Sterling #130 (aka American V8 ~ Chapter 2)

[nbb350]

What better time to test if the car will fit on the trailer than 1 hour before the start of the show?! lol

As expected, things didn't go as smoothly as I hoped. I turns out that the 1.5" lip of the trailer is too high for the Sterling - even if the ramp is only 4 degrees. The car got its first "chin trim". ouch.
My truck driver neighbor who loads a lot of equipment, suggested adding the boards on the ground to cancel out the 1.5" lip before the Sterling chin could contact the ramp again. It worked like a charm; I'll be replacing the loose boards with some old aluminum atv ramps. I'll also be building some "chock stops" that will keep me from putting the nose of the Sterling thru the trailer's front wind deflector.

After over 2 hours of messing around, I strapped one wheel down to the trailer, backed the whole trailer up beside the garage, and took my wife's Jeep to the car show. Turns out I dodged a bullet - the car show was FILTHY!! Blowing dust EVERYWHERE!

 

[nbb350]

I finally tackled the last biggest thing that was bugging me: the seat covers. Thanks to Google Lens, I found out that the seats are from an early 80s Mazda RX-7. Then I looked online for seat covers to buy and narrow 3" to match the seats. $500. Um, no. Next option: make them myself! (with a lot of help from my motherinlaw and her sewing skills).

First I pulled the passenger seat out of the car and stripped the narrowed grey velour-and-vinyl covers offl My mom narrowed the factory covers a long time ago, but they were never inteneded to be seen - I covered them with some cheapo stretch universal seat covers that never looked good. (see first pic) Then I used a razor blade to cut all the stitching on the Mazda seat covers and break them down into their individual pieces to use as templates on some lightweight vinyl from Hobby Lobby. We cut, I pinned, she sewed...and I'm please with the results! We won't be going into business making seat covers, but I think these turned out pretty well for our first attempt!

I also rebuilt the headrest to add 2" of foam in the front to help support my head and take some strain off my neck. I had been using a "lumbar pillow" strapped to the mazda headrest, but now was the time to make a permanent fix. I think those turned out Awesome!

 

[letterman7]

Hell yeah. Looks like you did the Mazda "foamectemy" on the seat bases, too. If you haven't, taking about an inch of foam out of the base helps immensely and doesn't affect the overall "sit" quality.

 

[farfegnubbin]

Looks nice. I think you can be proud of those. I bet the headrests are a LOT more comfortable now. Yeah, that’s a really common problem in these cars : A person has to lay the seat way back for headroom but then your head is leaned back and you’re looking at the underside of the roof unless you constantly hold your head forward. The Sterling slogan should probably be “Sterling: Keeping chiropractors in business since 1973.”

 

[nbb350]

Hell yeah. Looks like you did the Mazda "foamectemy" on the seat bases, too. If you haven't, taking about an inch of foam out of the base helps immensely and doesn't affect the overall "sit" quality.

I did the "foamectomy" a long time ago when I narrowed the mazda seat covers. BUT, when I put the new seat covers on, there wasn't any foam there to FILL them. Uh-oh. So either I had to make new seat covers that would be "flatter" to account for the missing foam, or add the 1" of foam back. Well, I added the foam back - BUT I used low-density "craft store" foam instead of the high-density factory foam, so it'll compress more easily when I sit on it. Hopefully that works...

 

[nbb350]

Friday afternoon I finally took the wifey out for a first-for-2026 two mile spin around the neighborhood...after watching a 2 minute video ad before I could use my GPS Speedometer app (and another 2 minute video before I could see the results of my Trip...guess what app just got Uninstalled and Replaced?!?)

After some seatback adjustments and headrest fine-tuning, I got the "new" seat in a position that works for me. Yeah, I had a stiff neck after driving it, but it didn't last long - I was fine the next morning. One thing I did add back was the lumbar pillow...my old back needs more support!

Saturday evening we went to our first car show of the season. Made it 24 miles roundtrip in 85F weather with no problems! (well, besides the typical oil drips that my car likes to leave behind...)

Granted, this show was kind of a let-down after a previous show I spectated at earlier Saturday; that show had NINE DeLoreans in attendance!!! THAT show will be going on my Calendar as an Annual Mandatory Attendance Event! https://www.facebook.com/BackToThe80sMN

 

[farfegnubbin]

Looking really good!

 

[letterman7]

Looks great!

 

[nbb350]

Nice day here yesterday so I finally got some pix of the trailer mods I made this spring.

Instead of using Boards to lift the nose of the Sterling enough to clear the trailer ramp, I added some "hooks" so some old aluminum atv ramps. These hook onto the rear structural support of the trailer so they can't move away from the trailer when the rear wheels spin against them. They line up with some Green paint for the proper wheel track spacing.

I also added a aluminum tube up front as a Wheel Stop so the Sterling nose doesn't go thru the trailer's front wind deflector.

Finally, I added a Green tab that is in line with the driver's headrest; that way if my head is centered on the headrest and the Green Tab is directly in front of me, I'll know I'm perfectly aligned with the trailer.

 

[letterman7]

There ya go. When I was trailering mine in an 18' enclosed trailer, even the ramp door and dovetail were too steep. I did pretty much what you did and found a cheap set of ATV ramps to cover that 'dip distance'. Once the car was in, I just slid the ramps under the car. Easy-peezy.