| Author | Message | ||
| Jerry H (Jerry)
Junior Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 140 Registered: 3-2001 |
Tifosi12- The carpets were left in to dye. Real economical way of keeping the car original for little $$$. As far as the console...don't be afraid, it is not as difficult as it seems, the only challange is getting the console out. I would not recommend leaving it in, but that's me. I'm sure someone has done it and is happy with it. I learned alot about the car by pulling it. My shifter needed greese, I would never have known that if I didn't pull it. Note: The shifter and the hand brake keep the console from coming out..the shifter keeps it from coming forward and the hand brake keeps it from coming straight up. I pulled the cotter pin on the hand brake (where the cable meets the lever in the console) when I had the console swithes and "switch plate" out. In hind sight I think I would have just pulled the shifter (4 bolts) since I shortened it anyway. A note on the switches...almost all of the switches stay in the car. That is to say that the 2 ac, wiper, arial, fan etc all stayed. Bottom line not the hard part. All...keep in mind that I am not a motor head. I am just an average guy living in a nieghborhood like most of you. 2 car garage burb house. This was not real hard. alot of time yes but not real hard. If any of you are thinking about doing this feel free to email me with yoor phone # and we can talk about it, keep my # so if you get stuck you call to see if I can help. I have posted some more pics of before and after. Much to my dismay the pics I took of the whole process did not come out (old disposable camera) a few did come out and I will include them in my step by step.  | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Junior Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 110 Registered: 10-2002 |
Jerry, a few questions: Carpets: How did you remove the carpets to have them redyed and how did you put them back in? Aren't they glued in? Don't they rip when you yank them out? What glue (if any) did you use to put them back in? Console: The spray gun method you describe, does that apply to the leather of the center console too? I assume you took the console out and sprayed that way, but I'm thinking I might be able to get away with leaving it in place and masking all switches. What do you think? | ||
| Jerry H (Jerry)
Junior Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 139 Registered: 3-2001 |
Stephen S- I sprayed my color on with an auto detail sprayer. Like the big paint sprayer but a smaller cup. I srayed VERY light coats and dryed with a hair dryer in between. FWIW this was the first time I have ever used a spray gun. The process in short is as follows: 1)Strip old color with Laquer thinner. 2)Use rejuvinator oil to help bring softness to leather 3) Sand leather lightly to remove remaining color. Be careful not to suad the leather. 4) clean leather well with prep (1/3 each amonia, alcohal,409) 5) spray light coats of color use hair dryer in between coats. This is the short version but it is what I did. | ||
| Stephen E. Schroeder (Seschroeder)
New member Username: Seschroeder Post Number: 37 Registered: 4-2002 |
WOW!!! That really looks terrific. How did you get the Leatherique dye on so smoothly? I'm doing my car and for the life of me I can't get the dye on as smoothly as I think in so go. You've obviously broken the code. | ||
| Jerry H (Jerry)
Junior Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 138 Registered: 3-2001 |
Ron R- The back deck was not that difficult. The original cloth is rather expensive and actually quite impractical in my mind. The task involves removing the rear 1/4 quarter windows...no big deal. | ||
| Eric Eiland (Eric308gtsiqv)
Member Username: Eric308gtsiqv Post Number: 484 Registered: 11-2001 |
Superb job, Jerry...your interior looks fantastic! | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 2856 Registered: 12-2000 |
Great job Jerry! | ||
| Ron R (Ronr)
New member Username: Ronr Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2002 |
I'll be interested in seeing how you did the rear deck area. That looks great! Now I'll have to decide if I want to go original or leather. I'm thinking some things are probably better left to a professional, but if it doesn't look too impossible for a novice it might be worth a try. Did you redo your targa top liner too? | ||
| Jerry H (Jerry)
Junior Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 137 Registered: 3-2001 |
