jace

I've got a problem with a horizontal tear in the leather of my drivers seat at the level of the latch release (originating at the seam). This is the spot that my elbow seems to dig into when I get out of the car (I'm trying to change this habit by supporting myself with my hand on the door sash). The rest of the interior is in nice shape, even the seat base of the drivers seat. I'm not a big fan of seat covers and like the current sport seats. unfortuanately, I have not found a reasonably priced option to fix this problem.

Do I need to find someone parting out a car? Are there kits available so I can try to get this redone locally? What have others done?

Any ideas would be welcome.

Ken

The best/cheapest seat recovery kits are at Rennbay.

www.Rennbay.com

PorscheDoc

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMESSE%3AIT

Shamless plug

KLR

Have you had an upholsterer look at it yet? They can usually order a piece of leather that's a very good to great match and replace the panel. I had one done on my seat bottom and it came out great.

jace

Thanks for the suggestions.

Sorry Karl, my seats are burgundy. Otherwise I'd be interested. Nice try (by the way, there does not seem to be any such thing as a "shameless plug" on this board - I'm not sure we know that emotion )

Ken, thanks for pointing the way to Rennbay - I hadn't looked there. Do you or anyone else you know have experience actually doing the replacement. Seems like it might be a little like spending the weekend wrestling the Rock!?

I have not considered a local upholstery fix, because the tear is in the long piece of leather that runs from the head rest down past the bolster. The bead would also need to be replaced and then there's the concern about matching colors with burgundy - a little harder than with black.

Please let me know if anyone has experience with the Rennbay replacements - installation, etc.

Thanks again.

toddk911

KLR: how much did that end up costing??

jace

I noticed that the rennbay product is vinyl vs. the original leather / vinyl combo.

Obviously, the price is right, but I'm thinking it might be better to bite the bullet and go for the leather. Does anyone have this material?

Any thoughts?

PorscheDoc

KLR, i am interested in hearing how much it cost you as well, and where you got it done at. The driver seat in my 951, needs to have the leather replaced on the piece that you sit on, if i can do it cheap, that would be cool.

Ken

I currently working with Rennbay to color match my seats. After I order the covers and finish the job, I will post my experience. I think if you search this forum and the main 944 forum, you'll find some past posts of people who have done it.

jace

Ken,

I'll look forward to hearing about your experience and your opinion of the quality of the vinyl vs. the original leather.

Before I posted this topic, I did do a search (only on this board) on a bunch of combinations of terms. Didn't find much, other than folks talking about swapping out seats for racing.

Thanks much for your input.

Ken

Jace,

Check these threads out:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...t=rennbay+seat

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...t&pagenumber=1

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...t=rennbay+seat

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...t=rennbay+seat

MySwiss

For anyone interested. I have a mint(10/10) full tan leather interior with rear seats and door pockets for sale. The front seats are non sports, and the rears are the split seats. The seats have no wear ,tears or any kind of imperfection. The driver seat is a 2 way electric ajustable and the passenger seat is non electric.

I would let the whole interior go for 1200$ plus shipping from Montreal.

KLR

It was $200 - $225 (I can't remember exactly) to have my driver's side seat bottom restitched in one spot (at the front of the seat, the seam between the left side panel and the panel where your a$$ goes) and the left side panel replaced in my passenger's seat (in the same spot, the stitching had held, but the leather had spit). My interior is burgundy as well, and honestly, I don't think that anyone can tell the difference unless they were to look closely and know where to look. The color match is perfect, the age disparity in the leather is what you'd notice if you really looked closely and thought about it.

I also got the leatherique rejuevenator and cleaner to try to recondition the leather, which is the key to avoiding these problems in the near future. It's certainly improved the pliability of the leather, but the verdict is obviously still out on whether the leather has been softened / un-shrunk enough to avoid further splits in the future. This is your locus of risk in taking the repair versus replace approach.

jace, take a search through the archives. I considered the rennbay route before I had this work done and it does seem like their vinyl product is not a bad way to go. You can do the replacement yourself in something like 10 hours or have an upholsterer do it pretty reasonably. Most people seem to be happy with the outcome, but often that's qualified by "for what I spent." Search the archives and form your own opinion.

If you really only have a single panel that needs attention, I'd call a new car dealer and ask them who they use for repairs. They have brand new and used cars repaired all the time, and it generally comes out perfectly. If by "beading" in your message, you meant the piping, have no fear. These guys can replace all of your piping in their sleep.

Peckster

Ask a good upholsterer. They'll be able to find a close match.

jace

Thanks to All.

Ken, I appreciate the links. I followed up with others (even one here in Ohio) that have the Rennbay product and they are quite satisfied.

KLR, thanks for input. I think I will check on some local upholstery sources before I move forward with the Rennbay product. I've got some connections with the Porsche dealer and other PCA members here locally.

Just FYI, I did get a quote of $1,056 for two new leather sport seat replacement front seats from WorldUpholstry. I would assume that I would then have to get these installed locally.

Thanks again for all the feedback.