Leather interior

[Dave]

won't be about next week to do it........ and finishing up early today a session over in Galway for the weekend is on the cards!

[CJ]

It seems that I confused leatherette with leather on the prices I got from Simon in Clane, heres the run down:

Leatherette => €720
Leather => €1500 - €1600 (depending on colour)

All of the above includes door cards and gaitor, stitching is extra.

For obvious reasons that changes things somewhat. Personally, I wouldn't want leatherette as it doesn't stand up to wear very well and I couldn't see myself shelling out that much for a leather retrim. Going back to the UK price of €800, it would take a competant person up to a day to remove the original covers and refit the leather so you're talking a days labour. As I said, this doesn't apply to me as I've been there before and I'm happy to do the fitting myself.

Comments?

CJ

[Dave]

to be honest CJ, i don't think i'll be going this route. i already have leatherette and i wouldn't fancy forking out 800 and then fitting it myself! guarantee i fcuk it up

[CJ]

to be honest CJ, i don't think i'll be going this route. i already have leatherette and i wouldn't fancy forking out 800 and then fitting it myself! guarantee i fcuk it up

No bother pal I'll take you off the (provisional) list

MfFTO, can you let me know where you stand? I'd like to push this forward in the next couple of weeks.

CJ

[Dave]

thanks Ciaran, remember to keep us posted on how you get on with this!

[soconnor]

Hi,
Having talked to CJ during the week, I'd thought I'd log on to your forums to have a look at your opinions on leather retrims. As you may have deduced from my user name I am Simon O'Connor and I own Zenith Automotive Design in Clane, we specialize in leather upholstery amoungst other things.
Having read your comments, I would like to add my two cents worth....
firstly remember that prices on retrims vary for several reasons and as with most things you get what you pay for.
Most companies, both here and in the UK, use the cheapest leather available to them to keep costs down....such leather is coloured through a painting process and will crack and fade within several months of the retrim. It can also be very course and almost plastic looking.
We use only the best leather available worldwide, as used by Rolls Royce, Bentley and TVR to name but a few. Each hide can take up to three months to make and is coloured through a process of dying....it doesn't fade or crack and will look as good in years to come as the day it leaves the workshop. It is also the most supple and comfortable leather available.
We have received cars in the past which have had retrims from other companies in Ireland where the seams on the seats have split due to incorrect thread size and use. Proper automotive thread is unavailable in this country, a fact that other companies ignore using household upholstery thread. We import all of our thread from the UK from the same suppliers of the prestige car manufactures I mentioned above....It will not break!
We have also had to rectify several jobs from other so called leather specialists where the company simply trimmed over the existing seat without removing the old upholstery with very substandard results....we completely strip down the seat to the original foam and upholster it to factory standard.
In the past year we have done work on cars for maxpower and flushbus as well as several cars to feature in these magazines and more.
We recieved four full pages of coverage in maxpower magazine for the retrim and sound system we did in Dan Anslow's R32 skyline. And at the cool nights show on Dec 4th Flushbus will unveil their new project car in which we redesigned the seats and retrimmed in white leather.
If any of you have any queries about anything retrim or leather related, feel free to contact me on 087 623 3236 or drop down to our workshop in Clane.

Simon O'Connor
Zenith Automotive Design

[CJ]

Thanks for the feedback Simon, I have no doubt in the quality of your work as I've heard nothing but good things about your service and standards. When I spoke with you originally, I confused leatherette prices with leather and as such, maye have got peoples hopes up. As I also mentioned, I would much rather deal with an Irish company than purchase goods from the UK. While I appreciate that the work that goes into the UK product doesn't get a personal touch, 20-30 UK FTO Owners have already purchased a retrim off this particular company and they are all pretty happy with the results. Your comment as regards fading and cracking of sub-standard leather is quite valid, time will tell if the UK lads come across this issue. A big thing for a lot of people is the price, 800 quid as opposed to 1500 quid is a major deciding factor, personally, I would love to bring the car down to you with the prior knowledge that you'd do a top notch job but pricewise, its a bit out of my range. Maybe I'll take a spin down to you nonetheless and see what you have to offer, talking business face-to-face beats a telephone converation hands down

CJ

[CJ]

Guys, FYI, Alan, the guy whos organising the group buy in the UK came back to me with revised prices, 4+ is down to €770 per retrim with single retrims down to €807. Its pretty likely that I'll go for this in the next week or so as the group guy is coming to an end soon. I assume that you'll be able to buy directly from the company in question, yet to be confirmed.

CJ

[kevinod]

Sounds good to me, but can't at the moment unfortunately...

Must check out how yours turns out sometime, leather retrim is one of the things I do want to do eventually!

Kev.

[Myfeckin FTO]

Guys, FYI, Alan, the guy whos organising the group buy in the UK came back to me with revised prices, 4+ is down to €770 per retrim with single retrims down to €807. Its pretty likely that I'll go for this in the next week or so as the group guy is coming to an end soon. I assume that you'll be able to buy directly from the company in question, yet to be confirmed.

CJ

Good price CJ - but I really don't fancy having to fit this myself - And if I have to pay someone 400-500Euros for fitting then I'd be better off going to an Irish dealer directly and I'd have better comeback.

[CJ]

Got my leather retrim yesterday, it looks great and is put together very well in terms of the stitching and padding. I hope to have it fitted by the weekend, I'll post pics then.

CJ

[Dave]

what colour and style did you go for in the end? is it genuine leather? anything on the door cards or will be they be staying standard?

[CJ]

what colour and style did you go for in the end? is it genuine leather? anything on the door cards or will be they be staying standard?

Its full leather and is identical to this example, door cards and all

CJ

[Dave]

nice, how do they do the door cards?

[CJ]

nice, how do they do the door cards?

You do them yourself! You're supplied with glue and theres a guide on the FTOOC forum, it doesn't look that difficult.

CJ

[Dave]

nice one, looking forward to seeing it in the flesh and the rollers!

[CJ]

I spent Thursday evening, Friday evening and Saturday getting the leather installed, its seemed to take forever (I have the blisters on my hands to prove it!) The job itself is not difficult but it is very time consuming trying to get everything right. Overall, it looks great and I'm very happy with the result. The door cards are a b!tch to get right, I messed up a bit with the stanley knife on the drivers side, I'll probably look at getting another section of leather and redo it. Anyway, heres a sampler of the end result.

CJ

[adrian]

Looks class CJ.
Nice dials BTW... you any up close shots of them??

[soc]

Looking good CJ - it really does add a touch of class to the interior - what it should have been straight from factory

[JD]

That looks class CJ, I'll have to have a good look at the next meet.
JD

[Myfeckin FTO]

Ouch - my eyes! Thats really nice CJ - looks like a good fit - first time I've seen that steering wheel too - class interior all round.

[CJ]

Cheers for all the comments lads, as I said, I'm not happy with the drivers side door card so I hope to redo it in the near future, other than that, it looks really well. One other improvement as a result of the refit is the comfort factor, the leather holds the foam together much more snugly and provides a more restful seating position.

I'll get some close up dash pics and post 'em up soon.

CJ

[Ivan E]

Must pop out and have a look now......

[CJ]

Must pop out and have a look now......

Give me a call Ivan if you want a closer look.

CJ

[JD]

CJ I'm seriously thinking of getting the leather retrim from the guys that did yours, it looks class. Could you give me the contact info (or do they have a website?) so that I can get in touch with them, please.

Cheers
JD