The 'E' Type Forum

Does anyone have any idea where I can get some of the black, thin but quite dense, foam that covers my sills
I have just removed my original leather cover and the thin open cell “upholstery foam” lying on top of the black stuff, prior to doing a few mods to the inside of the floor and tunnel,this black dense foam was covering most surfaces. I’m also rerouting the vacuum pipe for the ECU.
Thanks in advance.
Peter

Is it neoprene rubber?

Yeah, could be ...it’s the correct sort of feel!

Try the trimmers...Aldridge, Bas, Skinners etc...Steve

To follow on from this insulation theme...
Has anyone any experiences good or bad with heat wrap on exhaust manifolds and pipes??

Hi Peter
the common foam sheets (supplied by trimmers and the foam used by Jaguar as well) are open cell foam; i.e. if the area around the sill gets wet, the foam acts like a sponge. I used for my car a closed cell foam (the product is called Armacell, 3 mm thickness with adhesive layer, got it via Amazon) for I do not want a sponge under the trimming.

Holger this is exactly the situation I found.
The car has been inside for weeks now,and I was doing some mods to the seat mountings, making them stronger, when I happen to leave a white sheet of tissue in the corner of the door closure,over night, picked it up, damp patch..
Investigated.. open cell foam under leather trim on top of the black neoprene stuff Recipe for disaster.
Must have been the owner prior to PO. The colour had changed then.
Don’t intend to use OC foam.Closed cell is available.

Also the sill covers should not be leather but vinyl.

Garry

And you should have drain covers over the holes in the bottom of the doors so water is diverted away from the top of the sill...Steve

Sorry but they are leather, does it really matter? The PO trimmed in full leather, and I just love the feel of leather......
I do have a thin closed cell foam used in high end flooring applications to put under the top surface but above the new “neoprene type layer”.
My doors do have drain vents.

I have to say that until yesterday I was unaware that contact adhesive was available in a “high temperature” version.

Do not be tempted to use the ordinary diy products..Evostick, Bostik etc.....use a product for automotive upholstery....Steve

My trimmer gave me this adhesive.

Fspp369 wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:52 pm

Sorry but they are leather, does it really matter? The PO trimmed in full leather, and I just love the feel of leather......

It matters as a correction, because once you know the sill trim is not original it would help answer your question about the black foam, which is also non-original.

The vinyl used on the sills is thin non-stretch stuff - thinner than the thinnest leather I’ve ever seen used in kick areas in car trimming. Since you have sills with two types of foam under leather, it is possible, perhaps likely, that there was bunching or a tiny gap along the chrome strip edges or A & B post ends where they have been re-covered. Vinyl is non-absorbent even when water leaks past the door seals, so open call foam isn’t an issue so long as it hasn’t lifted or split after 50 years. Leather will absorb and transmit water from day one if it accunulates.

I quite fancy the idea of leather in a summer-only car, and closed-cell foam has merits too. But pointing out what is or isn’t original is fair comment, surely, when trouble-shooting or asking about materials sourcing?

Fspp369 wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:52 pm

Sorry but they are leather, does it really matter? The PO trimmed in full leather, and I just love the feel of leather......

No it does not matter as it is your car, but you did say "original" leather (and now you indicate it has been retrimmed by a PO) and originally it would not have been leather.

As Peter indicated, this change may be the cause of some of the troubles you experienced.

So just to get this sorted...and clear up the controversial comments that could be made,,,!!
The S3 was never produced with full leather trim, correct?
The car was retrimmed in approx 1984, with its present materials and colours, the PO immediately before me considered this ok and left things alone, and I suspect this was the time that any leaks may have occurred, however the amount of rust in the corners of the A& B pillars is quite small and certainly not a structural concern...
I’m just being a little fussy!
When the cars emerged from the factory what were the trim materials used and in what areas?
Is there a definitive list of trim materials, I’m sure the purists amongst us must know.
What about a trim in modern synthetic materials purposely designed for auto trim on higher end cars?
Peter.

Peter
Jaguar factory used leather for a small number of parts: top of the seat (sides are vinyl), the backrest front surface and - for manuals- the gaiter of the gear stick. Concerning the materials used for trimming you may check the homepage of trimming shops, e.g. john-skinner.co.uk
Regards
Holger

Thanks Holger.
Any thoughts on the sill materials?
P

I m close to buy the same product for both the sills ( 2 or 3mm) and under the carpet (10mm) from my S3 FHC.
I found several suppliers here in France. You should be able to find the same kind in UK.
For information:
https://www.solutions-elastomeres.com/f ... ec_adhesif
Or
https://planetcaoutchouc.com/caoutchouc ... f-3mm.html