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View Full Version : An introduction and a completed project


donkeykong
08-06-2019, 04:38 PM
Hi guys,

I just wanted to introduce myself. I've been active on the "other" forum for the last 8 years and thought it was time I posted here as well, especially since I've been lurking the past couple years. I got the current MkIII Roadster that I have 2 years ago, it was built in 2010. It was certainly time for a refresh as the paint and interior were not the best, so I decided to tackle that project over the winter.

In typical fashion what I thought was going to be a 2 month project actually took me 7! I never liked the interior or paint color on my Roadster. So over Christmas break I stripped the car down in my garage and brought it over to my brothers shop for paint. After over a year of deliberating between Viking Blue and Lexus Indigo Blue...I just kept coming back to Viking Blue over and over.

After the paint was finished I decided I'm going to tear this entire interior out and replace it real quick. "Real Quick"...the words that haunt me :lol::lol:!!!

It's such a small interior, but when you're trying to get everything just right...man, does it take time! I covered the dash, transmission tunnel, seats, door panels and rear bulkhead in leather. The main issue on the long time frame was the leather. One mistake and a $500 hide is ruined! I attempted to do the rear in one piece, but there are just to many curves for that to happen. Two pieces and a nice breaking point did the trick. However, there were nights where I spent a good 2-2 1/2 hours down in the garage looking at the rear wall trying to figure out everything...next thing you know it's after midnight and I got 5 minutes worth of work done! Then there was the issue with the seats and transmission tunnel...do I just cover them, do I make a pattern, do I change from black? Decisions, decisions.

I finished last Tuesday night and snapped some pictures the following day. Here's how everything turned out...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48375045991_ece34f0f4d_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gGJKP6)Cobra2 (https://flic.kr/p/2gGJKP6) by John Smith (https://www.flickr.com/photos/150936283@N06/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48375186287_bf596daaa5_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gGKtvZ)Cobra (https://flic.kr/p/2gGKtvZ) by John Smith (https://www.flickr.com/photos/150936283@N06/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48375184622_55d0387239_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gGKt2h)Cobra3 (https://flic.kr/p/2gGKt2h) by John Smith (https://www.flickr.com/photos/150936283@N06/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48375183742_4f4ff5b4b2_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gGKsL7)Cobra4 (https://flic.kr/p/2gGKsL7) by John Smith (https://www.flickr.com/photos/150936283@N06/), on Flickr

Here was the interior beforehand...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48475583397_d0d11a8f80_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gRC35D)Old Cobra (https://flic.kr/p/2gRC35D) by John Smith (https://www.flickr.com/photos/150936283@N06/), on Flickr

So that's the story and current project. I hope to be of some help to some and continue learning from others on this forum as well.

Cheers!
Boydster
08-07-2019, 02:57 AM
Very nice... good lookin machine!
wareaglescott
08-07-2019, 05:22 AM
Lovethat interior!! Beautifully executed.
toadster
08-07-2019, 01:54 PM
the interior is awesome - love the color combo as well! :cool:
donkeykong
08-07-2019, 02:28 PM
Lovethat interior!! Beautifully executed.

Thanks Scott! Good to see you over here.
donkeykong
08-07-2019, 02:30 PM
the interior is awesome - love the color combo as well! :cool:

Thanks toadster! Things don't always pan out how I imagine them in my head...this one did!
Yama-Bro
08-07-2019, 03:25 PM
looks great. Love the blue!
Avalanche325
08-07-2019, 03:40 PM
Looks great! I always think Viking Blue is such a great classic color.
WIS89
08-07-2019, 04:44 PM
Great looking car, and a very nice improvement! I too like the Viking Blue, and your brother did a nice job laying it down for you.

That leather looks fantastic! I have always loved that color, kind of like your first baseball glove; it just looks right. Now, if you can keep that leather smell, then... winning!

Congratulations on a great looking car; the delays were totally worth it!

Regards,

Steve
NC Cobra
08-07-2019, 07:45 PM
Question on your seats. Did you recover the original frames or find a source for them new in leather? Eventually looking to upgrade mine and have had a tough time finding a source or pricing. BTW I think you really nailed the color combination. Looks stunning!
cgundermann
08-07-2019, 08:14 PM
Great job on the interior!

Chris
Al_C
08-08-2019, 08:15 AM
Looks really good! Is that an Illinois plate on your car? Where are you located?
donkeykong
08-08-2019, 10:14 AM
Looks great! I always think Viking Blue is such a great classic color.

I appreciate that! I kept going back and forth, I just couldn't shake the color from my head.
donkeykong
08-08-2019, 10:14 AM
Great looking car, and a very nice improvement! I too like the Viking Blue, and your brother did a nice job laying it down for you.

That leather looks fantastic! I have always loved that color, kind of like your first baseball glove; it just looks right. Now, if you can keep that leather smell, then... winning!

Congratulations on a great looking car; the delays were totally worth it!

Regards,

Steve

Thanks so much, I appreciate that!
donkeykong
08-08-2019, 10:16 AM
Yes it is! I'm down in Peoria.
donkeykong
08-08-2019, 10:26 AM
Question on your seats. Did you recover the original frames or find a source for them new in leather? Eventually looking to upgrade mine and have had a tough time finding a source or pricing. BTW I think you really nailed the color combination. Looks stunning!

The seats are on the original FF frames. They were the upgraded leather seats, unfortunately, the covers got tossed before I had an opportunity to ask the shop to keep them...I just wasn't thinking when I dropped them off, somebody on one of the forums would have liked to have them I'm sure.

I went to a local automotive upholstery shop I've been using for probably the last 15 years. One man shop, but does pretty good work relatively quick. Here's a breakdown of materials on the interior...

2 hides for the seats and transmission tunnel $998
1 hide for the door panels and dash $450
1 hide for the rear bulkhead $250 (leatherhidestore.com)
Miami corp "Bentley" carpet $250

I paid $1,500 for the stitching on the trans tunnel piece and seats, which included installing the custom covers of course.

TOTAL: $3,448

With that being said I could have saved probably $600 on hides if I had bought everything at "theleatherhidestore.com". The problem is I didn't want to play the waiting game with send me this sample and this sample and this sample until I liked the color OR just choosing what I thought looked good off of a picture on my computer screen. We have a local leather store and I could just walk in and select the color I want. The rear bulkhead was just black so that was pretty simple so I bought that online. I will say this however, the leather hide I got online was very nice! I wouldn't hesitate to shop there again or recommend it to anybody.

You could go vinyl on the other hand, but the feel and smell just aren't there. When I went for a drive Saturday morning, I could immediately smell the richness of the leather when I sat inside...like a baseball glove. I'm sure the smell will go away, but you could smell the leather in the car from 10 ft. away easy.