Leather questions

Leatherique is the way to go. They have the silicone-free rejuvenation oil which cleans and feeds the leather as well as the dye.

You can send them a sample from a piece of leather under your seat and they will match the color.

It's also inexpensive....

Finally, you have to spray it on, don't even bother trying to touch it up with a small brush, it will look horrible.

See the job I did here:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=341922&page=10

(no affiliation)

 

Greetings.. save me a piece of the old leather that your removing from the dash. I need a piece to cover the panel below the radio. I'll pay a fair price.

R

 

What year and model?

 

I just ordered a half hide from GAHH and it matches perfectly. I sent a sample and they informed me that for Ferarri they use free roam cattle like Connely did for Ferrari so there are no marks from fences and stuff. I also noticed that the leather was thin compared to other sources. It was just like the leather I removed from my dash. This is very important as the intricate dash requires the leather to form arround tight corners. I'm very happy with their leather and the half hide was only $225 U.S. I also purchased some dye and conditioners from Leatherique to touch up some other areas. Send a sample to Leatherique and they will send you matching dye starting with the original OEM color.

The original old Connelly leather in my 88 TR was colored with a lacquer based dye so in some areas I had to remove a bit of the old dye with lacquer thinner especially where it was cracking and pealing and rough to the feel, then I used a little leather crack filler (after I learned to not use a lot), lightly sand with 320 grit, and then dye with a terry cloth. I found I can do just as good a job dabing lightly a few coats in a circle as with an air spray gun. The good thing about touching up the leather is that you can keep trying untill you get it perfect without casuing severe damage...Just don't turn it into swede with sand paper. Depending on the touch up, you may need to dye the complete panel you are working on but a lot of times, you can't tell that you only dyed a small spot. If all else fails, you can always take it to a expert and unless you damage the leather by over sanding, it will not cost you no more than had you not tried, just a waist of time and materials.

I attached a few pictures...the first is an old picture of the side of a Ferrari seat that was cracking and flaking off and was a mess. I learned at this time to be very carefull and not use too much crack filler. You can see I over did it. However, after the first sample dye, I could see the edges of the crack filler. I then spent a long time gently sanding away the crack filler until you could close your eyes and not feel a transition. I have leaned never to use that much again. The second picture is me dabing the dye on the last coat and the seat look new and you can't tell I did anything to it. I will also note that the Leatherique product conditioner made the leather feel softer.
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