Interior colour change debate!

[Gjk]

I understand the binnacle being a dark grey to reduce reflection but I get a huge amount of reflection off it on the windscreen at the moment. Sometimes it can be very off putting and difficult to concentrate on the road ahead.

[drdoom]

My trimmer counselled against trimming the binnacle in leather, relating how F308's dash tops display recession of the leather with aging by which vent apertures become untidy. Poor bugger has therefore been tasked with getting it done in Alcantara, much more difficult to work with but with no risk of refections.

[Gjk]

Funny you should mention Alcantara @drdoom. I did think about that as an alternative. As you say though, it is tricky to work with as it doesn’t stretch. This leads me to believe a re-trim in the material would be rather expensive. I totally agree that there would be no glare though.

I bet your trimmer loves you!

[drdoom]

Yes, but only for my money . . . .

[Gjk]

Alcantara is out the question for me. A binnacle re-colour would just be a cosmetic change. I have seen photos from/of people who have done it, and it does look good. Admittedly they also changed the leather strip that is just below the windscreen which is similar to the S3 interior’s but, that would have to happen later. One thing I did find when I re-coloured my interior was after buffing the sheen was less than that of the original leather after the same treatment.

[kkv444v]

I would say absolutely do not change the colour of the binnacle; there is a very good reason why Lotus went to a dark shade. I had an '87 Turbo HC many, many years ago and I found the reflection so dangerous that I removed the binnacle and had it re-coloured black; it wasn't perfect - as you appreciate - but it was a huge improvement.

Try and have a drive of an earlier car with a light colour binnacle and see for yourself.

[Chillidoggy]

On 06/05/2024 at 15:49, Gjk said:

I understand the binnacle being a dark grey to reduce reflection but I get a huge amount of reflection off it on the windscreen at the moment. Sometimes it can be very off putting and difficult to concentrate on the road ahead.

Even with the raven grey, I still suffer from reflections in the windscreen.

[Gjk]

I have sent an email to Fulcher Coachtrimmers to see if Steve can give any suggestions for reducing the glare from the binnacle. Maybe there might be a product that can feed the leather and leave a matt finish.

[EXCEL V8]

7 hours ago, Gjk said:

I have sent an email to Fulcher Coachtrimmers to see if Steve can give any suggestions for reducing the glare from the binnacle. Maybe there might be a product that can feed the leather and leave a matt finish.

You can get both water-based and solvent-based leather finishing products that will give a matt finish.  Spray on with air brush/detailing gun.  Some of the water-based ones wipe on.

Pete

[Gjk]

13 hours ago, EXCEL V8 said:

You can get both water-based and solvent-based leather finishing products that will give a matt finish.  Spray on with air brush/detailing gun.  Some of the water-based ones wipe on?

I would require a solvent based product. Can the leather be fed through the anti glare coating and what happens when after feeding you need to buff the product?

[LotuStuart]

On 05/05/2024 at 17:06, drdoom said:

it minimizes distracting reflection

 

On 06/05/2024 at 07:40, Chillidoggy said:

Beware reflections!

This. Don't do it if it is irreversible.

[EXCEL V8]

2 hours ago, Gjk said:

I would require a solvent based product. Can the leather be fed through the anti glare coating and what happens when after feeding you need to buff the product?

By 1991 Connolly had moved from the earlier cellulose leather paint (like my 1974 Elite) to a plastic type (I don't know exactly when this happed) - very little feed gets through to the leather itself with the later leather - it's mainly about keeping it clean.  You can feed from the reverse if the seat covers are removed.  The solvent based finisher would come off again with a solvent - thinners, for instance.  The water based one is very difficult to remove afterwards - just like the leather paint in your Esprit.  You can't buff the matt finishers really - and after feeding all the feed would be sat on the surface anyway!.  The water based ones are more matt than the solvent based ones.  Most of the modern colour-changing products are polyurethane type paints - again impossible to "feed" through and virtually impossible to remove again - it's the reason I'm going to dye my Elite seats rather than to paint them with modern paint.  I'll then use a solvent based finisher - this combination will allow the finisher to be removed later (for what ever reason) and you're back to the leather itself - re-dying/feeding etc..

Pete

[Gjk]

I called Steve this morning and had a chat about the glare issue. His advice was to use a leather cleaner and a nail brush to remove the sheen. When I re did my interior with Vinylkote, part of the prep used a product called vinylprep which Steve assured me would remove the sheen. His only caution was to not spend too much time cleaning one area as the colour may start to lift.

[Gjk]

Edit to last post.

I stated vinylprep and it should have been vinylkleen. The vinylprep might be to aggressive and start to remove colour.

[Gjk]

I used the Vinylkleen on the binnacle to see if it would reduce the sheen. Unfortunately the results were not as good as I had hoped. The sheen is still evident and not as matt as I had hoped. TBH it’s hard to tell the difference from the attached photos. The first is before and the second after.

so, onwards and upwards with the quest.

 

[Gjk]

Having had more correspondence with the trimmer he has said that he could make an elasticated sock to fit over the binnacle. He mentioned that he could make the sock from Alcantara but I would have thought any anti glare material would suffice. So this could be another viable option. IIRC I read a forum thread from years ago about another member toying with the same idea but I don’t recall any follow up.