recovering Dhanno's shift knob with camel leather

[John Young]

Hi all,
They say when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Well, I bought a bunch of camel leather to recover some dining room chairs and then I got started on a 1993 model 80 and a 1998 model 100 (called 'Dhanno' after the equine start of a well-known Bollywood movie).

I plan to change the leather trim on Dhanno's steering wheel (I posted in the 80 forum about redoing the steering wheel for that truck already), but I decided I did not want to pull that myself, given the air bag in the model 100, but I also wanted to do the shift knob which looks a little sad. I finally got started last weekend.

I started by going to the local wrecker and buying a shifter assembly complete with the plastic panel with the PDNR, etc. which I also wanted to change. The old one with 500K km on the clock was pretty scratched. I paid maybe 40 bucks for the assembly.

I started by removing the leather from the new shift knob:

Kinda nasty. I just used a sharp craft knife to slice through the threads. The leather on the knob is pretty thin. Underneath is a rubber material with some plastic inserts.
I then ironed the old pieces to flatten them out more completely:

I used steam and put the pieces in between a layer of old cut-up t-shirt. As I said it was not too clean and I only have the one iron.
Then I proceeded to trace the old leather onto the new and cut it out:

Couple of hints: make the replacement pieces a bit longer than the originals. The old leather was folded up and you need some length to go past the end of the rubber knob. I had to re-make two of the pieces before I got it right. Also, get an assortment of leather punches and cheap cutting boards from Ikea or equivalent to cut into.
Here is a photo showing the completed piece of leather that goes up and over the top of the knob:

Only punch the holes on this piece because you have to mark where the holes go on the other two pieces. I used this kind of hole punch:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073VGYMKP/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Some might think that the hole spacing is a bit wide, but I'm using pretty thick leather and it is a lot less work than if the holes are closer together. I'm sure my neighbors in the apartment building were wondering what I was doing--it makes some noise when you do it on a table.

Then it is time to glue the larger piece that goes over the top of the knob on. I recommend PVA glue commonly used for bookbinding: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NZGD6OS/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AWMCFB3232K8Z
It dries clear and flexible and really grabs onto leather and vinyl and rubber and such.

Then place one of the other pieces in position and mark where the holes need to go in that piece:

Note that the holes are closer together where the curve is greatest. I had to use the 2-hole punch and have one of the punches go over the edge of the piece to be able to make the more closely-spaced holes this piece required.
Then glue that on:

And start sewing:

I used a 'baseball' stitch that I learned how to do on youtube. Just search that and you will find a bunch of videos. You will want to watch several. In short, you come up under the leather with each stitch, but it takes a while, for me at least, to get into a rhythm and occasionally I had to back out and re-do.

Do the other side:

The glue holds things in place. PVA glue has a decent working time, which helps a lot. I also found that masking tape could help hold things down when marking and also when stretching the leather over the form.
Here's the end result, pretty much finished:

When I get home I will post a few more pictures. The holes for the overdrive and shift lock button presented a challenge or two. I'm sure I could do it better but I think it turned out fine.

I have a bunch more photos here for those who might be interested.

 

[TheForger]

Wow that turned out great! I wouldn’t mind doing the same on mine since the leather on my shifter has worn almost as badly as my steering wheel. That’s where I rest my other hand sometimes so it sees just as much dirt and grim. You don’t happen to have any pics or just tips for removing the buttons do you? It is pretty straight forward? Also, are those two screws in the back all that attach the top of the shifter to the rod? Thanks!

 

[Kabanstva]

That looks amazing! You're very skilled.

Tedious work like that makes me nervous, like what if you accidentally get some of that glue on the expensive camel leather? Is it basically un-salvageable at that point? I remember once getting a drop of super glue on the leather seat of one of our older cars and I could not remove it with anything, even though I tried cleaning it immediately.

