VIN#Diesel

Been a while since I posted on here. My sun visors on the '94 are completely frayed and tattered from 20 years of Phoenix heat and sun. So much so that with the windows down, little pieces of foam and flapping grey cloth bits would occasionally fly off at me.

Since I was going to have to have them re-covered, and mildly repaired as well, I decided it would be a chance to upgrade. Convinced an awesome leather guy to take it on as a project and make a set of "Cummins" logo-ed leather covered factory visors.

I'll try to upload the in progress pics in the next post.

VIN#Diesel

Early "in progress" shot.

VIN#Diesel

More "in-progress pics". Color and stitching just getting underway so it won't have that even and smooth "finished" look in the pics here. I'll look to update as the project progresses.

VIN#Diesel

Some "before" pics...

VIN#Diesel

One more "before" angle of the time/wear/sun damage...

patdaly

I'm almost jealous that mine aren't falling apart!

That looks really nice!

gorms

Yes, very cool! Can't say I've ever seen any leather visors before.....in any car or truck.

What will you put on them, saddle soap or something?

SIXSLUG

I'd suggest Obenauf's. I use it on my seats and they are still in great shape...

Can we say "badass" on here? Cuz that's what those are!!

VIN#Diesel

Not sure yet. Depends on what final finish we go with. Leather guy is giving me a choice between a satin saddle type finish that would be cleanable with saddle soap and a more protective cleared finish that he puts on the custom dog collars he makes. (Originally stumbled across his work last year looking to have a collar made for one of our pups.) Second one would be more of a simple wipe-off cleaning.

My thinking is that it seems like the Ford King ranch seats get away with an almost naked hide on a seating surface, so I can't imagine the sun visors would get nearly as dirty. Heck, I don't think the stock fabric visors required anything more than a quick brush off though on any vehicle I've owned.

Never seen a bad leather project ever get let out of this guys workshop (seen him throw away multiple completely hand tooled belts or dog collars and start over till they were to his satisfaction of considering "properly done") so I'm leaning mainly towards the "whatever you tell me is the best route, let's do it approach" with him.

Kind of convinced him to take these on as a side project ever since he let slip by chance that he owns a '99 Cummins so I'm hoping to update every few days as they progress. Wondering if the tweed door insert panels are replaceable in a similar fashion in a few months.

SIXSLUG

The King Ranch seats are like baseball glove leather. My friends were really faded, but looked good, and thicker than any leather I have ever seen on a vehicle seat.

I would think the visors would survive well if you retracted them after parking, etc. to get out of direct sunlight...

KATOOM

Those are some nice looking visors. But.....I have to ask, whats the rest of the truck look like if the visors are that bad?

patdaly

Hey man, Rome wasn't built in a day........... He is already talking about some really sweet leather door inserts..

Besides, I would much rather deal with a tattered interior than what I am going to find when I cut my rockers off........

KATOOM

Hey just saying..... I certainly give you an "A" for effort.

VIN#Diesel

I hear ya on overall condition. 20 year old single cab 2wd 200K miles (not normally intended as a showpiece truck when purchased at that trim level) so condition is not exactly mint. I'd snap some pics if the iPhone camera wasn't on the fritz.

It's got the classic '94 Dodge peeling white and chalk finish factory paint. But the plus side of being a lifelong Arizona truck is that rust is non-existent. Previous owners were relatively meticulous with upkeep so dash is a full replacement crack free Genos unit and now protected from the AZ solar blasts under a Genos dash mat as well. Floor carpets are covered by the full liner Husky's so things at least look decent there. Passenger seat is nearly mint due to lack of use. Driver seat better than some but has the exit side-slide split they always seem to get. I'm probably looking at 1-2 years out on shelling out for a meaningful seating surface upgrade.

If I can swing it, I'd like the truck to eventually be the "Cummins King Ranch" version that was never built kind of vibe. Keeping a workman Cummins Pick-up feel in the 2wd single cab overall, but with "real" leather like the old King Ranches in the Fords were. Destroyed visors gave me a place to justify starting with but it'll most likely be a slow replacement transformation over time rather than a full interior replacement project type of thing.

I'll update sig with the mechanical upgrades. Nothing terribly impressive there, just a general, well kept, basic upgrade to tow a light RV style of modding that took place over years (mainly by first older owner) and then a few by me with the same idea in mind of, if it needs replacing, go with the slightly nicer upgrade mentality.

Overall, one of those "she ain't much but she's all I got" trucks.

VIN#Diesel

Updated sig to cover most of the general stuff. Kind of a slow and steady over the years very mildly upgraded rig. Definitely doesn't look like much from the outside (or inside I suppose) but the "bones" are pretty good.