Jonny, those are brilliant thank you so much. Wow, I really didn't expect to find someone with original leather. Sort of a holy grail in that respect. I would imagine that your car is very very rare in this respect. Given the number of leather conversions, or replacements I think the information that can be gathered from you car could prove invaluable to anyone contemplating this job.
I know from my car now that at some point an upholsterer has removed original material and did not pay attention to how it was put on by the factory resulting in the confusion I am now having to endure.
If you ever have your interior out you can glean so much more information from the back of these panels as to how the material was applied. If this is ever the case I suggest you take as many photos as you can and post them in here for future generations. As time goes by you leather in particular will become all the more unique. Just look at the sale of the black 300sl at Scottsdale auction this year. I think it reflects exactly what I elude to
I would really appreciate a couple more if you have the time. The upholstered bolster on the front of the glove compartment is of particular interest. The photo you posted showed the next panel along which I have already completed. It has one 'slot' in the side of it which has leather tucked into it.
The last guy who did mine did not make use of it and simply pulled the covering right over the top of the panel. I used it but until now didn't know if it was the right thing to do. I have seen other posts in here where people have asked the same question but until now I havn't found any answers.
It might seem like a pedantic detail to you guys but wait till you have put a couple of g's on the table for materials. Its a good incentive to get it right! I certainly don't want to be looking at it in another 12 months wanting to redo it again.
I had another shocker yesterday. Took the entire day of work to get some traction on my becker and also tackle the curved upper dash pads again. I decided that I would try and outsource the repair of the very simple push pull amp for the becker. Its one job I probably should be doing myself considering my background. But after a five day marathon with the locks I decided it would be prudent to get this done by someone who deals with this type of equipment on a daily basis. So I set about trying to find someone who was able and competent.
After a good couple of hours searching the internet I hit a guy who proclaimed to be a 35 year old radio tech. And all the better he lived only a 20 minute drive from my house. Fantastic... so I thought. I email him with photos of the unit interior and the schematic circuit diagram I got from in here. The guy responded back letting me know it was a simple amp and he could fix it for no more than 60nzd. Over the moon at this point. I couldn't have done it for any less than 5-10 hours of my time I guess.
After a drive through rush hour traffic I was still really optimistic that another 'pagoda problem' was going to get solved with minimal money and effort. This feeling has rapidly become a rarity for me since starting this project.
It took all of about 2 minutes for me to scope the guy had wasted my time. He struggled to even get the two screws securing the top lid off with his greasy oversized screwdriver. A good electronics tech would use the right tool.
I then watched in horror as he 'accidentally' snapped in half the baker light voltage key as is fossicked around int he internals at which point he proclaimed 'this unit is a bit delicate for my liking. Dont think I want attempt the repair'
I was kind of left speechless but quickly gathered my thoughts and decided it was for the best. In the mean time he had wrenched the baker lite key out and without my consent was gluing it back together with what looked like super glue. He then produced a 15 dollar multimeter to test if the tracks were broken. Again I would have expected a competent tech to at least have a decent fluke meter or the like.
Tail between legs I got in the car and drove another 20 minutes back home.
Decided on my arrival to tackle the small dash tip pieces. This time I would thin the leather down to almost paper like proportions to get it to stretch. I started the job with the up-most confidence the result would be positive.
I wont bother you with all the details but long story short after three hours of effort I now have two pieces of abused leather and a naked aluminum panel sitting on my desk.
I tried every tactic know to man, heat, steam, slow pressure. I even let the dog chew on it for a good 20 minutes to see if tenderisation by mouth would get me a result. Nada. I officially suck at leather work specifically where forming around tight complex corners are concerned.
Sleep didn't come easily to me after a day like this. I sat up till 3am this morning stewing about the money lost and the time wasted. I got back on the internet looking for solutions. Spent a good hour in here and read just about every post with the word 'leather' in it. Nothing I hadn't already tried sprang out.
Went further a field and started watching youtube videos on leather forming. My very last port of call today is going to be soaking the leather in near boiling water and forming it. Will try on some off cuts first to determine how pliable it makes the leather. Also the reading I have done suggests that shrinkage will occur when this method is used so I will have to stretch the leather further to compensate. It wont be able to be glued until its dried so this end to end method, if it works, will be a labor of love.
