Interior Work - Leather Upholstery

One of the most neglected sections of the car is definitely the interior. Mr L (previous previous owner) did not really do much for the interior. His emphasis then was the engine and bodykit. I believe when it was about time to build the interior, he decided to sell it to Mr T as he bought his new s2k. As for Mr T, he told me he did not want to spend too much of his parents' moola on the car. Anyway, he only had the car for 2 months. Too short to do anything except crashing the front bumper ;) So the only option is for me to give the car a new makeover internally.

What I inherited was a car with the leather seats peeling and cracked. Door panels grey leather looked old. Gear knob and handbrake covers were tattered and torn. The carpet on the car floor was outside the seams and looked more than its age. There was a huge subwoofer at the back of the car that looked so vintage and I don't seem to get it to work! I definitely need a good re-upholstery workshop!

From the Internet and forums' recommendations, I shortlisted 2 workshop - Classic Auto Leather and 8 Cushion. I called both but were immediately impressed by Classic's boss outstanding service. she was super patient in explaining to me over the phone the estimated costs based on my description of the work required. For 8 Cushion, the lady was polite but was not able to give an estimation until I sent the car down. Decided to pay Classic a visit at Ubi on 30 Apr.

Once I reached there, the boss, Irene was at the loading bay waiting for me. She was worried that I may not be able to find her shop. Impressive service :) Went to her office and she started to explain to me the different grades of leather and their costs. Went to my car with the "shifu" to see whether what I wanted to change can be done. After agreeing to the work and price ($1XXX), decided to use their service and make a downpayment. Took one seat down for them to start preparing the mould. Irene even advised me to send in the car after fixing my roof and spray paint.

On 3 Jun, after collecting my car from Lee and Soon Paint Works, I drove the car down to Classic Auto Leather at Ubi. They started the major operation and by evening, the car looks brand new! What I have done was as follows:

- Rewrap seats with full leather (orangy brown). Btw, Classic added new foam to the seats ;)
- Rewrap the door panels and back panels with full leather. Took out the subwoofer.
- Rewrap the gearbox and handbrake cover with full leather.
- Rewrap sunvisor with PVC
- Change the whole flooring carpet

After all the assembly, they applied leather cleaner throughout the interior and Irene even gave me a tub. She told me to apply once every 2 months to ensure the leather stays moisturised. Btw, the leather and stitching came with 1 year warranty.

Again, if you are thinking of doing a re-upholstery, do consider Classic Auto Leather. You can contact Irene at 68415288. They are located at 53 Ubi Ave 1 #01-02, Paya Ubi Industrial Park Singapore 408934.

Coming soon...accessories for the ride..

PHOTOS

Seats - Rewrap with full leather




Door Panel - Rewrap with full leather




Back Panel - Rewrap with full leather. Subwoofer was removed.






Gear Console and Handbrake - Rewrap with full leather







Sun Visor - Rewrap with grey PVC leather







New Carpet Flooring




Classic Auto Leather - Irene's husband boss

Exterior Bodywork and Respray

When Mr L (previous previous owner) was rebuilding the car in mid 2008, besides overhauling the engine, gearbox, raidiater etc, one major operation was to custom made a bodykit for the car. He even custom-made carbon fibre headlights at a cost of $1200! He then painted the car in 2 tones - black for the "head" and white for the "body". However, by the time the car was handed over to me, the car body condition was already quite "chui". The paint work was in total disaster! No more shine with a lot of scratches and dents. The CF headlights were not shining as the lacquer had came off. In addition, as Mr T (previous owner) had accidentally crashed the car, the front bumper was replaced from a workshop in JB. Problem was that the new bumper was still very raw (no paint) and did not fit nicely with the fenders and and the bonnet. There were also cracks on the side skirts and rear bumper. The gap between the windscreen and the car frame can be seen (bit rusty) as the seals were gone. I knew I had to send the car for a major body work and paint respray.

With so many car respray workshops in Singapore, where do you go to? I turn to the Internet for help. Going through the different car forums in Singapore, I realised that price variations can be huge with different workshops, and even for expensive workshops, quality can be not so good. Finally, after reading many car owners' experiences, I shortlisted this workshop "Lee and Soon Paint Works" in Kranji, which is near the place I stay.

I first visited the workshop on 30 Apr. The boss, in his 50s came across a very nice man. There was another young man, which I thought was his employee. I told them what I wanted to be done for the car. The price quoted to me was $1XXX for colour change and bodywork. There was another customer that day and he told me that the quality is quite good and price is very good. I told them I will send in the car once the roof was fixed by Sam.

On 26 May, I drove down to the respray workshop. The boss recognised my car (of course when it is so rare!). He asked me to choose my paint colour. I initially shortlisted 2 colours - Mercedes Crystal Antimony Gray (701) or GTR Sparkling Silver (WV2). The young man gave me a stack of colour samples for me to choose. While flipping through the catalogue, a colour caught my eye. it was from Aston Martin car codes called Tungsten Silver. Even with the small sample, you can see a lot of pearl effect in the paint. I decided on the paint and the young man told me it will be very nice, better than the 2 colours I shortlisted. The boss came over and told me he will help me fix the gap between the windscreen and the car frame. Also, I told him to help me mould the front bumper so that it is flushed with the bonnet and fenders. He will also help me
lacquer the CF headlights.

