[Arturin]

Hi,

Well as i said in my presentation thread, my 355 needed some interior detailing. So these days i took off the seats and started reconditioning them. here are the pics. Its still not completely finished but theres a noticeable change.

Here are the pics of the drivers seat







Now after some cleaning and sanding (yes, sanding) i applied the compound to fill the cracks. here we call it liquid leather, dont know in the US.





And after some sanding again and dyeing TARAAAAAAA! and remember, its not finished yet i still have to apply the conditioner



So, How do you like it?

[Granucci]

very impressed: Now, ho'd you do it?

Looks like you might have dyed it a bit.

[Arturin]

1- The first thing is to clean the seat with a leather cleaner
2- Sand the cracks (400 grit paper)
3- Clean all dust
4-Apply the "liquid leather compound" to the cracks and wait minimun 4 hours
5- Sand once dry (400 grit paper)
5- Dye the part in very thin layers waiting 15 minutes between layers
6- Wait 24 hours for everything to dry and settle
7- Apply leather conditioner
8- Enjoy your new seat

here is a pic of it finished. Just conditioned 10 minutes ago

It looks a lot worse in pics than live. Theres a lot of shadows and brightness so it looks crap. But believe me that the seat looks new.

[wetpet]

nice job. I'll be over this weekend.

[Arturin]

And here are some parts of the centre console.
I talked with rob (stickynomore) and was going to send the parts to him for a refurbish. But in the end I didnt want to risk to get all those parts lost in the way so i thought, ill give it a try and if it doesnt work ill send them.
here are the results, i think it came out pretty well. heres the ashtray



after some elbow grease

[Arturin]

more

[Boxer]

Very impressive. Looking good for Spring!

[Arturin]

Today I received the HVAC panel from hill engineering. So, finally, my interior reconditioning is officially finished

[avi8tor]

had a little wear on the side of my driver's seat too, dying solved all the problems, really impressed with the results. Also have some sticky switches etc, interested to hear the results of other owners.

[Arturin]

Long time since I didnt post.

Well, finally my car is having its major done and in little time Ill be driving my gts enjoying the sun

This time I´ve refurbished the undertray. Don´t know what previous owners did but it was destroyed, maybe because of jacking up the car using the wrong spots? who knows...
Here are some pics, The hole with the surfboard shape was done by me. That part was completely broken and it was easier to build it from scratch.



other damage, before and after pics



Ive just applied the first coat of paint







Here you can appreciate the the "lip" (the parts that goes with the front undertray) that I had to build form scratch


I know it isnt esthetically perfect, but as it is the undertray that will eventually get scratched and its hidden, Ill leave it as it is.

[Neonzapper]

The seats look new. Photos really bring out the worst of the worst, so I can appreciate the "after" shots!

I'd say that's a great job on the front undertray, considering how tricky it is when making a lip on the side as well as dipping up and down on the front.

As for the instrument panel and "elbow grease", what else (besides the elbow grease) did you use?

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by Arturin

Long time since I didnt post.

Well, finally my car is having its major done and in little time Ill be driving my gts enjoying the sun

This time I´ve refurbished the undertray. Don´t know what previous owners did but it was destroyed, maybe because of jacking up the car using the wrong spots? who knows...
Here are some pics, The hole with the surfboard shape was done by me. That part was completely broken and it was easier to build it from scratch.



other damage, before and after pics



Ive just applied the first coat of paint







Here you can appreciate the the "lip" (the parts that goes with the front undertray) that I had to build form scratch


I know it isnt esthetically perfect, but as it is the undertray that will eventually get scratched and its hidden, Ill leave it as it is.

Very impressive. Per my experience driving around Spain and Portugal, a few pot holes and speed bumps can really destroy the undertray. Saw quite a few F355s and 550s with major problems.

[Arturin]

Could be something to do with speed bumps I guess... The rear difussers are brand new, they even got the sticker with the part number. Anyhow, the underside of the car is perfect, all the gear linkage, the brake lines, the floor... everything like brand new, and I mean absoluletely perfect not even a dent.

