I'm planning to recover my dash this year. I did it last about 20 years ago - it's long overdue. Who has the best material?
I don't know about the 'best' material, but, Dennis McCann provided the closest I could find to authentic. It's a little darker, and a little thicker than the original, although I don't think the thickness is really an issue, although the color is. It looks VERY BLACK, slightly blue/black in fact. But it's the best I could come up with and I spent a couple weeks talking to a variety of upholsterers, car restorers, and material manufacturers. Is it perfect? Nope. Is it very good? Yes. www.allferrariparts.com is Dennis's website.
dave, this brings up the old question, who makes something closer to original than the stuff on the market today? the problem is, the current manufacturer made a great amount of product that is now being sold to the resto/current market. in order to have closer to authentic stuff made, a minimum order is required. unfortunately, even the common resellers combined can't guarantee enough minimum order to jusitfy the cost. i have at least one car that badly needs a new dash, but i don't like the blue-ish/black color. forget the thickness and the white backing. the blue-ish aspect makes the material look "fake", regardless of age.
Shawn. The problem I kept encountering was the ridging of the original mouse hair substrate. As I understand it, the material is flocked, essentially a fluffy coating of finely ground vinyl is glued to a substrate. The flocking itself is not an issue, it's the ridged vinyl that goes underneath it that caused me so much trouble. I found plenty of folks who had a flocked material that was appropriately colored to match the original, but none who could match the ridging. So I settled for what Dennis McCann has. It's too black, and a bit thick, but still looks good in the car. I can try to dig out the flockers that I talked to, but non had the ridged stuff we need. as to the back. Who cares what the back looks like. No one is ever going to see that, right? Dave
dave, i whole-heartedly agree, however, it's the blue-nish that bothers me. it just looks hokey and not vintage.
Well, that being the case, if you don't mind a smooth finish, there's plenty of stuff out there. IT'll look right for color, but it won't have the ridges. Alcantara is not the same as flocked material, but it will work. Dave
You're right of course. The stuff has ridges. After some thought about what it is and how was it made. I think it could be pressed into a suitable material. Then flocked. I think that then you would have it. The lenghts we go to.
I spoke to Matt at Re Originals and he had the material made "dark black" because the material available will not fade. It is only slightly darker than what came out of the factory but the orginal mouse hair faded quickly. I understand that concours judges are not taking off points for the color but IMHO it is like "nails on a chalkboard." jts Proud supporter of "Hilliary and Obama for the US Senate in 2008"
I can only speak for FCA regional judges, some of whom work the national too. Once I explained that it was as proper a material as can be had, they calmed down, but had originally felt it looked "too black" and "too nice" to be right. I showed them the ridges, explained where I got it, and the lengths I had gone to get it right, and then they gave it the thumbs up after a short consultation. So, yes, they're ok with it, but be prepared to defend it. Dave
short of the color, it is the correct material. i can't get past the way the color looks compared to other parts of the interior of the car. it simply just looks out of place.
as am i, however, i have a car that needs a new dash. i don't have a problem spending the money for the mouse hair, but don't like how it looks colorwise (until you see it in person, i don't think you realise how out of place it looks). i would almost rather cover the dash with the dino vinyl as it looks more the part
a good interior guy could color the material lighter if that's what you want. Since I did not have a good idea of where to go with color I left it alone, buy they can spray a different shade on the mousehair if you want. Just adds a few more bucks to the cost. DM
have you tried this on a sample or scrap of material? if so, i would be interested to see the results. if it works, this could solve a great number of mouse hair dilema's
Superformance (UK) advertise the product below; 246 Alcantara dashboard covering 24601030 76.50 They state that " This is the correct fabric sourced from Italy". Has anyone used this product? Paul.
