Stylemobile

Yes, yes. Paul, please educate the masses on this one. I want to do something to get by less embarrassingly and swear that if finances ever permit, you are going to do an entire sting ray leather console and door panel interior with anaconda snake skin seats ! ! ! OK, maybe just some ostrich leather.....

Seriously, I am thinking of attempting some color changes to my interior. I will forgo the stock Porsche colors as my car is beyond being a fine, original specimen. My interior is burgundy. I am interested in a grey and green interior.

Paul?

jenyap

I checked out Duron's website and there seem to be several paints that might fit the description. Could someone point me to the precise paint used please?
http://www.duron.com/products/interi...t=1&lineid=338

Marine Blue

Why not use a paint designed specifically for leather..... www.leathermagic.com

jenyap

I really like the idea of taking a leather sample to a store and having paint matched to its color. That sounds like an inexpensive way to get good results without having to jump through hoops. So could someone please tell me which one of the many duron paints this is?

JPTL

This info. should provide enough for the Duron rep. to determine the exact product that I used. Others have used this with success as seen in this thread.

JPTL

A fellow Rennlister asked me how this has held up. I figured I'd post my reply here to share:

I've had my quart of the Duron formulation of Classic Gray for nearly 4 years now and it's been stored in a cold garage (probably not the best place to keep it). Regardless, the product holds up really well in a properly sealed can.
Since the original application to my driver's seat bolster, I've reapplied a thin coat twice since the original application - and got the same results as the first application. The amount that I used both times was only about half of the initial amount, since I had a base and I didn't let the bolster get as rough as it was for the initial application.
Since the driver's seat bolster is the highest wear area - at least for me, naturally the area will need periodic attention - regardless of the integrity of the touch up job.

I can say this about how it holds up:
So long as it's properly applied to clean, oil/conditioner-free leather*, the finish doesn't peel or flake. It adheres really well - like it was made for leather. A good application will thin over time as rubbing/contact basically wears it down. Areas that aren't subject to friction/wear would likely hold up for several years.
I suggest to try a test area to make sure that the color match is correct. When a partial area, such as a seat bolster needs attention, don't simply spot treat by going over only the worn area, but blend it the way a painter would blend a quarter panel. In my case I applied a coat to the entire bolster, avoiding the piping, and ran it up to the stitched seam just below the headrest section. This way any negligible difference in the color is nearly undetectable.

*It's important that you apply to a clean, oil/conditioner-free surface. If you've recently applied a conditioner like Lexol, you should use a leather cleaner (without conditioner) or diluted Simple Green. If you apply a coat over recently conditioned leather, it will remain sticky and you'll end up with an inconsistent finish. Some areas will be glossy, others, dull.
I know this because I did an application to the entire base and uprights of the black sport seats in my e30 convertible. A few weeks prior, I had conditioned the seats using a liberal amount of Lexol. When I applied the color-matched black Duron, I did it in the hot sun. This was a mistake, since I believe that the heat from the sun caused the Lexol to leach to the surface. The coat took nearly a week to lose its tackiness. Very annoying since tacky seats are like lint brushes. They looked like crap for a month or so until eventually they dried fully. The seats needed another application since the first one was somewhat inconsistent. Now they look fantastic - almost like reupholstered seats, and they aren't tacky.

dr bob

I'll toss in some more follow-up info.

Like JP, my driver's seat has had two touch-up treatments since the original effort. The last touch-up was a couple years ago and it's due again. A few of the original cracks have surfaced again, so this next effort will likely be closer to the original effort in scope. Knowing what I do now, the whole effort will be less than 30 minutes actual work on the seats, with a day of dry/cure time mixed in.

Part of the work for this season's interior up-fixin' will be a bit of black spray dye on the dash mat, and a thorough carpet cleaning while the front seats are out. My car is a sort-of daily driver, in that it's what I drive but I don't drive that much. Bought a Honda Pilot SUV recently, so the 928 can get a few of the longer-duration tasks taken care of including this little bit of interior refreshing.

G8RB8

On my last three cars 300ZXTT, Miata, Boxster when the seat bolster starts to look worn I gave just the worn spot a coat of good ol Kiwi black shoe polish and buffed it out. Holds up for about 6 months. Stops getting on your clothes in a couple of days.

Gary Knox

My concern regarding a 'house' paint on the leather would be the flexibility of the paint vs the flexing of the leather. Might be wrong, but I'd 'guess' that the paints made for leather have more flex agent in them (like the paints made for our plastic bumpers, vs that made for the steel/aluminum parts).

Just my logic, often wrong on many subjects, however!

Gary Knox

dr bob

I had the same concerns when I did my seats this way. I decided to visit one of the better local paint specialty places for their recommendation. The product they came up with is used to paint canvas awnings and such that flex and flap in the wind. I figured the seat bolsters won't do that much flapping, since I generally keep the windows and sunroof closed above 120 or so. Plus my butt-damper-cheek-thing limits bolster travel.

So a few years later now, there are signs that more flex cracking in the leather is coming through the paint. I treat this like any substrate cracking: not the fault of the finish. I don't really know what could be done differently. I'll probably sand the area again, drown it in Leatherique for a week to restore some of the flex again, then clean and reapply the finish.

-----

A couple Sharktoberfests ago, Mark A & Rob E invited a local leather seat repair guy to do some demo work on a pretty tired seat that Mark had on the rack at 928 International. He'd done some work on the seats in Rob's GTS that looked great, and had my attention for quite a while as he showed us all his steps. Biggest differences from what I'd done included his willingness to use much more aggressive solvents when prepping the seat surfaces. The actual crack-repair steps were virtually the same as what I did to mine, down to the filler material he used. For the finishing, he used a paint product that's targeted to shoe and handbag refinishers. He used a turbine-powered HVLP gun to apply the finish, where I used a foam brush so I could better control where it went. He custom blended each color to match the seat, by the way. Interesting that his rates for that kind of repair were pretty reasonable too for the care and quality of the work.

For folks who are a little squeemish about doing this yourself, I'm sure there are folks around who will do this for you at a relatively reasonable cost. Much better rates if you take the seats out yourself and bring them. Takes a little local research obviously. The results on the tired seat at Mark's were very impressive.

Gary Knox

Bob,

I like your approach regarding the awning type paint. Should be much more flexible than house paint.
Thanks for sharing that.

Gary--

997Austin

This is my first post. I just wanted to share that Austin Interiors did a great job touching up my interior non-leather scuffs and scratches on my 2007 S cabriolet. They also dyed the seats (the bolsters had worn slightly). Really came out great! Here are the before pics:








Here are pics after:
[ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

997Austin

Sorry!

MainePorsche

oops ..notice I posted this in the 928 forum!

It's alright. We'll be OK.

dr bob

No worries. Restoration techniques like this are amazingly transportable among brands and models.