November 2013 - Interior Rectifications

One of the owners on the forum was breaking an Avantime, I took this opportunity to obtain some of the interior parts I needed to address some of the bugbears.

First up was the autochanger, that decided to pack up and stopped loading and playing discs. This was caused by my 'Heath Robinson' solution of making the autochanger work in the first place; a paper clip to hold the flap open so CDs would play without error. After many months of faultless operation, the clip actually fell in, causing problems inside the unit. Dismantling it showed some of the springs had detached and became deformed, so would need a refurb. A replacement unit sorted it out and I finally can play my own music again!

The inside handle on the drivers seat was missing since I bought the car. I got a new replacement handle off ebay (what a find!) but was missing the plastic disc that goes around the handle on the seat. I got this bit again off the breaking Avantime.

And finally, the lower dash part on the driver side had had holes drilled into it at some point in it's life, and the beige insert was held in with blue tac to stop it falling off and onto my feet (the clipping area on black trim broken)! I got hold of this part and replaced the trim piece with the beige insert. Not a difficult job, but the footwell light fitting is a bit fiddly. The interior and footwell bulbs were changed to red LEDs shortly after buying the car. Was not sure at first, but I quite like them as it makes the car feel more unique and sets the interior off nicely in the dark. The sidelights and number plate bulbs have been changed to LEDs also. 

Next up is to tackle the track rod arms, do the transmission oil and address any other little or not so little issues with the car!