Mondo

It still makes me smile when I see just how close a match that leather is for the OEM centre pad! :biggrin: Enjoy, Richard... I just need to get Joel's steering wheel in now... ;)

Yep, just clips in along with the perspex screen. :thumbup1:

If this goes ahead, I want to do something spectacular with your car...!! :biggrin:

I wish I understood the thinking behind gearknobs like that, I really do.....

It looks a superb example, doesn't it! :yes:

If you wanted yours done using the same materials as mine, you'd be looking at around £1,900 minus whatever the GB discount turned out to be. Which, I appreciate, is a lot of money.

Alcantara is a good example of "cost vs suitability" I get a lot of enquiries from people wanting things to be trimmed in Alcantara and 95% of them seem shocked when I give them a quote. Why? Because they think that the stuff that's on eBay for £7 per metre is absolutely fine, whereas the reality is that it'll fade incredibly quickly because it's simply not designed for automotive use. It also won't wear very well because it's designed to look like Alcantara does but not to perform in the same way. Genuine Alcantara was designed solely for automotive use, so it's very hard-wearing and also very UV-resistant. That's why it costs around £100 per metre length, rather than the aforementioned £7 off eBay. Yes, you can use the cheap stuff and yes, it'll look good for a short amount of time. But it won't be long at all before it needs replacing! Just to add a caveat here: all the leather I use is treated for auto use and is therefore UV-protected. :)

Hmmm. I'm trying to think of a suitable analogy here. To most people, especially on here, the extra cost involved for using Muirhead leather wouldn't be worth it. That's not meant as a slight against Zed owners but the majority aren't interested in ploughing vast amounts of money into their cabins. Which, a lot of the time, can be the difference between a good project and a great one. In a way, it's a bit like asking whether an OEM bumper (for example) is better than a fibreglass replica and worth the extra expenditure. For those interested in longevity or originality, then the OEM part is easily the best option. For those on a budget or more interested in just the look, then a GRP part will suffice. If someone wants their cabin freshening up without breaking the bank(comparatively speaking), then the leather I use ordinarily will do the job and last very well - it's not crap hide, by any means! If, however, someone wanted to use the best materials available (as FunkySi wanted to, before he opted to go back to a standard cockpit) then Muirhead leather is pretty much the best available. :thumbup1:

Good point, well made. :) As a rule of thumb, an "average" leather hide is 50 square feet and it takes two full hides to trim the front and rear seats in a LWB Zed. It's then another hide for all the panelling. So a Z32 interior is basically three dead cows' worth. The leather I use day to day is roughly £160 per hide and it's very nice stuff indeed, but the Andrew Muirhead leather (as in my own car) is superb leather! It's currently regarded as being possibly the best available today, in much the same way that Connolly Leather was back in the 80s and 90s. And the Muirhead hides are around £300 each. My SWB has roughly £1k in materials alone in it's interior, never mind the labour involved in making everything. So anyone else fancying some seriously high-end leather in their car would need to be prepared for a representative price tag...

Thought I'd see if anyone wanted these items as they've now replaced in my Shortie. They are all made from Andrew Muirhead Sateen Virginia leather (widely regarded as possibly the best in the world today), in both solid and perforated finishes, and finished off with dark grey topstitching. The gear gaiter and handbrake gaiter will fit all Zeds but the armrest is only suitable for the SWB model. And here's what they looked like in situ: £35 delivered to your door.

If you wanted the same leather I have in my Zed, you're looking at circa £300 per hide....

Polybushes are much stiffer than the OEM rubber ones so you'll automatically get a firmer (or harsher) ride when they've been used.

Assuming that you have the 2+2 and you'd want the seats and all the interior panelling trimmed as well, that's usually around £1,400. So if there's a 15% discount attached, that figures drops to around £1,190. If the discount were to make it to the full 25%, that then reduces further to £1,050! No wonder I'm not even close to being a millionaire...!! :lol:

If it goes ahead, the start date would probably be late next year as a lot of people hibernate their Zeds over the winter months. Also, next year is already filling up fast for me so, by the time I organised a GB on here and got all the deposits in etc, I'd expect the diary to be full for at least the first half of the year anyway. According to the poll, there's at least enough "definite" interest to achieve a 15% discount, so I'll be giving this some serious consideration soon as well as double-checking things with the Commitee :thumbup1:

So today is Mrs Mondo's birthday and I wanted to get her something a little different. And this is what I decided on: It's a plaster cast of our own hands. :biggrin: A guy locally has just started doing bodycasting so I got him over to ours to take a mold, which he then took away and used to create the above piece of art. It's been finished in a bronze paint with a sealer on top. I had it mounted on a nice oak plinth and also had an engraved brass plaque made. The detail in the casting is astonishing; the texture of the skin is clearly visible and it's a pretty stunning visual! Mrs M seems very happy with it, so mission accomplished. I just thought it was something out of the ordinary and certainly something personal to her/us. And it never hurts to show you've put a bit of thought into these things, does it....? ;)

They're ten a penny over here though. And they just look like a squashed VW Beetle. The only time one turns heads in this country is if it's crashed! :thumbup1:

Get out. GET OUT!! :lol:

I had a good look around this Zed when I was down at Powerzed and the metalwork that's been done is superb. :) So much so, in fact, that I'm using the same guy for the small amount of welding that mine's having done next month! :thumbup1:

How I wish that steering wheels could be done on a machine! Sadly, aside from the two seams at the bottom of the wheel, they're all hand-stitching... and very hard on the ol' paws they are too. :pinch: The next one I have to do, however, will even more complex: Richie K's version, now with added thumbgrips! :surrender: Glad you're happy with it though, Richard :biggrin:

Just the seat?? The whole car's a sizeable eyesore! :lol:

Happy birthday, Russ. I went to post this on FB but it looks like your privacy settings are currently at Def Con One..... :saddam: :ph34r:

Mine have been on for about 18 months now and the springs look shocking.

It's an original idea, Ali. Not sure what it'll do to the airflow under the bonnet and (Jimmer'll love this one!) it now reminds me of a Gen 7 Celica......

Douche. Sorry! I honestly couldn't resist! :lol: :rofl: :ban:

Crying shame it's the 2+2....