IIA - Deluxe roof liner - recovering

[damiane]

Like some others on this forum I have been on the hunt for vinyl to repair torn seats. I have the original "grey elephant hide" type vinyl. Like others on this forum I have had no luck. This type of vinyl, in this colour, is simply not available. I understand from others that it cannot be sourced in the U.K. either.
Change the colour you might say! Good idea. However, I have an extra issue. My vehicle is fitted with the original "De Luxe Roof Liner" covered in the same vinyl. Being out of the sun's rays and generally not sat on - except in extreme driving incidents - the roof liner material is still "original" in all respects. If it wasn't there I would go for a tan or dark grey vinyl but this will look odd with the roof liner left original IMHO. I am therefore considering recovering the lot in new vinyl, probably in a grey.

Has anyone recovered one of these De Luxe Roof Liners? It looks as though it is folded over the edges and fixed over the whole under-surface with a glue of some sort. Is it possible to remove the old vinyl while leaving the base - which appears to be a form of masonite (1960's style) - intact including the roof curves (no doubt created on a steam mould). The pieces are fixed to the roof with screws in S/S cup washers. If I can get the old vinyl off I am sure there will be modern adhesives that can "fix" a new vinyl covering.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Damian

[gromit]

Damian,
You might be able to get elephant hide seat covers from Exmoor Trim.
They supply complete seats and will re-trim your seats Front Seats : Standard Front Seats- Elephant Hide Grey (http://www.exmoortrim.co.uk/store/series-2-3/front-seats2013-07-01-12-43-02/standard-front-seats-elephant-hide-grey-detail.html)
Maybe if you contact them and push the fact that freight for complete seats would be very expensive from/to Australia.......

As to the existing headlining.......seems a shame to have to remove it if it's OK.
I'd think it was glued in place with a contact adhesive, not sure how easy the old stuff will be to get off but the glue will be very old so it might be easier than you think.
If Exmoor don't come to the party then look for a similar grey vinyl. I found some at Daleys Daley's - Home (http://www.daleys.com.au/)


Colin

[damiane]

The grey of the Exmoor product seems considerably lighter in colour than mine Coliin, notwithstanding their claim that it's 99.9% accurate. Did you get a swatch from U.K.? As to Daleys, can you tell me which brand of vinyl you selected and the colour name?

[gromit]

I understand the earlier reproduction elephant hide wasn't that close to the original, not sure about the latest version (I haven't got a swatch but must order the Dormobile covers at some point).

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/10/821.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/cradley/media/Dormobile/DSCF3487_zpsqhqdwdif.jpg.html)


I'm fairly sure that it was the Retrim Auto Grade Vinyl from Daleys, I wandered in with a sample and they showed me round the rolls they have in stock. Last time I got some it was about $33 per metre, they also carry the matching thread but only in the large spools (about another $30) but you need access to an industrial machine because of the thread diameter.

Colin

[SG1 Bones]

My thought is that your headlining might be best left alone, because the adhesive they used may not be available any more and that if you glue the new stuff on it may become an issue of falling down over time.

I tend to find that the old philosophy of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. I find that if I do fix it than it becomes really broken.

Nathan.

[damiane]

I absolutely agree with you Nathan on "if it ain't broke . . . ." and I would certainly prefer to leave the roof alone. After speaking yesterday to B.M.I. in Sydney, the Australian distributors for Exmoor, I sent an email to Exmoor.

They replied quickly and are going to send me a swatch of the current "elephant hide" vinyl. They are willing to sell me the vinyl by the length. We'll see how it matches up. I'll post a photo when it arrives. Others may be interested.

cheers

[gromit]

I absolutely agree with you Nathan on "if it ain't broke . . . ." and I would certainly prefer to leave the roof alone. After speaking yesterday to B.M.I. in Sydney, the Australian distributors for Exmoor, I sent an email to Exmoor.

They replied quickly and are going to send me a swatch of the current "elephant hide" vinyl. They are willing to sell me the vinyl by the length. We'll see how it matches up. I'll post a photo when it arrives. Others may be interested.

cheers

I'd be interested to see the sample Damian plus also find out the price........


