Yeah, I still have some 30yr old hardwear (bolts and such) that I keep around. Kind of like saving your baby teeth. Just about any color can be matched but when it comes to aged or faded paint-it becomes very difficult. Especially if your not doing the whole car.

here are some pics of the bad scratches. i've only put one scratch in the paint since i got the car and its the scratch behind the driver's door. i had a knife in my pocket and when i was getting in the car, i was too close and the clip that holds the knife inside of the pants pocket, gouged the paint. i felt sick to my stomache after i did that. the larger scratches on the light bucket and hood look as though it was run under a truck bumper or something. thats why i've kept a bra on it most of the time..but i really dont want the bra on there anymore. her a are a few of the pics:

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...7/DSC07952.jpg

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...7/DSC07953.jpg

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...7/DSC07956.jpg

here's a pic of one of the flor mats that are in the car. looks as if they were originally brown. no clue if they are oem or not but they're vintage as heck:

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...7/DSC07960.jpg

and one final pic of the interior in all its filthy glory as it sits now (soon to be clean):

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...7/DSC07961.jpg

I like your style Dave. I keep all my old parts too, just to be "original". We're sick.

On those scratches, those are just some road warrior scars, something to be proud of. I've had worse on my White One but you can hardly see them now, I just went in with a touch up brush and a little white Rustoleum. You might have a harder time matching the paint but I'm sure you can find something.

Really love the patina on the leather - - leaher like that just keeps getting better-looking as it ages.

I'd love to do leater seats for my SA, but my sewing machine simply isn't up to it.

Thats what bras are for, to hide things and make it look better, works that way on cars too :)

I wouldn't repaint it at all if thats the worst. Its called a survivor in collector circles when the paints original and unretouched.

Maybe you can source another orginial Solar Gold header pannel head light lids and hood sometime? Never know, real life is stranger than fiction.

Very nice pics Dave. You've been posting so much about your SE swap that I almost forgot you had this car, you never post about it lol.
Looks like its in great shape, good luck with it!

Not an LS but this 79 SA that belongs to OG@TA member Andy reminds me alot of yours Dave:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...c08ogta021.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/10-3.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...rgreen/5-5.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...reen/cars4.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/14-3.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/15-3.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/10-2.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/22-1.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/21-1.jpg

And here's another one:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh308/grgreen/9.jpg

Why is it that guys who drive mint SA's are always smiling?

Ray, that SA is super clean!! one lucky owner there!! are those seats all vinyl or is the center cloth? you dont really see any SA's that nice here in OH.

Sean, i dont post much about this car because i never drive it. the poor thing sits in storage under a car cover just waiting. all those horses and nowhere to gallop. this sumer will be a different story. i'll have it out more and hope to put a thousand or so miles on it. and that means more pics for the forum. i like to share pics, lol.

the main reason that i would consider a repaint is so that the car doesnt get eaten by the tin worm.

Banzai!!!, i can try and source another header panel but one would may not match exactly. i will keep my eyes open though.

DivinDriver, the leather is very nice and its extremely comfortable. i'm just afraid to sit in the car becaus ei dont want to ruin the seats, lol. i'm always extremely gentle when i sit down to avoid splitting the leather or tearing the stitching.

Those plaid seats are cloth on vinyl I believe, rarer than hen's teeth. They make the car in my opinion. No leather in that GS model, even has a four speed tranny (Andy asks us not to go over 85 out on the interstate so he can keep up).

I'm "torn" on the preserve vs drive them issue, but when it comes to leather seats the worst thing you can do is store them and forget about them, that's when they get brittle and crack. If you give them a good soaking in Lexol every month or two they will hold up pretty well even for day to day use, at least that's what I'm finding for my 84/85 GSL leather interiors (5 years younger than your LS interior Dave, to be sure).

