Mangusta - seeking comments regarding my plans for dashboard upholstrey.

The mouse fur as you call it was black suede that covers the entire top panel, it can be removed to expose everything behind the vertical leather covered dash panel.  The black suede was used on the Mangusta as well as many other special cars to diminish reflections in the windshield, which it does very well. The Mangusta had the fastest windshield at 66 degrees of any other car, actually a first in the global industry.

You do not state the finish of your naugahyde but anything other than the matte suede will exagerate reflections, that does not help when driving.

DICK RUZZIN

Nate, at least the original cover on the dash front was bare leather. Lower cost leather is usually textured, but I think the correct leather for the Mangusta is without texture...Here is a picture of '1046 (I'd like to think I am gradually uploading a picture of every square inch of the car...but (sniff) never took enough pictures of the car...! Lee

The mouse fur as you call it was black suede that covers the entire top panel.

 I have been planning to recover my dash in mouse fur, but haven't done so since I have heard various versions of "which" mouse fur is most accurate.  

 Has anyone come to conclusions on this?

Thanks gents, really appreciate your comments.  Several years ago there was discussion on Ferrari Chat from Jay (JM3), trying to determine what was the original Mangusta dash top material. The material is apparently similar to what was used on 246 Dinos (and possibly Daytonas), but NOT the same.   The original Dino dash material faded and deteriorated rapidly.  Although the Mangusta material was different, it might have had similar durability problems.  For years the Dino group had no source of OEM material, but that was resolved c. 2011 and fwiw the Dino material is probably still available from specialist "HVL" in the Netherlands (http://www.hvl-autobekleding.nl)

So back to the Goose, a few thoughts/possibilities:

a) 'Alcantara' synthetic suede, actually made in Italy - available in various colors; marketed by ReOriginals in black for some Maserati applications.  Problem? Per Wikipiedea not invented until the 'early 70s'; could not have been on early Mangusta.

b) Real suede leather - problem? gets dirty and stays dirty.

c) 'Ultrasuede' - similar to Alcantata (same Japanese inventor, created in 1970).

d) Some other synthetic material - -  I THINK Jay described the Dino material as 'fake suede' and characterized Mangusta material as 'flocked vinyl'.  So that opens other possibilities.

Sorry I can't pin this down any better yet, regards to all, Nate

Nate, 8MA1244 has a leather top dash with a seam at the edge, but the headliner is 'mousehair/suede' tuck&roll headliner. Who know what they did at the factory Like Steve says YMMV.

Mark Charllton has sourced very close to original material.

The original owner told me that my car definitely had a mouse fur/suede dashtop from the factory (the car now has the same leather as the rest of the interior).

Are we reasonably sure  that it was black, not charcoal or gray?

Denis, any more info on what Mark found?

I have worked in the textile industry for the last fifty years, have used thousands of yards of Ultrasuede and many of the other synthetic suedes on the market and have been getting a very nice synthetic suede for many members of the Jaguar forums for Alcantara headliner and 'A' pillar replacements for the last few years.  If you go the Ultrasuede route (this is a brand name for a continuous filament synthetic suede), I would just caution that it has a tendency to "pill" when rubbed enough times (as in when you would wipe or vacuum it down).  It is also very expensive from about $80-120/running yard at 54" width for the upholstery grade (as there is lighter weight apparel grade as well).  The suede I have been getting for members of the Jaguar forum is called Passion Suede.  it is a woven fabric, so it is strong. It has a very nice nap (very suedelike look), comes in over a 100 colors, and runs under $5.00/running yard at 60" width.  It is a wonderful microfibre suede of which I have personally used thousands of yards for clients for couches and chair upholstery over the years.  I usually have some pieces laying around, leftover from a project or job, so if you'd like a sample just let me know, and I'll send it to you.  I am assuming you want black but maybe not.  I just finished using it to reline the front trunk on my Pantera, and will next be recovering the rear tub in the same.  Without a single negative comment, every Jaguar Forum member to whom I've  ever sent it has been surprised at the quality and price.  Let me know if I can help.  When last I bought it a couple of months ago, my source charge $4.95/yd.

Ted

tberg, that is very interesting.  I will be happy to take you up on offer.  PM coming

Hi guys, 

My car is 1114 and the dash materials are definitely original. The face leather (and also the same for the lower trim section) is a fairly textured leather as shown below.

The dash top is "mouse fur/hair" and it is NOT the same as Alcantera. It has zero "grain" and does appear to be a man-made material. I sourced an almost identical product from orange auto upholstery in LA. I will try to post a photo later of the two materials (old and new) together but I can't at the moment.

Is the mouse fur/suede simply wrapped around the dash top and glued underneath, or is there also any kind of threaded stitching?

You might try getting in contact with Johnny Woods in England. He has done several Goose restorations. Haven't seen him post here in awhile though.

Thanks tberg, PM sent.  For Mark, appreciate the photos above....great to see the stock dash treatment, especially from the underside!

