Swammelstein Rolls-Royce

Leather, woodwork and tinted windows

The question:

I recently cleaned the leathers in my '78 Shadow using Leatherique. This seemed to do fine. I'm now ready to dye some worn spots and was wondering if anyone had used Leatherique dye. Once this is completed I'm thinking of tinting the windows. Is this considered sacrilege among RR/B enthusiasts? (I don't intend to ever have the car judged. I also drive it to work every day - which has no covered parking...)

Finally, what would you use to refinish the interior wood? Also, I can figure out how to take the wood off of the dash, but how do you take it off the doors?

The answers:

There is nothing wrong with window tinting. It will protect your interior from sun damage. Check your state laws which windows are allowed. Be very care not to have it too dark because it can obstruck your view in the dark. There is no set rules in customizing a car to your particular needs & enviorment. Your needs are more important than how other owners feel. Make the car right for you. Not for anyone else. You are the owner. A car is work for you. Let's not forget that. Don't be a slave to your car. The car is there to make life better for you.

Cleaning the leather using the correct type of cleaner is important and the Leatherique material is just fine. The imortant thing if you lack a great deal of experience cleaning hide is to select a cleaner that will not do any harm. In most leather renovation processes, like Connollising the cleaning represents the bulk of the work. It is not all unusual for an owner to look at his hide after the cleaning and see such an improvement he thinks the process is complete. The application of the renovator is just the icing on the cake and done properly any defects are subtly disguised rather than completely obliterated with excessive thicknesses of renovator.

Looking at the Leatherique website I find much of the information is misleading. Water based materials are not superior and Connolly were compelled to use them for environmental reasons. Among other considerations was the location of the Wandle Bank works situated directly by a private residential area. There were plans for a completely new factory outside London but the recession of the early 90's stopped this. When they made the switch to a completely water based finish Connolly suffered problems with colour coming off.

All pre 1985 spec cars and obviously all Shadows therefor used Connolly's Vaumol hide. This had a two layer colour coat consisting of one layer of a cellulose colour being spread over the stretched hide. The second layer was then applied with a spraygun. Environmental considerations aside there is nothing wrong with a solvent based finish like Vaumol and properly cared for it has a long life and is easily restored at a later date with similar materials to those used in production. This is in fact exactly what Connollising is. Alternative leather finishes are usually polymer based but although these are the most durable often look false and can look more like plastic than even some plastic finishes.

The other significant fact regarding Vaumol is that it has two colours. The main colour and black which should be evident in the pores of the grain. This is not dirt trapped in the grain it is supposed to be there. This unfortunately cannot be replicated during renovation so prior to applying any renovator you should be aware that it will alter the appearance considerably. This is most obvious with light colours. Clearly it becomes difficult to renovate anything other than the smallest areas in isolation without them standing out more than the original defect. You can check if your hide has already been renovated by looking for the presence of the black in the pores and also by pulling back the piping and spreading the flutes in the centre of the seats apart to see if the "new" colour stops short. It is impossible for the renovator to cover all the hide.

The advantage a water based renovator like Leatherique,s will give you is that it can be applied easily by an amateur without the need for special skills or a good spraygun and compressor. Most owners who use them are pleased with the results. They are not dyes however and will no more penetrate the surface than a solvent based product. The term dye is a bit of as misnomer as regards leather as no top finish is a dye. The term is used because no one wants to think of their leather has a painted surface. It is true that many hides are dyed and this includes most of Connolly's current Autolux range but this does not form the basis of the finish, it is there to supplement it.

I think you have two options here. You can find a good professional leather restorer. This will not be easy, they are very few and far between. The other alternative is to go with a water based renovator like the one supplied by Leatherique. If you take your time and follow the directions I am sure you can bring about a vast improvement. What you will lack however is the skill to carry out the small repairs which can make a big difference. Also I have never seen a water based product that provides the same finish and durability as solvent based materials.

Shadow front seat cushions are interchangable and should be swapped regularly to even up the wear on the leather and the foam beneath. Hiding what is normally a worn outer panel by palcing it on the inside of the opposite side of the car can help improve the appearance.

Before renovating any hide you should apply the renovator oil or hide food. In conjunction with regular cleaning this is really the only maintenance leather requires until the colour coat deteriorates. It is also worth considering replacing badly worn areas. A good trimmer could for example remove the front cushion cover dismantle it and replace a single heavily worn section. Any colour mismatch is then dealt with through application of renovator to the whole cushion. Such repairs are often the best way to renovate a worn interior. You should remember no renovator will remedy the cracks commonly found in neglected hide. They will look fine initially but will always return.

Tinting windows with good quality film is fine. Go for one that gives a high rate of UV absorbtion. The better brands normally advertise the technical spec of the different grades of film. The UV absorbtion does not necessarily increase in proportion with the depth of the tint.

