I would like to send out a pod / dash / center console to be covered without taking my car apart. Will thes pieces from any year fit without modification? My 81 has a factory leather dash, the replacement I have is a non-leather dash. Will this matter?

 

My understanding is that underneath each leather covered dash is a vinyl dash. Maybe Paul Champagne or Robb Budd could chime in on this.

 

Rob was at the Hell gathering, talking over options with him sparked this idea. I didn't think about using spare parts until today. It would be nice to be able to send everything off without tearing the car apart.

 

I've got an extra pod from an early(ier) car that I am going to send to Paul. Thsi reminds me that I need to shoot him an e-mail. Paul has told me something about the glove box door is different, but I don't remember WHAT was different between the vinyl and the leather.

 

Leather covered dashes came into popular use in the 70s around the same time as vinyl dashes. It's been my understanding that basically the vinyl dashes are made from a mold and early on, the process was lacking in quality control. So in higher end vehicles, rather then sending countless parts to the scrap bin, car manufacturers(not just Porsche) decided to cover the rejects and undesirable colors with leather since most of the quality issues were related to surface texture of the vinyl. In other words, you have a vinyl dashboard underneath the leather cover that should fit. It might be a little loose since they did grind them down a bit to make the coverings fit better.

 

I was going to do the same thing - I have an extra dash. When I tore everything down anyway to replace the ignition switch and correctly align my fuel level needle, I just sent Rob my dash (along with nearly everything else from the front half of the interior).

<----- See my current avatar. It ain't pretty - yet.

 

Cars up to maybe 1989 have the same vinyl dash.
Cars after maybe 1989 have a knee kickboard dash with no undertrays and a rounded centre console. Their glovebox is under the dash ans is carpeted.
Really early cars have no air temp sensor hole in the centre console.
Pods up to 1989 have the same design
Later pods have the squirter and something else (dimmer?)on their face both sides of the wheel.
Your dash will interchange well with a dash from a car up to 1989. So will your pod.
VENTS and LEATHER:
Early leather dashes have cheap vent inserts.
From about 1990 the leather AND vinyl dashes have a really nice insert at the vents that is much stronger.

 

Coo, thanks guys. Time to start choosing colors

 

actually, the key hole for the pod changed with the introduction of the S4, early pods can be altered to work for later cars
I have 1 uncracked early pod if you need it...

 

Anybody for cranberry?

Let me know if you need pod removal help.

 

I did hear that when a given MY 928 got a special order for a leather dash or pod...the craftsman would just grab whatever happened to be "extra" in inventory....or some odd vinyl color to recover in leather....but it does seem all the shrunken ones I have seen (in pics mostly) are black.....safe to say the vast majority of 928 vinyl pods-dash are black...makes sense there would be more black under the leather...just simple odds?

 

You just HAD to go there, didn't you?

 

While we are on the subject of leather pods and dashes, I just got in two pods and dashes covered in leather. Before I go putting these in cars I am wondering how all these new ones are holding up.

I was told to keep them out of the sun, but since they are going in cars that is not a practical solution. How do they seem to react to the sun when parked for a while?

One of the dashes is a cover I got from Rob a while back. The leather is a bit stiff. Has anyone tried conditioner on these?

What kind of glue holds up the best when gluing the leather on. I have a quarter panel with some peeling and have tried a few different glues with very little success.

Thanks
Dan the Pod Guy

 

Heinrich and 84-928S-inChicagoland got it right on the few differences.

I usually put a piece of thin foam between the leather and reworked surface when I recover a pod, dash or glove box lid. Porsche started doing the same on all their new models too. Gluing leather directly to the vinyl on a dash is just asking for trouble. It helps eliminate any further cracking and curling.
There's nothing in new leather to prevent shrinking and new leather will dry up and shrink if its not treated.

Porsche had its own tannery and leather craftsman when these cars were built and from what I've seen the speculation of grabbing what happens to be there and covering up flaws sounds feasible.

The best kind of glue is something like DAP Weldwood HHR Contact Cement

 

My brand new factory leather S4 dash is from a later model, with the later insert. It is black leather over burgundy vinyl. No issues so far and it's been installed for some 5 years.