That console looks like a piece of art. Very nice...been long time since mine looked like that :)
Your original job doesn't look like leatherique to me. If it is someone topcoated it with something else and defeated the whole purpose of using a water-based product that allows the original leather to breathe. Having just done my 328 with leatherique I think my leatherique dye job turned out every bit as good as your new leather looks. It is soft, no shine and feels great...in fact it looks and feels identical to the new leather in my 575M. Had you not told me your leather was new I would have guessed that you used leatherique. As you say, if you don't know how to apply the product correctly, you shouldn't. Your car certainly turned out beautiful though. ps: identical "new" leather costs substantially less than the mid $4k range...about 5% of that!
Having used Hide Food and Leatherique I would have to say that the Leatherique is infinitely better that Hide Food. I would guess that after several treatments of Hide food you will have fully filled the pores of the leather and can look forward to it looking like the leather in most 10+ year old Rolls and Bentleys...hard, cracked and well...shot. And NO, I do not work for Leatherique. I just use their products and find them to be very good. I choose Leatherique Rejuvenator over Hide Food any day.
Post some high-res pics. I'm curious to see your handiwork. The previous owner of my car wrote me that he had used Leatherique. (And yes, the cost of the leather is a fraction of the time/labor cost, which was ~3 weeks.) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Clearly beautiful Bulfighter and necessary if you are attempting to achieve a concours level car. But for the person who just wants a great looking original-looking car there is no need to spend as much as you did to get close. I'll take some high res pics this weekend for comparison.
Hi Jon, Again congrats on the interior of your car. It must feel like a new car you're driving. In any case, did you also add new carpeting to the floor of your car and if so, was that the original color and thickness? thanks Al
The original black carpeting had held up very nicely, so we did not replace it. And yes, it does feel like a new car inside. It's very hard to convey in photos, but the upholsterer also re-created the quilted foam cushioning on the underside of the leather, which restores the slightly sculpted appearance of the original and makes it more comfortable than the 20-year old foam.
Looks great. I'm in the process of doing something similar to my Mondial t. Will post pics when it's done. We're getting the leather dyed, but will replace the carpet. Using GaHH also. Art
I promised some pictures of what can be done with Leatherique if it is done properly. First, if you are doing a concours car you need to take Bullfighters approach, bite the bullet and buy new leather and wilton wool carpets. Bullfighter spent I believe he said mid 4k's for his interior; I don't know if that included his new carpet. My car is a driver and my goal was to it as a very nice driver. I spent less than $600 total not including my time. $175 was for the Leatherique materials. Note that my leather is not shiny or plastic-like. It looks and feels exactly like the brand new leather in my 2005 575M - soft, satin sheen and supple. Notice the stitching. My original thread was tan. A dye, dyes the stitching a well as the thread. It didn't matter in my car because my leather and stitching were the same color. If you have white stitching any dye will dye it along with the leather so if you don't want that don't dye! But dying, if done properly will not fill the stitch holes! Also, because Leatherique is waterbased, if you want to add an additional measure of protection to the leather you may top coat it with a light rubbing of carnuba wax, which it did. I brings out some of the original patina. If you really want the old patina rather than the new look apply the leatherique lighter than I did and apply by hand, I used an airbrush. The carpet was $400 including top mats and is from Roadworksauto.com . It is cut nylon, not wilton wool. Roadworks also sells wilton wool but as we all know it can run up to three times what I paid. I sent my originals to them and they even at my request and no additional charge put my original heal pads in the new carpet. There have been many questions about Roadworks on this site. They were great to work with and I recommend them. I don't work for either company. I am simply a satisfied customer and want to show that an excellent (my opinion) result can be had by all for nearly nothing, less than $600, if you want to renew your interior but don't want to spend $4k+++ AND want to do it yourself. Best of luck guys. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
+1 Nice job on the interior and congrats on the Concorso results! You have a very nice 328. For me, showing my car is like a MasterCard commercial: Feeling that you receive from winning 1st Place...Priceless. So fess up...how many times have to opened your door or sat in your Ferrari just to smell the new leather???
h00kem/Bullfigter, the picutres look stunning. I would love to feel the softness of this interior...it must be nice and soft, yet firm. Enjoy it in good health Mate !!
That looks like a very nice job. I went the route of Bullfighter and am replacing the entire interior new. ReOriginals is doing it and have just let me know it's all been made and is there. I'll start breaking the interior down next week.
What kind of compulsive idiot would do that... ... more than 4-5 times a day? Post 'em up, before/after. Are you doing all of it or seats only? Best money I've spent on the car - got rid of all the "old" and kept all the "great" of the 328.
Doing the entire interior except the dash. The dash is still good, but not perfect. I'll get that one later. Doing the seats, door panels, carpet, handbrake cover, seatbelt covers, rear shelf with new original fabric, center console and having the targa restored. I'm doing the carpets myself, but shipping the seats, panels and the rest to ReOriginals and they will do them in-house. I'll just bolt it all back in. I'm sure I'll be in over you, Bullfighter, when all is said and done. And Ill be sure to start a before and after thread with pics. Once this is done, I repaint the car. It's passable, but I'm an anal perfectionist. May even pull the engine at that time to detail the hell out of it. Bought it for only 30,000, but I know I'll be in for over $50,000 when all is said and done. It's worth it to me.
What made you choose Symbolic over Bobileff? I live in SoCal, have heard about both, but do not have experience with either. Thanks.
Gary's shop was booked to capacity months in advance of Monterey, mostly with Miura restorations. So, not really an option. Both places do numerous high six-figure and seven-figure exotics frequently. I wouldn't have a problem recommending either.
Hi Art We are a distributor for GAHH. If you haven't ordered already, I give all F-Chatters a 20% discount. Let me know if I can help out. Richard
