Sailmed

Well I'm building the molds again - it really isn't that difficult - heating and molding formica and building a backing. I tried to upload pictures and get a "file to large" message - I can do glass, but the computer whips my a$$
I'm trying aluminium Ell bracket for the top door insert and may just build the door handles out of teak - the problem i am facing is the forward curve - trying to match that to the sweep in the dash and make it look aesthetically pleasing is a bitch. I'm not about to try building a new dash - by the time I'm done I could build a whole new interior!
Thank you Dan - but I'm sticking to leather - I believe it is stronger and easier to dye - IF - I make any extras for the group - you can cover your own!
I also wonder if these are marketable in the first place given the different speaker configurations that we all try. Kind of like a one of a kind project - one that only crazy people do anyway. Aarg!
I should probably funnel all this energy into a "real" job and buy a Maybach

Podguy

Plush is leather.!

Sailmed

My Bad - Sorry Dan - I did a quick google on "plush" and it stated a "textile" - I thought that might be what you were speaking of - until I had visions of hanging dice on the rearview
Could you kindly point me to a web sight please

Podguy

I will ask my upholstery person where she gets the leather. It sure is nice and much more reasonable than the German Leather. I would not use it on seats becuase of the beating they take, but for the dash, pod, side panels and other parts it is easy to craft and feels outstanding. It also responds well to a heat gun, which for the many shapes on the pod face and dash is a must.

She gets the hides locally. You might check with local leather supply houses as I doubt if her supplier ships - strickly wholesale. You have to buy half a hide minimum, but if you car doing door panels and quarter panels you will need at least a hide. She came up with some brown as well as the black. The brown was almost a perfect match for the Porsche color. She said there was a tan and cork color that were pretty close as well.

Dan the Pod Guy

Champagne

I deal with the 3 largest importers and distributors of hides in North America and I have never heard of that terminology.
Leather is described in many ways, depending on it's treatment, use and/or appearance. It can be aniline, semi-aniline. Protected and/or corrected. Vat dyed, full grain, Nubuck, suede etc. But I have never seen or heard of plush.

If it responds well to the heat gun, that makes it even stranger.

Paul

RngTrtl

If you are hunting beautiful leather, Paul is the man to go to. He scored me a piece to make a shift gate cover and the color and texture were awesome.

Bus

Ken,
This is an interesting idea.... I've never had mine off to look at them.. I wonder if it is such that I could cut the shape out of a piece of firm foam on my CNC cutter (the one that made the cars)???

I need to come up with another project for this machine soon... it's sitting idle and the bosses seem determined to sell it...

Do you have an idea of the profile you'd like to see... say from the back looking forward?
Michael

Sailmed

Michael,
I wonder - being old school - what I am going through to build the panel molds is a multi-step process of supporting the old panel from the rear - filling every microscopic void - gelcoating - fairing the gelcoat - getting a coat of mold release on it - this is now the "plug" that needs to be modified for speakers - and then repeating the process on the opposite side for the "mold". All this effort is just trying to reproduce the negative face of the panel to use as the mold.
Can you cut a "negative" out of firm foam with this machine? With this I could simply build support from the back so it wouldn't tear up when used as a mold. But alas - maybe this would be too simple

Podguy

Michael,

If you want a project for the CNC about making some window guides out of aluminum. The plastic ones always wear out and the windows rattle. When I put in new guides, the windows work smooth with no noise, but how long the new guides last is questionable. You could even engineer in some spring loaded ball bearings to make them even smoother and last longer. The plastic quides are not cheap and are now getting harder to get. A couple more rounds of Porsche price increases and they will cost more than the car is worth.

Dan the Pod Guy

Podguy

There must be some modern materials today that can be pressed to shape without taking all the time to lay up serveral layers of fiberglas.

Dan the Pod Guy

medipedicman

I am going through the same thing now. Every 928 I have owned or looked at had warped rear qtrs and a messed up dash. I have removed my rear quarters and are trying to rehab them myself (without much luck). I have considered adhering a light weight interior carpet directly to the foam in the rear area but I dont think I could pull off the rear seat area. I have even considered cutting the quarter at the point where the back seat rests in the upright position.

Thank goodness for Limo tint

PorKen

Michael,

Unfortunately for your CNC, I don't think the shape of the rib fillers is too critical.


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