Here are some pics of one of our members' dash.

We see pics of the interior of this car on occasion, but not this detailed.

Pictures weren't done loading yet, but could you have been any closer to it. I could see the atomic structure of leather in these pics

You know Mike, if you had waited 15 seconds for the pictures to load you'd notice they aren't all close.

I can appreciate the close-ups; they really show off the high quality craftsmanship. Couldn't have been inexpensive but definitely beautiful work!

factory 6? so whats up w/ the bogus late model tach (no silver center)?

JHC - what did that cost?

Whoa! that looked reallllllly nice! I have wondered about doing something with the cracked dashboard and really hate the plastic slip on...its like putting condom on!

The work looked superb and I assumed its leather, huh? hope you wudn't mind my asking for the cost and time involved of having it done?

again, it looked real good!

j

It looks very nice.

But not nice enough to stop me from taking a cheap shot (out of jealousy).

Dust on the steering column. -3 concours points.

Gorgeous That puts a 911-variant with "full leather" option to shame.

I personally would've gone with a black steering wheel, but it's not my car, so hey.

Pic size reduced for the bandwidth impaired.

-Lawrence

Thanks Lawrence. I have a fast 'puter with good bandwidth, but I still think it's "nice" (to the dialup guys) to post a smaller pic or thumbnail with a way to optionally link to the fullsize version.

It might actually not be that hard to write code for the BBS to provide an option to automatically thumb/reduce pics upon uploading or linking. That would be cool.

Awsome! Now I have dash envy. I'm thinking of doing the red car with maroon and white leather for dash, backpad & seats. I better start saving my pennies.

Fantastic job!! Didn't the 916 have a dash like that
Cheers, Elliot

yes...the 916 did have a leather covered dash/kneepad. also had leather "night and day" sunvisors (white and black)

That's a racing tach there, bud. "I can rev my engine much higher now. The tach goes to ten grand!"

seanery,

Thx for posting the pics. That is a very nice piece of work!

kim.

He is missing the screw on bezel for the ignition. The material just "ends" there.. it should have a black bezel around it.

I told you I was sick.

B

Thanks. Those pics are great. This is just why I love this board.

I have discussed with one leather guy here about covering my dash. I have to show him these pics. I am sure they will help him a lot. Many thanks again.

I need this dash!!

one thing i think looks so cheesy on our cars is the dash face, the embossed vinyl. has anyone ever made up thin gauge metal pieces that you could paint to match your car's color?

kevin

Kevin,

I'd be all over that too...a Ravenna green dash face would be fun...since my car is very much not original it could look cool.

Oh yeah, the leather dash is a neat touch...I'm sure it was a ton of work.

Nathan

Thanks!! I'm not worthy!! Some quick answers/comments to the above:
1) As much as I'd like to take credit for the dash (and seats) it was a retirement project from a man who made interiors for Mercedes. Cheap labor but the opposite end of the spectrum from Kathy Lee !!
He even embossed the Porsche emblem in the firewall access panel cover - but don't let Porsche AIG know - they'll want royalties !!
2) The shelf (in front of the leather dash to the windshield) is suede. When you see pics of the entire interior, you'll see the theme extends well beyond the dash.
3) It's not finished - I still need to do the ignition bezel, do something with the ash-tray (it's just a plug), and I keep thinking about removing the heat/vent controls, as they are non-functional. Decided a radio would be useless.
4) I have a 3.0L and yes - I do need the 10k tach.
5) The dust? Oh man... you know how to hurt a guy. Guess I'll have to go dust-bunny hunting - but they're now getting "big game"!

These pictures are posted at http://gallery.rennlist.com/gallery/Mountain914 for Lawrence as he is talking about doing a project similar to this - He wanted 'close ups' so by gosh, that's what he got !!

I actually noticed the missing bevel around the ignition...but I didn't want everyone to know I was sick with Brad.

The dash is kick ass!

-Britain

Lee,

Thanks for taking the time to post these... and I'm glad that everyone got to see them!

-Rusty

I've actually been contemplating a similar project for my late-model Ghia.

The thing I hate the most about late model Ghias is that butt-ugly plastic steering wheel without the elegant chrome horn-ring, and the black-vinyl dash, which gets cracked with age. (especially in a convertible).

For those of us inbetween LA and SF in California, there's a leather wholesale store in Buellton/Solvang, called Siegels. I priced the leather to do the dash job, and it's about $35. Then there's the cutting and sewing.

The stitching work on the 914 in the pics is pretty amazing. The contours of the 914 dash are much more complicated than what I'd have to do in my Ghia.