vinyl, leatherette or leather dash trim
 

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on using leatherette, vinyl or real leather to trim my dash. I'd like to use real leather even though I'm not generally a big fan of killing animals for their tasty meats or skin, but it's just that it's so much better than the fake alternatives.

What I'm unsure of (before I order an appropriate sized hide) is what vinyl or leather is like to work with. I have no plans for getting the sewing machine out so this is going to be a straight glue down and fold over the back job with a 3mm layer of foam underneath. I've seen mixed results with some very good and others a complete mess with nasty creases on the outer curves. Is vinyl/leatherette more stretchy than real leather. If so is that a good thing or not?

What is the secret of a good finish? taking the foam over and around the back of the dash? Cutting the foam to the dash outline and stretching the leather/ette over the edge and snipping regularly? Any pointers are welcome as I want to do this once and I can't help noticing that most builders end up revisiting it at least once. I've been looking around the web for some guidance and there's not much there. Maybe I'm just not entering the right search terms?

I've also made a useful discovery in my shed of a massive unused pack of 3mm closed cell foam damp proof underlay for putting under laminate flooring that I bought too much of on a DIY project years ago. After a few tests it has proven to be non-water absorbent, the right amount of flexibility and squishiness plus it doesn't melt and cause dangerous fumes when stuck to metal with CBS standard high temp contact adhesive (which was my main concern). I was starting to get a bit upset by the prices of foam on the woolies website so this is a good find.

In my experience both materials very tremendously depending on their quality, specification, price etc. But, for an amateur, I would say that a good quality leathercloth (IE vinyl) is much easier to work with then leather.

I used a staple gun to fix most of my trim. At least if you get it wrong it is easy to undo. I only used adhesive where I was fixing it to a metal surface. In general I didn't use any foam padding. Most good quality leathercloth has a certain amount of inbuilt padding. One tip - I used a good quality masking tape to help keep things in place while stapling or the glue going off. You can easily remove it after.

You can't beat leather for seats though - although having said that my current build will be having leathercloth seats due to its greater resilience when getting wet!

Cheers, Robin

Whenever I have made up small aux panels in the past I have found that for the instrument holes it is best to cut the foam to the exact size of the hole. Then in the hole area make a series of radial cuts in the vinyl across the diameter. Take these ends through the hole and attach at the rear (staple or whatever) then trim off the "points" of the vinyl. Note! You will need a larger hole in the dash than the instruments normally require to allow for the material thickness x2. Suggest you try this out on an offcut from the dash first. Peter.

OK so if vinyl is noticeably easier to work with I'll stick with that. I was going to buy this from woolies but I'd prefer as fine/smooth a grain as possible. This looks a little too rough for my taste but it may just be because it's a close up shot.

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1238...ded-vinyl.aspx

Pete, that's useful info about cutting the foam to the size of the hole. My instrument panel is actually a separate bare ali plate so I won't be popping my gauges through but the same principle will apply to the edges of the other pieces and the area around the glove box hatch.

cheers
Ian

I got some sample from here

http://www.as-trim.co.uk

The Orwell vinyl has a nice texture.

That looks pretty good stuff. The Alton or Nappa is the kind of finish I want but they also do a 4 way stretch vinyl which though a bit more medium grained like the Orton will possibly look less creased once installed.

thanks
Ian

[QUOTE=

Pete, that's useful info about cutting the foam to the size of the hole. My instrument panel is actually a separate bare ali plate so I won't be popping my gauges through but the same principle will apply to the edges of the other pieces and the area around the glove box hatch.

cheers
Ian[/QUOTE]

Hi Ian. The comment about the gauges holes was where you have the instrument bezel covering the very edge of the hole. With a larger hole like the glove box you may see the edge of the dash showing through. It all depends how rigid the foam is. Try wrapping the vinyl around a few test bits before you commit to the final job. :nod: Peter.

I've found I prefer working with leather on smaller items - seemed easier to work with on intricate pieces. However I've only worked with pretty small pieces and the lack of backing materials means can result in it show more defects or even where you've put the glue if it's not thin enough . The vinyl seems a bit more durable, especially with moisture so would be my preference for dashboards/seats. I covered my dash in 4mm of foam then vinyl which gives a nice padded feel.

I watched the guys at the Morgan factory work leather around edges and corners with a big leather mallet and lots of stretching action to create a perfect finish. I wish I had watched them before I did my panels but even then, it's certainly not a skill you learn overnight!!

I used a close cell sticky back foam on the front of the panels and a contact adhesive to secure the edges on the back. I used an adhesive from an upholsterer and if you get it wrong you can pull the covering away and re-stick it without applying extra adhesive. I also used a good quality tape, but as a permanent feature, to further secure the leather on the back of the panel to stop the edges lifting over time. The leather I used was great to work with and I'm not sure that vinyl would have been much easier.

Cheers

Nigel