Well, finally the weather is decent enough, and I have enough time to actually make some more forward progress.
I made a few decisions, and consequently made purchases to support those decisions. There is a leather store down the street from me, and although I don't buy leather to have a reference for what it's supposed to cost, Today I bought my first full hide that will end up on the dash top, the door panels, and the headliner. While it seemed like alot of product at the time of purchase, I laid it out on the tonneau of my ranger to see just how much I have to work with. There is alot there, and It drapes off equally on the other side.
The brand that used to be on the cow testifying to the fact that this is the real stuff:
The good part, and the motivator for making the leather purchase was the price. 99.00 for that hide is all I paid.
I think that it isn't enough to do the headliner too, so It looks like I'll have to buy another hide to get it all done, but even at 200.00, I think I'm in good for that.
This Cream color will be one of 4 colors that will make up the interior. The carpet is Saddle, the seats black, the bars will be gloss black, The bottom of the dash will be painted the same color saddle as the carpet, and the top covered in this cream colored leather, The mesh that runs down the middle will be gold (the same color that the wheels will be, and the gold stripe that will separate the Competition Orange from the Hot Rod satin black that makes up the external paint scheme).
Although this update is little more than a tease for what progress I hope to realize tomorrow, I was able to get the electronics mounted to the dash skeleton, that is up until the 8/32 tap snapped off in one of the mount holes. So tomorrow before I can finish that, I have to go in search of one of those before I can move on. So the goal for tomorrow is ambitious, I hope to have that damned dash completely mocked up so that I can prep it and paint/cover it and move onto the wiring phase which is between now, and turning the key.
I also bought the AC hose kit so I can finish the lines, a defrost vent kit from Vintage air, and the steering wheel that'll replace the old 2 spoke stocker. All that stuff coming from Summit, should be here around Tuesday.
So, Tomorrow then should be the update that I hope to have