| Author | Message | ||
| Ben Lobenstein 90 TR (Benjet)
Member Username: Benjet Post Number: 575 Registered: 1-2001 |
Thanks Ric! -Ben | ||
| Ric Rainbolt (Ricrain)
Junior Member Username: Ricrain Post Number: 80 Registered: 2-2002 |
Spraying can be done in one day. I would dry each coat with the hair dryer until no signs of moisture could be seen. The coats are so light that it doesn't take long. After two mist coats, two to three "color" passes followed. It's also important to do the work in a room temp (or warmer) garage with minimal relative humidity. | ||
| Bill Sebestyen (Bill308)
Junior Member Username: Bill308 Post Number: 200 Registered: 5-2001 |
Thanks Ric. I bought a detail gun some time back for this purpose. The hair dryer is an excellent trick. After drying with the hair dryer, did you put the next coat on immediately? After the 2-mist coats, about how many light coats followed? Was all spraying performed in one day? | ||
| Barry Wolinsky (308gtb)
Junior Member Username: 308gtb Post Number: 68 Registered: 2-2002 |
Thanks, Ric | ||
| Ric Rainbolt (Ricrain)
Junior Member Username: Ricrain Post Number: 78 Registered: 2-2002 |
I planned on writing a more formal procedure, but here's a quicky� Disassembly It�s better to disassemble the seats as much as possible. The TR seats are modular, and separate into 9 pieces. This also gave me the chance to clean the frame and re-lube the rails. I removed as many pieces as practically possible from the interior. This included the A-pillar covers, B-piller covers, seat belt covers, and rear-deck cross bar. Stripping I wiped lightly with a lacquer thinner-soaked rag. DO NOT saturate the leather. Wipe until no more color comes off. Afterwards, wipe clean with blue paper towels. Sanding I sanded the surface of leather with 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The instructions called for a coarser grit, but I felt that was too risky (for me, anyway). Sand with light pressure to remove color, but DO NOT SUEDE the leather. Once a significant percentage of the grain shows, stop sanding. Afterwards, wipe clean with blue paper towels. Softening Apply Rejuvenator Oil per instructions, repeatedly over several days. I kept on repeating the process until the leather was as soft as I thought it was going to get. Amazingly, it got back to the suppleness of new leather. Clean and Prep I applied and removed Pristine Clean, per instructions. I then made the final prep with the Prepping Agent, per instructions. Spraying Applied Leatherique Dye with touch-up spray gun (I found that a hobby airbrush was too lightweight). I applied two very light mist coats at first, to form a base for the final coats. Dry each coat immediately with a hair dryer on low. Wipe dust and contaminants away between layers, if necessary. The hair dryer step makes the surface much less tacky. Without the hair dryer, the surface remained somewhat tacky even after 3 or 4 days. Reassembly The surface is delicate for 24-48 hours following the final coloring layer. Wait for reassembly to avoid marking the surface. Foibles and Follies and Factiods It took several attempts and redo�s to get the process down and to get a feel for the material and character of the paint. The color supplied matched when brushed, but I didn�t like the texture of the brushed surface. The color did not match when sprayed, as it dried lighter and yellower. I added about 1.5cc of brown-oxide pigment supplied from a local paint store and managed a near perfect color match. I had to buy a whole quart of pigment� but it was only $9. Dust got on everything in and around the work area. The overspray fell dry, so it�s easy to clean, but it got on everything. If needed, cover cars, tool cabinets, engines, etc. One 32 oz. Bottle of dye is enough to do the whole TR. The TR has much more matching leather than a 308 or 348. | ||
| Barry Wolinsky (308gtb)
Junior Member Username: 308gtb Post Number: 65 Registered: 2-2002 |
Ric, Did you use Leatherique's Prepping Agent for the stripping, following their posted instructions? | ||
| Bill Sebestyen (Bill308)
Junior Member Username: Bill308 Post Number: 198 Registered: 5-2001 |
TomD, I've talked to the folks at Leatherique and they're very helpful. I just wanted to get some independent viewpoints | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 628 Registered: 9-2001 |
call leatherique they will tell you the process for stripping the seats, it may even be on there website | ||
| Bill Sebestyen (Bill308)
Junior Member Username: Bill308 Post Number: 197 Registered: 5-2001 |
Magoo, The plan going in was to strip the seats with laquer thinner or acetone. I was hoping Rick would elaborate how he stripped his seats. I think I'll try the acetone first. It's more potent and flashes off quicker. The dye was purchased from Leatherique and is water based. | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 2483 Registered: 2-2001 |
Wow. I have my seats out and am getting close to dying them, etc. They're black though. I guess I will be asking around here when I get to that point. | ||
| Eric Eiland (Eric308gtsiqv)
Member Username: Eric308gtsiqv Post Number: 270 Registered: 11-2001 |
Ironically, I just did decided to read this thread and am glad I did. Ric, you're seats turned out fabulous! Incidentally, a couple of months ago I called Leatherique to inquire about some dye for redoing / touching up the tan surfaces in the 308. As you may know, they are located just down the road from me, and I've purchased and used their rejuvinator oil and pristine clean quite a bit. George (the owner, and all-around great guy) stopped by to get a sample of the leather (used the door plug that covers the emergency window crank hole). As it turns out, he also needed my services for a property transaction. So, we worked out a sort of exchange of services. He has the dye all mixed, etc., but has been extremely busy lately (business is really booming for him). He assured me that, just as soon as he gets a chance, he'll come over and give me a hand redoing the leather. I can't wait -- hope he calls soon  . I'll let you know how it goes, as well as post some pics, if and when we do the job. | ||
