BTruckr
+1y
i'm thinkin abt doin my first interior - creating my own door panels & covering the dash & i have a cpl ?s
(btw, i might glass a custom dash, but i still want to cover it; i'll probably order a replacement carpet from an as yet undetermined source; i'm not so sure i want to tackel replacing the headliner yet either and i will definetly be gettin after market seats already finished)
1) i figure the most used cover materials (alphabetically) r leather, naugahyde, vinyl & tweed - is that correct?
2) am i missing any material/fabric covering (aside from mohair & wet-suit material)?
(1 & 2: whoops! just checked the interiors forum & the 1st topic was related to suede - which i hate!)
3) i'm thinkin ther isnt much, if any, difference btwn naugahyde & vinyl, except that naugahyde has a surface texture & that vinyls are smooth - is that correct?
4) ultimately i'd like to do quality work, & my impression is that leather is considered as the top quality material to work with - is that correct?
5) i read somewhere that ya need a special/heavy duty sewing machine to properly piece leather 2gether, is that true?
6) is leather significantly different to work w/than other materials? it stands 2 reason that each material has its own quirks that r picked up as ya learn 2 work w/it, but considering how expensive leather is, and especially if i need a special sewing machine ta-boot, then i'd rather start off learning w/a more economical material/fabric; on the other hand, if the learning curve on workin leather is that much different than other fabrics then maybe i'm better off just jumping in w/both feet?
7) tweed. what can i say, i'm not really a fan of it, but it seems 2b really popular. i've seen a cpl dashes that ppl here have done & i gotta say that the effort & talent of the quality workmanship just shines thro, but @ the same time i'm just not feelin it. dont get me wrong, from a craftmanship perspective i've been really impressed & thought they looked really good, but from a personal "geewhiz" appeal? well, no warm-fuzzy feelin 4me. also, i'm think that since the interior is goin in my 4x4, which will c its share of dusty roads, i'm think maintenance wud be easier w/somethin that can be wiped offed rather than vacuumed. that all brings me back to the subject of my post, being is there a pratical reason, aside from being an economical yet attractive material, to use tweed? (btw, fwiw, my "learnin project" is my 4x4, which i want to do up nicely but still have it function as the work truck it will remain; my cab+ is going to be my 2nd project & what i'll start bringin to cruise-ins, meets & shows).
TIA