[Granucci]

Don't know where you are from but your abilities look great.

We have a local person here for such which just makes it easier...someday my bits and pieces when cars have a lull period and econ takes a break.

What can/did you ever do for, say, the front bottom spoilers like on a Mondial or such? Lots of scrape and bit marks there.

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by Granucci

Don't know where you are from but your abilities look great.

We have a local person here for such which just makes it easier...someday my bits and pieces when cars have a lull period and econ takes a break.

What can/did you ever do for, say, the front bottom spoilers like on a Mondial or such? Lots of scrape and bit marks there.

He is in Spain where the rain stays on the plain ............... and the banks have yet to come clean on the amount of bad property loans they are holding on the books.............

[Arturin]

Exactly I´m Spaniard and yes, the banks are in trouble, well pretty much as most the people that thought they were rich and then realized that they were poors living an illusion. Thats why I got my 355 at a good price. Anyhow, until the mentally challenged president we suffer doesn´t go or someone kills him we will not get better, and even if he goes its going to be several years till everything goes right.

Granucci, what could I do with the mondial spoilers? mmmhh well, i don´t even know what they look like If its something like this undertray you can do it yourself its not that difficult, in fact, this was the first time I worked with glass fiber and look at the result!

A video that I found really useful was this one, have a look at it, I´m sure It will encourage you to at least give it a try. From minute 1:37 and on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Uefa5lips

[KKRace]

What you did on the seats would be great for the Tech Talk section since the information would be usefull for anyone with leather seats.

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by Arturin

Exactly I´m Spaniard and yes, the banks are in trouble, well pretty much as most the people that thought they were rich and then realized that they were poors living an illusion. Thats why I got my 355 at a good price. Anyhow, until the mentally challenged president we suffer doesn´t go

Zapatero is a really piece of work. Reality just does not bite him in the butt often enough.

[Arturin]

Originally Posted by Neonzapper

The seats look new. Photos really bring out the worst of the worst, so I can appreciate the "after" shots!

I'd say that's a great job on the front undertray, considering how tricky it is when making a lip on the side as well as dipping up and down on the front.

As for the instrument panel and "elbow grease", what else (besides the elbow grease) did you use?

Sorry for the late answer I missed your post :S What I did was strip all the sticky paint with a green scotch brite pad and my sister´s nail polish remover. (Remember to buy a new bottle if you don´t want your testicles cut off) Then I painted everything with Wurth´s textuplast bumper paint spray, it doesn´t require primer, it can be directly applied and it has a texturized surface that matches quite well the replacement HVAC panels.

Originally Posted by Boxer

Zapatero is a really piece of work. Reality just does not bite him in the butt often enough.

A whole scientific study could be done with that person. For gods sake how can a person who doesn´t know even a bit of english and has no studies be the president of an european country? Better not talk about him because I´ll end up smashing my computer...

Originally Posted by KKRace

What you did on the seats would be great for the Tech Talk section since the information would be usefull for anyone with leather seats.

Do I have to open a new thread in there or what should I do? I´m no expert but if i can help someone who is going to give it a try I`ll be wiling to help in everything I can.

[Granucci]

Originally Posted by Arturin

A whole scientific study could be done with that person. For gods sake how can a person who doesn´t know even a bit of english and has no studies be the president of an european country? Better not talk about him because I´ll end up smashing my computer....

how, well, oh, you don't want a recent history lesson do you?

Do I have to open a new thread in there or what should I do? I´m no expert but if i can help someone who is going to give it a try I`ll be wiling to help in everything I can.

I'm thinking if you PM Andrew he might open a sort of wiki regarding refurbishing to include areas into interior exterior tools supplies etc. etc.

I noticed detailersdomain, a sponsor with a few posts recently, [ The Trigger Sprayer that will change your detailing experience ] and it's getting a bit all over the place too: not his fault if any...just saying.

Move all to a sort of wiki..