Boosted Falcon

Just doing some parts hunting for a car I'm buying and thought I'd share some information;

1 brand new EL Ghia Leather Grey steering wheel left in Victoria - $558 at Ford
Getting one retrimmed $220
One on ebay atm $150 with 5 days to go

Brand new leather covers for Ghia seats now obsolete
Getting full bucket retrimmed $800
Getting repair work on average $250 per seat. More for rear.

Fukk man leather is EXPENSIVE!!

Anyone seen a leather steering wheel for a EF or EL Ghia in grey around for sale or got one?

Seen EL Ghia wheels?

holy shit thats quite alot of money for leather... and i was considering getting my drivers seat redone.. not anymore.

Leather is crap unless its MINT.

pig skin FTW ?!

black leather wheel + AU airbag (or vinyl dye'd EF airbag) FTW.

leather is nice...

i've got a complete hide of unfinished black leather under my bed at home that i was going to make a gun bag with

sisters fiancee used to work at a tannery down gippsland way, apparently ford/holden leather is rubbish, they make all the stuff for beamers, land rovers and stuff like that.. i think if i was so inclined i might be able to still get some cheap-ish

lol @ apparently

Ford leather is shit.

Ford leather quality is inconsistent.

In most EF and EL's I've seen, cappacino (sp?) seems to wear a lot better over time than it's grey counterpart. That, and some EL leather goes hard, some cracks and goes shiny and some just wears straight through to the canvas backing.

It's retarded.

i think the fbt/concorde leather is orright, although the only concordes/fbt interiors i've sat on have been mint

when i was lookin at el ghia's at auctions there was a lot of scum around (not just the people at the auctions but the interiors themselves)

maybe we're just expecting too much of ford seeing as everyone knows anything australian built aint much chop with the exception of maybe high end fpv's/hsv's

how do the interiors in the phoons and that go?

i agree about cappa interiors wearing better.

with BA, ford changed seating suppliers. the quality of leather is MUCH better (but still no BMW).

I've seen plenty of AU Leather interiors looking pretty shabby.
simply comes down to how its cared for.
but in general... its crap

galapogos01 wrote:i agree about cappa interiors wearing better.

with BA, ford changed seating suppliers. the quality of leather is MUCH better (but still no BMW).

BMW's of similar age are not that much better Mine is still soft except the front seats. Everywhere else is awesome and soft, but it looks like shitty taxi spec vinyl on seats dammit (feels slightly better though).

If you keep good care of it it will last a long time. I used to and it stayed nice. But i very rarely condition it and now the seats are cracking and rubbing. Shitty farkin crap

oneredED wrote:but it looks like shitty taxi spec vinyl on seats dammit (feels slightly better though).

Get drunk and vomit on it a few times and then see, (we need to make this comparison fair!)

Seriously tho I didn't have a good look at the seats in your car Jared (i was sitting on it) but a similar aged (year or 2 older) bmw I've ridden in at work had badly worn leather on the driver's seat and the passenger's obviously hadn't been looked after and felt like a taxi seat imo, just because it hadn't been looked after really well. Its a lot to do with the care, but yeah if its shit quality to begin with it will always be shit, I've only seen brand spanker BF's leather on the production line so can't really comment on E-Series quality, I like my Velour seats & door trims anyway!

Not surprised at the prices. Get the old stuff retrimmed, it will be better quality leather and should last.

It's a lot of work keeping leather in good condition, have to hit it with bees wax every few months to keep it soft. Eventually the sun will still kill it tho.

RustyEB1 wrote:

oneredED wrote:but it looks like shitty taxi spec vinyl on seats dammit (feels slightly better though).

Get drunk and vomit on it a few times and then see, (we need to make this comparison fair!)

Seriously tho I didn't have a good look at the seats in your car Jared (i was sitting on it) but a similar aged (year or 2 older) bmw I've ridden in at work had badly worn leather on the driver's seat and the passenger's obviously hadn't been looked after and felt like a taxi seat imo, just because it hadn't been looked after really well. Its a lot to do with the care, but yeah if its shit quality to begin with it will always be shit, I've only seen brand spanker BF's leather on the production line so can't really comment on E-Series quality, I like my Velour seats & door trims anyway!

I threw up all down the side of it after the cuckoo the other night. I think someone threw up out of the sunroof the other night too, but I don't think I've spewed on the seats... yet...

I paid $300 for EB1 Fairmont Ghia Leather/Cloth front seats

!dedrater sti ...sdrawkcab epyt retupmoc ym seod nehw ecnis

OED666 wrote:!dedrater sti ...sdrawkcab epyt retupmoc ym seod nehw ecnis

LOL!

All leather needs to be conditioned, when it's conditioned it gets better as people sit on it. When it's not conditioned, it goes hard, then either cracks or wears through, depending on how you hop in the car. Sunlight is the killer of leather in cars.

Anyone sat on a brand new Chesterfield then a 20yo one that's been in an office waiting room it's whole life?

Sunny, check ebay for those covers, cant remember the name of the company, but there in Dandenong, full set of covers in any colour you want for around $700..

I hate leather prices!

Out of curiosity, once it starts to go a bit hard, will conditioning bring it back, or only keep it where it is?

The thing is the leather in E-Series cars is not COW HIDE leather. Hence it's shit! No amount of conditioning or leather product will ever make it good/last. The best way to care for your leather seats is to not sit on them or let dirt/dust get on them. Good quality leather only ever needs a wipe down with a damp cloth every now and then or if dirty, cold soapy water. A good quality conditioner maybe every 12 months.

When I was selling lounges and crap, we used a regular car chamois to clean leather lounge suites. It would pick up any dirt or dust and keep the moisture in the leather.

moist.

I haven't even found a decent ED Ghia leather interior so i guess i'm in for a shock when i find one.

Realistically i should have just bought an effing ghia

I like leather seats.

EL Ghias are the best cars.