Here's another local SA that I believe is the same color as yours Dave, again not an LS, recently purchased by Romulo, who is fixing it up. Needs some work (check the paint, you should be happy yours is still so nice) but all original, a nice find:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/6-10.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/5-10.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...green/4-11.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...rgreen/7-7.jpg

+1 on the "leather likes to be sat in" school of thought; the driver seat in my DD Z is holding up a lot nicer than the psg seat, from a suppleness standpoint. Seems to need to be stretched and flexed to keep from getting stiff. I have to use leather treatment on the psg seat to keep it soft.

The back leathers in my wife's old 88 Maxima (rip) got old and brittle, but the fronts (used often) stayed soft til the day it got "donated."

Ray, thats an awesome looking Solar Gold SA. i believe Solar Gold was only available in 1980, so its a fairly rare color. i quite like it though. Lexol works well huh? i've been using Mothers but cannot find it anymore. i guess i'll give Lexol a try. and i'll start using the seats more often.

Hey Dave, how 'bout a photo of your pretty mug and the engine bay after you've got them both cleaned up?

lol, i can do that. the engine bay of the LS is decently clean. it was horrid when i bought it, lol. the GS with the EGI engine is pretty clean. i'll post that one up first.

Great thread guys. I certainly would also attest that LEXOL is an excellent long term conditioner for the LS leather as that's all I've ever used. Really by accident, when I was 18, Lexol was all that I knew and I've stayed with it since. My Dad taught me to use on my baseball gloves. +1000 since my both seats and gloves have withstood the tests of time and use.

Dave - your LS seats appear as good as any I've seen in the past 10 years. I can identify with your careful attention to entry and exit. Well done sir!

Check out this link with an SA - Plaid seats removed:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EARLY...ayphotohosting

Ray, your lucky to have so many nice SA's around to gather. I don't see many up this way much anymore, especially nice as those. I'd like to make it to Zoom fest sometime, maybe find a gathering to be a part of. Dave, I suppose you could source a few spare parts of any color and have them custom matched to your current shade. That way, you'd still have the originals to go always go back to.

Mike, do you have original floor mats for your LS?? i will pick up a bottle of the Lexol on friday. do you reccomend the cleaner as well?

thats a good idea. i do however have a pair of SA fenders, an SA driver's door, and a header panel from an SA. so those could always be used as spares..or even to color match.

Not absolutely sure Dave, but your floor mats remind me of something out of an old Pacific T Tops catalog. If you have any old Rotory Rockets issues, I'd look in there. Pacific was a big advertiser. If not them, most all aftermarket suppliers ran ads in there. A candy store for a then 19 yr old. I'd look, but all that stuff is back home, I'm on the other side of the planet right now.

i don't have any of the old rotary rocket magazines...the mats look aftermarket but are vintage as the beegees so i think they're worth keeping, lol.

I've never used any kind of cleaner on my seats Dave. They've been sat in, but never dirtied. Yours certainly don't appear to need cleaning from the pics I've seen. Please let me know what you experience if you try a cleaner.

With Lexol I just rub it on with bare hand and let it soak in. Never used a rag. One bottle goes a long way. It leaves the leather with a visible shine, feeling supple and smelling like leather. Also have used it on the leather steering wheel and shift knob.

Those brown Rx-7 floor mats are interesting. I'll make time this weekend to peruse my Rotary Rockets to look back at after-market floor mat offerings.

My LS was a Dealer's car. When I bought it the dealer threw in a new set of coco mats. Made from coconut husk fibers, they were the mats common to sport cars of earlier decades.

My 79 SA has similar black/grey coco mats that are Mazda branded. You can see similar examples and even order custom fit / custom color coco mats to fit the first gen Rx-7 at:

http://www.autosportcatalog.com/inde...id=1607&cid=45

The Brown/Tan/Sand, Calico or Natural all might be good color choices to compliment the solar gold / brown combo.

I probablly have an old Bee Gees casset I could throw in.

the crazy thing is...the LS's casset player still works!!!!! i dont know about the Bee Gees..maybe some Creedence.....