Hey guys,

I have seen many how-to threads for the leather dash panel removal, but I haven't seen any on how to stretch the leather back out.

I would love some advice before I attempt mine. I'm about to try and repair my leather dash panels. All three.

Any advice on how to stretch the leather and what glue to use would be great!

Thanks in advance!

 

This recent post might help with pieces of it, it's the last post in the "how to take panel out" thread and has some tips...


https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ml#post4456714

 

I had the same problem with my DB9 and when I looked into getting it stretched back and reglued the costs and risks of failure soon after made me decide to go with recovering in the end. If you spend a little time online and on the phone you will find someone who is able to do a good job at a good price. BUT to get that you'll need to be ready to take the panels out yourself - that part can cost as much as the new leather! I took the panels (the two nearest the windscreen) out and got them recovered for £150 sterling. PS I'm in a wheelchair which made it a slow process but it's definitely do-able.

There are several posts on various forums detailing how to remove the various panels, so it's not too hard, just read through the stages several times before you do each step. The hardest bit for me was finding out how to get the panel covering the airbag out. It was never described well enough in my opinion and it's not shown in any diagrams but this panel has a broad aluminium section that comes down behind the airbag itself (like a mini firewall) and this is what the bolts go through in the descriptions. If you imagine kneeling outside the car, looking back towards the centre of the vehicle, then the leather part of this panel would form the top bar of a capital T and the mini firewall I'm talking about would be the vertical bar. I hope this makes sense but if not, I apologise!

Cheers and good luck, Mark

 

Once the leather is retracted we can not stretch it.
We must replace it.
A saddler do it for my 2006 V8 Vantage on 2 panels.

 

I believe it IS possible to stretch the leather if you thoroughly soak it with clean water first BUT... there is a significant chance it could shrink again if it's not very evenly stretched in all directions or if it isn't glued down very firmly with the right type and quality of adhesive. That was another reason I chose to go with replacement leather.

 

Basically what you guys are saying is there is no harm in trying because I will have to replace it anyways. I bought everything to try and stretch it out. I'll make a video and share my results. If all goes poorly Aston Martin bits has new ones ready to send me :-)

 

So you guys were right that leather didn't stretch very well . However after removing the dash I noticed almost all the leather pieces have damage I'm going to remove them and get a place to redo them.

I'm tinkering with the idea of going with the alcantara. Any one do the conversion?