My Leather World Tech dye restoration (before/after)

[audiquattrot]

Picked up these seats from ebay several months ago....foam was all intact, and believe it or not, the leather was still very soft since they had been stored away for 10+yrs according to the guy that sold it to me.

Purchase a leather crack filler & dye kit from Leather World Tech (color 917) matte black.







Sanded down the bolsters w/ a scuffing pad and 400 grit paper, and a lot of the superficial cracks in the leather was the dye itself cracking (not the leather itself)....and smoothed it out a ton.

[audiquattrot]

Here I started crack filling, using an old Metrocard to smooth it out. i tested a couple areas out after it was fully dry to see how this product holds up under flex, and it appears to work well! The filler is almost identical to Elmers glue in consistency, and dries clear. I did a light sand in between applications.

Interestingly enough, i went to scuff down the center sections of the seat based on the directions I saw online (which were to use the provided scuffing pad + cleaner to prep the leather for dye)...and it was amazing how clean & matte the center sections of the seat got getting rid of the ugly sheen old leathers get. With that said, I decided that I'd ONLY dye the bolsters on all corners. It was almost a sin to redye the centers since they are impeccable shape considering.

Here are a bunch of pics so far after my 1st application of crack filler.

[audiquattrot]

halfway there.....applying the dye w/ the foam applicators is a little tricky since it has a tendency to leave brush strokes. If you have a spray gun or airbrush, i would recommend using that method over this.

[audiquattrot]

The finished product!

Couldn't be happier! Well worth the $65 for the kit. They def feel like soft leather...not cheap cardboard like i read with other kits available. Again they aren't 100% perfect, mainly b/c i used the foam applicator which left fine brush strokes (hardly noticable)...so if you have an airbrush or gun i'd recommend using it.

[bigdrick323]

gorgeous, what do i need to buy to fix this

[audiquattrot]

gorgeous, what do i need to buy to fix this

The top of your rear seats look a little trickier to work with since there are tears. The kit I got came with a sheet of fabric to use in cases like yours including the adhesive to mend it. Basically you cut a section of this fabric a little bigger than the split, push it underneath the tear , glue it in place and apply crack filler once that's dry. Def worth trying. I did it on my friends e30 m3 seat and it worked well

[bigdrick323]

Bought the dye and repair kit for cardinal red this morning

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[Danny915]

Seats came out reslly nice, how noticeable are the two shades of black, does the treated portion of the seat blend nicely with original leather?

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[audiquattrot]

Bought the dye and repair kit for cardinal red this morning

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cool g/l! post pics of your progress. btw looking at your pics again...were those seats ever recovered before? The stitching doesn't appear to be OEM.

Seats came out reslly nice, how noticeable are the two shades of black, does the treated portion of the seat blend nicely with original leather?

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the shades are a SPOT ON MATCH. I couldn't believe how well it blends....hence why i only did the bolsters and seat backs. If there was any variance at all I was gonna do the entire seat....but i didn't have to.

[N2MYE30]

Wow, that come out great! I wonder how well Indigo Blue would fair in the kit... hmmmm....

[bigdrick323]

[QUOTE=audiquattrot;3711817]cool g/l! post pics of your progress. btw looking at your pics again...were those seats ever recovered before? The stitching doesn't appear to be OEM.


I wondered about that, they do have a thin plasticy feel to them, but i am not positive. Especially the front seats, thoughts, can anyone spot what they might be?

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[audiquattrot]

Wow, that come out great! I wonder how well Indigo Blue would fair in the kit... hmmmm....

do it!!

I wondered about that, they do have a thin plasticy feel to them, but i am not positive. Especially the front seats, thoughts, can anyone spot what they might be?

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hard to tell from the pics. Can you see any traces of leather material where the cracks/splits are?

[bigdrick323]

I'll check when I get home.

[Danny915]

cool g/l! post pics of your progress. btw looking at your pics again...were those seats ever recovered before? The stitching doesn't appear to be OEM.



the shades are a SPOT ON MATCH. I couldn't believe how well it blends....hence why i only did the bolsters and seat backs. If there was any variance at all I was gonna do the entire seat....but i didn't have to.

Thanks man, its the answer I was hoping for, I will be ordering these soon

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[audiquattrot]

Thanks man, its the answer I was hoping for, I will be ordering these soon

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cool let me know how it turns out.