Any dash reupholstering advice..maybe allcantara?

I am looking to reupholster the dash of my '00 cabriolet. Bought the car in Florida and there is a significant amount of sun damage across the dash and instrument panel cover, as the car has the all leather option..... There was a recent thread about others who have similar problems. I am planning to repair it, but am not sure about reinstalling more leather is a good idea. I have heard of a company/product called allcantara. Anyone with experience/opinoins/advice????

I know a guy that did this dash in Alcantara, I ll look for pics, its a bitch to keep clean tho

Thanks! I appreciate any pics... Why is it so difficult to keep clean? I also thought of reupholstering it at the dealer with whatever is used on the dash if it had been originally ordered without the leather dash....

Holy cow that is bad. I can't believe it has come apart like that. Have to agree, the Alcantara would look hot!

It would look great, but not for long with the top down in Florida. How about sharkskin?

Actually, the car is now in Chicago, but I am assuming that riding with the top down here would be similar to Florida in that the alcantara would get pretty dirty .... No? What is sharkskin and where might I get it??

The non-leather that the factory uses is some kind of vinyl. Alcantara is a synthetic suede. It is great on steering wheels and such for tactile feel, but it probably would be a b**** to keep clean if covering a large area on the dash. I think the F360 CS dash is all Alcantara, and I think it was an option on late model Lambos. You might surf eBay for some pics of Alcantara dashes while looking for those cars. In theory, you would not have glare either.

If you are going to be reupholstering, you might want to see if you can get ahold of enough of what's called MB-tex to do it (MB-tex is what Mercedes used for vinyl seats, and it is the toughest vinyl there ever was).

I thought MB seats are leather, not vinyl. MB tex is perforated leather, no? Alcantera is a bitch to keep clean. On a cab, forget it. Imagine the dust and link on the dash... A good upholstery shop can take out the dash, strip the cracked leather and put on a new layer. Most shops will tell you to just rewrap the new leather over old. This can cause clearance issues with the various button holes etc. Pulling out the old leather and stripping off the foam isn't that difficult. The labor to remove the dash will be expensive. Maybe you can have the dealer do the whole thing. They will do a better job removing the dash without breaking the clips and scratching up the plastic pieces. Then the dash can be reupholstered by a upholstery shop or you may buy a new dash all together ($$$). Gahh is a supplier that sells the OEM leather and vinyl. The texture and color is pretty much an exact match. Most upholstery shops have catalogs w samples for you to look at and match.

MB seats in the US are leather, and for all I know they are in Europe nowadays too, but MB text was a vinyl material that was common on Euro market cars and appears every now and then on US market cars from the 70's and 80's; however, you can still find the MB tex material, I'm just not sure if you can only find it already tailored to match a seat or if you can just buy a bunch of it. It came in perforated and un-perforated, though the un-perforated is harder to find. Still, it was the toughest vinyl ever and has been known to stand up to the likes of german shepards.

Not to get off track , but i have to say, Some Porsche techs are the worst buchers of all... I know its like everything else some good some bad.

Alcantara is a high resistant product In your home sofa you can prove that is very resistant in an ordinary day. The kids, the dog... can get it dirty and after that can be easily cleaned. Some steering wheels, backets , gear shifts are provided with this element. I think that the Porsche leather dash is a bit fragile. We must avoid the sun to damage it, but we can't do it forever... sometimes we left the car close to the beach with a sunshade not properly set.

I have been doing some investigating and it looks like I could do a full OEM leather replacement for about $2K. Half of that is to have the dealer pull the dash out so the upholsterer can do the job.... I talked with another upholsterer who can do the entire job (dash removal and upholstering) with a synthetic that he is sure matches for about $1K. With the leather, I'm restoring to original, but with the synthetic I save dough and will never have to worry about the leather melting... Suggestions?!

When you bought the car was the leather interior something you really wanted? If so, I would do the leather replacement. Remember, the car is 6 yrears old and you should be able to expect at least 5 to 6 years out of the replacement leather, longer if you use a windshield screen to keep the sun off the dash. Just a few thoughts to consider.

I am not set on the leather. Actually, it just doesn't seem like a durable option. I can see why someone may want it, but it's really not important to me. I just want it to be durable and ashthetically (sp?) pleasing. Don't want it to look cheap. I'll look at the synthetic material in the am and make my decision. Thanks for the input.

Alcantara is very durable and washable. There are plenty of products to protect it against stains and decoloration. The only problem I see is the dust. Just like with any dark colors, films of dust will show and with Alcantara it will be a pain to clean. With vinyl or leather its easy, you just hand clean the light film with a humid rag (where the dash meets the windshield) but with Alcantara, it will be more difficult since you wont be able to use a ''suede brush'' to brush it off. Hope you understand what I'm trying to say cause I have a hard time explaining it. What ever you decide, I just hope you'll pick a place where they'll be able to do the stitching (like around the gauge cluster) like its suppose to look.

Got it... I agree the stitching is a must! I am sure the guy who will install the leather can do the stitching. I am meeting with the other guy this am. I'll let you all know what he says about it.