Leatherique & Dove Grey seats before/after

[Fred/Houston]

Hi,
I posted this elsewhere and thought I should share it here as well.
I thought it might be a good idea to post some photos of my seats which I Leatheriqued a few months ago. I figured it might save some people money when you think your seats are too far gone.
I used Leatherique on my 28 seats as well. They actually had holes and open cracks in them and now their like new and have held out for 1-1/2" years so far.
These photos are of the drivers seat but both were done.

This photo shows the seats after I put crack filler in them. I chose to not fill some of the folds/cracks in the leather because when you do this new stress lines will form, so I left some of the wrinkles alone:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...n/100_1241.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...n/100_1244.jpg
The seats were in worse shape than they look with the crack filler on them:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...n/100_1237.jpg
Seat is near completion:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...n/100_1247.jpg
I need to take a photo of the finished drivers seat inside the car, but here's a photo showing the passengers seat which was done first. This photo does not show how beaten up the drivers seat was but it gives you a good idea.
Take notice of drivers seat inside the car and notice the gray plastic where the seat controls are.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...P1010033-1.jpg
I have been told they only come in beige for dove gray, but the piece on my car is factory, not painted and the grey looks better than the beige, the rest of my seats and rear seatbelt surrounds are beige? Yet, I can't find them in grey. Anybody know the scoop on that?
One of these days I'll figure out how to insert the photos in my post. Sorry for the links.
Fred/Houston

[Fred/Houston]

Sounds good... but your links are incomplete...
"http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...n/100_1237.jpg"
So sorry, I should have checked after I posted it's weird that at the other site the links work and I just pasted them here?
Another try:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f238/Baguaman/100_1241.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f238/Baguaman/100_1244.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f238/Baguaman/100_1237.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f238/Baguaman/100_1247.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f238/Baguaman/P1010033-1.jpg
Hth's
Fred/Houston

[BMWCCA1]

Take notice of drivers seat inside the car and notice the gray plastic where the seat controls are.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...P1010033-1.jpg
I have been told they only come in beige for dove gray, but the piece on my car is factory, not painted and the grey looks better than the beige, the rest of my seats and rear seatbelt surrounds are beige? Yet, I can't find them in grey. Anybody know the scoop on that?Your links don't work but perhaps if you actually knew the color of your interior, finding parts would be easier. The color is silver-gray and the plastic seat parts come in either light silver-gray or dark silver-gray depending on how the car was built or what you want. RealOEM.com shows them all as still available.

Your updated links seem to be working and I can see your seat trim pieces are light silver so the one holding the controls for the driver's seat should be: COVERING OUTER LEFT SILBERGRAU-HELL (from)09/1990 52108140303 $43.25

[Qube]

Sounds good... but your links are incomplete...
"http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...n/100_1237.jpg"

[Qube]

That's better! Nice....

[AngryPopTart]

I've been considering giving this leatherique stuff a try, lately. However, I am not really interested in re-dying my seats. I just want to do something about the way they are rock hard and then cover them with black wool covers.

Can I clean them and sand them and treat them to make them nice and soft and just cover them or will leaving them like that mess something up?

[Fred/Houston]

I've been considering giving this leatherique stuff a try, lately. However, I am not really interested in re-dying my seats. I just want to do something about the way they are rock hard and then cover them with black wool covers.

Can I clean them and sand them and treat them to make them nice and soft and just cover them or will leaving them like that mess something up?
If your going to cover them in the end, I don't see what harm that would do? I would just use the rejuvenator oil.
The only reason I sanded was because I sprayed the seats with dye and they felt very rough & gritty, but as far as sanding your original finish you may end up taking the original dye off. You probably won't need to sand once the oil works it's way in.
Fred/Houston

[Jeff N.]

Nice pic set. I'm working on a pair of sport seats to do the same thing.

Poptart: If your seats are hard, you need to soak them with the rejuvenator oil. To make that work, they need to be really really clean. Colorplus - the leatherique type product set that I'm working with recommends their cleaning solution for $20 and then a very light sand with 400 grit just to open the leather pores. This they suggest will get the oil into the leather without requiring a redye.

I'm going to dye my seats so I don't care too much about the finish. I buff sanded them with 200 grit. Currently soaking the heck out of them with the oil in a heated basement.

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/sportseats.jpg

[AngryPopTart]

Well, I figured that the dye adds it's own toughness, and that removing the top layer would make the material even more pliable. If I cover them with a wool cover, I don't care that they look terrible underneath. ^_^

I do automotive painting for a living. What is everyone using to shoot this dye? (what gun, tip size, etc.)

[Fred/Houston]

Well, I figured that the dye adds it's own toughness, and that removing the top layer would make the material even more pliable. If I cover them with a wool cover, I don't care that they look terrible underneath. ^_^

I do automotive painting for a living. What is everyone using to shoot this dye? (what gun, tip size, etc.)

Your right, if your going to cover it, sand off all the dye. I did that before painting and put tons of rejuventor oil and the leather got saturated. Even after painting I can pinch the leather w/2 fingers, it's that supple.
I used a cheap $12 mini spraygun from Harbor Freight. Tip type etc., didn't really matter.
Another cheap and good method is to go to O'Reilys and they sell an aerosal paint kit that includes a glass bottle for the paint, and an aerosal can that screws to the top of the bottle allowing you to spray whatever is in the bottle & it's about $8 and handy to have around.
Since you are going to sand off the dye, go with 200 grit sandpaper as mentioned.
Go for it & good luck.
Fred/Houston

[AngryPopTart]

Sounds like I can just get away with our tip sizes. The gun I use for miscellaneous stuff, like this, is a 1.5 IIRC.

Clear one more thing up for me. I believe I understand why it says to use wet-sanding paper, but you don't actually use any water, right?

Someone gave us a MESS (lots) of sandpaper for doing hardwood floors, it actually contained a bunch of sleeves of 180-wet-or-dry, which seemed really harsh for wet-sanding paper, but it works really good on primer. ^_^