I was in Orange Co. recently and so near Orange upholstery that I could not help but stop in for a look at what materials they had available.  They were very nice & helpful in showing the range of samples they had in the Alcantara "family".  Here is one that caught my eye, called 'Simply Swede'.  As shown it comes in a few shades of grey & 'black'.   Mark, could this be the material that you went with?  If so, curious which shade was the best match to your original?  Regards, Nate

(not intending to hijack the topic) but does anybody recommend a replacement for the carpet jute on Mangusta?  thanks! Lee 

What is "Carpet Jute"? I would like to help, but I don't know what that is. I have found the exact Wilton Carpet, from a nice source in the USA, but I don't know if we are talking about the same thing.

Jay, my interest is probably too obsessive, I've spent a couple days looking to see whether this matters even for million dollar Ferraris (!)….But specifically, the carpet padding on '1076 seems to have been a kind of horse-hair...Of course, today there are plenty of synthetic pads that I'm sure are better in every regard, and its possible that the closest solution to original is a felt pad (maybe 3/8" thick ?)  

The Goose parts manual distinguishes (around Tav 14) "Pendana" (footboard)and "Tappeto" (carpets) then the "feltro" (felts) on tav 15 (shown in second picture below). ...So likely, the horsehair wasn't ever called out in the parts manual and just came as backing on the carpets. If anybody had replaced the backing on the carpet itself and found something like on '1076, then great...!

Or even, if anybody suggests a particular replacement for the Felt (used on the floors, glued to the interior wall behind the seats, and which is probably also the stuff used in the engine bay around the heat shields?), thanks for any help...Lee

My car (600)  has no jute anywhere.

Lee, I've been wondering about that carpet pic on the grass...it looks a LOT like what I pulled out of my car (including the 'horsehair' aspect) but there are some differences too!

I assume it's a shot of the bottom of the passenger side carpet...and that it's actually two pieces of carpet that are stuck together around the mid-point (where they overlap slightly).  I haven't seen any original carpets with that dark color backing - what shows in Jay's photo seems more 'normal' - but who knows...  Also don't see any of the button fittings that (I think) held the carpet down, as shown in the other pic. Could it be a nicely bound replacement piece??  Whatever the case, the front piece was clearly glued to a layer of insulation of some sort.

So about that insulation....here are two shots of the original mats from my engine compartment.  Once they start to unwind (heat + moisture?) the horse hair nature comes out, albeit the color is a bit darker than what is seen from your car.  For whatever reason the carpets and all underlayment on my car was in disastrous shape - I assume it had the nice coated mats originally, with the snap fittings for the carpet, etc. No doubt things got wet repeatedly and went downhill quickly.  The forth pic shows another car that might have had some similar material failure?

Final shot shows what I *think* is oem carpet....front section, driver's side, without the separate 'heel' type mat that would go on top.

I'm curious about materials too (thanks for bringing this up)!  I've cut normal 3/8 insulation/underlayment to retrofit but of course it has no 'undercoat' type surface....very low ratings in the obsessive/compulsive category thus far.

Material for the engine compartment is most probably jute felt, not horse hair, covered with bitumen. I know this kind of material from old Porsches. Not really difficult to source in Europe.

in German only: http://www.doepper-profile.de/...+%2B+Bitumen~Bitumen

Bluepant, thanks, that is a great source (they carry an amazing range of felts and other auto related material)!  Also, keying on 'bitumen', a few potential sources show up in the UK, so there are some options, as you suggest.

Wanted to add 2 photos of what may be an OEM 'top mat' for the passenger side.  It's about 2" shorter than the carpet section that it lays on, but otherwise matches (i.e., same material, same vinyl binding).  Unlike the driver's side mat it does not have a rubber 'heel-protector' section. 

It is affixed by 6 small Velcro pads that are sewn to the carpet.....so there must be 6 velco tabs on the carpet below??! Or did it just lay there, Velcro doing nothing (it DOES fit tightly in the foot well).  Does anyone think this is original? 

Guys, thanks, lots of help...I realize now my question is really about sourcing the "bitumen board" the car is lathered with...I see rubber-backed felt commonly available (as throw-carpet backing), but otherwise it seems that Bitumen board is used mostly in construction (esp for expansion joints...). I had used rubber for the engine left/right. 

Nate, yes that carpet from 1076 is the passenger side---another obsessive difference, the left/right carpets on 1076 were single piece, apparently glued to the felt/bitumen board in the foot area and secured by the seat track bolts in the rear section (the foot rest area was not separate and the carpet could not be removed without removing the seat). The second picture I posted is from the 'carsanddogs' 2-headlight car in Northern California that was up for sale a few weeks ago on ebay, showing 2 piece carpets and the carpet fasteners you see in the bitumen board. 1076 did Not have mats, good question whether (esp with easily removable front carpet sections).---Lee