Alright, so i have a little money and i wanna fix a few cosmetic things with my interior. I have an '86 740GLE and the piece of black and chrome trim on the passenger side of my car that goes between the glove box and the air vents from the center console to the door has been missing since i bought the car. Where on earth can i get this piece? Im thinking the IPD garage sale? Also the leather looks a bit tired and is about equally as black as it is its correct red. Are there any cleaning products that will return it to its original glory? Lastly, I think a nice tint in the back window would help the cars plain look=) How much might this cost? Have any of you guys done it?

As far as the leather goes, I had great luck with a product called Leather Magic www.leathermagic.com

Even after cleaning, my seats were still cruddy looking, so I got the recoloring kit from these guys. The color match was perfect, and it's not a terribly difficult procedure. One note though: they include an aerosol sprayer to apply the product, which I didn't use. I bought the highest quality 1" paint brush I could find at Home Depot. (I think it's made by Purdy)
I would highly recommend the brush -- if you get the good one, you'll have no streaking.

Jeff Pierce
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'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

Had the windows tinted on the 740 last summer, $200.00 with a "lifetime" warrenty against peeling, or color change. So far it's holding up very well with no scratches or bubbles and feel it was worth the $$.

I hate those cheap tint jobs that bubble up and turn purple.



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don hodgdon '89 744ti, '81 242t, '71 D-35

That little trim strip is one FRAGILE piece-- I replaced a lot of those at the dealership I worked at. As far as I know, you'll only get it from Volvo or a parts car. Try the junkyard- you may get it for $2 instead of the $45 or whatever Volvo gets for it. Their prices may have gotten more reasonable now that the newest ones are over 10 years old. In 2000, that piece was still a bit pricey in my mind. But you can still get it from Volvo Parts if you can't find one. They snap in, but the pins on the back break off with alarming regularity. It is ugly when it's missing, no doubt.
You can have mine, but the car it's attached to will cost you $1500.

As for the leather, there are a lot of good cleaner/conditioner products out there. Try your local hardware or department store, in the cleaning products section or a big chain autoparts store. Reportedly the best product for leather is "Lexol". I'm sure others will get it clean as well. I've used Windex and Castrol Super Clean to get rid of crap on the plastic and vinyl interior parts. You will be surprised how much dirt is on there.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: "Roterande Fläkt Och Drivremmar!"