Colin

[schuy1]

About 15? yrs ago I had both the 2a shorty and the 2a traybacks seat redone wth a vinyl similar to the swatch Gromit has shown. No idea what it was called, the upholsterer just did them with that. However after a few years of dust,mud,sweat,tears and other , the ingraining has come to resemble the original Elephant hide. I would not remove the original roof lining unless you were hellbent on replacing with fluro pink :D Not many hood liners totally match the other interior anyway.
Cheers Scott

[crackers]

I'd be interested to see the sample Damian plus also find out the price.
Colin


About 15? yrs ago I had both the 2a shorty and the 2a traybacks seat redone wth a vinyl similar to the swatch Gromit has shown. No idea what it was called, the upholsterer just did them with that. However after a few years of dust,mud,sweat,tears and other , the ingraining has come to resemble the original Elephant hide. I would not remove the original roof lining unless you were hellbent on replacing with fluro pink :D Not many hood liners totally match the other interior anyway.
Cheers Scott

Thanks for the feedback Scott.
Thanks for asking Colin.

Damian, please keep us posted on this. My Wombat had the deluxe trim in what seems as though it might have been the elephant hide (none of worth keeping) and only one seat base... in brown. If this vinyl seems reasonable, it might be a good option for me.

[damiane]

Further information from Exmoor by email.

The vinyl is 1400mm wide. I have already stripped off one base and removed all the stitching with a view to making a pattern. I will lay it out and see how much vinyl it requires. I'll also do one back in a similar manner. I only need driver's and left passenger seat for the moment.

The price per metre is ?39 GB plus freight.

Exmoor DO sell already made-up covers for the purchaser to attach to the base and back. They have asked to see some photos of the shape and state of my foam. I will take those and get them off today. Will keep you updated as I get more.

Cheers

[gromit]

So roughly $82 per mtr plus freight. Local vinyl price roughly $33 per mtr.
As they are having this specially manufactured I guess you can start to justify the price.

The complete Dormobile seat covers including a piece to cover the back of the front seats isn't too bad then at 386GBP.......


Colin

[damiane]

Bit of an update. I finally got the vinyl off one of the seat backs today and separated each of the pieces which go to make up the back covering. I than laid out a piece of linen with a width a bit less than the 1.4m Exmoor supplies and laid out all the six pieces - three for the base and three for the back - in a way to reasonably minimize vinyl usage. I think the method shown in the photo, below, does that. Using that lay-out the usage is a bit under 700mm, so say 2.1, or 2.2m of vinyl of 1.4m width to complete three seats.

http://www.aulro.com/app/data/500/medium/IMGP1309.jpg


Of course that is the inside of the vinyl you are looking at.

Here is a close-up shot of the worn seat vinyl on the right and part of the "untouched" roof liner vinyl on the left together with a piece of white paper.

http://www.aulro.com/app/data/500/medium/IMGP1310.jpg

[gromit]

Damian,

It seems to have changed from grey to brown....
It'll be interesting to see a sample swatch from Exmoor to see how close the match is to the headlining.

From the material laid out the seatback must be different to my previous Series II & IIa
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/series-ii-iia/202393-series-ii-seat-details.html

The backs had a piece of vinyl that went from the bottom of the front over to the bottom at the back making for a much bigger piece.


Colin

[damiane]

I've sent off a request to Exmoor for a quote including freight of 2.2m sheet of vinyl as well as a quote for finished seat covers for me to fit. They are already posting the swatch. I will photograph swatch and put up on forum once it arrives.

I also mentioned to Exmoor that there may be others on the AULRO forum interested in a purchase. This MAY provoke a discount but even without a discount we may save some dollars on a single freight order if anyone is interested?????????

Damian

[damiane]

Update from Exmoor.

As I already posted 2.2m of vinyl sheet 1.4m wide at a metre cost of 39GBP. Exmoor quoted 78GBP plus 60GBP for freight/postage, or 138 GBP.

They have this evening also advised that they will sell us made-up vinyl at 25GBP per base or back, using our own base/back plate and fittings. This includes vinyl cost. A set of three seat bases and backs therefore would be 150GBP plus freight/postage.

As soon as the swatch arrives I will put a photo of it up on this thread.

In the meantime I will approach a couple of motor trimmers and see if they would be prepared to sew up vinyl I cut to pattern and, if so, at what cost.

more to come . . . . .

[damiane]

Well this has been a long time between drinks.

As previously posted, I contacted Exmoor and asked if they would send me a sample of the elephant-hide vinyl they accessed for seat covering. The first lot apparently was lost at sea cause it never arrived. So after a respectable period of mourning I asked them to go through the "posting to the colonies" exercise one more time. They very generously did so. It's arrived and I have photographed it with a piece from the roof lining which has a fibre board backing lying across it and a sheet of white paper. It looks a pretty good match to my eye.
Here are the pics:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/660.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/661.jpg

Hope this all helps. Prices are in earlier posts.

[gromit]

Thanks Damian,

I've just placed an order for the Dormobile seat covers in elephant hide so looks like they will match the door trims when they arrive.....


Colin