The next consideration is to check out how they finish the film at the top of the drop glass and now neat their finishing is around the remaining window edges. Also ask if they will apply the rear screen film in one or two pieces. Its easier to apply as two but the apperance suffers. Finally look at examples of their work to check there is no inclusion of dirt which will show as small bubbles or discoloured areas. A reputable company will have a very very clean workshop. The best companies are not cheap but the result is indistinguishable from true tinted glass in every respect. It will help to protect the interior but given the age and condition of your car you may not be able to justify it on these grounds. Tinting will however help to cool the interior of the car but exterior paint colour is also a significant factor here, lighter colours reflect heat and tinting the glass has a greater effect than with dark colours where a tremendous amount of heat will still be generated inside the car. A subtle tint can add to the appearance in my opinion but what people think about what you do with your car should not concern you. All kinds of special options have been supplied by the factory Special Features Dept. Some of those are and continue to be in very poor taste. They are however original equipment and in competition cannot be marked down. After market additions carried out to the same standards and in keeping with the rest of the car must surely be more acceptable than those built by the factory for some owners who's idea of what is their ideal car is questionable. One example that springs to mind was a Bentley Turbo R supplied with a Rolls-Royce rad shell but still retaining all the Bentley badging. This car also had copious amounts of gold plating and an interior that turned the stomach. But still factory supplied!

The opening armrest you mention in another posting is likely to be a factory special option, the original build sheet would reveal this. At the time of Shadow production R-R would only supply special features on registered cars and at very high price. Few owners took up these options. Another indicator is to check the quality of the fittings used. If it is solid, well trimmed and uses good quality well chromed fittings it is probably original. If everything is poorly engineered it will definitely have been done later on.

The main dash section is easy to remove, the remainder is not quite so easy unless you know the location of the fixings. The door cappings require removal of the door trims and peeling back of the plastic vapour barrier underneath. A row of 2BA fixings will be visible along the top edge of the inner door structure. The lock button must be removed by loosening the 3BA lock nut. Certainly on Spirit type cars and probably on Shadow's ther is one posidrive screw that comes in from each end and is hidden under the door seal. BA fixings comprise a different range of sizes than the Metric or AF system. Snap On can supply BA tools. Many of the small fittings on a Rolls-Royce are BA.

The correct material to refinish wood with is flexible polyester, you probably will not have access to this however. Do not whatever you do attempt to use french polish, button polish, shellac or anything similar. If you tell me what materials you have access to I can, if you wish, supply more information. Whatever you decide be assured by the fact that Rolls-Royce woodwork is the easiest to repair. Because it was produced to such high standards deterioration is in almost all cases confined to the lacquer. The veneers themselves do not normally suffer any problems. The thickness of the veneer is usually only a consideration if the part has been restored already. Using the correct techniques reduces the chance of breaking through still further. Finally bear in mind most veneers are extensively touched in prior to lacquering, small 'through's" are not a problem.

To answer another of your earlier questions Shadow's, certainly in the UK, were only supplied with one mirror. If you try to fit the opposite mirror in the same place on the opposite side the window frame obstructs it. For this reason this mirror is positioned differently. In every case I am aware of this was a dealer fit option. As most dealers did not have the skill to attempt to cut a hole in the door capping they are not internally adjustable. I have seen many instances however wher the adjusting mechanism in inside the door and once the hole is cut it can be fitted. If you have a LHD car the right side mirror is not its pair it is the single mirror fo a UK car.

Hope if you've managed to read this far it helps.

Where you source your materials, depends largely upon your location and/or the trouble and expense you are willing to got to in order to obtain materials which are often classified as hazardous to transport.

Without wishing to sound as though I am promoting Leatherique, there are definite advantages to using a material that is widely advertised/available, is easy to get transported and gives reasonable results for a first time user. I consider there are far better materials but none are as easy to obtain in small quantities and to get good results takes involves a degree of learning. Connolly's own products in particular are very difficult to get good results with unless you have had a good deal of experience.

It seems that if you have spray equipment and a filtered booth you will quite likely have experience in spraying paint products. Leather renovation products are very different as the build required is neglible. They are highly pigmented and excessive thicknesses should be avoided. Use a small nozzle/needle combination and an air cap designed for use with metallics, shut down the fluid needle and air pressure, trim the fan size and do not try and achieve a full wet pass. Vehicle painters usually make poor leather renovators as they tend to pile the stuff on to achieve a full gloss finish. The filtered booth is unnecessary from the point of view of cleanliness although any means of removing overspray will make the process a little easier. Almost invariably the initial coat is best ragged in using a lint free absorbent cloth to apply the colour in a circular motion in order to fill the grain. The spraying or other finishing process only giving a more uniform effect.

As I stated before 90% of the job is cleaning and preparation and this will take, at the very least, one full day. If it takes you less you probably have not done it properly. Whatever product you use the more trim you can remove from the car the better.

I suggest you buy a renovation kit and experiment on some scrap material using the instructions that should be provided. If you are happy with the results attempt to SUBTLY disguise a few badly worn areas of the car. Often this approach gives better results than going over the whole interior in one hit. When you have disguised the worn areas the lightest of coatings blends everything together. Although this sounds easy it is difficult to avoid the constant temptation to apply too much. If you are successful you will end up with an interior that looks "freshened" but not overdone. If not you can still plaster the renovator on as most people are happy to do in the first place. Be aware none of the processes can be reversed and moving forward slowly has definite merit.