rbuswell

My 1982 SC's COA says the seats are leatherette. They are the standard seats, not sport. They seem to be leather on the outer panels of the seating surface and where the passenger's back touches with the backs and lower parts in vinyl and the center in the paneled vinyl (with the little holes in it ... not sure how to describe it). Is that how leatherette seats should be configured? Or am I imagining leather when all the surfaces are just vinyl? The leather really feels like leather and has dried out like leather as well, unfortunately. I'm trying to restore the leather with Lexol Conditioner and it seems to be responding (wishful thinking on my part?). Also does the Lexol Vinyl product work well or is there another better product. Thanks.

Dan Cobb

First off, I must tell you that unless your car was equipped with a "full leather" interior, then the only leather on your seats is probably on the seating surfaces. The part with holes in it is 'perforated', and most likely leather if any of the seat is.
Secondly, I have used the Lexol conditioner in the past with very limited results. It may well have changed formulas since then, but my money is on a far superior product called "Leatherique".
Like most quality products of our time, it is expensive; but worth the price many times over.
It will literally turn a dried up witches' boot into a soft and supple sows' ear if used properly.
It will not repair the worn areas or replace the color that my be missing, but obviously nothing short of recovering can do that.
BTW, I would not use any vinyl cleaner on anything in my 911. Most if it is far too harsh and it will eventually 'leech out' the oil/solvent that makes the vinyl remain pliable.
I just thank God that you didn't ask about ArmourAll or some other form of "vinyl shine goop". These products are supposedly very bad if used over prolonged periods because they do not clean the surface of the vinyl, but instead add a wet, glossy shine to them that attracts more dust and heat.
Instead of me telling you more about Leatherique, do a search and you will find plenty of information and a link or 2 to where it can be purchased.
Heck, if you are close to Los Angeles (West side by LAX) I will let you try some on one of your seats to see the difference for yourself before buying your own gallon. (No reason to buy it in any smaller quantity as they usually have a good deal on the gallon size).
Good luck with whatever product you choose.
+++

imcarthur

I'm with Dan on this one. Leatherique works. It is a 2 stage process. Liberally apply Rejuvenator. Cover seats with a garbage bag & bake them in the sun for a day. Then use the Pristine Cleaner to finish. Repeat 2 - 3 times over a month or 2 & your seats will be soft.

Ian

rbuswell

The perforated part doesn't feel quite like leather and I couldn't figure out how they manufactured it that way if it is leather, which is why I was confused. I'm pretty sure, based on the Red Book, that leatherette is standard equipment. But the Red Book also says that leatherette is vinyl. I just haven't found any reference that tells me what leatherette really means since I'm really sure that there is some leather.

I was pretty impressed with the Lexol website and the discussion about the molecular makeup of leather so that's why I went that route but Leatherique sounds quite good as well regardless of price. I'm in Colorado so the free test won't work, but thanks! Just the parts from Gaan for new seat covers are about a grand for leather and $650-700 for vinyl (labor extra), so any product that restores the leather has to be a bargain. The bag/sunshine treatment sounds very intriguing as well. Again thanks for the insights.

Coyote99

I've used the Griots Garage leather care products with great success (like the Leatherique description above). The Griots leather "rejuvenator" worked wonders on my leather seats in my Audi, Honda and Porsche.

84_Carrera

Per LA Porsche Dismantler site (yeah I know, not the last word on, but...):

"Rear seat prices depend on vinyl (leatherette) vs. leather"

http://www.911pcar.com/Porsche_Parts...iors_seats.htm

theiceman

leatherette is a fancy name for vinyl ... period..

JCP911S

Vinyl... very good vinyl, but vinyl nonethelesss.... using leather treatment on leatherette is a total waste of time.

As stated the basic "leather" option was seating surfaces only.. this was pretty much a standard option on US cars..

"Full leather" means just that... leather on all upholsered surfaces... it is a very nice option, but does suffer from shrinkage on dash and rear deck panels...

dma550

Haven't you ever heard of a Nauga?



and one for the navy interiors

rbuswell

that stuff on the panels of the seating area doesn't feel or look anything like vinyl or the back and lower sides of the seats themselves, which is definitely vinyl. Even the somewhat dried out areas aren't cracked like they would be if it was vinyl and it's responding to Lexol Conditioner. I keep wondering if the definition of leatherette in my year of car was really vinyl on the sides and back with leather on the seating surfaces. Any other contributors?

theiceman

Yeah.... my mother had a Naugahide sofa... after a few years I would constantly be beat with a stick for peeling it like a sunburn skin peel :-)

But seriously , I had a question like this once on my Audi and ot on the websight and actually found a contact and called and asked. Can you believe they got back to me with an answer ?

I have cork leatherette interior with the perforated centres and headback area . but the vinyl side pieces are pulling away and torn anyway so I don't much care, but I iwll have a closer look at the material where it is torn.

imcarthur

From everything I have read, Porsche had issues with full leather (dashes shrinking) & in the early 80s started a leather face/leatherette backs & sides on the seats as the std leather option. Full leather could be ordered.

Mine certainly is leather face only with leatherette doors, dash, seat backs & sides. I use a vinyl cleaner on everything but the faces where I pour on Leatherique.

Ian

Jay H

Lexol Vinylex is great stuff IMO for interior vinyl, plastic and rubber pieces. I wouldn't be without it. It leaves a nice low sheen appearance, lasts a long time on interior trim, is not greasy, does not attract dust and has good UV protection.

It's not good for exterior pieces because it disappears after a rain or washing of the car. Great for show car exteriors during prep and such, but I wouldn't bother with Vinylex on the exterior on a daily driver.

I've had good results with Lexol Conditioner and their leather cleaner. I wouldn't hesitate to use Leatherique either. However, there are better products for restoring older, dried out leather than Lexol Conditioner. It's a decent enough maintainer, but not a real good restorer.

My '84 Carrera has a full leather interior in Cashmere and brown leather. It's darn nice except for the dash that is warped from age. I just judged a mint '85 930 this past weekend that been a concours car most of it's life. It's dash is leather and is just as warped as my driver quality '84 with 3 times the miles. Anyway, you can really tell when an interior is full leather.

Good Luck,

Jay
90 964

rbuswell

You've described my car interior to a "T". The seating surfaces of the buckets are leather and the rest of the car interior is vinyl. I'm going to try the Leatherique Rejuvenator as you recommended and the Lexol Vinylex sounds like good stuff too. Thanks again for the posts, one and all! I promise to report back when I see how it turned out.