Hi all, I thought my Leatherique story might be of interest to those with heavily re-dyed seats. My seats appeared in dreadful condition with layers of dye thick as house paint. The typically mentioned method of stripping the old dye with towels and lacquer thinner didn't work. Using that method I spent over 2 hours stripping just a headrest. I decided to use something stronger. I looked into using MEK, acetone, fast acting paint strippers such as Klean-Strip KS-3, and strippers labeled as "safer" like Citristrip. All seemed to warn against use on nylon and other plastics. I was concerned about the affect on the old leather but mostly the stitching. What references I could find re the 308's stitching said it was a combination of nylon and cotton. I settled on Citristrip because it was a slow acting "safer" remover (30 minutes to days) and because it said it had only a light citrus odor. I hoped the slow acting nature would provide me more flexibility to respond in the event it was harmful to the leather or stitching. Here are some pics. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I brushed the stripper on thick with a natural bristle brush and waited. After about two hours the dye began to soften. I could scrape some of it away with a plastic putty knife but it was gooey, indescribably gooey!! It stuck to the putty knife, to my rubber gloves, to the work surface, again to the seats, etc. It was almost unworkable and not all of the dye came off. I let the seats sit overnight and tried again. This time I had better results. The dye had softened but was not so sticky. The stripping work was still tedious but I was able to make steady progress. I tried letting certain sections sit 48 hours but this was too long. The dye resolidifyed. Around 24 hours was the magic time. I'm sure temp and humidity had an impact. The temps were mostly in the upper 60s and humidity was always low - love that Colorado weather!! About tools: I used small Stanley plastic putty knives and and a small Stanley stripping brush, all from Walmart's paint department. I bought the lacquer thinner and Citristrip there as well. Be gentle using the putty knives, even though they are plastic they are sharp and can damage the leather piping if you scrape too hard. The stripping brush had firm bristles and worked great. In fact it was the single best tool I tried. I would dip it in lacquer thinner and then scrub in a circlular motion to remove what remained after scraping with the putty knife. The firm bristles stripped away remaining dye and did not damage the leather or stitching. This is a great tool! Keep it wet with thinner, stick to a circular scrubbing motion, and watch it work! More pics... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
After tens of hours of stripping I was left with a surface as pictured below. Mostly free of dye, softer than before, but damaged and with lots of rough spots. I sanded rough portions with a palm sander and 320 grit. This worked nicely. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I purchased kit #3 from Leatherique - 1 quart each of dye, prepping agent, Prestine Clean and Rejuvinator. Also 2 oz of filler. I chose 3218 saddle color. Here are pictures after stripping the leather and before and after application of Leatherique Rejuvinator. After applying the Rejuvinator, I covered the pieces in clear plastic and let them sit in the sun for two days. I then stored them away in the garage for a week. The pieces are definately softer now, not glove soft as some have described, but soft enough. A couple sections of the console are not shown - I'm moving more slowly on these. Next a good cleaning with Prestine Clean and then off to the upholsterer for repair. I plan to have some seams restitched and have a few panels replaced (including the vinyl repair sections). I'll post more pics when I get the seats back. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks Sam! After all the hours invested, I can't wait to see the end result too! Jim PS: You beat me to that GT4!!
Jim. We went the same route and used lacquer thinner with great results but we cannoy get the piping to hold for long and have to keep touching it up. We also used a ton of conditioner but never really got the leather soft, I'm just sayin. Lost
Well, time will tell on my seats. Thanks for the insight. I'll be sure to sand and thoroughly apply prepping agent to the piping. Hopefully it will hold up ok.
My experience with Leatherique has been good so far. I followed the instructions and took my time stripping the old dye and conditioning the leather. I will be redyeing the entire interior this week. You look like you got your hand full with those seats! Good luck and try not to be in a hurry. I know it's easier said than done. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes it is original. Car had 55K on the odometer when I bought it a couple of months ago. The typical story....old dye that was in need of being removed. Hard, cracked, dirty, smelly, etc. I spent quite a bit of time conditioning/cleaning and then removing what was left with lacquer thinner. Then doing it all over again. Finally, wet sanding with the prep agent. I must say that I was very happy with the results. Soft and clean. Everything looks new. The final test will be how the dye takes this week. I will be spraying it on with a gun. Wish me luck!
We sprayed ours the first time around and found the spray to look too opaque and we wiped it off and went with thin applications (multiple) with a rag and found it to look more natural. I'm just sayin! lost
I will compare both ways first and then choose the one that looks best. I wouldn't be surprised if the method of wiping it on isn't better. Thank you for your observation and comments
When I did mine, I sprayed the seats with a fine mist air brush, and the side panels with a small touch up air gun. The air brush is much superior.
You are correct. After trying both methods.... Definitely the air brush. Some pics of the first coat. I was very pleased with the air brush method. The rub on deal...maybe it's just me but it wasn't even close. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For what it is worth, we tried first with a touch-up gun and although it looked perfect ( like a paint job should) but it looked like vinyl too perfect. If I ever do it again (I really feel like new leather is the way to go) I'll try the air brush! Lost
I think its pretty cool to see all this coming together like that.... Thanks for the stories, photos, and info. PDG
I did similar a while back. I also used thinner to remove the top layer. It is true - the piping is pretty hard to keep up with and I must touch it up every so often. I used a cloth/rubbing motion to apply the dye. So far, pretty happy for the effort. The seats look nice. They are much much softer as well.
My console needed extra love. Not only was more leather sanding and filling required but a fiberglass foot was broken. I made a repair with a 3M/Bondo fiberglass repair kit, from Walmart. I cut away the leather with a straight edge and razor, scuffed and v-notched the repair area, applied a patch of resin soaked fiberglass, then ground and re-drilled the foot. Now back to prepping for dye... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Does anyone have a photo of the type of fasteners Ferrari used to anchor the console and attach the door panels? I want to replace the hardware with new and I'm sure mine are not original. Gracias!
The Ferrari ones are not available any longer I believe- the medium ones NAPA sells fit exactly into the OEM holes and give the door panel a good firm SNAP into place.
On the GT4 it is a stainless screw with a stainless countersunk finish washer. Looks to be 3mm x 20mm long. Image Unavailable, Please Login
