Shrunken Leather Dash

lomcevok · 03-23-2004, 02:10 PM

Bought my 83 SC with shrunken leather on dash and the leather has deformed the underlying foam and pulled away atop the a/c vent hole.

I've found a pre-sewn leather cover, and a couple of eBay dashes I could put it over.

Anyone have experience re-upping a leather dash?

Anyone have alternative suggestions?

thanks!

Bill

1973911s · 03-23-2004, 02:14 PM

Bill,

I have an 84 in the same condition, will be very interested in what you find.

Michael

stormcrow · stormcrow's Garage

I recovered my dash about two years ago. You have to remove the windshield to do it properly. You could buy a leather skin from worldupholstery.com which will fit perfectly.

The hard part is getting the leather to contour around the sides where the door meets the dash. It can be a challange.

Steve

"A Porsche does more then just go fast in a straight line"

rds356 · 05:11 PM

Same here.
I purchased a beautiful leather dash cover from Auto's International and had it professionally glued to the dash. It was a challenge even for the shop.
The Auto's International dash cover has very nice exposed stiching and beading. The windshield does have to come out adding to the complexity. (new seals etc.)
Make sure to start with a nice straight dash. keep the leather creamed and out of prolonged direct sunlight or else the dash will shrink again.
This project is well worth the effort. Once installed the leather is stunning.

1973911s · 03-24-2004, 05:42 AM

What did Autos International charge for the cover?

Michael

lomcevok · 03-24-2004, 09:20 AM

Hey All:

Autos Internation - Tony - Nice Guy - will supply leather cover ready for you to swear into place for $175. Less pricey than World Upholstery.

Bill

rds356 · 03-24-2004, 12:29 PM

Yes,
Tony supplied me with black leather for the dash, knee pad and door caps. That coupled with leather RS America door panels is over the top. (and of course black leather Prototipo)
The price of the knee pad section and door caps was around $130.00 + $175 for the dash skin

1973911s · 03-24-2004, 01:49 PM

My problem is the dash is warpped, so I would need to find a good dash as a base, correct?

Michael

rds356 · 03-24-2004, 01:57 PM

Yes,

Putting a new leather skin on a deformed dash underlay will produce the same results as the old dash. I used a good non- deformed vinyl dash as the basis for the new leather dash skin.
The shop roughed up the vinyl material so the glue and leather would bond tightly.

Jgordon · 03-24-2004, 03:43 PM

If it's just the leather that's bad, and the dash is solid, Larry at carcareonline.com says that if you soak the leather in enough softeners and rejuvenators, you can stretch it back the way it started.

No experience with this myself, but it seems like the easiest and cheapest method. Plus, if you're planning on pulling the cover anyway, you might as well give it a shot.

www.carcareonline.com

Hope this helps.