New Leather Trim Just Complete

[zaria123]

Ive uploaded some more photos of the test fit now. Im not 100% convinced the steering wheel was the right choice though , perhaps when the carpet is changed to a similar shade it might be better ? Not sure how much the carbon fibre escutcheons cost, but the leather trimmed ones in Charcoal would be a nice to if you were sticking with the original interior.

http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l189/ohohfigaro/

I admit I have bizarre taste in vehicles !! Over the years the majority have been British glassfibre bodied (Lotus, Scimitar SS1, various Reliant Kitten, Robin, Tr-Tech Zetta, etc) I have two Bond Bugs, one totally original '73 one at the final stages of recommissioning after 14 years in storage, and the other a '72 undergoing complete restoration (Ive owned the latter for 28 years). I also still have the '83 Skoda Cabriolet, the '91 Nissan Figaro, and the '83 Series III Landy.

The photos below aren't great as the flash means the seat colour looks to white, the ones without the flash are a bit fuzzy and make the seats looka bit yellow. When its all finished, carpet etc. I'll take better photos in natural light !

[Rambo]

Not sure about the steering wheel either It might show the dirt ?

I see what you mean about colour and flash etc.. In your avatar your car looks a totally different colour to those in the photo's. And the leather also looks totally different

[ektrolleyboy]

Maybe if you get the door carpets and pockets trimmed to match, it would tone down the steering wheel some more...
But on the whole I like it!

Is it Vanilla bordering on tan?
Or is it Magnolia?

The different photographs show different colours...

[mnemonix]

Beautiful job, the seats and door trims work perfectly.

I agree the steering wheel looks a bit off, and personally I would never do the gear & handbrake gaiters in coloured leather, they're too small, oddly shaped and isolated against the grey tunnel to have attention drawn to them in this way, making the interior look overly busy (sorry, designer by profession).

[zaria123]

Cheers for the comments guys.......

The colour of the leather is a Tan / Caramel , rather than the lighter / whiter / yellowy shade it looks in the various photos. The first photos of the seats unfitted are a better guide for colour, but still look a little lighter than in reality.

I am getting the carpet inserts on the doors, and all the remaining carpet done in as close a colour as possible. Im also going to get the trimmers to make a set of matching floor mats while they're at it (what do you think......with or withour Charcoal binding???).

I wasn't sure about the gaiters either and was 50/50 when I was ordering them, but I'll wait and see when the jobs finished with the carpet etc, and see If change or keep the gaiters. Steering wheel yet to decided, I think the whole dash and door panels would need to be the same colour to make the wheel blend in better! Easily (if not cheaply!) changed though.

[Jackonicko]

Having gone that far, I'd say that you should go all the way. The problems (to my eyes) lie in the mismatch between the Lotus Grey and your new colour. Dash, tunnel, doorcards and steering wheel centre.

It's not to my taste, but it's beautifully done, and it will make the interior look classy and roomy.

[zaria123]

Isnt that the way the S2's are though? I.e. they have cream seats and door inserts, all the rest is still charcoal?

[MattDon]

yes but that doesnt make it right i think the issue is there is just a little too much of the grey, i think replacing the carpets with something lighter and a few other areas of matching leather, perhaps the door carpet and pockets , maybe even the center console, hell even the dash

the only thing i have issue with is the escutcheons, they look great but the difference between the width of those and the door cards realy bothers me, ive been racking my brains on how to make them (or make them look) the same width

[Gazza]

Looks very good but I would do the pockets as well, not to keen on the steering wheel though.

How much are they charging for the new carpets? I have been wanting Dark Blue for ages. Is it going to be a one off or is it possible for them to make the kit available in various colours?

Did you think about having the carpet done in Blue to match the Pacific Bodywork?

Gazza

[Gee0]

Just a thought, When is was thinking for doing mine I spoke with the guys from Bromsgrove, he suggested covering the cubby hole lid in the centre console, this would tie in the seats, centre console together.

Some one theat can photoshop may be able to show us on the pic above.

As for the cream wheel, I have cream in my day drive (Volvo S80) including wheel and love it , OK you have to keep a pack of baby wipes in the car and give it a wipe once a week or so but 8 months later and i still love it.

[Doug]

looks nice

only problem with doing the door pockets is you have to remove each door card to get the pockets released from the door card to work on . . .

[zaria123]

Hi Guys

Mattdon, I have to agree the difference in the width of the escucheons and the door insert niggles me a bit, and I hadnt realised it until the pieces were trimmed. I guess to solution would be to cover the Escucheons in the Tan colour with a border of Charcoal leather to give the illusion that the widths matched, unfortunately I'd probably have to send the who door panel over to get this achieved correctly. So for the minute I'll have to live with it and see how much it annoys me .

