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Old 05-19-2016, 11:07 AM   #12
Smallblock454
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: LB, Germany
Posts: 1,507
Hello John,

wow, that looks like the glue failed, which keeps the leather on the dash and then the leather started to kind of shrink. I would say that is still repairable and would try to repair it. The upper dash had to be removed - which is truly a pain in the ass and will take some time.

Than you have to check if the leather can very slowly and careful be stretched a little bit and get the loose part complete loose from the dash carrier to reglue it. Best way to to that is cold water (not hot steam – that will shrink the leather). If you have reqlured it and it is wrinkled you can use steam to tighten it up. An experienced car saddler will have the right glue and tools and skills to do that. It's rather not an DIY job.

Shurely it's easier to replace it with a good used one. But you'll have always color and structure differences, because it's a natural product – especially a the passengers airbag. Color can be adjustet if it's a leather one - there are special leather colors out there. Some tried that with there worn seats that came out good.

If you still go for vinyl, i think that will not look good, because the airbag and the instrument cluster and the under part of the dash is leather and the color and structure is quite different. But that's your decision.

Hope that helps
Regards, Markus
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