Napa NADA Leather Interior In Progress

Hi.
The centre consul is a standard leather covered metal type fitted to NADA models.
Regards.
Clive.
 
Hi.
The centre consul is a standard leather covered metal type fitted to NADA models.
Regards.
Clive.

Didn't know that. Much better than the plastic Ive been putting up with. Looks a piece of wee's to do . Colour/material matched and glued down.?
 
Im on the hunt for a piece of Toledo Red vinyl to do mine.
Tried plastic stick-on wood grain and it looked aweful.
Will have a go with colour matched upholstry material.
Im impressed with your NADA consoles.
Ive always thought the plastic led the P6 down.
I replaced all the door cappings with real wood .Much better.
 
Im on the hunt for a piece of Toledo Red vinyl to do mine.
Tried plastic stick-on wood grain and it looked awful.
Will have a go with colour matched upholstery material.
Im impressed with your NADA consoles.
Ive always thought the plastic led the P6 down.
I replaced all the door cappings with real wood .Much better.

How did you replace the cappings with real wood, some type of veneer? I agree the Formica looks a tad out of place in a car, in the kitchen yes, but in a Rover...Nooooo.
I have always thought that a piece of polished S/Steel would look nice?
BTW, there is a company in the UK , that advertise on Ebay that make many full leather accessories for the Rover P6, leather handbrake cover and also a center console cover, but pricey..

Items in J F CUSTOMS store on eBay !

Peter
 
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How did you replace the cappings with real wood, some type of veneer? I agree the Formica looks a tad out of place in a car, in the kitchen yes, but in a Rover...Nooooo.
I have always thought that a piece of polished S/Steel would look nice?
BTW, there is a company in the UK , that advertise on Ebay that make many full leather accessories for the Rover P6, leather handbrake cover and also a center console cover, but pricey..

Items in J F CUSTOMS store on eBay !

Peter

I glued walnut veneer onto aluminium cut to the same profile as the formica. I used a two pot polyurethane as the top coat.
I also did the parcel shelf and black vinyl along the length above the glove compartments.
Looks more Roveresque.
 

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I glued walnut veneer onto aluminium cut to the same profile as the formica. I used a two pot polyurethane as the top coat.
I also did the parcel shelf and black vinyl along the length above the glove compartments.
Looks more Roveresque.
that looks very nice indeed, the Formica is only thin, so how did you manage to achieve the required thickness with 2 layers of material?
did you have to enlarge the grove top and bottom in the black trim piece?
how about some more pictures!
Peter
 
that looks very nice indeed, the Formica is only thin, so how did you manage to achieve the required thickness with 2 layers of material?
did you have to enlarge the grove top and bottom in the black trim piece?
how about some more pictures!
Peter

I got he thinnest veneer and matched it with the thinnest metal backing. I think I went to a roofer for the metal.
Didnt need to open the groove on the black trim as by the time I added the depth of the polyurethane , it was spot on.
 

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I got he thinnest veneer and matched it with the thinnest metal backing. I think I went to a roofer for the metal.
Didn't need to open the groove on the black trim as by the time I added the depth of the polyurethane , it was spot on.
it now looks like a proper Rover, her Majesty the Queen would enjoy a ride in your car...it has the wow factor..:) not sure about the old Duke, too grumpy to appreciate the artistry in it all? ;)
Peter
 
I glued walnut veneer onto aluminium cut to the same profile as the formica. I used a two pot polyurethane as the top coat.
I also did the parcel shelf and black vinyl along the length above the glove compartments.
Looks more Roveresque.
Very nice!
That's exactly what Rover did with the 'sharkstooth' cars, but not with walnut...
 
Pure car restoration porn! I made door and dash inserts using 1.0mm aluminium and regular walnut veneer. I had some burr walnut but IMHO a P6 isn't a luxury car and the regular veneer looked more appropriate.

It's more difficult than you might think. Firstly, you need a lot more glue to secure different materials together, otherwise the veneer will lift locally. You need to get the dash piece bent to the right curvature before you laquer it or it'll crack. This makes polishing for a gloss finish very difficult. The door pieces also must have complete coverage, otherwise and water through the window will ruin it.

Ultimately, I put the Formica strips back. They are part of the forward-thinking ethos of the car. Formica or other laminates were not seen as "cheap" at the time, they were seen as modern, durable and easy to maintain. Whereas wood was old school. Remember at the time you had wood, metal, leather or painted, the market was not yet familiar with a lump of plastic.
 
Pure car restoration porn! I made door and dash inserts using 1.0mm aluminium and regular walnut veneer. I had some burr walnut but IMHO a P6 isn't a luxury car and the regular veneer looked more appropriate.

It's more difficult than you might think. Firstly, you need a lot more glue to secure different materials together, otherwise the veneer will lift locally. You need to get the dash piece bent to the right curvature before you laquer it or it'll crack. This makes polishing for a gloss finish very difficult. The door pieces also must have complete coverage, otherwise and water through the window will ruin it.

Ultimately, I put the Formica strips back. They are part of the forward-thinking ethos of the car. Formica or other laminates were not seen as "cheap" at the time, they were seen as modern, durable and easy to maintain. Whereas wood was old school. Remember at the time you had wood, metal, leather or painted, the market was not yet familiar with a lump of plastic.

Bit of rebuttle for you Peter.
Im not a purist when it comes to classic cars. I also like to personalise in a subtle way. Im not into racing stripes or loads of chrome.
From the day I bought my P6 , and that was in 1972, Ive never liked the "Plasticised" interior.
I ummed and erred for months over purchasing a Mercedes Benz or the Rover. All the P6 plastic was giving me nightmares. Long story short -P6 won. The P6 looked like nothing else on the road except for maybe the triumph 2000
The "porn" has been in place around 8 years now. No delaminating from the metal backing or cracking has occurred .
If I had water getting between the metal and walnut veneer , I would be asking WTF was happening somewhere else.
The glue I used was bog standard PVA wood glue. Sticks like shit to a blanket . Doesnt shrink or bubble.
The gloss top coat was a two pot , pour on proprietry lacquer as used in the furnature industry. No need to polish it after drying as it came out of the bottle in its high gloss finish.
Yes the dash piece was difficult. I shaped and bent the metal to fit the dash before I PVA glued the veneer using abundant small wood working clamps.
Lacquering the dash piece was quite demanding. During the drying process I had to move the piece to a different angle to avoid pooling. Im not 100% happy with the dash. But one day when Im bored shitless , I redo it.
Ive still got all the formica pieces I can use as templates should an accident occur.
I tried doing the tunnel console in walnut veneer , but was a failure due to all the different angles. Thats why I was deighted when I saw "Oldboys" NADA upholstery matched one.
Otherwise I feel cossetted while Im driving.
 
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