Stephen R- As far as hrs...alot...I would say about 125 hrs. The total project was 4 weeks long. That included some other mods as well. The shifter length on the euro models, I have been told, is shorter. I did not like the akward appearence of the long shifter. After looking at buying one I elected to modify my existing. Yes it feels VERY good to shift with this shorter shifter. I never noticed until I cut mine down, but the longer shifter has flex. I like the positive feel of the shorter shifter. Steve- No I did not replace my cusions but I would talk to an upolter guy to see if they could reproduce the cusions. May save some $$. Thanks for the compliments. I agree it looks great. My neighbors thought I was out of my mind to undertake a project like this but I was suprised at how easy it really was. I have heard horror stories on the rear deck replacement but I found it fairly easy. I think I had a level of confidence because I asked others that have done it and saw a 308 with the windows out, so I knew what to expect. The carpet redye was done here in Dallas (at my house) for very little money by a company called "Color Your Carpet" 972-608-8842. I'm ral happy not to spend the $700.00 for new Wilton. They are a very nice couple and Marty (husband) was a formula racer in the 60's (Brabums). I hope to cronicle the entire process step by step soon. | ||
| Steve (Steve)
Junior Member Username: Steve Post Number: 219 Registered: 2-2001 |
Jerry , super job.Did you need to get new seat cushions and if so where did you get them and how much.My 77 cushions are shot and I'd like to replace them and do the redye. NICE JOB! | ||
| stephen r chong (Ethans_dad)
Junior Member Username: Ethans_dad Post Number: 121 Registered: 3-2002 |
Well done Jerry! Looks fantastic! Any final count on hours? Looks like time well spent. Does the shortened shifter feel better? I always thought that the tall shifter looked unique and would be out of reach, but in fact, the shifter is at fingers reach. Bravo on a terrific job. | ||
| Jerry H (Jerry)
Junior Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 136 Registered: 3-2001 |
Well it's done! (except I need to put the back windows in). This was a great project and I am really happy with the results. I am still a little uncertain of the wearability of the Leatherique product. In hindsite I might have had a company tint a laquer based product and use that. Andreas don't be afraid of all the wires and such. It is very staight forward. I had more problems with the simple things than I did with the console. I will answer any questions you may have about the console or anything else. I would advise removing everything if you are going to redye. It is messy and the task is not as daunting as you might think. The door panels are real easy to pull. unless your panels are torn or really bad off the only way to go is redye. I spent less than $300 US on the whole project! Here are some pics. These are after as the before are still waiting to be scanned.       | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Junior Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 102 Registered: 10-2002 |
Jerry, very interested in your postings of procedures etc. My 308's tan interior is kinda worn and I'd like to change it to black. But once I opened the middle console and saw all the cables underneath I lost my courage to ever replace that. So I'm interested in the brush on/spray method. Maybe I don't have to disassemble everything? Also very curious in what it takes to replace all the carpets. They look pretty well glued (?) into place. Lastly I wonder how you worked on the doors? Instead of dyeing them, I was contemplating to replace the inside entirely. | ||
| BobD (Bobd)
Member Username: Bobd Post Number: 796 Registered: 3-2001 |
Jerry, can't wait to see it... I bet it looks great! | ||
| Jerry H (Jerry)
Junior Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 135 Registered: 3-2001 |
I am coming to a close on my 308 interior rework. This includes "dying" the leather (3218 tan),cladding the rear deck in leather, cutting the shifter down to euro length, dying the carpet (professionally) and reworking/dying the steering wheel. Friday the carpet gets redyed and then I will assemble the interior. This has been a great project and well worth the time to do it. I am not a motor head but I am average in doit yourself. I have a two car garage with a slightly above average outfit of tools. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of redoing the interior of there car to contact me with any questions. A note on leatherique products: They are very good and worth the money as I see it so far. The test will be in the long term wearability of the "dye". The process I used was spray on vs the brush on methode. The results are wonderful and my leather looks brand new! I will post pics of before and after once assembly is complete. I also expect to post overall costs and procedures in the service area. I would like to thank Ric Rainbolt for his help in showing me this very successful methode of reworking the leather. |