Jerry Feather

Now, five more pictures which show Doug making some relief cuts along each side of the main french seam where it is goig to go out of sight at the bottom otward corners of the pod. They also show Doug working the leather over the inside surfaces of the tunnel; and finally Doug is respraying some glue in a couple of areas where the glue is getting too dry to be tacky enough.

It may not seem like it but up to this point Doug has been working the leather for a good half hour, and that is after the original spray of glue has set properly.

Notice how nicely Doug has the center of the french seam right on the crown of the pod edge.

Jerry Feather

Here is the fourth set of five pictures that show the tunnel is nearly covered inside and Doug is working on some surfaces aroundthe nose of the pod.

Doug has also sprayed some glue on the backside around the tunnel so it can set before he starts to pull the edges to finish.

Jerry Feather

Here we see in these pictures that Doug is wrestling with the leather around the nose of the pod, and then he is splitting the leather around the inside of the back of the tunnel so he can finish the back side of that area.

Jerry Feather

This set of five pictures shows Doug completing the back side of the tunnel and then he is stretching the black leather over the back of the top of the pod. I think you can see by the expression on his face how hard he is having to pull on the leather to get it to stretch enough to actually shrink along the very back edge where it gets quite a bit smaller wher the leather goes under and out of sight. He has to pull pretty hard to pull all the potential wrinkles out of this area.

Jerry Feather

This last set of pictures Shows Doug rubbing some wrinkles out of the leather with the heal of his scissors and clipping some leather off pleats in places in back, and then we have the final pod outside and inside for your inspection. Next I am going to go through the process of forming the leather into the switch opening recesses.

Dean_Fuller

Those photos are PERFECT! Especially the one where he clearly shows how to START with a centerline on both the pod and cover....makes perfect sense. Thanks again Jerry for such an awesome tutorial.

Jerry Feather

Thanks Dean. There is an interesting thing about that particular picture and that is that right after I snapped that picture Doug noticed that he was putting the learther on backwards. He has the tan on top when it should be the Black on top. He changed it before the next picture after the can of glue. I'll bet no one noticed.

Jerry Feather

Dean_Fuller

Ha...I sure did not notice. Looks like by the second pic he was back on track. I have done the SAME thing on his dash. I've given it about 4 tries and I think I may have it now.

Again...I think the pod is the hardest piece to cover in this car. This thread has REALLY helped. Thanks again....and for the record....anyone trying this at home...please Don't expect perfection the first time. I know it will take a few tries to get it right with anyone.

rgs944

Yes, those are very good pics. . Maybe I missed them but do you have any pics of the form tool you used for the **** holes? I have not found anything yet that I think will work well. I am continuing to work my pod and it is getting better all the time. Thank you Dean and Jerry for the great advice and encouragement.

Jerry Feather

rgs, and All, I am going to rework the tooling I previously made to do the switch recess leather forming and I'll show the process as I go. That will be the last phase of this project except perhaps making another different shape aluminum ring/bezel for the ignition switch opening which on this pod is a broader opening than I had remembered on the black pod I sent to Dean.

Some time ago I was planning to make the tooling to form some rings for this opening out of ABS plastic and I even cut a couple of pieces of aluminum and made some measurements, but then I got sidetracked on the WW liner project and set the ring project aside. Now is not a good time to try to get back to that, but maybe later.

It will likely be next weekend before I can report on the forming class, or maybe some time this week while I have glue drying.

Jerry Feather

dcrasta

Awesome!

Your work is excellent! thanks!

garylewa

Hi Jerry,
I am curious as to what type of thread you use to sew the cover as well as sewing needle size. I am using 3-4oz weight cowhide on my pod if that helps. Sorry for all of the questions; I'm just want to do the best possible job I can.

Thanks again, Gary

Jerry Feather

Gary, I am not ignoring your request about the thread and needle; I'm just waiting for Doug to get back in town to give me the answer.

rgs, the answer to your question about forming the leather in the switch openings is going to follow.

Jerry Feather

Jerry Feather

I mentioned above that I was going to re-fabricate the tooling for the leather forming, but when I started digging around for the original set I discovered that I have had a laps of memory about exactly what I had used in the first few of these I did.

Here is a picture of the original tooling. What I am going to do with the start of the remake of this is simply make about 5 or 6 sets of these devises and use them as loaners to all or any in the class who get their project to this point and might like these to use. They don't amount to too much, but the wooden cone for the larger switch opening will be hard to replicate by most of you. There is an extra one of the other devises that is used with the pods with the small ignition switch opening.

Jerry Feather

G Man

Nice work, looks great! I'm remaining hopeful that someone will come up with a way to vac form a single piece of vinyl over the pod.