360 Dash restretch and repair | Page 2 | FerrariChat

360 Dash restretch and repair

Discussion in '360/430' started by ItalGerBrit, Nov 17, 2019.

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  1. RedNeck

    RedNeck F1 Veteran
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    Jul 8, 2016
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    Excellent work! I'm glad you decided to share publicly.
     
  2. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

    Mar 15, 2016
    804
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    Thanks. Not as difficult to post the photos as I thought it was. There other things to do to secure the leather if the entire leading edge must be pulled off as in my case. Adhesive and upholstery staples.
     
  3. EastMemphis

    EastMemphis Formula 3
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    May 25, 2019
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    John
    Thanks for sharing. What did you do about the underlying foam layer?
     
  4. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

    Mar 15, 2016
    804
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    Nothing except for the forward most part of the foam.Initially I thought I would pull the leather all the way back replace and glue down new foam but quickly realized that would not work and was not necessary. The driver side hump leather is held down at the stitched seam with heavy thread run through the dash base allo the way around the hump. Because of that support, the driver side was not stretched much. Most of the foam was still attached to the leather except for half an inch or so near the front stitched seam just behind the vent cut outs. No foam is present forward of the stitching. As the leather stretched, the foam was pulled away at the stitched area and rolled up creating a little hump under the leather that was visible as the leather was stretched forward. Did not look good so I skimmed back about 11/2 inches of foam using a blunt spatula(blunt dissection)from the leather and made a straight cut through the foam. Held foam down on dash to avoid cutting leather paralleling the stitched seam to remove the buggered part of the foam and then scrapped of the foam remnants at the stitched area. That eliminated the little foam bump but the cut edge of the foam showed slightly when stretched back down so I carefully cut and positioned new foam butted against the old foam margin and glued it down on the dash stopping at the stitching as it originally was. In anticipation of the dash repair, I had the foam on hand. 1/8" closed cell upholstery foam. If the foam is still attached to the leather and is not lumpy, you will not have to mess with it. If the leather has not pulled too far away from the vent cut outs, just bolting down the metal vents may be all you have to do. I would advise trying to first bolt down the vents upside down to see if that is all that is needed. Upside down because that puts the upper rounded finished edge against the leather to prevent possible scratching of the leather with the sharper edged vent base. If the leather stretches enough to go back into the vent area "pocket" without more stretching, then you can flip it over and finish it up.

    Taking quite a while to explain all this and I hope it is making at least a little sense. My thoughts were when I started this was that I could no longer stand the popped vents and leather wrinkles so had to do something and if my repair failed it would be sent off to have new leather installed. Just cough up the money. About money. I have had my 360 for 8 years and have spent very little on it other than maintenance fluids, belt changes etc. Same with my 308. Had a Testarossa and still kick myself for not doing my own belt changes. 10K a pop and dropping the engine would not have been that big a deal. Water under the TR bridge I guess. I have done all the work myself and it has not been that difficult. Shop manual(CD) and info from this forum is all I have needed. Aldous Voice's articles pretty much cover it all. But, you have to have a proper garage, lift, many tools, AND, most importantly, enjoy cranking wrenches.
     

    Attached Files:

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  5. one4torque

    one4torque F1 Veteran
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    May 20, 2018
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    IGB—I like your style sir.
    Thx for sharing.
     
  6. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

    Mar 15, 2016
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    Hope it helps someone.
     
  7. one4torque

    one4torque F1 Veteran
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    Take that 360 down to the alligator bar on Sunday! Used to be the spot.
     
  8. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

    Mar 15, 2016
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    Bars and Ferrari's are a bad mix.
     
    one4torque and My 1st like this.
  9. one4torque

    one4torque F1 Veteran
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    Roger that bubba!!
     
  10. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

    Mar 15, 2016
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    Looks like 430s have the same leather dash shrink problem. A friend just dropped by in his recently purchased 2007 430 spider and sure enough, half the posts on the plastic vents have popped and the dash has started to pull back. The interior, especially the dash, makes my 360 dash look almost Mickey Mouse plain but I still prefer the 360 exterior but not by much. Drove it and much to my surprise, I really like shifting with the paddles so no more negative thoughts about that even though I enjoy my manual. Handling. Seems more stable than my 360 coupe in the sense that it seems to track straighter on uneven surfaces. Maybe my alignment is a little more aggressive than his or maybe the 360s are just a little more gocart darty? Maybe one of you that has both a 360 and 430 can comment?
     
    Apollo 11 likes this.
  11. Neil22

    Neil22 Karting
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    Nov 4, 2018
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    Neil Silberkleit
    Fantastic post this is really good information !
    Do you have a link for the dash vents - looking to fix mine this winter
     
  12. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

    Mar 15, 2016
    804
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    Hope the info helps you. Reading that it could not be done and that ticked me off. It can be done. Just takes time.

    Rizzo308 is who you contact. He is in Bali but contacted another member already. PM him.
     
  13. GCalo

    GCalo F1 Veteran

    Sep 15, 2004
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    He is due back next week (11/25)

    Send him a PM, and he will respond for now
     
  14. Neil22

    Neil22 Karting
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  15. TooFast355

    TooFast355 Rookie

    Dec 11, 2018
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    Jeff Randall
    Great topic. I’ve been looking at removing and redoing my dash leather. Some very good step-by-step YouTube videos.
     
  16. rizzo308

    rizzo308 F1 Rookie
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    PM sent.
     
  17. Neil22

    Neil22 Karting
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  18. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

    Mar 15, 2016
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    I bumped into that one as well and it is good. I broke the retaining post on the upper steering hub cover a few years ago when installing a yellow tach face just like he did so be careful removing the upper cover. I repaired it with epoxy.
     

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