Hi All Just to let everyone know that my daytona seats done by O'rourke coach trimmers are amazing and there on time service and communication is some of the best i have ever seen they are a great resource for all of us Image Unavailable, Please Login
You may have to cover them in plastic and not sit in them. Just look. But what a wonderful job. That would make me happy.
Rorky does lovely work and those seats are great examples of it. I've bought his reproduction Daytona insert strips and worked with him to get the heel pads correctly remade for the carpet mats. If he used Connolly Vaumol leather then I suspect it will likely be surface dyed like the original. Be careful when you sit in them not to have any zips or pockets studs catch on them as that will scratch the leather and reveal the natural colour beneath the surface. I've just had a full interior retrim on my GTS by another excellent trimmer who has been working on Dinos for nearly 30 years and has kept the patterns for all the original factory trim he was asked to remove in the early days and all of the correct shapes for the foam profiles in case he has to have any remade. He has original vinyl seat covers in both standard and Daytona forms plus original interior and trunk carpet sets etc which he uses for reference. Everything in the interior of the car was returned to factory spec using Connolly Vaumol 3218 hides, black Dino vinyl, slot headed screws and correct door card fixing methods etc. The leather is surface dyed and has a lovely patina to it as a result that doesn't show up in the photo. Finding true craftsmen who really know these cars makes a huge difference. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've also recently collected the final two pairs of seats from the trimmers. Just the new correct webbing, headrests, seat backs, central daytona panels & runners to be fitted. Then I will have all 4 car interiors completed. The photos obviously show the central panel just placed on the seats & not stretched & fitted properly. I have also opted to reuse all my vinyl trims where possible, so the majority of consoles & some door panels have been removed by the trimmers, cleaned, re-stitched by hand where necessary & then re-fitted. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Glad you are happy, we strive to deliver the highest quality, A couple more pictures of recently completed seats if anyone is interested. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great photos of wonderful new interiors, with real craftsmanship. Better than when new. Personally speaking if the original interior is still original, including the seats, obviously the dash will be faded, the carpets a little used looking, and the vinyl seats may have the odd crack in them, I would keep it original. Just clean it and tidy it up. Accept the flaws and wear. The patina that comes from 40 years of aging cannot be replicated, and as more cars are fitted with new interiors original ones are rarer by the day. You can only ever have an original interior once, and can never get it back, it is lost forever. You can put a new interior in a car anytime, over and over again. I accept that if a car has had a full restoration on the body, including better than new paintwork, plus full mechanicals, then the interior will look out of kilt with the rest of the car, however the car is actually an old car and the patina should be embraced where possible. The interior can always be done another day. I do love looking at these new cars with new interiors though, I do get it, and accept that everyone wants different things from their cars. I also understand that with a lot of restorations the car was effectively dead prior the work, and that the end product brings another car back to the fold.
The trouble is that most Dinos have already had their original interiors removed, long, long ago and been replaced by non standard leather/carpet etc that suited the owner at the time. When vinyl interiors went out of fashion many cars had their original Dino vinyl interiors completely removed and all of the internal trim recovered in leather. This was especially popular in the UK. The trimmer I use says he was asked to remove the vinyl from countless cars in the 90's and fit leather in it's place. Very few customers were particular about the leather used either so very few were done with the correct Connolly Vaumol. He is now looking forward to a surge in business as more owners want their cars returned to factory standard and have all the trim sections put back into the correct Dino vinyl These retrimmed interiors have aged now and may appear original as a result. Incorrect seat patterns are a big giveaway as are the way door cards are trimmed. If the car originally had a full vinyl interior many trimmers simply copied the style of the vinyl they removed so you will see leather seats with the single vertical insert strip in the centre section with various methods employed to try to replicate the heat stitched holes pressed in to original vinyl inserts. They also replicated the one piece vinyl door card covering by creating the central ribbed section using a stitching pattern with a row of outline stitching to create the appearance of the insert. The correct factory leather seats had no inserts in the centre section (except for the Daytona style seat) and the factory leather door cards were made in two sections. Another giveaway on a GTS is the trim insert panels on the targa roof panel. These were only ever finished in heat stitched black Dino vinyl from the factory yet a lot of cars now have leather insert panels made to match their retrimmed seats The "new" Connolly Vaumol leather has a lovely patina to it that does not show up well in photographs. It has a lot of graining and texture to the surface and the beige 3218 I've used already has a lived in look to it without ever being sat upon. It will age nicely again with the car over time.
great work and your team is very skilled. Once I can afford it I may just get my 365 BB seats done. once the paint is finished
This is my car (01688) before it started its restoration 3 months ago I m thinking of leaving the seats as they are, it would be a shame to retrim the car in leather and I believe the cloth is no longer available Thoughts? The rest of the car will be restored including new 'mouse hair' trim on the dash, carpets and its original wheel (not the black item shown)... Image Unavailable, Please Login
The original cloth centres were double sided cotton loop towelling material like the Panno Rosso and Panno Arrancio in this photo. They didn't have vertical insert strips in leather AFAIK nor were the door centre cards finished in cloth but perhaps Matthias can confirm this for certain? It is possible to get the towelling material from a few specialist textile suppliers in nearly all of the original colours including the grey.. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Many thanks for the advice If someone has accurate information about the car's original interior I would really appreciate it. It is an Italian-delivered car (Brescia), originally silver (same as now) with black interior, however I have no idea if it was delivered with cloth or vinyl and what the original seats should look like. I was told this is the original interior, hence my thinking on retaining it
Matthias may be able to help you with the original build spec. If it did have cloth inserts and you need to find the material I may be able to point you in the right direction. Here is the factory brochure showing the cloth insert option which only applies to the seats. The door cards are finished in either vinyl or leather depending upon which material was specified. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Rorky, Watching the YouTube video of you guys at work is amazing. Your work is top of the line. Given a sad set of seats need everything from foam to leather and with the Daytona inserts, what is the cost to do seats, door panels and other interior stuff? I love what you guys do and the passion you have for it. After watching he video on the old 250 that you had to work with original foam to verify originality......you won me over. That video convinced me you know more than Ferrari does on specific cars!
We can obtain the toweling in many colours. We recently trimmed a pair of 206 seats in the original orange toweling. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Rorky! Is that a photo of one of the seats in my 206? I have to say, you did an incredible job with my car. All the best, Tony