After settling the car, I started chatting with them. I found out that the young man was actually the boss's youngest son! His name was Bernard Toh. Senior Toh told me that his brothers are all in the respray business and his two sons (Bernard and Charlie) are now helping him in the business. He first started his business in Brunei some 30 years ago and move back to Singapore when Bernard was 7 so that the children can attend school in Singapore. I now realised why his price can be so competitive even though they used Dupont paint. It is family business and they can keep costs low! No paying of wages to employees. Mr Toh also told me that Lee (in the Lee & Soon) was her wife's surname. After chatting for half an hour, I bidded them goodnight.

The next day, I drove the car down and told Bernard that I will collect the car in a week's time.

One week past quickly and I went to collect my Del Sol, not knowing how the car will turn out. Upon reaching the workshop, I caught a glimpse of the car and I was so pleased how it turn out! It looked totally new and the paint was sparkling under the sunlight due to the pearl effect. The work done on the fromt bumper was impressive! Mr Toh told me that he added almost 2 cm of fibre so that the bumper is flushed with the bonnet. The gap between the windscreen and car frame had disappeared! In its place lies a strip of new seal. Mr Toh even told me that when Chinese New Year comes next year, he will help me polish and wax the car, for free!

I thanked them profusely for the excellent work done. If you are reading this and thinking of respraying your car, I will strongly recommend this workshop for its excellent price and work quality. You can contact Bernard at 9790 9611 or 6269 5020. They are located at Blk 2, Kranji Loop #01-04 Singapore 739538. Tell them Matthew of CRX recommend you and they will give you a very good quote (btw, I don't earn any commission for recommendation.:) Just to share an outstanding paint workshop). You can always compare their quotes with other workshops. Remember to check the type of paint used for each workshop though.


PHOTOS

Del Sol - Changing white to tungsten silver

Side View - Changing colour from white to tungsten silver.

Back View

Front Bumper - Realised how the bumper becomes flushed with the bonnet after adding fibreglass.

Headlights - Gaps were filled and carbon fibre re-lacquered.

Lee and Soon Painting Works - Mr Toh and his son, Bernard

Tungsten Silver - See the massive use of pearls in the paint under light

Start of Restoration - Fixing Autoroof

The first thing on my mind after taking over the car was to restore the auto-roof. The biggest problem was WHO can fix this rare car? Again, I turn to my trusted powerful tool - Internet. Reading through the SHC forum, I managed to find out that there was someone who can fix the roof but there was no mention who and where the person was. Sent an sms to Mr L and Mr T to see whether they knew this mechanic. Also, send IM to these SHC forumers - Mr Penguin, Mr D-SOL and Mr IcecoolT. As expected, these kind souls started refering fellow forumers like Mr Bugiskid and all leads went to this one guy - Sam from AMK Autopoint. Mr Bugiskid was able to give me his contact and on 30 Apr, I drove down to look for him.

Sam came across a quiet guy. When he saw my car, he did not know what car it was! I told him that it was a CRX del sol and he looked surprised! Went over to the car and nodded. He pressed the autoroof button and as expected, nothing happen. Told me got to leave the car there for 3 to 4 days for him to fix. As the next day was Labour Day holiday , he suggested me to come on the following Monday. On Monday (4 May), I sent the car to the workshop, hoping that the roof can be fixed and not knowing what the costs would be.

Three days passed and I was getting anxious on the progress. Something about Sam. He is a very dedicated mechanic who takes a lot of pride in the cars he work on. Only problem is that he don't really like to update you on the progress, even if delay is expected. I sms-ed him after the third day and he called to tell me he needed more time. After 2 more days, still no news from him. On Friday night, as I was playing mahjong near AMK, decided to pop by the workshop to see see look look. The workshop was closed and I went to the carpark where I left my car. Took a peep into the car and wah sei, i knew a lot of work was being done. Basically, the whole interior was dismantled! Sam must to sorting out all the complicated wiring! Knowing that he is doing his best to fix the roof, I can only hope for the best.

The following week, still no news from Sam. On Thursday (14 May), i went down during my lunchbreak. Sam told me that he has changed many of the autoroof parts but could not figure out the wiring. The autoroof ECU is blinking fault 4 and he has been checking the Internet but could not find the required information. I vaguely remembered there was this guy who got the service manual but after contacting him, he was out of town. Sam told me he will try to check with Kah motors. That very night, I started surfing the Internet but as a trusted friend who never fails me, I found the service manual! The next day, I printed the manual (which has the troubleshooting guide) and delivered it to Sam, who was very surprised that I found it when he tried for a few days! I told him the trick was that ang moh refers to the del sol autoroof as "Transtop". So searching for Transtop will get more resources ;)

The following week on Wednesday, Sam called me and told me the good news. The roof has been fixed! I held my breath for the next piece of news, the cost. Sam told me the costs was $XXXX but gave me a discount for giving him the manual (hopefully will never need to help other del sol bros out there). Still pricey but my joy was priceless!

Collected the car on 21 May Thursday, almost three weeks later. Sam taught me on the sequence of the autoroof and after paying him, I drove off a very happy man!