frankdc
06-12-2014, 12:48 AM
CHARCOAL INTERIOR MARAUDERS, 2003-04
Recently I had 3 panels of my front seats replace with new leather because of a 5 inch rip on the passenger seat and wear and tear on the drivers seat.
I went to Martin's Auto Decorators in Glendale, CA, which is a shop that Star Ford uses for interior repairs. Long story short: the charcoal leather sample Martin's showed me was close to the original factory color but once installed it showed as a shade too light. What the shop's charcoal is not the same as the color code that Ford used on the Marauder.
I called the shop and of course dying the leather would be my first option. However, the day darkens the white/gray stitching on the seats! What should have happened is Martin's should have called me before the install and discussed with me that the color was not an exact match. Instead they installed it and gave me an answer which I translated to of "just live with it."
Well, I researched and found another shop in Los Angeles called Baja Interiors. I spoke to the owner, took my car, and he came out with the exact interior leather as the Marauder. He also does the interiors for a few Ford shops and he told me that he has had this color, "charcoal", issue come up from time to time. It is not black charcoal nor dark gray charcoal but more of a graphite color. He even showed me a black leather sample versus the Marauder interior.
The point of the story: If you live in southern California and are in need of a good shop then go see Francisco at Baja Upholsterers. I am going to have him redo my seats and forget dying them. Yes, dying is much cheaper but I like the car too much and I don't want the seats to show part of the stitching in black then white! It seems that ordering or finding Mercury Marauder seat covers are hard to find without having to buy a whole seat. He even leather wraps the steering wheels.
Hope this helps some of you with interior issues in the LA area or basic Marauder community!
Recently I had 3 panels of my front seats replace with new leather because of a 5 inch rip on the passenger seat and wear and tear on the drivers seat.
I went to Martin's Auto Decorators in Glendale, CA, which is a shop that Star Ford uses for interior repairs. Long story short: the charcoal leather sample Martin's showed me was close to the original factory color but once installed it showed as a shade too light. What the shop's charcoal is not the same as the color code that Ford used on the Marauder.
I called the shop and of course dying the leather would be my first option. However, the day darkens the white/gray stitching on the seats! What should have happened is Martin's should have called me before the install and discussed with me that the color was not an exact match. Instead they installed it and gave me an answer which I translated to of "just live with it."
Well, I researched and found another shop in Los Angeles called Baja Interiors. I spoke to the owner, took my car, and he came out with the exact interior leather as the Marauder. He also does the interiors for a few Ford shops and he told me that he has had this color, "charcoal", issue come up from time to time. It is not black charcoal nor dark gray charcoal but more of a graphite color. He even showed me a black leather sample versus the Marauder interior.
The point of the story: If you live in southern California and are in need of a good shop then go see Francisco at Baja Upholsterers. I am going to have him redo my seats and forget dying them. Yes, dying is much cheaper but I like the car too much and I don't want the seats to show part of the stitching in black then white! It seems that ordering or finding Mercury Marauder seat covers are hard to find without having to buy a whole seat. He even leather wraps the steering wheels.
Hope this helps some of you with interior issues in the LA area or basic Marauder community!