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Interior restoration question

Discussion in '308/328' started by HLKing, Jun 24, 2014.

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  1. HLKing

    HLKing Rookie

    Jun 17, 2013
    12
    #1 HLKing, Jun 24, 2014
    I'm preparing to restore my 308 interior. The leather is fine except for one sm hole in the driver bolster, and the stitching in the seat bottom has dry rotted and broke. They don't look that great either but it has been garaged for the last 31 years ( I bought it when it was 1 1/2). I'd love to have the original leather restored, as it still has the rich leather smell thick in the air. I've heard leatherique offers restorations through recommended shops, has anyone done that before? Then, the replacement interiors; complete interior (no dash) for $2600.00, offered on ebay & other independent Ferrari parts distributors. Has anyone bought these? I'm wondering how thin the leather is, of course no problem for the doors but I don't want Japanese thin leather in my car. Any help is appreciated.
     
  2. dflett

    dflett Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 24, 2005
    1,632
    NY
    Full Name:
    David
    #2 dflett, Jun 24, 2014
    I would try to find a local auto interior shop that can look at your leather and advise you on what can be restored and what if anything needs replacing. It sounds to me like yours could be mended and cleaned based on your description. I personally am not a fan of leatherique/redying.

    When I did my interior I found a shop experienced with Ferraris and 308s in particular that would retrim my seats from scratch using new hides we choose. The cost was less than the ready made covers you see for sale.

    Good luck
    David


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  3. The Kook Abides

    The Kook Abides F1 Rookie

    Jan 4, 2011
    3,459
    #3 The Kook Abides, Jun 25, 2014
    It can be time consuming but rewarding to restore the original leather. Keeping the original leather if it is OK would be my recommendation.

    Follow some of the threads on the subject and you will have a good idea of what you can expect. Good luck.
     
  4. Rich S

    Rich S Formula Junior

    Nov 30, 2013
    501
    Monterey, California
    Full Name:
    Rich Saylor
    #4 Rich S, Jun 25, 2014
    Leather is an organic material,and so nothing you put on it will restore the integrity of the original fibers, once they've deteriorated. They might become fairly soft & supple, depending, but the original strength won't be there. My advice is to reupholster the seats; new rubber bottoms, foam if necessary, and so on. I've been buying hides from Douglass Interior Products near Seattle for many years; all the hides they've sent have proved to be of excellent quality and long-lasting. Their products are mostly targeted towards custom (jet, mostly) private aircraft installation; as you might imagine some of their clients are VERY picky! The hides are vat-dyed, not surface dyed as are some other hides from other sources. They purchase their hides from Scotland. If you call them & ask they'll send you some samples of what they offer, which is a very wide variety of textures & colors. Consult your upholsterer, but a large hide is probably enough to recover seats with. You might or might not want to buy matching vinyl to cover the backs with, unless you decide to reuse the back panels and the pouch on the one seat. That would keep you from having to buy 2 hides,

    As for the rest of the interior, leather trim that you don't sit on (console, door panels) can be re-dyed fairly easily. The best way to do it would be to pick out the new hide or hides you need, then give a sample to your local shoe repair shop to make up a custom matching color for the remaining panels you want to save. Your upholsterer can use the dye to redo the non-seat facing panel leather bits. I recommend using Lexol on all the leather afterwards, new & old.

    As for carpeting, on my 328 I bought a carpet kit (Wilton wool) from World Upholstery in SoCal; it fitted fine.

    Cheers,
    Rich
     

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