Ferrari 458 alcantara dash panel recover project

Hi Andy,

I am actually going to start a detailed thread on it shortly. I'm just waiting for Gary at Braille to ship it out (ETA is about 3 weeks). They are, however, sending the battery tender out on Monday and I've already ordered up the components from Mouser electronics, which will allow me to splice the Ferrari style plug connector on; this will not only allow me to plug things right in, but also will alert then ECU in the car that the tender is present.

There is actually a very good thread by another user here on Ferrarichat, which details the plug part numbers and the pinout required for the connector. I will post a link to his thread as well as a full run down on everything, when I post the thread.

With regard to the battery charger, keep in mind it's important to use a tender designed for a lithium ion battery. I was just speaking with Braille about that today and will relate all the information they have provided on the topic via the thread, once I begin it.

I'll may also be wiring in a DC shunt, which will allow measurement of the current draw and also the parasitic current draw in the system. I've also purchased a older 355/360 style master kill switch and plan to incorporate that.

The battery I'm using (and which is on order) is their i48CE here:

https://www.braillebattery.com/index.php/braille/product_batteries/i48ce

I plan to begin the thread in about a week.

Ray

 

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm going to inspect the leather in that area to see what Ferrari has done under there and will also be testing the material I have as far as what it takes to tear it and/or if it will require any sort of scoring on the underside in order to help facilitate opening of the air bag assembly.

Ray

 

Andy, here is the other thread I mentioned (and which I will link to again when I begin the thread about installing the battery) by Warren, if you'd like to get up to speed a bit on the connector stuff:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q/347563-yabtp-making-battery-conditioner-connected-light.html

Really fantastic post there by Warren, with a ton of great info.

Ray

 

Thanks very much!

Ray

 

Well, I had a few spare minutes the other day, while my girlfriend was off at Yoga, and managed to try out the 2mm neoprene foam rubber I bought off eBay. I think it turned out pretty nice! Here are some photos and also a video that I uploaded to YouTube.

I'm going to allow the adhesive backing to dry for a few days, then maybe put the dash out in the sun or by the fire place and see how everything holds up. If it passes that test, then next up on the list will be sewing the Alcantara cover and gluing that down.

My double needle Singer sewing machine (which I'll be using to sew the Alcantara) is cleaned up fairly well, but I need to reinstall the bearings, etc. on it.

Anyway, here's the latest, for anyone that is following along with this project.

The photos below show adhering the foam to the dash panel, then trimming the foam around the edges using a very sharp razor blade. I used a coarse nail file to sort of roll over the foam and give the edge a nice clean finish all the way around. I also used a needle (coated in mineral spirits) to take care of a couple of small air bubbled that ended up trapped under the foam. The adhesive is super grippy, so it wasn't too forgiving as far as trying to squeegee the bubbles out.

Here's the YouTube video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVX8WdOUWqQ

The final photo of the panel on my couch is the finished product with the foam and all the edges smoothed over.

Ray
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Thanks! The foam seems to have adhered well to the dash panel. I'm going to test out the glue between a scrap of the foam and some of the alcantara soon here, in order to see how well that bond holds.

I'll follow up regarding how the glue test works out shortly.

Ray

 

I know you guys probably think I've forgotten about this project, but I see my dash every time I drive the car, so it's still in the front of my mind

Here's the latest and greatest:

So, first off... I decided that I need a slightly different sewing machine to really pull this all off correctly. The vintage Singer 112W140, which I recently purchased and have been restoring is a very nice machine, but in my excitement to order it, I didn't quite realize what I was doing. The Singer 112W140 is a dual needle machine (which is great), but it doesn't have an alternating presser foot (which isn't great). Yeah, the W140 would probably work just fine for this project (with its dogs under the presser feet), but the W139 has the alternating presser feet design, which walks the fabric while alternating back and forth over the material.

In the world of sewing, this might be something rather minor, but I feel the alternating presser feet might give me better overall tension in my stitches and that's important. Someone more experienced with these machines might be able to tell me that I'm worrying about something very minor here, but since I plan to keep this machine for many years after this project on the 458 is done, I feel like now is the time to make the jump from restoring the 112W140 to the 112W139 with its alternating presser feet. Call me crazy, but I think buying the second machine, fixing both up, then selling one will be worth it years from now.

Okay, second, I decided to take my 458 up to the dealer and let them do the free oil change, etc. on it. Even though I had already bought everything to do it myself, I felt like it was probably best to just let the dealer handle it this time around, since I know they like to keep tabs on the cars and make sure everything is "by the book" as far as service goes. Also, if I end up buying a 488 and selling the 458, it's always nice to have complete service records and all.

Anyway, while I was at the service center, I had a chance to chat with one of the technicians about how exactly the passenger side dash panel is removed. I'm happy to report that it sounds like a job I'll be able to handle and that it's not quite as involved as I thought (and as the workshop manual makes it appear). So that's good news.

I still need to order the larger foam for the passenger panel and do some further testing on the adhesives I'm planning to use, but so far so good.

The second vintage Singer sewing machine will be arriving next week and then I'm going to have to strip that down and repaint it, etc, etc. Once that machine is cleaned and timed and all back together, then I may actually get to doing some test stitching soon here.

So that's the latest. If everything stays on track, I figure my car will have a nice new Alcantara dash in a few more months. I'll post a few photos of the restoration of the 112W139 as well for anyone who is interested. For now, below is a photo of the machine I purchased. It's pretty rough looking, I know, but these machines go for several thousand dollars in good condition and this one I bought here was practically free.

So we'll see how it goes.

Ray
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The Singer 112W139 arrived today... it needs some work, but all the major parts are there.

Ray
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Gotta have the right machine for the job!

The 1st one is probably going to be used mainly to donate parts for this one. The 112W139 has the alternating presser foot, which is better for sewing the Alcantara I think. I want the stitching to be first class, so the machine has to be top notch also.

In studying the videos on YouTube showing how Ferrari does it at the factory, I noticed most of their machines are the double needle w/ the alternating walking presser feet; my buddy who does a lot of custom leather sewing said that stitching thread tension is everything, so I wanna make sure I have the best possible machine for this job before diving into things any further.

Ray

 

There are two screws up front (look underneath and up and you'll see them). And there are some clips and pins also that you must free.

Here are some photos that might help give you an idea of what you are up against. It's designed to come towards you, once you remove the two main screws there.

I have a spare panel for sale if you need it.

Ray

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I have that panel for sale if anyone needs it

Ray