Gee0 I had also thought of covering the arm rest, and possibly the door pockets, but i was concerned about it ending uo looking completely patchwork, of Charcoal with many areas of Tan dotted all around the place. I guess its hard to visualise these things until someone is brave enought to do it Thansk for the comment on the wheel, Im getting to like it the more I see it

Gazza, Blue carpets were considered, as the door pockets, but again in my mind I visualised introducing a 3rd colour to the scheme would maybe make it all a bit much.

My original idea had been to put charcoal piping on the seats, but for me it detracted from the look of them. The gaiters and steering wheel were a total experiment, and they're growing on my now, and I think will settle more once I get the carpet.

As for having to take the door panels off to do the door pockets, that wouldn't have a been too much of an issue as Im going to replace my weather strips, as they are just starting to to look a wee bit tired.

I had thought about trimming the whole blooming lot - dash, door panels, console, but then there are also all the other smaller mouldings throughout the interior, plus removing the dash is a bigger job than I think I want to do! However it would have made a stunning job, and a bigger hole in my pocket. To do absolutely everything inside the car in the leather would have been nearly £3k . I am made, but not yet insane

As for the carpet, my local trimmer is trying to get me colour samples to choose, and we haven't discussed prices yet....will update when I hear

Cheers
Alan

[zaria123]

I have been trying to remove the centre console to make the trimmers job a bit easier for carpet fitting.

I have found a securing bolt under the armrest storage area, but even with that remove the console still feels totally solid, obviously there are more fixings.....would anyone be able to give me an idea of where???

Cheers
Alan

[DeeAitch]

I have been trying to remove the centre console to make the trimmers job a bit easier for carpet fitting.

I have found a securing bolt under the armrest storage area, but even with that remove the console still feels totally solid, obviously there are more fixings.....would anyone be able to give me an idea of where???

Cheers
Alan

IIRC there are 2 more screws at the front - access thro' the window switch holes. You will probably need to loosen the handbrake cables to get it over the lever.

Nice Re-trim BTW

[rip]

Not sure about the steering wheel either It might show the dirt ?

I like it now & you should be ok if you religiously wear driving gloves.

[zaria123]

Cheers Guys
I'll have another look and find the additional fixings, it might be enough for the trimmer with it just loose.

Thanks for the comments too....think I'll forego the driving gloves...just for mow....

BTW, the trimmer is a very, very small business....one man band (unlike Transcal who did my leather trim). So unfortunately he wouldn't be interested in doing sets to order , rather he hand fits everything to each individual car .

tHOUGH OUT OF INTEREST......He has given me a price - between £200 - £220 all in for:
Recarpet the bottom area of the door panels
Recarpet the entire floor, inc the map pocket between the seats ETC ETC. with leather binding along the top of the map pocket
Also included leather binding on all the carpet to match the seats
Price also will include a set of leather bound fitted floor mats.

Cheers
Alan

[ronjr]

Alan, £200 seems a steal. I was charged £600 for the same job for car one. For car two I myself ripped out all the old damp carpets which had been stuck down with a heavy evostick type glue and took out all the sound deadening foam bits which had also soaked up water like a sponge. That was the hard work bit and so just the easy bit of fitting new carpeting here was £300. You should not need to bother trying to remove the centre console bit with hand brake etc as there is ample room for carpet stuffing up each side with it in situ. It can of course be lifted up by getting at the bolts under the two little tray mats. The tricky bits are up the sides of the door sills but leave that to the fitters. I should add that having driven the car to the fitter's garage I took out the two seats and dumped them on his shelving and reversed the process to fit them again - obviously before driving off. The removal of seats is almost the only thing I know I can do around the car as I have not the skills for the tecnical stuff.

One puzzle which someone could enlighten me on. The sides of the seats facing out are secured by a long bolt going through to have a nut fitted from underneath the car. The inner sides ie handbrake side have a shorter bolt going through to a movable double plate to fit into a thread within that, which can be a bit of a bugger to align and get it to take hold.

Yours aye

Ron

[zaria123]

Hi Guys

Been to my eyes, so haven't yet got the seats and trim finally fitted, plus Im waiting on a new carpet set arriving first.

Just wondered, about using SIKAFLEX for attaching the interior door inserts. Which SIKAFLEX is the best to use, there seems to be vaious versions?

Also, do I use the same type for tidying up the rubber door seals (where they wrap up to touch the window weather strips)?

Cheers
Alan

[max and andy]

We looked earlier at an old thread and got 221 and 291 i think they are the same i could be wrong. We both for once agree where cars are concerned. The Elans dashboard and centre console look far classier if their in black. If it didn't look such a hard job we would like to change Maxine's. We also think they look nice with dark brown leather. I think we have only seen one with a vintage leather look. We will have to stick to black leather for now maybe a bit of palacio piping later on. Zarias looks a treat and a grand makes you think. Max & Andy

[zaria123]