Bill Ball

Even seats that look ratty can respond very well to a cleaning, rejuvinator, then a wipe/wash with dye on a cloth or sponge. Even without stripping the old dye, you can revitalize areas have cracks and scratches in just a few minutes. Of course, major rattiness should get a strip and refinish.

Red UFO

Since when did you buy an 86?

I'm thinking I might not use it on the seats at all now. Got experiments to try.

Fogey1

<MORE> on prep please. Thanks.

heinrich

Will, it entails rubbing every bit of topcoat from the leather with laquer thinner. That means you need a rough, dry-ish porous surface that will "drink" the colour-paint. Sometimes very gentle sanding is required but I've never needed it.

Fogey1

Ahh ... you mean for the color. I thought you were talking about prep for the rejuvinator oil. Though I suppose a good wiping and light sanding would help there as well. Thanks, Heinrich.

docmirror

Okay, Ive got a bunch of photos of before, during and after, but it's on a server at home. As for prep, that's when you redye. The rejuvinator oil, which actually isn't even oil can go on with a sponge, or rag. If you're going to redye, you will be unhappy with the results if you don't fully prep.

Remove the leather from the car, use laquer thinner to get off as much old dye as possible. You can sand with 220 wet, and fill with the little plastic filler stuff. Deep cracks are never going to come back to new, so don't try. Once the leather is soft and smooth, apply the dye with an airbrush. The instructions say you can use a fine paintbrush to apply, but I was unhappy with all the brushes I tried. Thin the dye about 25% with water, apply in long, thin coats, let dry about 1 hour between coats. At least three coats with dark colors. Let dry for at least a day, and then use a coat of rejuvinator oil on the new dye to help it set. Let dry for another day, and reinstall.

Some leather has different grains, and when you remove all the old dye that grain will come back up with the rejuvinator oil. Go easy on sanding with very grainy leather. Use more thinner, and even a brass bristle brush to get out the old dye. If you put new dye over the old stuff, unless it's a very close color, and in good shape, it'll look like spit. Prep is everything.

Doc 90GT in resto

SteveCo

I'm about 1/2 way through a complete interior resto very similar to DocMirror's. In my case, the previous owner had literally spray painted all the leather with black paint. So, I have become very familiar with lacquer thinner.

Before I started the major effort, I practiced on one of the mid-door panels. The lacquer thinner works very well to remove the black paint. The original leather dye is a little tougher. I used a combo of thinner and a very mild Scotchbrite pad to ease the factory dye off. Just be very careful of the stitching when using the pad. Attached are before and after pictures of my efforts at removing the paint and about 1/2 way through removal of the OEM dye.

FWIIW, I found that there are many grades and formulations of lacquer thinner...and they make a big difference. The one that I found works best is the standard Home Depot-type brand...Record Chemicals made the one I used. This is a slow-evaporating formulation (relatively speaking) with Tolulene in the mix. Several other premium brands I tried (like Mar-hyde's #10 Virgin Medium) had no Tolulene and evaporated very quickly. These did not cut the dye or paint as well, but did work well to clean up the surfaces just before starting the re-dye process.

I'll definitely second the thoughts of others around the effectiveness of Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil. It is magic, but works best after the dye has been removed and the leather sanded to open the grain. Just be careful to not sand too much. 220 grit paper works good, as long as your careful. I used 300 grit mostly...because I had a bunch at hand. Just don't practice on the seats...find something less obvious to develop technique.

The air brush is the way to go to apply the Leatherique dye. There is still a small need for some brush application to get in some crevices. Since I am using Porsche standard black, I found that thinning the dye about 50% worked best applied in very thin coats. I found 5 coats worked best, applied about 15 minutes apart. Whether air or brissle brush, keep thinking "thin coats, thin coats...".

If you have a lot of items to spray...by the time you finsh one coat in everything, you are ready to start the next one. Be sure to leave the freshly coated items for at least 2 days before handling them or buffing them. The new dye is very fragile when it is fresh.

I do have one issue, however. I am having some problem with removing the OEM dye and then the subsequent wet sanding wrt the perforated leather on the seats. The holes are filling up with the dye (dissolved or sanded) and it is impossible to get out. At present, I douse them in Rejuvenator Oil to recondition, then clean the leather and let it sit a looong time. Eventually the material in the perforations shrinks and it can be vacuumed out. This takes way longer that I want, so there must be a better way. Is there a trick to this part. Any ideas?

Regards,
SteveCo in St. John's

I do have a question

911Dave

I lubed up my seats this morning and they're baking in the sun as I type. In a few hours I'll find out if there's any magic.

Fishy928S4

911Dave

Was there any magic? I just applied it to my seats and am waiting the same few hours ( at least ) before I remove it.

SharkSkin

If your leather is hard, as mine was, you'll be better off letting it sit all day in the sun and overnight. I posted some before & after pics here. Now, a year later, it's still looking good but I'm about ready to hit it again.

911Dave

It softened up the shift boot noticeably, but did absolutely nothing for the seats. They were very good to begin with, so maybe I was expecting too much. I thought it would make my seat leather feel like a glove. It's just as flexible as before, but still feels heavy and thick.

I still don't know if certain parts are leather or vinyl (leatherette). I know the dash, headliner and main door panels are leatherette, but PET says the center armrest is leather (looks to be the same material as the steering wheel). I've been putting Vinylex on it

jaymoe

Has anyone used Neetseed Oil on the seats?

Red UFO

Just soaked my 83 in this stuff and its sitting out side wrapped in seran wrap. Only 100 out, but still hot. I'll let it sit for 1-2 days, then see what happens. Used about 16 oz for the seats, and took some before pics.

Time to jump in the pool

SharkSkin

I wouldn't. That's more for boots, harnesses, etc.

Leatherique rejuvenator oil is not exactly an oil. You can read up on their site... but they recommend against oils.

deliriousga

I think you'll notice more change over time. When I was talking to the Leatherique people they said to go ahead and do the Pristine Clean and Rejuvinator even though it would be months before I get to strip and re-dye them because it works on the leather and penetrates more over time. I think the "put them in the sun with plastic" is a way to get the rejuvinator to soak in quicker, but it still won't penetrate complety for a month or two. They should be soft like they were from the factory once it's worked its' way completely in.

Btw, make sure you use the Pristine Clean before the Rejuv. It cleans off a lot of the stuff (oils/waxes in other leather products that may have been used over the years) that keeps the Rejuv from penetrating.