Lotus Elan Central

by **zaria123** » Sun 11.01.2009, 13:31

Just had my seats refurbished and retrimmed, by Transcal Leather in Scotland to a design I had drawn, full leather, colour 'Chamois', they also did my handbrake, gear lever, and a really neat job with double stitching on my door handle surrounds. They also did the door inserts and steering wheel (last two not photographed yet!). I opted to delete the piping in favour of double stitching, and now in the process of finding a local trimmer to come up with a close colour match to replace the carpets. Might not be to everyones taste, but I wanted a change from the all the grey, and something a bit more upmarket, plus my original trim was only half leather. Now waiting for the summer as I haven't been able to get the roof down (outdoors!!) on the car since I bought it!

by **HJ2** » Sun 11.01.2009, 13:33

Very classy!

by **ektrolleyboy** » Sun 11.01.2009, 14:36

Very nice job! Vey Alfa Romeo...
Not the colour I'd have chosen for Pacific, but beautiful nevertheless...

by **Monty** » Sun 11.01.2009, 14:40

looks like very good workmanship, especially on the door lever surround :smt023

by **londoner** » Sun 11.01.2009, 14:41

This is really nice. You've got good taste. How much did it cost u? Good workmanship from what I can see..

Cheers.

by **MattDon** » Sun 11.01.2009, 16:35

stunning!!! Im very jelous.

by **Nige** » Sun 11.01.2009, 18:18

Very nice indeed. Good effort for being different, it's worked very well.

by **JIMBO** » Sun 11.01.2009, 20:36

Wow! thats really impressive.
I recently emailed the lady who left Lotus to start up her own trimming business, but have not received a reply.
Maybe I need to contact your people, it looks very expensive, and due to other unexpected purchases for
the car, I might not be able to afford that level of workmanship.
Great job, well done, and summers not that far away,
Regards
Jim

by **Rambo** » Sun 11.01.2009, 20:45

It looks very good and high qualty workmanship Zaria. Don't forget to put the metal plates back on otherwise you may puncture/scrape the leather (or ensure your seat isn't pushed too far back)

Did you replace any of the foam ie side bolsters or fasteners under the seat ?

by **chris.t** » Sun 11.01.2009, 21:36

Costs please, classy looking job!!!

Website · by **theelanman** » Sun 11.01.2009, 22:10

quality....
like the seat ribbing...also the escutcheons look a brill idea for those who have chipped or cracked versions

by **Enright** » Mon 12.01.2009, 00:51

theelanman wrote:quality....
like the seat ribbing...also the escutcheons look a brill idea for those who have chipped or cracked versions

Just what I was thinking.
Only thing is I wonder how they're going to be secured without access to the screw-hole in the middle?
It's not such an issue with the door cards as they fit into a concave recess, but the escutcheons could pop out if not careful.

Website · by **theelanman** » Mon 12.01.2009, 01:26

Enright wrote:
theelanman wrote:quality....
like the seat ribbing...also the escutcheons look a brill idea for those who have chipped or cracked versions

Just what I was thinking.
Only thing is I wonder how they're going to be secured without access to the screw-hole in the middle?
It's not such an issue with the door cards as they fit into a concave recess, but the escutcheons could pop out if not careful.

Neil
my CF ones are just wedged in.....well with a tiny blob of sikaflex on the front facing rounded edge
thats it...didnt bother drilling mine......
cheers
G

by **zaria123** » Mon 12.01.2009, 11:29

Hi Guys

Thanks for the comments. I had loosely based the seat design around the early (circa '96) Jag XK8 Coupe. As for the colour I know its not everyones bag, but I have sucessfully used the combo of various shades of blues with cream / tan interiors quite sucessfully on various cars Ive owned inc XK8, Hyundai Coupe, etc, but definately giving a mor etaditional upmarket look, rather than sport car / racer look.

My cars mileage isnt that high so the seats hadn't sagged or anything, but they did change various parts of the foam and supports to give more support.

Transcal painted the Escutcheon screw for me to colour match the leather, and they did the same with the metal buffer on the back of the seat. The screw hole is still in the escutcheon behind the leather, but I have decided to attach them in the same way the door inserts are done if possible.

I tried Bromsgrove, after seeing the photos on their website, but they wouldnt do the job without the car being present. Transcal on the other hand do it all by courier which helps seeing I am in Northern Ireland!

The total cost:
Seats, Striiping, Refurb and Retrim
Hand Brake, Gear Lever
Escutcheons
Door Inserts
Steering Wheel
Insurance and Courier for delivery and return to NI:
£1023.00

Turn around time is usually 2 weeks (although steering wheels can delay the process), mine took a bit longer as I had sent my seats over the Christmas period

Here is another photo of a car they did for me a few years ago, a bit bright (!!!), but they got the leather hide dyed to match the paint colour of the car:

Transcal Limited
Firth Road
Houstoun Industrial Estate
Livingston EH54 5DJ
Scotland
United Kingdom

www.transcal.co.uk

Alan

by **Gee0** » Mon 12.01.2009, 19:55

WOW GRRRRRRRRREAT PRICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really nice job, Love the detailing

by **londoner** » Tue 13.01.2009, 09:15

Any pictures of the new trim installed?

by **Sy V** » Tue 13.01.2009, 11:42

Londoner

I think you're suffering from the same problem as I have.
There are a number of pictures in the first post but my corporate firewall doesn't allow me access to wherever they're hosted, so it appears to be a photo-less thread to me.

by **zaria123** » Tue 13.01.2009, 12:46

The pics in the first post show the seats unfitted, I now have some photos of the seats and trim from trial fit last night. the photos are hosted on photobucket
If they dont load for you here try this link:
http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l189/ohohfigaro/
Hopefully will get the other photos on photobucket and uploaded here Wednesday
Cheers
Alan

by **Jackonicko** » Tue 13.01.2009, 13:03

I'm just wondering if charcoal leather escutcheons - perhaps with perforated leather in the concave section, would be a better idea than painted carbonfibre ones? (Or grey/red, grey/yellow as appropriate)

Group buy, anyone?

One might then put a similar leather panel in place of the carpet section low down on the door?

Website · by **theelanman** » Tue 13.01.2009, 13:09

zaria123 wrote:The pics in the first post show the seats unfitted, I now have some photos of the seats and trim from trial fit last night. the photos are hosted on photobucket
If they dont load for you here try this link:
http://www.photobucket.com/ohohfigaro/
Hopefully will get the other photos on photobucket and uploaded here Wednesday
Cheers
Alan

Al
that a wide and varied car history you have there....
an eclectic mix to say the least :-D