Honey Badger the Y60

[BrazilianY60]

I saw multiple times the videos from the Car Builders blokes on YouTube, they have great knowledge of their trade and have some very nice products. Being sound deadening products very heavy, shipping from Australia would not work for me. I tried my best to apply the knowledge they share using locally available products.

For what they call stage 1, steel panel vibration dampening, I was able to source foil covered butyl rubber sheets, very similar to what they use on their videos, and I was very happy with the quality of the product. Something sold locally under the name of Technoise. There are a lot of videos online of people fully covering the roof and floor at this stage, but the CB blokes themselves tell this is not really necessary. If you make sure flat steel sheet areas have at least patches of the product, you should be good. I opted for such approach to save on the material and weight, as this is quite heavy.
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Then for stage 2, heat shielding and sound absorption, I could not find anything exactly as CB sells. I went on finding closed cell products (for heat) and open cell products (for sound). Found a local manufacturer with several products on their line and a very well spoken technician to explain and provide orientation on where to use their products, how to apply, etc. I ended up buying the recommended product for the roof and sample amounts of every other product they had to see the difference myself. The product I picked for the roof is a soft foam made out of PVC and poly-ure-thing this and that. It is their product with highest heat blocking graduation other then the specific stuff for engine compartment/under the bonnet usage. It absorbs sound as well but the heat part is where it is supposed to ace.
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Now I have to wait for the upholsterer to finish the roof lining and install the windshield. After that, he will let me take the single-seater Patrol home for a weekend to work on the floor deadening and then return the car to him to work on the carpet. He has already picked the best parts of two complete seat sets to make just one out of it. Seat structures are already blasted and painted. Yet to start is the foam work and the cover work.

I told him to bin the rest except for something on the driver side for that weekend sound deadening operation.

Door cards are maybe 80% done already.

[PeeBee]

Your system is very similar to what I did, and the ride is quieter and a bit cooler as well. Only challenge might be fitting the spring hoops and the roof sheet. I went with a 4 way stretch front runner carpet which was glued in place. The outcome was good for me.

[BrazilianY60]

There was nothing on the roof before, so it should be a lot better now. First time restoring a car and first time sound deadening, so let's see how it behaves.
I don't plan to glue the carpet, otherwise if I need to remove it, it would tear the deadening material.

[BrazilianY60]

Can I ask how you cleaned up the front flare with the paint on it? I have one like that as a replacement to my set.

Hi PB. I finally have something to show you regarding the flares.
The cleanup was manual, no chemicals. It was painted without proper plastic painting preparation before, so it was chipping very easily. After that, sanding and prepping with something over here called "plastic sealant". I've seen it called "adhesion promoter" as well. I is basically a primer appropriate for plastic, it adheres better and it provides some level of flex allowance without cracking. Once prepared, a couple of runs of filling primer and sanding and then polyester paint.

Some "bondo" was used along the edge of the yellow tape and later sanded down to nothing basically to highlight that line/shape dividing the flat face and the rounded face of the flare.

Oh, forgot to mention that before it all some missing tabs were made of cuts of a random broken plastic bumper and melted/welded into place with a later coat of epoxy glue with fiberglass cloth. These were not drilled yet, to allow for better fitment when the time comes (drilling and possibly trimming as well).

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[PeeBee]

Thats a spectacular outcome, great job! I ended up with a pile of flares of differing quality and all needed attention in the area of the mounting tabs. I ended up manufacturing the rear guards for the tray chop, and they bought a set of light weight aftermarket front flares. Initially I was not happy with the mounting system and almost headed down the pathway of new ones ex PAP, but in the end I discarded the supplied mounting system and bolted the flares on instead of using the plastic push tabs. Once completed the job came out really well. They dont feel as strong or robust as the factory units, certainly are thinner, but I just need to be aware of not leaning on them when working on the car. Now that I have the side steps/sliders in place I can work on the front guard protection rails to the bullbar, which will further improve their life.

[BrazilianY60]

It was time to do upholstery and I had not yet picked the colors. The only think I was sure was that I didn't want to go with the original gray. I suppose brand new it looks good, but I had been living with it so disgustingly ugly and dirty that I'd like it not to be part of the new look and feel of the car. I took a tour to all the upholstery material shops in town looking for inspiration but it was hard. At one of the stores, I saw this tan/orange synthetic material that rang me a bell. I am sick for the UAE Super Safari GUs they have there, and the interior seems a lot like that color in my opinion.
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I also had a feeling the roof lining should be light in color, to make the interior lighter, shinier. I found this cloth to be very close to the "Honda shoreline beige" metallic paint used on the bottom part of the body.
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Then, at the paintshop, I found a matching plain/non-metallic color for the beige from an old Benz truck from the 70's.
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Was looking for a plain color to match the tan/orange but only found a metallic one. Didn't seem too shiny though, so I gave it a try and got samples of both colors. I used the dashboard from the donor car for color tests.
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The orange paint, although metallic, was a close match in my opinion.
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The beige was spot on identical.
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It even matched the beige interior of my GU.
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[BrazilianY60]

I had an idea of how the car interior would look in beige, from the GU experience, but was having a hard time imagining the car interior in orange. I got 1m of the synthetic material to cover things and look from afar to give me brains some kickstart.

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And I didn't like it! Too out of place. Maybe someday on the GU, to make it look like the UAE ones. This one requires something more out of the 80's.

[BrazilianY60]

Thinking about color schemes from the 80's and 90's and how car makers were really bolder than today, I remember some cars with a full red/burgundy or blue/navy interiors. Bumped into this picture on the internet and spent some time admiring it.
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Fark! That is a comfy, nice looking interior! Blue it is! These are the samples I got with the upholsterer to absorb it over the weekend before biting the bullet.
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On the next monday the GQ was left at the upholsterer for a full blue interior! All parts that need painting would be painted by me, any assembling will be done by me. He will do all the leather and carpet and cloth and sewing stuff. He sure due "turnkey" stuff, but I just didn't want to. I want to put things together myself.

[mudski]

Looking good mate. Your not going to want to drive it when its done.

Blue interior is a winner for me. That other colour is just yuck!

[BrazilianY60]

Took a blue leather sample to the paintshop and they came up with a perfect match formula.
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On the following pictures, if I say something is blue and it seems gray, you have to take my word for it that it is navy blue just like the picture above. It turns out that cellphone camera does a bunch of auto correcting things that are not wrong and make the blue look gray all the time...

Separated all the required parts for painting (and of course later found out that I had missed a lot of other parts, so a new batch to be done).
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Gave all the parts a wash with some strong car washing products, they came out brand new.
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1st batch of blue parts.
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Here you can see that although they seem gray, the color matches the blue leather sample (that also looks gray in the picture). Here I chose not to sand down the plastic scars to not lose the texture on the interior parts.
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More blue parts (and there will be a 3rd batch still).
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The dash foam covered in blue leather that I got back from the upholsterer.
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And here a mock-up of the dash parts.
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