| magoo (Magoo)
Advanced Member Username: Magoo Post Number: 2661 Registered: 2-2001 |
Bill, You can use lacquer thinner or acetone to remove the old dye. I hope what you are using is a waterbased Acrylic dye. Anything else tends to crack after a short time of application. | ||
| Bill Sebestyen (Bill308)
Junior Member Username: Bill308 Post Number: 189 Registered: 5-2001 |
Ric, The seat looks great. I just received my Leatherique dye last Monday and will hopefully begin my seats this weekend. What process did you use to strip them down? Did you spray the dye? | ||
| Barry Wolinsky (308gtb)
Junior Member Username: 308gtb Post Number: 64 Registered: 2-2002 |
That is an alternative source for the build sheet, Tom. | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 587 Registered: 9-2001 |
thanks, just not sure where in the US my car came from, I think FLA but not sure. I am going to try the owners site | ||
| Barry Wolinsky (308gtb)
Junior Member Username: 308gtb Post Number: 62 Registered: 2-2002 |
Tom, You might be able to get a copy of the build sheet from the dealership which originally sold the car. My car's previous owner did that. Algar was very helpful. Nice result, Ric. | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 585 Registered: 9-2001 |
Mine is almost a yellow color though there are some places where the sun did not get that it is darker, maybe I will try to get my build sheet from the ferrari owners site? has anyone done this. | ||
| Ric Rainbolt (Ricrain)
Junior Member Username: Ricrain Post Number: 63 Registered: 2-2002 |
One way to tell the original color is a via build sheet or window sticker. The other way (my way, in this case) was to have some 3218 skins laying around. When I pulled the pieces, I found the "unmolested" areas (deep between the seats, or under bolted down panels on the firewall) matched the skins. The TR parts book lists the possible OEM colors and their corresponding Connelly numbers. I can copy that list here if you wish. I got several samples from a local leather vendor at one point several years ago. | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 584 Registered: 9-2001 |
that is what I thought, how tough was it? how are you going to handle the other non-seat areas like middle panels, dash etc. Do you leave them in? How do you find out what color your have - I remeber a thread on this recently. Mine are tan but I know there are a couple of variations. | ||
| Ric Rainbolt (Ricrain)
Junior Member Username: Ricrain Post Number: 62 Registered: 2-2002 |
Sorry for the confusion. It's a strip, rejuvenate and re-dye (paint) job. | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 583 Registered: 9-2001 |
Ric Did you strip and redye the seat or just rejuvnetor oil? looks great | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 43 Registered: 2-2002 |
Ric, your seat looks very nice! I have done the same thing for two of my Jags (don�t own them anymore), both were like new after the treatment. When I sold them they were still like new. Just be carefull not to apply too much the stuff, or it won�t hold well (had some trouble with the steering wheel on XJ6 Sov.). I used the same kind of stuff (not Leatherique), which I got straight from the leather factory - but I suppose they all work the same way. I guess the full operation will take a long time, there are so many parts in the TR interior - got some experience with my new interior (actually new leather everywhere), but it will definately be worth it! Check my home page if you want the pics (see my profile). Good work Ric! Regards, LC | ||
| Ric Rainbolt (Ricrain)
Junior Member Username: Ricrain Post Number: 61 Registered: 2-2002 |
Here's another picture that I've manipulated a little. The saturation is a bit enhanced to show the differences in these pieces.  The "blue dot" part is actually a brand new skin of Connelly VM3218 leather. The "green dot" part is the leather behind the sun visor, and shows almost no fade. It also has not been recolored or sprayed in any way. Note that it's nearly a perfect match for the new skin. The "red dot" part is retaining rail for the rear firewall luggage deck. This part has faded badly and has been resprayed with the wrong color of lacquer dye. The fleshy brown color is the spray. The lighter areas are where the spray has worn off. The really dark areas are where the color is almost worn down to the leather, from abrasion and from fade. | ||
| Ric Rainbolt (Ricrain)
Junior Member Username: Ricrain Post Number: 60 Registered: 2-2002 |
Here's some interim results from my use of Leatherique on the TR's seats. Here's the seat I've already done (passenger's). Note that the "splotches" on the color (like those on the headrest) are not actually there. They're an artifact of the .JPG image format. So both pictures are not truly representative of the actual condition of the two seats, but can give some idea of the huge difference between them.  Here's the seat I've not yet done (driver's):  The seats were originally (long ago) Connelly VM3218. They apparently got badly sun faded from the car being frequently parked outside. Then, they we're "sprayed", in-car, with laquer dye of the wrong color (closer to 4218). Then, the dye started to come off in patches, leaving the sad results you see here. *Fortunately*, the underlying leather is still in good shape and responded very well to the Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil. I did have to do some custom color experimentation to get the color exactly the way I wanted it. Next, I will do the driver's seat, the doors and rear lower firewall. I'll have more pictures on my website when the project is closer to completion. |