 

[John Young]

Thank you Kab. Actually I don't find it tedious. About a million years ago I used to be a propmaker in the film industry, which is a lot like this. Small work that you have to take your time with. And when it is done, even with flaws, its still something that you use and touch every day, which is more satisfying than say, repacking a ball joint. Plus, I currently live in an apartment without a workshop so small stuff is all I can do myself as a practical matter.

Re glue, one of the reasons I love PVA glue is that it is very forgiving. It works a little like rubber cement and a little like contact glue, but it cleans up with water until it dries. So I just keep a damp rag around and when I go overboard I can just clean it up. Give PVA a try. I learned about it when I was searching for information on good quality leather glue. It says it is for bookbinding but it really does work great on leather.

Re superglue, yeah, that's unforgiving. There are solvents. Acetone is supposed to work. Commonly found in nail polish remover. I prefer to avoid the problem as much as possible by using a product I learned about in 1978 while working on 'Raise the Titanic' a very forgettable film. Here is the link to the stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Stuff-Super-...rd_wg=JespI&psc=1&refRID=D6H2J4XMQW38N7ZC3ZFB The glue itself is just high quality superglue. The thin, replaceable applicator tubes are the key. Unlike the superglue you buy at the drugstore, the bottle and this thin tube allow you to be very precise with the application of tiny amounts of superglue. The biggest problem I've found is that you get a lot of glue and it tends to harden up before you use it--that's the advantage of the little aluminum tubes you get at the drugstore.

I should amplify one comment... I am a cheap bastard but honestly I think the camel leather is more than fairly priced. It is very flexible and stretchable and the last skins I bought I paid about 5.25 USD per square foot. I got it at the Al Khazna tannery. This is a tannery set up by the UAE government that runs on EU standards of quality. The aim is to promote UAE industry. It's right down the road from the government's date farm. PM me if you want an introduction to their sales (I receive no benefit). They are very nice, and I'm sure they would DHL or Fedex hides. The biggest issue is that camel leather hides tend to be kind of small--about 5 square feet, and long and thin. Camels have a very inconvenient shape so the hides that result are from either side of the camel, unlike a cow, which produces a pretty rectangular hide. Biodegradable and chrome-free high-performance camel leathers

Here are a couple of articles about camel leather:

Camel leather is poised for the mainstream, but not quite over the hump

Comparison - Cowhide vs. Camel Leather

I intended to redo the seats of my model 100 with camel leather but the problem is that the upholstery shops thow up their hands and say the leather is too thick for their sewing machines. I could try doing it myself by hand, but I'm not -quite- ready to try that. It's a little daunting. Stay tuned. I almost bought a model 100 driver side seat from a scrapper last weekend for about 50 bucks.

 

[John Young]

You don’t happen to have any pics or just tips for removing the buttons do you? It is pretty straight forward? Also, are those two screws in the back all that attach the top of the shifter to the rod? Thanks!

Thank you TF. Re the buttons, there is a sequence. The overdrive button is fairly conventional and you can just pry it out more or less. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any way to disconnect the wires that go to it. I ended up cutting them. I intend to put a connector in there to make things easier. I will try to post some pictures.

Re the two screws, not quite. As mentioned, the wires from the switch hold the knob on too. And I think you may have to pull out the shift lock button to be able to lift the knob off the shaft. I will post some photos as I put things back together again.

 

[John Young]

Hi again,

Here are a few photos of the completed assembly:

And one final one showing the surround for the shift unlock button:

I used superglue to stabilize the leather around the hole, and a dremel mototool to smooth it to final shape. If I do this again I think I will trim the black rubber knob so that I can push the leather in around the black button instead of what you see here. I could not do this because the leather I used was about 4x thicker than what toyota did at the factory.

 

[planomateo]

Wow, that is AWESOME.

 

[bucfl]

Wow!! Super nice.

 

[bluesquirrel]

That's beautiful.
Where can I get this Camel leather

 

[highonpottery]

Wow that looks really good. Are you planning to wrap your steering wheel like this too?