Interior Work

[elan4me]

Thanks for all your help with the mirrors.
I've decided to refinish the dash, which means now I need to replace the Dash Pad. I called Just Dashes and they estimated it would be around $600 - $700 to rebuild it. What other suggestion do you have?
I also have too tears in the driver's seat. It looks like it need to be rebuilt. Is this something I can do? Or should I leave it to a Pro?
Thanks again!
Stan

[type36lotus]

The auto upholsterer who did my seats and door panels removed the hard cracked plastic cover from the crash pad exposing the foam core. He then recovered it with vinyl. Looks great, a little less detail around the vent, but only an expert would ever notice. It also does not have that hard feel of the plastic repoductions.

[worzel]

Hi

How patient are you- I made a crash pad from GRP using the car as a mould to ensure a perfect fit. Basically if you can wqork with fibreglass what you do is first remove the old foam piece and clean up the area. Next cover everything with masking tape including the bottom 3 inches of the screen and start laminating. Put at most 2 layers of one ounce matting over the whole area.

Next after it sets you have to carefully remove and tidy it up. Then re-mask the same area and start building up the thickness. If you do it properly you end up (eventually) with a pretty hefty panel which is moulded to your car. Because it's heavy and is a snug fit you don't actually need to fasten it down.

It's a long winded job but it will never warp or rattle or creak. I trimmed mine in black leathercloth- it's been in the car some fourteen years. Total cost of the panel itself- about ?10 plus trimming materials. Cheaper than most other options I considered. Anybody interested I can send some interior shots of the finished article. I challenge anybody not to think it's a professional job. Although I'm not really interested in making copies(it really is one hell of a job) if anybody wants to have a go themselves they're welcome to chat.

John

[Evan Carpenter-Crawford]

Heafty piece is right!
I can hear Colin spinning in his grave!

While I applaud the ingenuity of doing it yourself, I have to believe there is a better way.
(no offense, it's just not how I'd do it)

In the same vein however, I not too long ago purchased a "reproduction" fiberglass dash pad for my s4, and while it may eventually work, it won't be without a considerable amount of tweaking.
It did not fit the heater grill and the outer w"wings" are angled in too far. I'm still wieghing whether to send it back and have Just Dashes redo my existing pad (at far greater expense) or to tackle the mods to the reproduction part myself. Another concern in all this is that even if I get the reproduction part to fit correctly, it will have to be trimmed out in leather or finished with paint, rather than matching the original texture. My understanding is that Just Dashes can match the texture. Either way lighter is better....

[khamai]

I too contacted Just Dashes. Same price. But I don't have a crash pad in good enough condition for them to create a mold. Seems like there might be enough interest amoungest us to possibly look into a group buy.

Obviously we'd need to:
a) figure out what configuration folks want (1 or 2 hole)
B) locate sample units in good condition for molding
c) collect deposits/orders in advance

I'd need a 1 hole crash pad for my S2.

As for seat upholstery... I purchased a couple of sets from Fabulous Frank. Frank's kits have the proper molded ribbing in the seats, arm rests and console covers. I then had them installed by an upholstery shop. Excellent results and looks original!

Kiyoshi

[worzel]

Hi again

I agree with the point that there is a better (or at least easier) way. If I was to repeat the exercise I'd make the base then sanwich stiffish foam between that and the upper, finishing layer. This would reduce the weight a lot whils still retaining the stiffness- but we all learn after the event.

The big problem with making a stiff panel such as this is that you have to exact in terms of making it fit adjacent areas because there's no "give". I had to allow for the thickness of the leathercloth covering believe it or not. It is heavy but- as a % of the total vehicle weight the extra is insignificant- doesn't feel anyy slower anyway!


John