I noticed this mentioned in another post--The top material on the driver door of my J30 is starting to wear off to the material underneath. This happens from throwing your arm out on the window on your average beautiful day. Beyond replacing the entire door panel, which I see is extremely expensive (over $1000!) is there anything that can be done? It looks like the top part is stitched on, but I was wondering if it can be patched by a leather/upholstery place with some new fangled technique. It doesn't have to look perfect. I just am trying to save some cash and bring the body back to looking unthrashed (I have almost no other interior blemishes).
Thanks for any input.
Norbus
Worn out material on driver door from arm resting
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lonallenq45
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 2:52 pm
ah, the curse of worn upper door "leather" on early J30's. Same thing happened on my '93 J, and has happened to numerous other early J owners on this forum.
Infiniti got a little cheap on the material up there on the top of the doors, using a flimsy, thin material. I know some members have shelled out moderate cash to replace the material, but most just deal with it, and try not to put there arm up there (use the armrests instead!)
I tried every over-the-counter cleaner/preserver known to man, but nothing really helps the situation.
Infiniti got a little cheap on the material up there on the top of the doors, using a flimsy, thin material. I know some members have shelled out moderate cash to replace the material, but most just deal with it, and try not to put there arm up there (use the armrests instead!)
I tried every over-the-counter cleaner/preserver known to man, but nothing really helps the situation.
It is not just the J. When I was looking for my Q I kicked many a Q tire in north and central Fl. I saw this more than a few times. I guess a greasy sweaty arm is not good with leather. My wife is a firm believer in AC and does not hang out the window like I do. I clean those areas regularly to keep the sweat and salt off. This doesn't help though, just adding my two cents.
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Mayhem_J30
- Posts: 2643
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 2:00 am
- Car: Ummm...My Car
- Location: Louisville, KY
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lonallenq45
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 2:52 pm
I tried black shoe polish on the worn part of the steering wheel. Didn't last, but it did look good for a couple of days.
Here's a thought. Last time I had some leather shoes resoled, the shoe repair guy (what are they called - cobblers?) spray painted some areas on the shoes that were worn and would not hold polish, much like the area on my steering wheel, and once dried this stuff looked just like tanned leather. You could not distinguish the worn areas with the non-worn areas. Looks like new. I wonder if we could get some of this stuff in black to touch up the steering wheels...
Lon
Here's a thought. Last time I had some leather shoes resoled, the shoe repair guy (what are they called - cobblers?) spray painted some areas on the shoes that were worn and would not hold polish, much like the area on my steering wheel, and once dried this stuff looked just like tanned leather. You could not distinguish the worn areas with the non-worn areas. Looks like new. I wonder if we could get some of this stuff in black to touch up the steering wheels...
Lon
Norbus
I'm in N. California in Bay Area.
I asked my local Infinti dealer who they used for their trade-in recoditionings and they recommended an auto upholstery shop close by. They showed me all their samples and we picked one to match the tan color. The grain was different than the original but only someone anal-retentive (like me) would notice. Figure $125 to $175 to repair, but I feel it was worth it. New material is definitely an upgrade over the paper thin vinyl that was there.
Frank
I'm in N. California in Bay Area.
I asked my local Infinti dealer who they used for their trade-in recoditionings and they recommended an auto upholstery shop close by. They showed me all their samples and we picked one to match the tan color. The grain was different than the original but only someone anal-retentive (like me) would notice. Figure $125 to $175 to repair, but I feel it was worth it. New material is definitely an upgrade over the paper thin vinyl that was there.
Frank