'86 Carrera Interior Question

[brday]

My Knee crash pad (for lack of a better term) is scuffed where the glove box rubbed against it at some point when it was out of adjustment. I've tried to replace it, but can't seem to find the part that matches. Mine is leather and has some stitching at the corners. The replacement from Pelican is NOS, but it doesn't match (thanks guys or accepting the return on a supposedly non-returnable part). I saw a set for sale on ebay this week, but when I asked the seller if there was stitching - he replied that there wasn't. I've attached some pictures below. Does anybody else have the same trim or does mine have some unusual interior option package. Note also that my dash is covered in leather.

[Freybird]

Brian,
Maybe an unusual interior option as you say, my coupe's dash is made of hard plastic.
Deceiphering the VIN may shed light on your car's options. (?)
Sorry, I wish I could offer more info.

[84porsche]

Check the option codes sticker under the hood. Will give you an idea of all the options your car came with. Their is a website that will decode these but I don't have the link handy.

[javadog]

Brian,

You have two other options, apart from replacing the piece you are concerned with. Frankly, the damage is not enough to warrant replacement. Either have the dye on the surface of the leather refinished or remove the part and have it recovered. Any decent upholstery shop can do this for you.

For what it's worth, your dash appears to be a vinyl one to me, from the photo you supplied. I may have been mislead by the photo but the grain appears to be that of vinyl and the dash itself hasn't warped. An original '86 leather dash would most likely be warped by now, from the leather shrinking. All of mine have, even the low mileage garage queens.

JR

[brday]

Thanks all,

The car has a ZZZ Vin (WPOZZZ91ZGS151793). I guess it could be vinyl, but it sure feels like leather. I agree that 20 year old leather shouldn't hold up like that - but then again, this is (and has been since brought over in '87 according to the records) a New England car. The leather seats are still in great shape.

I didn't show the damage in the picture - my aim was to show the stitching. Unfortunately, it is worthy of replacement - so if anyone knows where I can get a replacement, I'd love to hear about it. I guess that an alternative would be to replace both knee pads (plus the ashtray cover) so they match - but the stitching is actually kind of cool!

[Eric Coffey]

You have the Full Leather option. Your door panels/pockets/lids/handles/etc. should all be leather covered (stitched) as well. In any case, it will be more difficult to find that part in Leather, but they are out there. I'd start by checking with the big dismantlers (Parts Heaven, OK Foreign, etc.). You might post a "WTB" ad on the used 911 parts forum here as well. Good luck!

[brday]

Eric,

Thanks for the feedback. You're right, my door panels and pockets also have stitched leather. I see from the link to your sold vehicle (congrats) that you know your option codes. Do you know the code for the full leather interior?

Thanks.

Brian

[Eric Coffey]

Originally posted by brday
Do you know the code for the full leather interior?

I believe it is 981.

[javadog]

Brian,

In 1986, Porsche offereed a full leather interior in a couple of different variations. One was full leather for everything but the headliner and some of the minor trim pieces. The other was what they called "leather with leatherette beltline." This was the same as the full leather option, except the dash, the tops of the door panels and quarter panel trims and the top part of the rear parcel shelf were upholstered in vinyl. They recognized that in sunny climates, the uppermost surfaces of the interior trim were likely to be damaged by the sun, so they offered this compromise. Usually with this option, the kneebar was leatherette too, so who knows what your car had originally. Perhaps your dash has been replaced.

The codes for the interior will be a two-digit alpha or numeric code. Assuming you have an all black interior, VD would be the code for full leather and LE would be the one for the leatherette belt line option. The code can sometime be found on a white sticker placed under the trunk lid or in the warranty book.

I still think the part can be repaired more easily than finding another one in good shape. The stitching is called "french stitching" and is pretty common in auto upholstery work. It would take all of an hour to fix it and the leather is available. I had a couple of parts made for a BMW last year by a local shop and they came out great.

JR

[msk1986911]

A link for the Porsche option decoder follows below:

http://www.kindel.com/Porsche/options.asp