BJ8 Leather interior - what pieces were leather/vinyl

[AUSMHLY]

When the cars interior was all vinyl "Ambla", some of the seat area was embossed with a square waffle panel, rear side panels and rear seat back were embossed with a square pattern.

When the car had a leather interior installed, what was leather? I believe there was no embossing.

The front seat facing and side cushions, the rear seats, the armrest and the rear backrest was leather. All pipping was vinyl, interior color, not silver as with Ambla. True/false?
The door panels, kick panels, back of the front seats and the rear side panels were vinyl. True/false?
With leather interior, the rear side panels and seat backrest did not have the embossed square pattern. True/false?
All door top rails were black vinyl, no mater what interior color. True/false?

Ok, pencils down.
I wonder how many of these I got right.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

When the cars interior was all vinyl "Ambla", some of the seat area was embossed with a square waffle panel, rear side panels and rear seat back were embossed with a square pattern.

When the car had a leather interior installed, what was leather? I believe there was no embossing.

The front seat facing and side cushions, the rear seats, the armrest and the rear backrest was leather. All pipping was vinyl, interior color, not silver as with Ambla. True/false?
The door panels, kick panels, back of the front seats and the rear side panels were vinyl. True/false?
With leather interior, the rear side panels and seat backrest did not have the embossed square pattern. True/false?
All door top rails were black vinyl, no mater what interior color. True/false?

Ok, pencils down.
I wonder how many of these I got right.

The rear side panels did have the large embossing. The seat backrest was pleated. The piping was matched to the seat covers color.

 

[blueskies]

All good questions, that could also apply to the earlier models of the "Big Healey." Did Healey have a leather option and a vinyl option all the way through, or for particular models? The "leather" seat cover version for the BN4 from the usual west coast supplier only has leather on some main wear surfaces, with vinyl on the rest. I have not disassembled the original seat bottoms and backs yet, but they appear to be covered in all leather. The reproduction large upholstery kit for the various other panels appears to be all vinyl, which likely is true to the original.

 

[AUSMHLY]

The rear side panels did have the large embossing. The seat backrest was pleated. The piping was matched to the seat covers color.

Are you sure with the leather interior, the side panels have embossing? Can you please direct me to a link or something that clarifies that.

My leather interior is from Heritage. Heritage is known for quality kits and being accurate. My rear side panels are not embossed.


Here's a link to a video from Heritage. Red leather interior, non embossed rear quarter panel.
https://www.heritagetrim.com/austin-healey/bj8


Here's a photo from sports and classics.com, their leather kit shows non embossed side panels.

 

[HealeyRick]

From the Concours Guidelines:

 

[John Turney]

All good questions, that could also apply to the earlier models of the "Big Healey." Did Healey have a leather option and a vinyl option all the way through, or for particular models? The "leather" seat cover version for the BN4 from the usual west coast supplier only has leather on some main wear surfaces, with vinyl on the rest. I have not disassembled the original seat bottoms and backs yet, but they appear to be covered in all leather. The reproduction large upholstery kit for the various other panels appears to be all vinyl, which likely is true to the original.

The earlier models didn't have a vinyl option. Leather was only on the wear surfaces of the front seats and top of the armrest. The seat backs, side panels and rear "seats" were vinyl.

 

[AUSMHLY]

Rick, what Concours Guideline did that come from?
Can you provide a link, so I can read up on it.

I have the "Austin Healey Concours Registry, 2006 Edition, Originality Guide for Restorations and Registry Inspections, Austin Healey 100, 110-six, 3000 models."
It does not specify in print nor photos, what the rear side panels are for Leather interior. Hence why I'm asking for clarification here on the BCF.

Wondering if the one you've pointed out is the same Concours registry I have, and it gets updated from time to time.

When people ask, thought the side panels were suppose to be embossed, I'd like to have the right answer.
I've always said, I'm not sure. With the all vinyl interiors, that is true. With leather, I'm not so sure.
My Concours registry don't address it, and vendors like Heritage, their leather kit has non embossed vinyl rear side pieces. One would think, if it was suppose to be embossed, Heritage would have done so.

