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If you look at the leather, you see it has a lot of profile on it, it is not flat.
So when you sandpaper, you want to rough up the surface with a light touch, but you don't want to flat the leather (bad jobs can be easily recognized this way).
However, I am sure I am repeating myself here all over, you really really need to brush / clean them before anything else, several times.
If you do that well, there is very little need for a lot of sanding.
Oh I've already mixed up my own cleaning concoction & spot tested lol. Woolite(laundry detergent for delicates),Gliptone cleaner & distilled water.
How involved is it to remove the seat, this is addictingly satisfying lol I'm going to do the entire unit.
Very easy, and soooo much easier to work on if it is out.
The trick is to position the seat in such position that you can get it out, but still can do the things you need to do.
I lowered it on the tracks, moved it forward, with a slightly rearward backrest.
Removing the headrest before you take the seat out gives you much more space to get it through the door.
I used some thick carton to protect the sill, the door frame, and the center console.
I taped it into place.
The track ends are nasty to scratch things up, or poke a nice hole in your console.
Basically after that, it's a one man operation to wiggle / lift the seat out, just turn it 90 degrees out of the door.
Last edited by ericjansen; Oct 22, 2019 at 05:10 AM.
Driver seat done, I just thoroughly cleaned it & dyed followed by top coat 10-12 hours later. I'm going to experiment seeing how it holds up using no filler on the creased portion. Doing the passenger seat this week using the filler & compare the two. Well pleased w/ the result. It's addictive once you start you see all the other imperfections standing out so why not go ahead & knock the entire seat out ?!
Edit :
I see I need to take a small brush & hit the vertical seam, get to that tomm AM.
Before
After
Last edited by King Charles; Oct 23, 2019 at 05:23 PM.
Yes I'm really pleased w/ it, especially considering the conditions I did it in, it turned out great. Started @ 67° FH clear skies, perfect, halfway through temp dropped 20 degrees, so overcast it was like nightfall complete w/ London fog & drizzle/mist lol. I was doing it on a stool in my driveway, so less than ideal for sure.
The passenger seat(w/ filler) didn't come out as well, I don't like the texture & am likely going to sand the entire bottom half & re-do. Luckily I only did the bottom half so not that much extra work. Going to just use the colorant & top coat it's thick enough to smooth minor creases etc.
Before : I had just started filling creases.
Passenger seat looks better since clear coated & dried.
Last edited by King Charles; Oct 31, 2019 at 04:02 PM.
Looks like a nice fix. I wonder about longevity of the repair, though. I'm curious if there is a source of replacement leather in the various factory colors....or if there might be new leather of comparable texture that could be dyed/painted, and then have a good upholsterer replace just the damaged sections...only the driver side bolster is getting rough on my car, for example. Are there full seat kits available? I've been eying the rear seat to see if there is a large enough piece of leather to fix the forward bolster....should be able to find rear seats in very nice condition in salvage yards. Just thinking out loud, here...
Looks like a nice fix. I wonder about longevity of the repair, though. I'm curious if there is a source of replacement leather in the various factory colors....or if there might be new leather of comparable texture that could be dyed/painted, and then have a good upholsterer replace just the damaged sections...only the driver side bolster is getting rough on my car, for example. Are there full seat kits available? I've been eying the rear seat to see if there is a large enough piece of leather to fix the forward bolster....should be able to find rear seats in very nice condition in salvage yards. Just thinking out loud, here...
For the record, they sent me a note that their S0012 "Lark" color is a close match to Jaguar "Oatmeal". Think I'll try to get a sample. I also Googled around and found that World Upholstery sells Oatmeal color...$3200 for the two front seat covers!
