So if you aren’t a DYI’er, who does this sort of work?
You need a competent upholstery shop. I have a guy I use here but ask around in the regional forum and at some events. There will be someone that most everyone uses because of the work and ability to match the leather. R&R for the dash can be done by most any competent mechanic.
I believe, there is a combination of issues that occur, one for sure the leather shrinks over time, thus pulling on the foam that it is glued to and thus loosens the grip on the dash housing. I also believe that being the dash is leather, that when treating your interior leather with a good conditioner periodically, you should do the dash as well. This would keep the dash leather supple and less subjective to shrinking. I usually do my interior 2-3 times a yr - liberally applying the conditioner to all the leather areas. I feel this helps the issues mentioned in the thread.....not sure if it prevents it forever, but mine is a 2003, so far so good! Also related to stretching the leather and trying to fix the issues, i would assume that it would be best to switch up some new leather if you have the dash out. This is a little tricky as the orig dashes had some pretty nice stitching that contoured to the dash lines. Pic of my dash on installation at the factory in 2003 Image Unavailable, Please Login
In my case, I did not have to remove the leather except for just a few inches back from forward edge. The foam had sort of rolled and bunched for just a few inches so I removed that bad foam and laid in and glued the new foam in carefully matching the edges. Stretched and held the leather down as described before and it worked perfectly. Removing the entire leather piece and then re-attaching it would be difficult and not sure that it is needed. The problem starts when the plastic vents pop loose. I think that if you install the metal vents as soon as you see the plastic vents pop loose, little stretching will be necessary to get it back into place.
Yeah, no way around having to deal with this at some point. I learned the hard way driving the car in the summer and seeing the dash leather pucker up/defrost vents get sticky and warp. Over the winter/inside heated garage the dash leather and vents return to normal positions. So, I’ll have it all redone at some point, but likely not soon.... Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I actually have a small bubble forming on the airbag part of the dash, has anyone worked on that area before? So far the rest of the dash is in good shape.
