Sorry in advance for the big pics.
The wife has been complaining about her car and how its been neglected over the years. In reality its 10 years old and has hauled 2 kids a blond lab etc. So to stave off the next 'I need a new car' rant, I fixed the coolant leak on Monday and ordered some leather dye to freshen up the well worn interior. I gave World Upholstery the interior code and they sent me two cans of dye. The drivers side bolster had 2 nice holes from usage and the rear seats were riddled with cracks. Two cans is said to be enough for 2 seats. I stretched it a bit and got the front seats, rear seat bottoms, center console, and front door handles out of the 2 cans. The rear seat backs didn't need any work other than a good cleaning.

Here is my process: Used Acetone to lift all stains and rough up the top coat of old dye. Sanded everything down with 240 grit for added adhesion. Made a patch kit for the holes out of canvas and poked it underneath the holes in the leather. Used a craft glue to hold everything down. The glue I used is strong, flexible and sand-able. I also used the glue for the really deep cracks. Once dry, resanded to get rid of the sheen and wiped everything down with lint free rags and window cleaner. Masked off the piping with 1/8? masking tape. Then shot everything down with many fine coats of dye. The center console I removed from the car and disassembled to get underneath the lips of the edges. Total cost $45 and about 6 hours of labor. We are going to let it fully cure for the next 2 days to give the dye a chance to really adhere to the leather. I could have used another can of dye as I wanted to do the lower portions of the center console. As far as color matching goes....the dye is really close. But you have to take into consideration that you are trying to match 10 year old leather that has developed its own 'patina' from usage and sun damage. Thats where creative masking and blending comes into play.

Ive gotten some great info on this forum. This is my way of giving back. Hope it helps someone with a case of nasty interior-itis.

Before Shots





After Shots

 

wow....looks like a nice transformation....I bet you were well pleased with yourself at the end of that?

Thanks for sharing

 

Very Nice!

and no apology necessary...when it comes to pics...biggerz always better!

 

+1 and with the new forum resizing software they're all reduced to a similar size anyway, all good, so post away

 

WOW!!! I want to do the same thing ASAP after seeing what can be done! AWESOME

Can you give me a rundown on the exact supplies you used?

 

Sure Adam,

I put the whole list in my original post.

Acetone

Aerosol Dye

220 grit sand paper

Crack filler (I used craft glue because I was impatient and didnt want to scurry around town looking for Leather crack filler.) I would recommend buying the crack filler since you will have to buy the paint as well.

This is the 3rd car I have re-dyed. First was my old Porsche 964, and the second was my Lotus Esprit with Magnolia interior.

Patience and preparation is the key in any paint job. Clean the surface with the Acetone or leather approved dye stripper. You dont need to rub off all the coloring, just the top layer. It gets all the body oil off. Then start sanding the hide to rough it up. On the bigger cracks sand them enough to get the loose parts off then fill with filler. Re-sand to feather out the edges. Vacuume everything then wipe down with a damp, lint free cloth. Allow to dry. Leather 'dye' paint is very forgiving. Its not so much a dye as it is more a paint that has a ton of elastimer(sp) in it. For a complete interior job get 4 cans. Im ordering another 2 cans to finish the backrests on the rear seats and the lower center console. Its not a hard job If you take your time to prep and mask properly. Best part is you can do it without removing the seats.

 

Excellent job, it looks like new literally
Thanks for sharing and your taking time posting this topic

 

I'm impressed. Anyone who can happily go at their leather with acetone and 240grit is brave!

I'm not 100% happy with mine, and your shots have spurred me on to have another go at mine.

Good work!

 

How do you rate the "World of Upholstery" brand as compared to the usual suspects such as Gliptone and Leatherique?

Is the paint a spray bomb?

Is there a product number for the color you are using? What color code did you send them?

 

Plums,
I can only comment on the World Upholstery brand as it's the only one I have used on my last projects. for what it's worth, they specialize in vintage soft parts for Porsche Ferrari, Jag etc. I gave them the color code NED as it's the interior color code found on the vin plate on the door jam IIRC. There should be two sets of color codes, interior and exterior on the vin sticker. I gave the gal on the phone the year and code (NED) and she said "that's ivory". I already knew that, but it was nice to hear conformation.

Color bomb? Not sure exactly what that is. It's specialized spray paint, in an aerosol can. like I said before, the color will not be a 100% match. Your leather has changed colors due to age, UV damage etc. You can blend or respray the entire piece. I used masking tape and paper towels to protect from over spray.

The hardest part was getting over the mental block of "I'm going to mess up my car seats." The first car I re-dyed was my old Porsche. The front seats were really bad and I was planning on getting them recovered so a $20 temporary fix was a no brainer. Well, they came out so good that I never had them recovered and did another quick touch up 3 years later on the side bolster.

 

Thanks for confirming the color code as NED.

I was asking if it was a spray bomb, as you have confirmed, meaning whether the paint was an aerosol as opposed to the brush on type.

 

Why not remove the seats? It takes 5 minutes.

 

"Why not remove the seats?" Good question.......Hmmm. This isn't my car so I dont have the intimate knowledge like on my Range Rover. Thus quite frankly, I didnt know if removing the front seats was going to be a 5 minute job or a 45 minute job and breaking little plastic clips in the process But now I know, Thanks! Besides the most damage was on the seating surfaces not lower portions of the seats. With the generous for and aft movement of the seats I was able to get down enough to blend. We ordered 2 more cans of paint so I can finish the rear seat backs and lower console plus have some spare for touch ups. Picky me will probably remove the front seats now that I know its an easy job.

 

Thanks for the post. My seats look bad but not as bad as what yours looked like. I went to a local Tandy leather dealer awhile back and was told my seats are too far gone to bother with. Now you've given me another project that I can do on my own. My one question is about the glue you used, but a quick google on leather crack filler took care of that.

 

that is really impressive, my XJR could use a go with that stuff on the drivers seat

 

For the crack filler I decided to use a 2 part epoxy because any of the other products I used either lifted or cracked again within a few weeks.

It's been over 6 months and the cracks have not returned. The seats look just like the day I did them.

Use the epoxy sparingly. You don't want to build it up to high or you'll be doing a lot of extra sanding. I thinned mine and used a good artist paintbrush to get it exactly where I wanted it.

 

I have the same interior as your car but it wasn't as bad as yours when I came into possession of it, however it was quite dirty. Sean B gave me some gliptone which cleaned it up fairly well and I got a tin of special compound that restored the colour to the lovely white of original. Then quite by accident we discovered that tar & insect remover spray cleans it better than anything else!

Well done on your job though, no doubt many users will find your guidance useful.

 

@lear60man

Is this the place?

Dyes in Aerosols Cans for Vinyl, Leather, Plastic and Carpet

 

Learman60,

You fly one of these beauties? http://www.jetplanephoto.com/wp-cont...arjet-60-5.jpg

 

Plums, yes that is where I got the paint.

JagScott, Not since 2003. I fly GIV and V's now. I kept the screen name on various forums because its one less thing I need to remember hahah.