Update 10/26

It's been ages since I've updated, don't know if anyone is a "regular" but I now have enough page views for me to feel slightly bad about it.

SO! What's new on the Sonett?

I caved in and removed the entire dashboard so I could refinish it. Originally I was worried about messing up the wiring arrangement but after assessing how totally screwed the whole system was I said "F**k it" and took the dash off. A little online research found me a pretty easy technique to sand, clean and repaint the dash.

• Sand the dash to the the rough shape you want, the Sonett's fiberglass/plastic dashboard has a fake vinyl texture to it that in places looked really rough from sun exposure so I sanded all that texture smooth. Don't worry about surface scratches right now so any grit finer than 50 should be fine, the primer should fill any scratches in.
• Use TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) to clean the surface when you're done sanding, you can get TSP from just about any paint or hardware store. Just follow the mixing directions on the box.
• Then use a degreaser to get anything else that might keep the paint from adhering off the paint-surface, the stronger the better. I used Greased Lightning.

•  *IMPORTANT* make sure you let the surface dry ENTIRELY before moving on. I made this mistake on the center-console in thankfully a spot that would be covered by carpet. If any degreaser or TSP is left on the surface it will crack and bubble under the primer and ruin the smooth finish. Patience is super important for this whole process.

• Next is to use your primer. Make sure you get an appropriate primer for the material it's going onto, in this case plastic primer. READ THE LABEL you don't want to misuse the primer, and make sure to follow the directions for the time to wait for top-coat. For the primer I used it required I wait 6 days for top-coat.

Coat 1

Coat 2

Coat 3

• Spray on the top-coat, I used Dupli-Color vinyl paint because from all the accounts I could find it's the best. Be sure to read the label and follow the directions as always. The best application technique with any spray-paint applies here as well. 3+ coats for best even application with 20 minutes or so between coats. First coat get about 40-50% coverage of the surface, you should see primer underneath still in most places, you're not trying to fully coat the surface. Second coat get about 100% coverage no primer visible, but it's better to air on the side of less coverage to avoid applying too thick. Third coat should be patch-up and cover any spots you missed and finish evening out the coats. Any subsequent coats should be the same rule of thumb, it's better to have less coverage for a more even application.

 After testing my refinishing techniques on the center console I was really happy with the way it turned out, so I moved on to the dashboard. Now it looks amazing. I'm gonna try and go back and find some pictures of the dashboard before so you can see it's transformation.

Dashboard still bolted in, before I was gonna remove it (hence everything is taped off)

Looking real rough

Rust along the metal latch, paint flaking off the wooden glove-box cover

Thankfully the knobs look decent, and they pop right off. Ashtray looks equally rough

Knobs, handles, covers, vents. All looking kinda beat and flaky.

I got pretty caught up in actually fixing and cleaning the dash that I didn't take any pictures of the process, but here's what it looks like after all that meticulous work.

Dashboard off. Underneath all cleaned up

Repainted, I'm going to put the gauge cluster surround as bare metal

glove-box is rimmed with a small metal hinge. I left it chrome to match the gauge-cluster

Beautiful repainted, hanging up waiting to be put back. The red tint is reflection off the car in the driveway, the vinyl paint has a bit of sheen to it, much like Armor All 

Center console was my guinea pig for the cleaning and painting process. It came out really well

repainted some struts, the glove-box cover, speaker mesh, and shined up the chrome on an ashtray.

Today I finished the arduous and lengthy process of removing the wiring harness and ignition system from the car. At first I had hoped the dingus who restored the car before me hadn't touched the wiring but once I started to cut back the heat wrapping I found sign after sign of his tardism everywhere. There were connectors with 4 wires spliced in, instead of using a connector he TIED TOGETHER a pair of wires and wrapped them in duct-tape. There was a non-automobile transformer wired in PARALLEL with wires from the distributor cap. Things grounded to painted surfaces. So I've opted to remove the whole thing and bench test individual systems.

One half out!

Everything out! That's the look of "I'm so done with this sh*t"

The pile ready for debug.

I pulled out all of the electrical devices as well, the horn, knobs, relays, intake, and wiper motor. I repainted the covers for the intake, pulled apart the wiper motor and tried to troubleshoot it. It came entirely apart, re-greased it, and put it back together, now if only it would actually turn. Lucas Electrics, it's always a crapshoot - just this: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~mtmorris/index3.html.

The "squirrel box" as my father named it. The intake housing by a more technical name.

And that's what's on the inside of your Lucas Electric's Windsheild Wiper Motor

One clean spindle.

One dirty spindle

Cleaning the inside of the wiper motor. The observant will notice that's my friend Chris, not me.

I've done other stuff but it all starts to melt together. As I find pictures I'll add them to this post and try to do a better job of posting as I do things.