Reupholstered my Seats

I've gone on record on my feelings about the outcome of my attempt to re-dye my driver's seat with Leathique dyes. It looked like a vinyl seat when it was done.

My car has 19k miles on it, but the Connolly dyes on the seat were sprayed-on, and were less of a dye and more of a flexible finish that sat atop the hides...like paint. The dye began to crack on my car (the hides were perfect) and the seats began to look dirty where it cracked. No amount of cleaning would help....

Here's some advice: if you have this issue on your car, take some acetone and lightly wipe the area to remove the cracked dye. By the time I figured that out, I had already committed to the stripping of the dye from the seat.

So, totally dissatisfied with the outcome of the re-dye, I contacted Jeff Hirsch at Cabrio World (800-752 -1563 or www.cabrioworld.com) and Jeff set me up with his reupholstery kit that uses German hides. I did the install myself and I am totally happy with the finished product. The inserts in the seats are now more of a 'loose fit' look, and the leather is extremely supple.

I shot photos of the work if anyone is interested.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Yes, very much a DIY project. I was armed with:
- good pliers to remove the tension clips on the pad beneath the seat cushion
- single edge razor blades to cut-in the leather where the clips are located on the seat frame
-screw driver to help slide the stretch rods over the clips on the frame
- 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to glue the leather onto the seat and back cushions
- a heat gun to slowly heat the leather once installed to remove any loose areas
- baby powder to use inside the hides to allow them to slide over the foam more easily and allow repositioning

I'll do a write-up for everyone.

I believe I paid $1,800 for the kit for both seats. It matches perfectly although the grain is slightly different that the original Connolly hides.

 

The cushions are a 'soft look', but the bolters are skin tight. Probably could heat the cushions and tighten-up the look if you wanted.

 

Sure, I'd do it again. The passenger seat was easier to do once I figured-out some of the techniques on the driver's seat.

Probably the hardest part is stretching the leather on the headrest and the seat back. They both have a plastic female channel sewn onto the leather, and a corresponding male plastic strip that must be folded and then inserted. Easier to write than do! But keep stretching the hide and it will go.

They also did the embossed horse on the headrest.

Bob

 

Added note:

The leather is buttery soft, unlike the OE hides, which were soft...but not like this.

 

I did take photos and will post with a write-up when time permits

The covers were sourced from: Jeff Hirsch at Cabrio World (800-752 -1563 or www.cabrioworld.com)

 

Here's the write-up folks. I could have had a few more photos, but being a one man band and wielding a camera and tools is no easy task as I discovered. But these will give you an idea of the job. Might seem daunting at first, but take you time and note how the seat came apart will be instructive on putting it all back together. Keep the old hides handy for reference.

Feel free to shoot me a PM with questions. I suggested that Jeff from Cabrio World sign in and say 'hi' in the event he can help with questions.

BTW, when I ordered the kit, Jeff sent along a bunch of leather swatches first so that I could match the color on my original seats. Good guy....

Bob
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Check with Jeff. I'd be surprised if they didn't offer a kit for the Mondial. I know that they have a kit for the 355 Spider as Jeff's manufacturer first sent me that kit, and after some head-scratching, I realized it was the wrong set-up. The correct kit was in my garage 2 days later.

The price is not inexpensive, but reasonable. The quality of the hides are better than the OE pieces, and once installed it looks great. I had a couple of west coast car guy friends in over the weekend, and they marveled at the finished products.