Leather Restoration

[muphy]

So having been bitten by the track day bug and speaking with Dave at Lotusbits (way bad idea) I'll be looking for another car to modify once I finish Miss Vivian who many of you met or waved at as I went past you

On my drive home I resolved to keep my present car as standard as I can and spent a happy 3 hours yesterday evening beginning to pull out the interior for restoration. As I suspected, at some time some sort of colour was wiped over the leather to give it the present 'orrible colour. I know this because there are bits where other panels have covered trim which is not only soft but a very nice original colour and I could see evidence of the wiping at the edges. I have some pics that I will post once I get through the Croft ones.

I thought about new trim but my trim is in great nick other than the colour so I am going to try whatever I can to get it back to the right or close colour. I've made contact with a few places like Woolies and Liquid Leather but any past experience from anyone on how I can figure out what sort (oil/water/wax) of stain or colour might have been used and how I go about trying to remove it without knackering what I have.

Read of a few suggestions on line for using very fine grade wet/dry to essentially sand down the top layer of leather and then build it up again with a proper colour. Other suggestions for using denatured alcohol and even ammonia and other solvents but much of this knowledge also says that these will strip out the essential oils.

Any suggestions?


Mark

[royal]

I would not do either of those to the leather, the alcohol will dry it out and be horrible and sanding it will take of the top layer and you will never refinish it to original condition. I would phone Gliptone and speak to them and get their advice before doing anything. i have used their products with great results . Keith

[muphy]

Yep, I spoke to Gliptone and got some good advice from them to very sparingly use cellulose thinners to take of the colour and then arrange for them to make up the right kit to get me back to as original as possible. They reckon that if I am careful and do not get the thinners on the thread then I should get a decent result.

Thinners ordered so I'll keep working on the interior and hopefully will give the cleaning a bash on a discrete part of the trim over the weekend.

Thanks Keith.


Mark

[royal]

Mark,yes they are a good firm,once you have used the thinners I would use their conditioner 3 or 4 times leaving a couple of days between applications before I started to colour the leather. The softer you can get the leather before you start the better. My leather was in bad condition when I got the car so I conditioned the leather every month for 4 months and the difference in the leather was huge plus you get the benefit of that lovely leather smell. Best of luck Keith

[tonypoll]

I also used Gliptone. Great results. Just follow their very detailed instructions and make sure you do the preparation as well as you can, taking time to allow each stage in the process to do its work.

[alanmoss]

I have acquired the Gliptone kit having seen Tony's results last year (must get round to finishing it).
Highly recommended.

[muphy]

Thanks all, unanimously positive vote. Peed down rain here tonight, hmmm felt right at home so no more interior out today

One note to self, when driving car back into garage, it's wise to at the very least put the retaining bolts back into the drivers seat otherwise you end up where the back seat was when you try and hit the accelerator No damage other than to my pride!!

M

[muphy]

Here's what I meant by "wiped on 'orrible"



All cleaning and renovating products (except dye) ordered.

M

[amarshall]

Here's what I meant by "wiped on 'orrible"



All cleaning and renovating products (except dye) ordered.

M

Someone didn't take the seat apart before applying whatever it was they applied (can you find it on the Dulux chart ? ).

[alanbell]

muphy,
it was not Dermot or I who put that horrible colour on the interior of your car, we did not like it either but the condition of the exterior and mechanics sold the car to us'
alan

[muphy]

Hi Alan,

I know and no slight to you or Dermot intended or implied, apologies if it may have read otherwise

I'm just hopeful that together with all the good work you guys did before I got the car, I can get the interior back to something close to original.

Mark

[muphy]

For anyone who is interested in the renovation work I am doing, I've created some albums in Photobucket. Here is the link to the first of them.

http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/stone ... trip%20Out

Mark

p.s. The cat was not in the car but tends to lend a hand/paw. He usually sits on whatever I happen to be doing at the time

M

[royal]

That is one awful job done on the leather and the state of the carpets are something else but hopefully when you are finished it will be back to how it should look Best of luck, I do like the cat. Keith

[alanbell]

muphy,
I did not for a moment think that you were getting at Dermot or I,
regards
alan

[muphy]

Took a panel and tried the cellulose thinners. Used a very small amount on a lint free cloth I got from Costco and what a remarkable difference. See the picture below, I hope you can see the difference. The bottom of the panel has been cleaned and the top has not.

I'll leave doing any more until I have the leather conditioner but I must say that despite all the warnings, the thinners have left the leather clean and still soft. I think that whatever had been used remained on the surface of the leather and did not soak in. Check it out: