Robson Leather - Project #1

So as I mentioned in my previous post where I detailed my recent visit to Robson Leather, I have two projects with Robson planned. Honestly at this time I'm not sure whether project #2 will actually work, but for now I can show you project #1.

You may recall in my previous post that I was there dropping some things off. Well those were some interior parts that are no longer available new that I found on Yahoo Auctions - namely the plastic cover for the left side A pillar, and then covers for the B/C pillars.

In the box to the side of my car when I parked were two new items sent over by Nismo - the roof headliner (part number 73910-22U12) and the right side A pillar cover (part number 76911-22U00).

Roof headliner not shown, obviously

Together, these old and new parts comprise the upper half of the visible surfaces of the car's interior.  In order to modernize the car while returning the interior to OEM (which would involve removing the A pillars with the gigantic and view-obstructing Morel tweeters) I have decided to get it all wrapped in Charcoal (color code #9002) Alcantara.  This incidentally is the same color Alcantara previously used by Cesar (I had bought it and had it sent to him directly) when he lined the glovebox, center console, main gauge surround and door pockets with Alcantara. There is actually an even darker black color for Alcantara but everyone I've talked to has advised against it, saying it makes the interior feel less spacious and that it shows dirt better. 

Not an easy color to capture well on one's phone.

Sharp eyed readers will see that in the first photo above, I had brought an extra leftover roll of 9002 Alcantara with me to Robson to verify color matching with their stock (yes, spot on).

In any case, given how busy they are I was very surprised to learn a week later that they were DONE with the Alcantara wrap and ready to send all the pieces to Nismo, but first they sent me the following photos as proof.

Yep, I thought the same... is that the right color?

A little better on the color... nice stitching though!

Ah, much better on the color.
And thank you for NOT putting stitching down the middle of the panel.

Robson Leather's Daihi-san reassured me that the color was all the same, consistent with the color code and that in person it looked darker. And that they had undergone a steaming process to remove all the wrinkles. Having still not seen it in person, I will have to take his word on this.  And regarding my comment above about stitching - when Robson had done an Alcantara wrap on the roof headliner of a friend's BNR34, they had put stitching down the middle.  This was because my friend did not want a rear glass out install, and so in order to get the roof headliner into the car, it had to be cut in half, with the stitching holding the two cut sides together. Not so on the BCNR33 however as it has a larger cabin and the doors open wider...The headliner can be installed via the doors with just a slight bend according to Nismo. WIN!

I finally got word from Nismo yesterday that, having passed Shaken and then having gotten back the Ohlins DFV coilovers that had been rebuilt to original specifications without issue, they were finally working on getting ready to install the new roof headliner. 

Sound deadening!

I had read somewhere that Nismo had installed sound deadening to their CRS cars, so I requested the same of my car, in conjunction with the roof liner replacement.  Here you can see they are halfway through the roof area (they also sent me a short video demonstrating the difference in sound when the roof is tapped in various places).  Good to see the roof looking clean without any weird holes or rust. But it also shows how the roof is very simply constructed, without anything that appears to increase body rigidity - you literally cut the roof off panel and leave the center bit in, like a targa roof... HMMMMM???  Nah, don't worry it will never happen!