pcarhombre

Folks; I am enclosing pics of my seats which are clad in classic gray leather. They need a bit of work and seem a bit shiny compared to others I've seen here. On the whole they are in good shape (one small rip on the upper driver's seat back). Taking into consideration the low quality pics, what does it appear would be my best course of action to bring them back? I have noticed the color seems darker than some others posted here. I know it could just be the lighting. Do you agree?

Second; I am considering ordering a set of black w/ gray dot coco mats. The black looks just fine at the floor level being so far away from the ocean blue met paint. Although they are darker than the gray factory carpet color, they seem to anchor the interior in a nice way and I'm told they wear like iron. I'd like to have your input before I pull the trigger.
Regards

Arena993

Try Leatherique on the seats. The coco mats are awesome I am going to put them in the car I am working on. Coco mats are a nice retro look and very durable. IIRC they were standard issue on the 356 P-cars.

Mike

ga993

PCar Hombre, thanks for posting. Mine are grey also and need updated. Curious on the mats, where are you getting them? Do you have a link so I can see pics?

NC TRACKRAT

Good advice on Leatherique. Excellent web-site with instructions: www.leatherique.com. George Pavlisko, the owner, is very knowledgeable. I'm so old that I recall when coco mats first came out. They were the hot stuff and still look great but...there are a few downsides: Since they are a woven fiber, the dirt tends to filter through them and, as they get older, the fibers break down and start to "shed" like dog or cat fur. Unless they've improved the dye, as they get exposed to sunlight, the colors tend to fade.

k722070

I would like to see before/after pics of your seats using leatherique if you go that direction and have the time.

I used colorplus for years on my classic grey seats, the bar soap style cleaner works great, the 'soffener' conditioner product can be a little messy though.
you might need a product like colorplus or leatherique to remove whatever was used to produce the shine(armor all glaze?) on your seats.

I switched to zaino's z-9 and z-10 for ease of use. easy to clean and condition and produces a soft matte type finish with that new car leather smell. the zaino makes the leather look great and feel soft, but it won't fix existing cracks.

pcarhombre

ga993, here is the link for the mats. The website has very good info and seem to be more knowledgeable than some of the others I've seen. http://www.cocomats.com

Thanks Mike. I went over and looked at the site. Do you think I need the crack repair & cleaner. Or will the cleaner even out the color? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

NC, the new mats have a rubber backing which I would think would eliminate the "pass through" problem with dirt. It is sort of like they've attached a tray to the sisal and shouldn't be a problem. As for the fading, you might be right about that. I'm hoping that won't be a problem with my coupe b/c it is kept in the carriage house when not in use. So it hasn't seen alot of direct extended sun.

I would be happy to post my attempts to make the seats look better. I'll order today and keep you all posted. Somebody else on here did a complete color job that looked amazing. Search for that too. I think they did a great job. "Hope mine come out as well!

Arena993

Cocomats.com sent me three samples. They look like a great mat. Very durable and heavy duty. I have always been a Lloyd mat guy, but time for a change. Nothing wrong with Lloyd mats just a change. I will post pics when I get the rivi Blue cab done.

Mike

Boeing 717

The british Porsche magazines always have good write ups on people who restore our seats and Diy'ers who have done it. You dont see too much about it here (in the US) unfortunately. Let us know how they come out if you do it.

wpriller

I've been using Lexol Products for years and their glycerin product as a cleaner is really good, along with their leather conditioner.

rome

I had a really good (concours level) detailer re-do mine. They look new. It was a few hundred bucks, but totally worth it.

pcarhombre

Rome, did he recover them or something else? They do look mahvelooous!

axl911

Order some Prestige Clean from Leatherquie. That cleaner works really well. I had a blue seat which I cleaned with various cleaners which turned out okay. I then decided to dye it black /w Leatherique. Upon using the cleaner, it really brought out the blue color to a whole new level!! Still dyed it black anyway.

e9stibi

I used colorplus.com products to clean and re-dye my seats. This product is recommended by PCA concour folk and I can confirm that it works. There is s posting from me about the process with some pictures attached to it. Just serach for "Leatherique oil + cleaner or Dye" (original post by fredolo)

rome

thanks.

not recovered. he deep cleaned and treated them with a special product (i don't recall the name), which total rejuvinated the leather. Then he repaired the bolsters and re-dyed them to match the original color.

The detailer (Rick Rack) is an artist when it comes to detailing and restoration.

There is a thread on autopia.com which goes through what he did to my car over a 6 day period, step-by-step. He's also worked on several of Rennlist member LTC's cars.

Rick visits Rennlist concours from time to time. You can post over there and ask him his secrets. lol

swmic

Rome, those seats look awesome! Do you have a before photo or a link to the autopia thread? It would be nice to see what it looked like before the work. My supple drivers seat is looking a little tired. I'd like to refinish it but don't know how much can be done, especially the center part.