| Author | Message | ||
| Robert Davis (H2oquick)
Junior Member Username: H2oquick Post Number: 199 Registered: 8-2001 |
Eric looks fantastic....I knew you had it in you to do things like that.....great job! | ||
| Eric Eiland (Eric308gtsiqv)
Member Username: Eric308gtsiqv Post Number: 443 Registered: 11-2001 |
Thanks everyone for the kind words. Yes, Allen, Leatherique made the job very easy. I've never attempted anything like this before, so if I can do it, anyone can! If you can polish your car and stain wood, then you can restore your leather with Leatherique. Erik and Jeff...keep us posted on how your interior restore goes. | ||
| jeff ryerson (Atheyg)
Junior Member Username: Atheyg Post Number: 54 Registered: 8-2002 |
Thanks Craig and also Eric for your reply I'll send it back to Leatherique for the correct color | ||
| Allen Cook (Alcook62)
Junior Member Username: Alcook62 Post Number: 54 Registered: 3-2002 |
Nice job Eric. I have been to the Leatherique web site and am contemplating doing my seats this winter when the weather is crappy. You made it seem so easy that even I can do it! Thanks - Allen | ||
| Erik R. Jonsson (Gamester)
Junior Member Username: Gamester Post Number: 59 Registered: 3-2002 |
I am in the process of applying leatherique now. I would have done it prior to pebble beach as I ordered it a few months ago, but finally after 3+ phonecalls to Kristen, I recieved my order mid last week. Seems to be working wonders. | ||
| stu cordova (Balataboy)
Junior Member Username: Balataboy Post Number: 250 Registered: 4-2001 |
Nice job Eric! I had mine done and I know it's a lot of work - but well worth it. Be sure nothin's in the back pocket before you slide in!!! | ||
| Jeff Edison (Euro308guy)
Junior Member Username: Euro308guy Post Number: 56 Registered: 7-2002 |
Congrats, Eric, The interior looks beautiful! Nice work. You've considerably improved your 308. Jeff | ||
| Eric Eiland (Eric308gtsiqv)
Member Username: Eric308gtsiqv Post Number: 441 Registered: 11-2001 |
Thanks Hank for the compliments. The Rejuvinator Oil is only part of the full cleaning process. The Oil is used to permeate the leather, moisturize it, bring the leather "back to life", and float any contaminants, old chemicals, and dirt up to the surface of the leather. The leather will have a chalky film to it after a good lather in the Oil. You will see all this grime on the towel after you apply the Pristine Clean and wipe off with a terry towel soaked in warm water. In my case the leather was so dry (and partially surface cracked) that it soaked up the Oil within a few minutes, which is why I've been applying so much of it to the leather. The alcohol removes the "dead" vat dye on the surface leather, and is used to "prep" the surface for the dye process. Whereas, the oil rejuvinates and floats the embedded contaminants in the leather to the surface, and the Pristine Clean cleans it all off, and shines it up (by lightly buffing with a soft cotton cloth) for regular use. I guess regular isopropyl alcohol would be fine, as I used about 1/2 of a 32 oz. bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol supplied by George. Leatherique also sells a "prepping agent" for this purpose. As far as matching the leather color goes...I supplied George with one of the "buttons" that covers the hole which allows access to the manual window crank on the door. He matched the leather color from that, and sent the part back to me. It was as close as you could get in my opinion. When you're initially applying the dye, while it's still "wet", it will appear to be the wrong color -- in my case a little "orangy". But as it dried, it lightened to the correct color. George commented that it was too "red", and seemed to be a little concerned at first, until he realized that the tinted band across the windshield was reflecting onto the seats causing this to be so. I let the car sit for an hour or two before climbing in and pulling it back into the garage. Just make sure that your pants don't have any rivets, etc. that would scratch the surface. Or you could just lay a large towel or sheet to prevent that. George recommends letting the dye set for a couple of days before really using the car. In my case, I waited a week since I was doing some other things to the car in the evenings. After the dye has set, you can take a very soft dry cotton towel / rag and gently wipe / buff the surfaces to remove the powdery dye over-spray and shine up the leather (the instruction on the Leatherique website, www.leatherique.com, expounds on this with a little more detail) Just drove the car yesterday, and nothing rubbed off at all. Oh, and I forgot to mention the best part of this whole Leatherique process -- it leaves your interior smelling like a leather factory!!!! Mmmmmm, I love that smell  . You're right, Hank, it is fairly simple -- sort of like giving your exterior a complete clean, polish, and wax job. | ||
| Craig Dewey (Craigfl)
Member Username: Craigfl Post Number: 461 Registered: 1-2001 |
Jeff, I had the same problem with mine when I first contacted Leatherique. I thought my car was the common "tan" interior that everyone taks about. There are at least three shades of "tan", one is "saddle" which is dark, the common "tan" and mine which is "magnolia". Eric's seats look more like the magnolia color. In any case, just to be sure, George will ask that you clip a sample of your leather from under the seat as a way to match the correct color when you place your order. | ||
| jeff ryerson (Atheyg)
Junior Member Username: Atheyg Post Number: 53 Registered: 8-2002 |
