Triumph Stag retrim. Part four: looking good in leather!

[Richard Saunders]

For those interested, part four of my blog on the re-trim of my 1973 MOD Sapphire Blue Stag.

http://maddesthouse.wordpress.com/

[new to this]

richard

its starting to get intresting now you can see things being done, bet you can't wait till its finished

dave

[Richard Saunders]

Like a kid waiting for Christmas Dave!

Thanks.

[Coppo]

Hi Richard,

That's looking great...Good job...Do you mind if I ask where you got the leather trim from and what it cost. I'm in the process of rebuilding one of my stags...Could you PM me as it might break the rules of the forum to advertise the manufacturer's name.

Cheers.

Paul.

[Richard Saunders]

Sure Paul. PM on its way.

[Coppo]

Sure Paul. PM on its way.

Thanks Richard. It sure is looking good...


Paul

[Westfaling]

Richard
Have you re-trimmed the T bar yet? The multi part padding kit I bought has joints that are visible with the new T bar cover on. I'm not happy with it and am wondering if there's an easy solution.
Nick

[jleyton]

Hi Nick,

I used this: http://www.ejward.co.uk/t-bar-foam-p6050.html

It's not perfect - it needed quite a bit of fettling and, as Wards say, it's not as firm as the original - but you certainly can't see any joints.

Richard - it's looking really good - keep on posting as many pics as you can !

Cheers

Julian

[Westfaling]

Julian
I bought the one Richards got from Aldridge's it's got the right density but the joints aren't great.
Nick

[Another Peter]

Richard

That looks really good.

I do think that leather is the way to go, it can be such a lovely smell as you get into the car. I bought a set of leather seat covers from one of the main suppliers for my TR4 three years ago, but was disappointed that there was no leather smell.

However a product called Gliptone Conditioner was recommended to me and once applied seemed to do the trick.

Regards

Peter

[Richard Saunders]

Richard
Have you re-trimmed the T bar yet? The multi part padding kit I bought has joints that are visible with the new T bar cover on. I'm not happy with it and am wondering if there's an easy solution.
Nick

Hi Nick.

I spoke to Paul Moore at Moores Trim, the company doing my Stag. He said that he assumes that by joins in the foam you mean that the finished cover looks lumpy. His suggestion is that the only way to remedy the problem is to remove the cover again, pack any gaps with strips of foam and bridge the filled gaps by sticking strips of calico linen slightly larger than the bridged gap.

I hope this helps!

Cheers

Richard

[Richard Saunders]

Richard

That looks really good.

I do think that leather is the way to go, it can be such a lovely smell as you get into the car. I bought a set of leather seat covers from one of the main suppliers for my TR4 three years ago, but was disappointed that there was no leather smell.

However a product called Gliptone Conditioner was recommended to me and once applied seemed to do the trick.

Regards

Peter

Hi Peter,

That's a really good tip - thanks. One of the joys of owning a Stag is the smell when you open the garage door (mostly of oil!). I'm with you, the smell of leather is another part of the experience. I'll invest in some Gliptone conditioner. I see they also do an under seat leather smell air freshener!

And thanks all for the kind comments about the car. I've passed them on to Moores as they are the guys doing the hard work!

Richard

[jleyton]

Hi Richard,

Coming on great - well done to Moores !

I use Gliptone leather cleaner, conditioner and the underseat air fresheners in my daily car which is all leather.

At first, I didn't think the smell was very leather like but most other people reckon it is, so I must have an odd olfactory system

Despite my nasal reservations, I reckon Gliptone are the best.

Btw, although more expensive, I found the small hanging leather air fresheners better than the big underseat one.

Cheers

Julian

Ps Not wishing to put you off, but I thought you might be interested in reading this description of how leather was prepared: "This was done by either soaking the skin in urine, painting it with an alkalinelime mixture, or simply allowing the skin to putrefy for several months then dipping it in a saltsolution. After the hair fibers were loosened, the tanners scraped them off with a knife. Once the hair was removed, the tanners would bate the material by pounding dung into the skin or soaking the skin in a solution of animal brains. Among the kinds of dung commonly used were that of dogs or pigeons"

[Another Peter]

Julian

Please tell us that this method is an obsolete one used when God was a kid, and that the leather we now have in our cars has been prepared in a more erm... hygienic...method.

Regards

Peter

[jleyton]

Hi Peter,

Yeah, I did deliberately use the word 'was' prepared - I guess they use synthetic urine these days

Cheers

Julian