Searching for a leather that matches the dashboard/door trim

[hasskarre]

Since the previous owner of my 91 NSX decided to fix the delaminating leather on the passenger side door by drilling a hole and fixing it with plastic rivets, I want to replace the whole portion with new leather.
I did some searching on this site, looked around on leather seat and/or interior vendors, but i couldnt find any leather, real or artificial, that matches the original look or feel.

Can someone give me a hint where to look?

 

[drew]

As nobody has spoken up: I recommend an old-fashioned gumshoe method. You will have to continue your investigation at a good old-time automotive upholstery shop. They will have books of fabric swatches that they will let you dig through and hope you get lucky. You gotta remember that the NSX came of age before the commercial internet and sources will be committed to paper.

I'm not sure if you are looking for the actual leather inserts or the vinyl?

 

[hasskarre]

Here`s a Picture to prevent further misunderstandings:




In the circled area are two holes wit plastic rivets in them.
I thought the uppermost part was made from leather as well, or is it vinyl?

I am already sourcing the local upholstery shops. When I find a matching leather/vinyl I will post about it here.

 

[mskrotzki]

As nobody has spoken up: I recommend an old-fashioned gumshoe method. You will have to continue your investigation at a good old-time automotive upholstery shop. They will have books of fabric swatches that they will let you dig through and hope you get lucky. You gotta remember that the NSX came of age before the commercial internet and sources will be committed to paper.

Many years ago when I fixed my driver's seat bolster, a fellow at a local upholstery shop found a pretty good match from a --- wait for it --- a 1978 Torino. It's not identical, but you have to look closely to see any difference.

My guess is the piece you are looking for is vinyl, not leather. Good luck.

 

[drew]

It is a high-quality vinyl.

Leather has a habit of shrinking in the sun...ask any F360 owner. Honda made the better choice for longevity and it is less expensive than leather.

FYI: The parts that touch the body are leather: seat facings, grips, and armrests. Everything else is vinyl; even the soft sides and back of the seats are vinyl.

You might consider a vinyl repair kit....it might work and black is an easy color to match.

 

[Albert86]

You could call leatherseats.com and see what they have. I thought I could have ordered "door cards" - I think this is what you want.
They also offer leather and vinyl bulk.

 

[hasskarre]

I contacted Leatherseats.com
The car in their portfolio, which is the clarion build, has only new door inserts. The vinyl on the door cards is still the original.
My contact Austin told me that the black vinyl they offer differs from the one on the doorboards in grain texture and potentially in color and sheen, so they dont have what I need/want.

 

[drew]

I believe you are on a Quest, the source is probably in Japan.

I recommend getting a hold of Mark from theNSXshop.com. He is in JP and might have a good start point for your investigation...

 

[hasskarre]

I contacted mark and he spoke to the main factory in suzuka.
Unfortunately they will not sell the vinyl separately from the door panel.

The journey continues

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

An option would also to be a donor set of door panels and use their leather. There are some out there probably collecting dust due to other issues but usually the top portion you seek I’ve never really seen messed up unless someone has drilled for speakers.

 

[I_M_Legend]

It is a high-quality vinyl.

Leather has a habit of shrinking in the sun...ask any F360 owner. Honda made the better choice for longevity and it is less expensive than leather.

FYI: The parts that touch the body are leather: seat facings, grips, and armrests. Everything else is vinyl; even the soft sides and back of the seats are vinyl.

You might consider a vinyl repair kit....it might work and black is an easy color to match.

I assume the dashboard is also vinyl? or is it just rubber?

 

[hasskarre]

Trying to source a cheap door panel that is broken or worn in irrelevant places would also be a good option.
I`ll do that tomorrow, its too late now over here.

 

[drew]

See if Mark can get any information on the supplier or model of the vinyl. You might have to track down if the door panel was assembled by another Honda unit or contractor, and follow up with them regarding the bulk vinyl roll.

You can probably figure this out, though I suspect you would have to buy a whole bolt of it.

I've done two of these projects for the NSX. I had exact duplicates made of the ivory floor mats as they went out of production quickly...they came out great, but nobody wanted to pay $125 for a set a decade ago...so I ate a lot of the cost due to labor of love.

I helped Dali/Zublin with the smartenna connectors and shells to make it a non-destructive install.

Each time I had to research all the way back to the original suppliers and deal with them directly. And each time the MOQ was brutal.

I gave up on turning the OEM keyless panic into a trunk release because of high MOQ and low demand.

 

[hasskarre]

Sourcing for a used doorboard with the vinyl already cut and sewn is probably the most reasonable method of replacing, financially and work wise.

 

[hasskarre]

Luckily a prime member had a spare upper vinyl he was willing to sell and ship to me for a reasonable price.

If I finallly get around to do the maintenance and repairs to my NSX, I`ll create a separate thread.

Thread can be closed, thanks prime.

 

[mwagner10702]

I assume the dashboard is also vinyl? or is it just rubber?

From the Wiki

Leather
Seat cushion (top)
Seat bolsters
Seat backrest
Front side of the headrest
Door panel inserts
Shifter knob
Steering wheel


Vinyl
Back of the seat backrest
Sides of the seating cushion (back and bottom)
Inner side of lower seat bolster (portion nearest center carpet)
Parking brake lever
Shift boot
Glovebox door
Knee bolsters
Dash