that means I'll have to have some made.
I am debating the merits of:
- Cloth--comfortable, but perhaps not as durable as OEM cloth
- Leather--very nice, and I can get heavy cowhide for the seat surfaces, and perhaps vinyl for the elsewhere. Expensive and it means replacing the still good rear seat upholstery.
- Ultra Leather--feel like leather, but easier to clean and more durable.
- Used power seats. Adds the luxury of power seats, but at the hassle of making up new mounts for them. A good set of leather power seats would cost about $700-$1000.
New heating elements are quite nice and provide heating at two levels for the seat back and seat bottom. Luxury.
Carpet: New carpet is available un-cut pile or OEM loop. I'm leaning towards the OEM loop, but so far, only finding the cut pile available. Still looking for this. Installing new carpet with the seats out, should not take all that long.
Line-X (U-POL): I thought I might as well spray in some Line-X type material to seal the inside of the car. This stuff is cheap and easy to use. On top of that will go some Reflect-X for heat and sound insulation. This idea being to insulate the inside on the floor. At some point I'd like to add some Dynamat to the doors to make the car quieter, and Dynamat and Reflect-X above the head liner for additional sound proofing.
Wiring: I can run some wiring for the heating elements, and power mirors at the same time, as well as perhaps a ham radio mount. I'd like to install a Yeasu FT-8500 dual band radio in the car or else one of my Icom 706 radios--a bit better for long trips. Or both. It would be nice to have an HF radio and either a whip antenna with a clip to secure it at the rain gutter above the drivers window, or else any of a series of Ham Stick antenna which I already have. Putting the wiring under the carpet makes for a neater job.
Cleaning: the last thing I'll need to do is clean the dashboard area and the inside off all the windows and rear carpeting.
Nothing on the above list is all that expensive except the seat covers. I will not spend a lot of money recovering seats if I can buy nearly new used power seats for less money. For now the direction I go will be based on the cost of the seats. I may just install the carpet and other things and wait on the seats for a wrecked 240 with nicer seat covers.
The only other interior task is to build a support for the rear seatback, which when folded down doesn't lay flat. I'd like to use the space under the rear seat for storage. Some sort of support would be helpful. Storage trays for this area would be nice also. I may build something out of plywood and cover it with carpeting. This would be a long term project as it is not that important. However, I don't have much left to do, to make this car as perfect as I want it.
I'd also like to report that after an erratic start, the newly installed Cruise Control is working great. My only complaint is my knee rubs on the side of the console and gets painful on longer trips, so I should probably add some padding right there.
Finally, with the white car in the garage, I can pull it's fuel tank and use that car to take measurements for a fuel cell. If I can carry 30 gallons, my range will double and along with the cruise control, longer trips will be more inviting.