Eric, What was the color code for your seats? I ordered the 3218 and it seems too dark a shade of tan for my seats which appear to be the same color as yours Thanks Jeff | ||
| Henryk (Henryk)
Member Username: Henryk Post Number: 302 Registered: 8-2001 |
Eric: Looks great!!!!! I am thinking of doing this to my TR. I thought the Rejuvinator was just to clean the leather, and not to prepare it for dyeing. Doesn't it all come off with the alcohol, anyway? Is it common isopropyl alcohol that you used? How where you able to match the leather, or, it seems, that you did all of it. If so, then how did you decide on the color, and what do you recommend for the proper Leatherique dye #? Is there a standard Ferrari lot #? How long, after you completed, where you able to drive the car, without fear of dyeing your pants? You make it sound so easy. Thanks for your help. Hank | ||
| Eric Eiland (Eric308gtsiqv)
Member Username: Eric308gtsiqv Post Number: 440 Registered: 11-2001 |
I apologize for the "grainy" pics -- something must of happened when I sized them down for posting. If anyone would like the original full-size ones, let me know and I'll e-mail them to you. | ||
| Eric Eiland (Eric308gtsiqv)
Member Username: Eric308gtsiqv Post Number: 439 Registered: 11-2001 |
As promised, I finally got around to snapping a few pics of the restored interior of the 308. As always, George with Leatherique fulfilled his promise to get me started on my interior (forgive me George for doubting ). George, his wife, and all the fine folks at Leatherique are truly wonderful and helpful people who have a passion for fine automobiles, and truly know their business. Due to time constraints, this whole project was done with the entire interior still "in the car". Like I said, George stopped by on a Friday and "showed me the ropes". We prepped (wiped down) the entire leather surfaces with 70% alcohol, sanded any "rough" areas with 600 grit sand paper (for really rough areas, you can pour a dab of alcohol on the sand paper and "wet sand" the surface until the old dye "rolls off"). Follow up with a final wipe down with the alcohol. Next, he showed me how to thin the dye just a tad with water so as to get a consistent flow through the hobby air brush, and not produce any "spitting". The tip of the air brush must be cleaned out with a toothpick frequently so as to prevent this. Also, humidity will affect how the gun sprays too. We sprayed the larger areas with the air brush in a haphazard pattern, beginning with the seams first and working from top to bottom. Be sure to cover any carpeting and center console with plastic bags or sheets to protect from too much overspray. Oh, and it might be a good idea to open both car doors to prevent the spray dust from clogging your head. This was all done in direct sunlight, so the sprayed surfaces dried to touch pretty quickly. He next showed me how to apply the dye with a soft cotton rag (old T-shirts work great), and blend it into the sprayed areas. We did this to the areas not reached by the gun. Don't worry about getting close edges or trimming with the rag at this stage. All total, this took about 2 hours with both of us working on it. The next day, I began finishing the project about 10 AM. I cranked up the air brush again, and sprayed any areas on the passenger side that we did not get to the day before. Let it dry for a little bit, then started wiping and blending the dye with a rag again. Don't worry about getting any on the black plastic, vinyl, or metal surfaces -- this can be wiped off later with a wet rag. George warned me that once I got started, I would not want to finish until I had redone all the tan surfaces -- he was right! Wiping the dye on took most of the time because your working it into the leather. Finally, I trimmed out all the edges and corners (around switches, etc.) with those little foam wedges that you can buy at Walmart for putting on make-up. Q-tips work well also for certain areas. I finished around 6 PM the same day -- and my back and knees were starting to feel it. I began this project with a 32 oz. bottle of dye, and only used about 1/3rd of it -- so I have plenty for future touch-ups. The important thing to remember is to keep the bottle of dye out of direct sunlight as much as possible, and to shake it back and forth often to keep the dye mixed. For storage, keep the dye in an air-conditioned environment. It is also very important that you have been using Leatherique's Rejuvinator Oil and Pristine Clean treatments so as to keep the leather moisturized prior to the redye process. In fact, I spent one straight week doing nightly Oil treatments and then followed up with a good Clean treatment on the day before the redye began. Sorry, I never thought to snap a pic of the interior prior to the redye, but did find an archived pic of the interior of the car when I bought it at the dealer showroom -- here it is:  It's hard to tell, but the seats looked very similar to Verell's (see his thread at http://server.ferrarichat.com/~ferrari/ferrarichat.com/discus/messages/112/134850.html?1033830476). Here are the pics of the restored interior after the redye:       After a couple of days, I went back and wiped the excess of the surfaces that weren't supposed get dye on them. You can use wet rags, toothpics (for around switches, etc.), or a small amount of Goo-Gone on a rag to wipe the plastic and vinyl surfaces. The dye sort of acts like Latex paint on these surfaces. Hope this helps anyone contemplating redoing their interior. Think I'll go into the interior restoration business on the side . It was a fun and rewarding project indeed. And special thanks goes to George / Leatherique for all his help and knowledge! |