[Thomas 309] My 309 Graffic from Germany

[SRDTURBO]

Nice, is the leather that grey in reality? I now new leather is not black and shiny (that's old dirty leather) but this one look really grey on the picture.

[Thomas 309]

The leather is in that grey in reality, too. It has the same colour like the dashboard. It is an original steering wheel from a 309 8V GTI, but the leather was in a bad condition, and so I decided that it will be covered with new leather. Original it was black. But I think that it fits better with indoor decoration in that color. The seams are also different. Original they were parallel, and now they are over cross. It is not entirely original condition, it is just a matter of personal taste

[SRDTURBO]

You need a GTI16 leather gear knob now...

[Thomas 309]

Oh yes, that would be very nice. But where to get...

[309BestLine]

And how much to pay ? XDD

[alargeau]

Hallo Thomas!
Happy to see the car is still running and that it's been taking care of. These are becoming very rare... in such condition.
Regarding the dashboard, I don't know the condition of the one that's installed, but I don't know if it's a good idea to change it every now and then. First, it's quite long but above all it's very difficult to not break it when you remove it. If it's only noises, maybe try to spot them and see what you can do.

[Thomas 309]

Hello Aurèlien,

you are right with the dashboard. I don´t want to change it now, the one which Matthias sold me is for my stock of spare parts. The one, which is installed now, is in almost (very) good condition. But as I bought it, one of the three holding pins on the back of it, was broken (drivers side). I fixed it with glue, but it broke again after the dashboard was installed. Perhaps the glue was not the right, I think. Now it is fixed on only two (or one...) of these holding pins, and when the others are breaking in the future, I will change it again. But I don´t hope. Because of the noise, I will try to spot it at first.

Regards Thomas

[SRDTURBO]

For these pins you need something more flexible like polyurethane adhesive sealant.
This is mostly a design problem so change the dashbord or glue the pins just like new will not last long. I think you need to make it really stronger or make it slightly flexible.

[alargeau]

You could either go to a professional who will weld plastic and strengthen the whole thing (don't forget to strengthen the other two pins), or use a sort of epoxy glue but I don't know if it'll last long. The only way you could really get a long-lasting repair would be to weld plastic properly.