 

[HealeyRick]

The Concours Guidelines from the Austin-Healey Concours Registry is a living document. It changes over time as new evidence comes to light or things need to be clarified. That's why they are amended over the years and the 2019 version will have much more info than the 2006 one, including pictures. That's where the photo and info come from. Not available online, but see here where the guidelines can be purchased: https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/showthread.php?115525-PSA-from-the-Concours-Committee

 

[AUSMHLY]

Thank you Rick.
Maybe someone should notify Heritage, they are not concours correct. lol.
Now when someone asks, I'll reply, yeah, let's not focus on those panels. Look at this shiny thing...shiiiiiiiiiiiiney!

 

[HealeyRick]

Thank you Rick.
Maybe someone should notify Heritage, they are not concours correct. lol.
Now when someone asks, I'll reply, yeah, let's not focus on those panels. Look at this shiny thing...shiiiiiiiiiiiiney!

Maybe you could just buy the correct embossed vinyl panels from the same supplier you purchased the side panels from so the colors would match.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Are you sure with the leather interior, the side panels have embossing? Can you please direct me to a link or something that clarifies that.

My leather interior is from Heritage. Heritage is known for quality kits and being accurate. My rear side panels are not embossed.
View attachment 61472

Here's a link to a video from Heritage. Red leather interior, non embossed rear quarter panel.
https://www.heritagetrim.com/austin-healey/bj8


Here's a photo from sports and classics.com, their leather kit shows non embossed side panels.
View attachment 61473[/QUOTE My interior on my BJ8 is also from Heritage. When I received the kit I called them back and told them the rear side panels were not correct and he said they were. I sent him copies of the BJ8 parts manual with the different part numbers for all of the four colors. However, my wife is an Interior Designer and said the smooth panels go with the rest of the interior a lot better and I agree with her. They would look strange and out of place with the original pattern instead of smooth which matches the other side panels. So, we kept the smooth, incorrect, panels.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Maybe you could just buy the correct embossed vinyl panels from the same supplier you purchased the side panels from so the colors would match.

I did notify them about 7 years ago. Also, the dash cover wasn’t black like it was supposed to be nor the door arm rests, but we, wife and I, liked the difference.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Thank you Rick.
Maybe someone should notify Heritage, they are not concours correct. lol.
Now when someone asks, I'll reply, yeah, let's not focus on those panels. Look at this shiny thing...shiiiiiiiiiiiiney!

Someone did notify Heritage, several years ago. I got a call from the honcho at Heritage (forgot his name) who was making the new leather kit for Patrick67BJ8. He argued with me that the rear side panels of leather upholstery should not be embossed like the vinyl ones because it didn't "look right" without the squares on the seat back. In response to a previous query from Fourintune about the configuration of leather interiors, I had contacted all of the BJ8 owners whose cars were recorded in the BJ8 Registry as having original leather ("hide") upholstery. Only four of them still had the original leather. They confirmed that the original side panels were vinyl and had the embossed squares. I told that to Mr. Heritage, but he insisted that he was a Brit and an expert on Jaguars and had been making Healey interiors forever and knew what he was talking about. Apparently, he didn't change his opinion based on facts about what was original.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Someone did notify Heritage, several years ago. I got a call from the honcho at Heritage (forgot his name) who was making the new leather kit for Patrick67BJ8. He argued with me that the rear side panels of leather upholstery should not be embossed like the vinyl ones because it didn't "look right" without the squares on the seat back. In response to a previous query from Fourintune about the configuration of leather interiors, I had contacted all of the BJ8 owners whose cars were recorded in the BJ8 Registry as having original leather ("hide") upholstery. Only four of them still had the original leather. They confirmed that the original side panels were vinyl and had the embossed squares. I told that to Mr. Heritage, but he insisted that he was a Brit and an expert on Jaguars and had been making Healey interiors forever and knew what he was talking about. Apparently, he didn't change his opinion based on facts about what was original.

I sent him pages from the factory parts book showing the pieces with their respective part numbers. The rear side panels have the same part number for the vinyl interiors as the leather interiors do. “Tony” is the owner of Heritage.