Lovely Rita
  • Home
  • Gallery
    • Hemmings Classic Car
    • The Start
    • On the Road
    • Back in the Day
    • Before and After
  • Restoration Part 1
    • Tear Down Day 1
    • Tear Down Day 2
    • Taking Stock
    • Interior
    • Engine and Transmission
    • Tailgate and AM/FM Radio - Nov 2009
    • Floor
    • Engine Compartment - Dec 2009
    • Engine Compartment - February 2010
  • Restoration Part 2
    • Update - August 2010
    • Sept. 2010 -THE ENGINE IS IN!!!!
    • Steering Column and Wheel - March 2010
    • Stripping and Console - December 2010
    • Stripping and Paint - Jan 2011
    • Feb 2011 - Paint and Upholstery
    • Badging - March 2011
    • Interior - April 2011
    • June 2011- DONE
    • New Roof 2012
  • Car Shows
    • Cactus Cruiser Show 2010
    • July 2011 - AMO International Convention
    • Nov 2011 - Las Vegas AMC Reunion
    • AMCRC National - June 2012
    • Flagstaff Route 66 Days Show
  • Other Cars
    • 1973 Ambassador
    • 1972 Wagoneer
    • 1966 Marlin "Arlin"
    • The New 1966 Marlin
  • Grand Canyon AMCRC Chapter
  • Thanks

Rita Leaks!

On the trip to Las Vegas in Novemeber, we were caught in several downpours.  We discovered Rita had several major leaks.  A couple were from the old windshield gasket, while another, more  serious one, was in the roof somewhere.  water came in and did extensive damage to the headliner.

During restoration, we chose to not touch the headliner as they are notoriously delicate and no one makes a replacement.  We now had no choice, and removed the headliner (carefully), and the roof rack, and went ahead with repainting the roof, and recovering the headliner. It was a good time to replace the old windshield gasket, too.  We hoped to reset the old glass, but it cracked, so a new windshield was added to the facelift.

An exact match to the fabric of the headliner was not available, but I located a very close match at SMS Fabric.  The same upholstery shop that did the seats also covered the headliner.  The roof was painted in Phoenix, and then the car came back home for reassembly.

The first drive with her all back together was around the Sunset Crater loop. These pictures are from that trip.

Rita leaks no more!

Picture
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