Snoozin Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Parts hack Trump which I am about to acquire has a full leather interior, in great condition. Problem is, it's the wrong colour! It's currently a light grey/bone coloured interior, so I have had a crazy idea to perhaps have it recoloured black to suit the rest of my interior. Has anyone had any experience in this, I'm not talking about a couple of cans of vinyl spray from Supercheap either - I would ideally like to have it done professionally. The seats are leather uppers with vinyl trim around the edges, if that makes any difference. Any experiences, positive or negative with doing this sort of thing would be welcome. As well as what I may be getting myself into costwise and any recommendations of places in Auckland or Hamilton (will travel for a good service) will also be appreciated. Cheers, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 This is the product that all the high end luxury car guys use - http://leatherique.com http://leatherique.com/do_it_your_self_ ... ather.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 I think Richard/Avenger had some seats recolored so might be worth asking him (since hes up in dorkland etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsspeed Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Have a chat to Graham/Toot Toot Timmy, I know he got a new hide to do his leather seats but may have had it dyed to match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toot Toot Timmy Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 I have just had two hides recoloured and they look amazing, I used Fibernew, they also do OMFG repairs on leather cracks and the like. I used the south joker Bruce, he is good bugger and di a great job. It’s not that cheap but cheap, account for $800 to do your full interior. Still a fuck load better than the $2,750 it was going to cost to have mine redone at RVE. http://www.fibrenew.co.nz/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 Holy ballsacks... I figured it wasn't going to be cheap but hoped maybe cheaper.... circa $600 would be quite neat. I guess it still fits into the overall (revised laughoutloud) Trump budget. I get the car in September so I guess an accurate quote will be in order. Would be rude not to have door trims recoloured so I can justify chopping holes in them for speakers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 Also Graham, how is the feel of the recoloured leather? Have read of people experiencing a bit of stickiness with redyed seats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avenga Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Yup, I got my seats repaired and recolour at a local upholsterer. Cost me $120 for both seats, Before After Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toot Toot Timmy Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Also Graham, how is the feel of the recoloured leather? Have read of people experiencing a bit of stickiness with redyed seats? I will bring it to the next meet and you can have a seat in the lush leatherness. If I didn't tell you they were re coloured you would never know, looks the same as OEM and retains the leather new leather smell, I had all of mine redone and had the doors done also. One thing to note though is that if you recolour say black leather with say red, if/when its scratched black will show through, you don't want to go too drastic a change if you plan on using it every day and being rough with it. I chose a lighter shade of grey and had them coloured darker so it wont show if scratched.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I used Fibrenew for a leather steering wheel and it looked great for a few weeks, OK for a few months and now (eight months later) it is shit. A steering wheel gets heaps more wear than a seat though. I have personally used a SEM product called Colorcoat to do vinyl seats several times, and leather once. I figure you can do it yourself if you have some thinners (to clean the seats) and a spray gun. Colorcoat also works really, really well on hoodlinings This is SEM Colorcoat (red over red). I got it from Panelbeaters Supplies in Auckland. I used the 1 liter cans and sprayed it myself http://www.semproducts.com/Catalog.asp?cat=36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danger Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Fibrenew restored the dash in my rx7. The cracks came back after 6months Only cost me $50 though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 just picked up some black Porsche 924 seats that are essentially in mint condition aside from one patch where the black die in the leather has worn down a bit? whats the best way to sort that out? cant get pics if required Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 ^ Brush in some of the SEM product I mentioned. It worked very well for some leather BMW seat bolsters I did a few years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lump Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 This is the product that all the high end luxury car guys use - http://leatherique.comhttp://leatherique.com/do_it_your_self_ ... ather.html Yup I used this to do the Jag seats and it worked really well. The trick is to remove as much of the old dye colouring as possible before starting to re-dye. (This is also a good time to feed the leather as the old dye, dirt etc can stop the hide feed from penetrating) Also thin the dye down and do multiple coats as thick coats are more likely to leave brush marks, scratch or stick to each other when the seats are reassembled. I'd try to spray the dye if you've got the equipment as it will give you a great finish in a short time. If you do get it order it straight from the states as the local suppliers mark up is horrendous edit: I used kit number 3 http://leatherique.org/detail.aspx?ID=32 and only seemed to use about 1/3 of the dye for 2 front seats and the rear set - but I used all of everything else. I did mine 2 years ago and its holding up well except for the drivers seat bottom but the leather there was past it (rock hard and wouldn't respond to conditioning)and should have been replaced anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toot Toot Timmy Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Have used liquid shoe polish on Black worn BMW seats and they come up quite well, hid all the white cracks. Fibrenew restored the dash in my rx7. The cracks came back after 6monthsOnly cost me $50 though $50 is better than a new dash and a shit load of time swapping it over, I had mine done in my E30 and it looked great, had the steering wheel done to, was $90 all up and looked good when I sold it. I'm not sure what the longevity is like, TBH I have only had work done on cars that don't get a lot of use, are mothered and are always garaged, I could imagen it would wear out if used every day and left in the sun. The main idea is to get it looking good for a fraction of the cost of replacement or effort to replace, I know a lot of car dears use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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