Sab

I would like to get some parts recovered in leather. Does anyone have templates for the dashboard, the instrument pod or the armrests? Or has anyone done this before and has some usefull tips? I figured with the templates any upholstery place should be able to do it, no?
Thanks,
Sab.

John V

With the exception of the instrument pod, most upholstery shops should be able to handle this.

Just did the dash, glove box, cassette box and door panels in vinyl(not the arm rests). I did it myself and didn't have the guts to use real hides. I tried using the skins that came off to make pettens and had miserable luck. (out of shape, and new pieces wouldn't sit right).

I found that I had better success making my own patterns slightly smaller than the features and stretching and glueing into place. I don't know if this can be done with hides?? I didn't keep the patterns because we made too many adjustments as the sewing progressed to get everything to fit perfect. My pod was perfect so that wasn't covered and I'm not sure it could be because of the shape and switch features.

At either end of the dash, the original leather had a seam that didn't follow the contour of the dash. I tried to duplicate this but the endcaps needed to be preformed for this to work properly. After several attempts, I patterned the contour and had much better results although this does depart from the original pattern. Use a good quality contact cement and let the upholstery shop remove the old cevering so that they can duplicate the construction technique.

Hope this helps.

John Struthers

Sab,
Go check your pod again...I'll wait...
Sure its leather? I would have sworn my Weissach
was all leather, too. If you want a reasonably
priced job check out Portia's Parts and Restoration, E-mail; <a href="http://www.kondratyev.com/porsche/" target="_blank">http://www.kondratyev.com/porsche/</a>
Only a $50.00 core charge and, supposedly, ships in days after color matching. all on his site.
He also has some sHARKs for sale ... spiffy site,
check it out. I'm going to send Pattycakes' pod in on the 15th of Feb when he opens his larger shop so if you can wait till the end of Feb. I'll be either praising or cursing him...
John S. & Pattycakes

Sab

John,
no my pod and dash are the basic plastic / foam composit parts (cracked in severall places). But I figured it would look a lot nicer in leather since I will have to redo them anyway. So I was hoping to get templates from someone that actually has the leather dash / pod and maybe even the armrests leather option and had it redone. I would think that the actual dash and pod restauration might be more than the leather option anyway.
Here a link of what I would like to get accomplished, which is unfortunately not my car but rather some pictures from a pretty nice example.
<a href="http://www.mygismo.com/porsche-928-s4/928-leather/default.htm" target="_blank">link to nice leather work example</a>
regards,
Sab.

Sab

John V,
thanks for the info, I might just try it myself as well. I would assume that leather or vinyl should work the same.
regards,
Sebastian.

Nicole

The problem you will encounter in hot areas, such as Florida, is that no matter what glue you use, it will soften in the heat. This might allow the leather to shift as it has a tendency to dry and shrink under heat (after all, it's natural material). The glue was supposedly the main reason why the leather pulled away in so many 928s. Porsche has found a better glue in the meantime, but I have no idea if it is available on the open market. Just something to be aware of...

If you can't find templates, try getting some of the older 928 brochures - they have pretty good pictures of the leather dashes from the factory. You should also see how the leather continues in the door panels and center console.

In case you decide not to go with the full leather, take a look at this site also: <a href="http://www.justdashes.com/index_home.htm" target="_blank">Just Dashes</a>

Bryan

Holy cow! Hah hah.

Does anyone have any idea who did that amazing tan leatherwork in that above link? That is fantastic looking work.

My leather dash is just starting to pull away from the defroster vents a little. I would feel comfortable entrusting my dash to whoever did that work.

