killav

Here is a picture with the flash on.

soontobered84

I guess that was just the tint in my eye as I am green with envy how good those look!

andy-gts

wow very nice

Gary Knox

Mike,

Great Job. So glad it turned out so well for you. As I've posted many times on this forum - I've had great success using the Dye from JoAnne at ColorPlus on seats over the past ~12 years. Last set I did were in silver grey (shown in the avatar) that I refinished 6+ years ago, and after that time and ~25K miles, they still look like new (pix taken in late 2011).

Best wishes, and can't wait to observe your window scraper installation next weekend.

Gary Knox

Mongo

Dunno if that will fix mine. Both seats look like a werewolf was driving and riding shotgun.

Don Carter

Awesome! My 88 has linen seats that need this treatment. Linen really shows wear and cracks. I may be hitting you up for more details later, thanks for posting.

3000teeth

Nice job. I just used ColorPlus on a dash, and using their flex-fill to fix pod cracks and am moving onto the seats next, red to black. I hope mine come out as nice as this.

ALKada

Nice job Mike!

Ninespub

Hey Mike, looks great! I've got more than a few questions for you: Did you have any cracks or breaks in the plastic piping? if so, how did you deal with that? Either way, did you use the same Color Plus dye on the plastic piping as the leather? What is the sheen level of the finish? (I'm not a shiny leather guy) How did you work with the dye in the areas like between the center/insides of the seats and the leg and arm bolsters where they normally touch. And last, but not least.......Color Plus recommends (or at leasts makes available) a clear coat for light colors like linen (or perhaps silver grey?)......do you think that's necessary? I'm looking to do mine (in silver grey over previous linen seats) in the next couple weeks so your experience is invaluable to many of us here (or at least me).

killav

I had no cracks or breaks in the piping so no help from me there. I did use the same coloring on the piping. It seemed to work just fine. The sheen level is what I would call flat to semi-flat. Not shiny but not "flat black" looking either. I chose not to go with the clear coat because I like the way it looks without the clear. The way I did all the hard to get spots was to brush most of the dye out of my foam brush, and then shove the not so wet brush down in the cracks and surfaces that touch. This way, there wasn't any runs from jamming a loaded foam brush into the tight spots.

The clear coat might help the color last longer, but I am going to ride around for a while and see how things wear with just the die/paint or whatever that stuff is. And, I figured that leaving the clear coat off might allow your favorite leather conditoner to actually soak into the leather keeping things soft for years to come (hopefully).

Gary Knox

Paul,
You didn't ask me, but I'll chime in anyway! I use a slightly different technique than Mike used. It's fairly involved, but gives great, long lasting results.

First, I clean the leather with soap and water, especially in the areas where dirt collects (as you've identified between the outer bolsters and the inner sections. Then, after it is dry, I use lacquer thinner on a rag to remove all the old pigment. I keep using a fairly wet/clean rag until no more old pigment comes off. IF there are any cracks/wear areas, I then fill them as required with the filler (or maybe just 2-3 localized "pre-applications of the paint).

Following that cleaning/semi-stripping, I treat the leather with multiple coats of Soffener (Color Plus) over several days. When the absorption of Soffener becomes slow, I then go over the surface one more time with lacquer thinner to prepare the surface to accept the new "paint".

In paint application, I use a rag and rub the paint into the surface like I do stain into wood, putting on thin coats. I usually use at least 3 or 4 applications, with 2-3 days between applications. Then, I do not use the seats for at least 4-5 days after the final application.

This has worked well for me on the 4 different sets of seats I've refinished - in one case changing dark brown to silver grey!!

Good luck with your treatment. Linen to Silver grey should be an easy modification.

Gary--

tilac999

So it would be possible to dye old tan seats black? My friend just bought a Euro and the entire interior is black but for the seats and part of the door panels. He wants all black.

BReyes

Mike thanks for posting! Looks like the foam brushes are excellent for these seats. The SEM brand is what I have been using for decades have a qt ready to do some bits and going to re do black 996 seats.

Regards,

6mil928

Just saw this post mike great job !