Shark_gts

I've got a cracked up dash here for our leather guy to take a look at. I have asked him to design a dash cover that is made from leather, and installed using some for of attachment - such as velcro or small tacks.

Plastic and carpet are the two covers that are for sale currently at $99.

Would you consider a leather cover at say $195?

Shane

Depends on its' durability. The dash in my shark is 16 years old with only two small cracks in between the vent holes, pod is exceptional. Having a cover that is velcroed in place would be nice, since you could pop it out for cleaning and treating the leather. $195 is a little steep, but what is the cost to recover a dash? Does $195 cover any custom colors or is that extra?

Randy V

Might be nice, but it seems that modern vinyl can come pretty darn close to looking just like real leather.

Add the UV durability of vinyl and the myriad of colours available, it seems that vinyl may provide the same results at much less cost.

dr bob

[quote]Originally posted by Shark_gts:
<strong>I've got a cracked up dash here for our leather guy to take a look at. I have asked him to design a dash cover that is made from leather, and installed using some for of attachment - such as velcro or small tacks.

Plastic and carpet are the two covers that are for sale currently at $99.

Would you consider a leather cover at say $195?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Wow! I think I paid $15 for the two-piece carpeted dash cover from my local swap-meet vendor. They were on sale that week, she said. Bought one for the Subaru wagon, Mom's Taurus, and the two-piece one for the 928. Had it on there since I've owned the car, give or take a couple weeks. Places like Kragen and Pep Boys will order one for you too, and they are not much more than the swap-meet rate x2. Still a lot less than $99!

Shark_gts

Could clean your boots on it I guess. I am not much for the fuzzy look myself. I'm too spoiled and have gotten to appreciate the quality feel, smell and look of fine leather, stainless steel, etc.

If you have a really nice S or S4 do you really want to be putting carper or plastic on the dash?

Cost of a dash re and re is about 6-8 hours shop time. For my 87 (sold) I did mine in a couple of days. A dash fixed is $500 USD. Recover is probably close to that too. So you are looking at $1000. That is why the cover route is popular.

kelli

I have been looking for a leather dash cover as well. There's nothin' like the smell and quality look of leather. I will check around locally to see if i can find anything cheaper

great idea!

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

urnotthesameina928

In response to many of us having the cracked dash problem I may have an idea for a alternative material to use.. It may or may not work.. I plan to next month get some of this to see how it may work.. It can be found in the parts express catalog and its a vinyl sheet sold by the yard for around $12/yard i believe. Its flexable , has that pebble texture..and Used to cover speaker boxes..its not speaker carpet.. but vinyl.. Only comes in black though..

SteveG

It depends on the quality and fit. I have a split pod; it is no hairline thing either, goes front to back. I can't see it at all when seated in the car, but I would pay $2 bills. But it would need to match the burgundy interior and not look like something from Kmart.

Randy, I'm disappointed in you, putting vinyl in that beautiful car. It's all that damn sunlight you get out there. I spent some time in Sacto eons ago and I wish I'd stayed. &lt;g&gt;

Drewster67

Food For Thought -

Go to a Fabric Outlet Store - Buy a nice peice of leather.

Take the Dash cover and Leather to either
Auto upholstery repair shop or Convertible Top repair shop and see if they can stitch the leather to match the Dash Cover?.

It's worth a try and this measure may save you some coin.

Randy V

Yeah Steve I hear ya, but I've come to appreciate the durability of the artificial stuff for some applications. Even then, I've had to have custom covers made for all the top-side upholstery on my boat - brutal UV conditions - almost as bad as what our dashboards are subjected to.

Not to say that leather wouldn't be nice though - it's just the maintenance thing.

Drewster67

Steve - you think Diego get's sunshine.

You need to take a trip to Phoenix and we'll show you some sunshine!. <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

I would go with a leather mat, but my energy level in fabricating one, as I mentioned earlier, is low.

For our Lo-cal, the cloth mats works best. With over 300 days of sunshine annually, there is no substitute for durability.

Shark_gts

We had a kit a couple of years ago that was made from UV resistant heat moldable vinyl. No grain though it looked kind of funny. Got rid of any cracks, and really stuck. But it didn't do the job visually. Leather would have been better, at least that is an upgrade. Shown in yellow to illustrate coverage....

Gary Quayle

My 1983S came with the leather option package, but the dash is vinyl. This may seem a strange combination from the factory, but I have owned the auto since 1989 and am real sure that the PO didn't switch out a leather dash for a vinyl one. The nice thing about my original vinyl dash is that it isn't cracked.