Bryan

John Struthers

Sab,
John, again.
Portia's Prices:
Refundable core charge - $50.00
Basic Black - $125.00
Color/texture match - sample required - $20.00
Shipping - $20.00
So it totals out at roughly $165.00 with a year of warranty.
This opposed to about $300.00 for Just Dashes.
If you haven't checked the site , give it a shot.
Also has flicks of the products.
A lot of tight radiuses for leather on the pod.
Now as to the seats...down the road in my case... I'll be looking hard.
Later, John S. & Pattycakes

tdelarm

Bryan and all,
That car w/ the fine leather work is for sale on ebay & once owned by Tom Selleck so they say. Expensive asking price but a nice example.

Max

I really never thought about it till just now! But I would think that a good sattle maker(for horses)would be someone to approach for this kind of leather work. You could even have you name stitched in there somewhere, LOL.

Just a thought

Max

John Struthers

Max,
You are closer to the border than I am check out a reliable Mexican holsterer-I think that means the same thing as a saddle maker-.
I know when I was stationed at Ft. Bliss -anything but- a lot of guy's just dropped their cars off in Jaurez -get the insurance- and picked it back up in 2-4 days.
All of the work was world class!
However, some guys ended up with...shall we say leather that was not quite cured. Which wasn't really noticeable till the car sat for a few hours in the glorius West Texas sun then of course it developed a lingering, barnyard aroma.
Maybe you could become a leather goods merchant.
Who knows... a few templates, some seed money...
a market,,, I smell IPO here or was that uncured leather?
John S. & Pattycakes

Max

ROFLMBO, John you crack me up somtimes.

Long, But True story

A year ago, friends from Manatoba, Canada came down to check out the area prior to moving.
While they were here they of course wanted to go over to Mexico for the day(as most of our northern freinds do).
After 30 min. of walking around in the hot summer air looking for a "Special Colored Mexico blanket" (like the one saw the last time they visited), I gave them directions to my favoite cantina (A/C and good but cheap boz).
On my way to the cantina I noticed a large truck parked in the middle of the street. When I got closer to the truck I could see that they were unloading Mexican blankets and carring them into the shop next door to my favorite cantina.
The driver of the truck was standing on the side walk and looked to be American. So in passing I asked him what part of Mexico did those blankets come from. With a big smile he said "New Mexico".
About that time two of the helpers were passing by with their large bundles and one bundle was just what my freinds wife was looking for.
After two hours of relaxation, my Canadian freinds showed up with their "Special Colored Mexico blanket" looking hot and battered from their long day. I ask "so were did you end up finding it" they replied "right next door".
I waited till they moved down to tell them were it was made. LOL

Cheers

Max

Donald

Max-
Good story. Last ime I tried bargaining down in Reynosa (is the US Bar & Grill gone?) the shop owner looked up at me and said "Don't even try. I have an MBA from Harvard".
Are you up & running again? How is the new motor, and how did the installation go?

Cheers,
Donald

Max

We try to stay out of Reynosa and Matamoras they have become industrial towns, bridge crossings a pain. The night clubs are better in Rey. and Mat. if you are into that stuff. For general shopping Progresso is a bit cleaner and they try to keep it organized for the tuoristas.

I'm not giving up the name or the were abouts of my little bar. Once the tuoristas find it, the price and water content of the boz will go up, the service quality will fade and I'll be forced to go looking for a new place to hang out.

The motor hasn't made it back from DEVEK yet . I talked with Marc Last Friday and he is still awaiting some out side services to be complete on the heads (Big Valves, port work and GT cams). The 5.4L bottom end is complete and everything that is to be replaced with new is in house. The intake and valve covers have been refinished and rebuilt Flappy. So as soon as the heads come back everything should come together quickly. I am really hoping for mid Feb. at the latest.

I can Hope, can't I !

The last time we talked, didn't you have a brake job going on? How did it turn out?

Cheers

Max

Donald

Alright, how about if we run down for afternoon shopping & cocktails, and you swear us to secrecy? I went through Progresso last 15-20 years ago when we needed a second crossing for the dove count.

Sounds like your motor will be something- what else are you having done?

Nope, no brake job here, just working out the FI wiring gremlins. Did you get the KTS adapter?
Cheers

Donald