308/328 Original Interior "Survivor" Methods

Update - So far, I have...

Stripped all the leather of colorant. This was time-consumming. Used the Leatherique Leather Prep, Simple Green as the cleaners to remove most. Wiped up with lacquer thinner or if very stubborn.

Agitated with toothbrushes in the seams and threads. Used brass brush on difficult areas. Scotch Brite on flat panels. You will strip past the color in spots, which is fine. Be careful not to tear or overly abrade threads. Wipe crevices completely clean. Let sit for 2 days to completely dry out.

Then apply rejuvinator oil to renourish dried leather. I did this once a day for 4 days. Color kept coming out of the leather after wiping. The leather drinks in a lot more oil than you'd think.

After this, wipe surface again with Prep to remove oil, making way for color.

Let dry for a day. Longer if you can.

I removed all panels and parts that I could. This is a stripped door panel with factory matched colorant applied to 'cut in' areas covered by other parts, or where I'd have to touch it to turn. You can see the color variations. The slight sheen is due to being partly wet. Note the sewn seam, completely cleared of the 'old' redye.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Here's an area atop the armrest, applying 'wet' color. When they say, "do not rework wet areas" this is not just a suggestion! You'll 'drag' color, thickening and gathering partially dried colorant. Not pretty. I did this in one area, but you get a feel quickly.

The next overlyh blurry photo (sorry) is a close up of a seam using the 'wipe' method to clear the threads where a sloppy or hurried application will build. That ruins the coloring effect, drawing instant attention to that area, and can't be overstressed. 'Thin' colorant is a good idea here. My goal was to keep the threads and seam very much intact, without fakey build up.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks GatorFL. I considered that. My carpets were in great shape, just faded, including the ones on the door panels. Here's one that was water-dyed back to factory matched color. It is only laying in place atop the newly 'cut in' door panel. You can see I did the piping around the carpet. I plan to do the seams tomorrow, the full panels after that.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Continued to apply very thin coats of colorant, allowing a day or more between coats. Made three small discoveries -

1. Wiping the color out of the stitching greatly enhances the relief look, but leaves enough color to do the job. This, to me (after full preparation) is where most redyes fail. Takes more time, but worth it.

2. "Panel" coloring is better than leaving components assembled. My door panels for example include the a) Panel b) arm rest/door pocket, c) welting, d) speaker mesh, e) door window rubber, f) door latch mechanism g) speaker weather strip surround.

You'd hardly think all those parts were part of 'one' door panel, but taking them apart, cleaning separately, and recoloring separately was far better than the previous 'glop on color and hope for the best' approach.

3. Using a scotch-brite pad between coats. Very good idea here. You take off higher areas, thinning the color for more grain to be revealed, better adhesion for topcoat. Using a circular motion at top coat, this replicate a duller appearance. I want no 'sheen' to the leather.


PICTURE 1 - shows a 'between coat' after scotch-brite. Thin is good.

PICTURE 2 - shows refinished armrest, totally recolored, with stitching very much intact, defined. (Seat bottom in same photo... it's coming soon!)

PICTURE 3 - assembled armrest, carpet, welting. Finished both door panels, all buttoned up. (The map pocket is a treat to reset. Watch for the leather flap that inserts through the panel, and MUST wrap upward to keep the toll coins you toss in there from entering the door innards!)

PICTURE 4 - the little bits. All cleaned, conditioned, and then used the 'prepping solution' for a final clean, awaiting recolor tomorrow. NOTE: The e brake housing was all torn up. This is the only piece I needed to yank the leather and recover. Did this with some leather left over from my Boxer, which was essentially the same color. I stripped this too, readying to recolor.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login