OOPS! Which part is loose? the grip area or the boot?

Heres the bezel from my Z06

 

Obviously it's going to feel "different" because of the perforations, but otherwise, does the naugahyde feel like the dash material?

 

Absolutely. In my case, and this is getting really ****, but the distance between each perforation on the Naugahyde was a little larger than the Redline trim. Otherwise, ‘feel’ and texture was very compatible. When I use certain products I get as many samples as I can, because if you think about it, how much black vinyl must be available? I got my samples from fabric.com and it really helped.

There was a request to see the keyhole for the console lock. This is a crop of a pic taken a few days ago:

 

I covered my stock bezel with JF interiors kit off of EBay. It was not the hardest thing I have ever attempted. I just took my time and I think it came out just fine.

 

I have a bezel wrapped by "he who shall not be named"





It really spiffs up the interior; great mod.

 

That keyhole grommet looks nice. Just something you picked up at the hardware store and glued on? I think I looked a while back for something similar, and couldn't find it.

 

yes, I found it in that ‘wall of bins’ in the local hardware store. I may have brought the lock with me because I removed it to make a clean fit around the hole. In the pic, there’s a light colored area on the leather just above the grommet. That’s not smeared glue, it has to do with the lighting. I used black RTV to glue it in place. The original lock didn’t have a flange that I could wrap the leather under. This grommet has a “deeper inner projection” (hence the outer, visible section acts as a flange) of the center section towards the rear of it which allowed me to get some kind of cursory contact with the plastic surface of the console itself.

 

He DID good work, too bad that didn't continue into the present.

 

I had no idea Voldemort did leather work when we wasn't busy killing mudbloods.

 

 

I think I was one of his last Corvette customers. He didn’t wrap my bezel, just modified it for the DD. We had a number of very friendly, helpful conversations and his recommendations and work was top notch. He stopped dealing with Corvette owners because he found them too demanding AFAIK.

I just ordered a new leather bezel cover for my car from J-F-customs. They have a lot more flexibility than I realized. I’m getting black perforated leather with orange stitching, and a little extra leather to cover the ashtray door and cupholder door.

 

I was also one of his final customers and have been very happy with my triple gauge top DD column.

On the fine point adhesion topic a one such as the thin bars on a DD piece... I am by no means a pro, but I have used crazy glue "professional" from any tool shop and had it work a charm on several leather products. You have to work clean and keep it far away from any surface leather, and it dries hard underneath, but it holds.

 

How do we get in touch with j-f customs. Is there a website besides going through ebay. Once we get the leather what type of glue do we use.

 

I got in touch with them through Ebay message system. They are very quick to reply. I used Weldwood Original contact cement. Has been on for a couple of years with no problems.

 

That's a good question. I've used Weldon's on a lot of things, but this is definitely something that needs to STAY PUT so feedback on the type/s of glue used would be nice.

 

I've heard that story, but then I've also heard a lot of people say that in the end he just stopped fulfilling his promises and started doing poor quality work.

So, who knows (there's always multiple sides to every situation).... Regardless of the reason he quit, it's unfortunate because the work that I did see was really nice and it's always a shame to lose quality options.

 

You can find them on ebay if you put the name in the search tool. Once you get some kind of what looks like a positive ID go to his page and just ‘sort down’ til you get to c5’s. in fact once you get to his page you’ll see a car list. click on Chevrolet then type in c5 Corvette.

Regarding glue: gang, I come from a family of tradesmen/DIY obsessed guys and girls who learn the hard way sometimes but once a lesson is learned we stick with what works.
In my Z, I used 3M #77 and Super 90 spray contact cement. It held “for awhile”. On my naugahyde covered bezel as I mentioned I tried the Weldwood in the green can. That and the red can were staples for my Dad when he was making custom laminate counters. It didn’t work for fabric or plastic for my purposes, and I did all the prep.
When I got my coupe, I knew I would start looking for trouble. That’s when I got the stuff from Redline. Not knowing any better I went with the Super 90, and certain areas I know are not adhered to the substrate. when I did my carpet I had to glue the rug to the rear compartment covers. After about a year in all weather I noticed the edges lifting. Around that time a new member of our club turned out to be a harness and tack maker for the harness tracks here in NJ. We got on the topic of glue and he said ‘come over my house and I will give you some”!! I did and it works perfectly, fixed the loose bits and is now my default for this kind of application.
It’s basically shoe maker’s cement, the popular and most highly regarded brands are BARGE and PETRONIO’S. They are pricy but worth the relief from aggravation. I just ordered a can of Barge thinner and cement from a leather supply. I had Petronio’s and ran out.
For those who have had luck with the 3M products, I’m glad, but I think since my car lives outside, my summer conditions might be worse than those with garages.

 

I was also one of his last customers - he had his contractor do mine right before he went "offline" last time. I was also one of his first customers years earlier - he sent me a free sample to try and showcase his work but it was pretty bad as modded bezels go. I ended up going with a different vendor who made me a an awesome DD leather-wrapped bezel and did a stellar job.

Here is the last one the "unnamed" did for me along with the console.

 

I wish I had dome mine while he was still around. Does anyone know anyone else that is wrapping double DIN bazels, especially in two tone leather like jdmvette?

 

I had someone cover my Exige console in leather and suede about 3 years ago and I was blown away with the workmanship. If you are serious I could reach out to him and see if he is still accepting new jobs. (I don't want to post his contact info without his OK)