The Seat Repairs begin

[steve2006]

I’ve just realised, this is the seat repair topic so gone off on a bit of a tangent, seats coming back soon hopefully 😀

[Malc]

it's good to chat ....................

Malc

[runsgrateasanut]

Thanks for the advice Steve, I'll probably keep them.   Don't know if the whim will ever twke me to replace them. Depends on if my recent front o2 sensor replacement has solved my "under load" issue.

Back on topic, being a cheapskate I've found that using PVA with an Artists brush put on cracks in the leather seats strengthens and fills the cracks.

Its matching the colour is the difficult part.  I haven't attempted it yet.

Do have some Tan leather paint but may need a bit of mixing to get the correct matching colour.  Another job put off until whenever especially as the paint is in France!

[steve2006]

I did try the pre-mixed colourant referred to a “Sand” on an “inconspicuous place” and found it was lighter than the present colour. The missing repair kit is beige but comes with various other colours to mix and obtain the correct shade so I am hoping to do the same with the colourant.

Being a Bank holiday weekend I have yet to receive a response from the supplier, the ignition parts have been shipped from The USA so it’s a waiting game again.

[Howplum]

Steve,

If all else fails you could try this company:

http://www.staingard.co.uk/leather-master.php

Tel. 01244 888658

They do a colour matching service, so I sent them the cover from a rear headrest asking them to make some renovation cream/dye to match the underneath. It took 2 or 3 weeks to arrive, but I tried it this afternoon and the rear headrests do look very much better, the dye having got rid of the sun bleaching with one application. The colour match is spot on as well.

It cost me £42.70 for 500ml, which hopefully should be more than enough to do all the seats, but they also do 250ml.

The label says Scuff Master Leather Touch-up Dye and is actually produced by Gliptone, an American company.

I might be a bit late with my suggestion, but I wanted to try it first. I will post pictures in my topic once I'm a bit further forward.

[steve2006]

Cheers Howard, as expected the leather place has not even replied to my email yet but the more efficient, it seems, USA based Rockauto delivered my ignition parts today so been cracking on with that job

[steve2006]

Furniture Clinic have got back to me now, very apologetic and sending the missing stuff next day delivery....tomorrow could be the day 😀

[m4rkw]

I've agreed to pay a local upholsterer £480 to repair both of my rear door cards which are ripped in a few places. I have no idea what they will actually do for this price but they assured me that the door cards will look like they did originally.  I suspect you'll do better than me financially but I'm far too lazy and incompetent to attempt this kind of thing myself.

 

[Howplum]

1 hour ago, m4rkw said:

I've agreed to pay a local upholsterer £480 to repair both of my rear door cards which are ripped in a few places. I have no idea what they will actually do for this price but they assured me that the door cards will look like they did originally.  I suspect you'll do better than me financially but I'm far too lazy and incompetent to attempt this kind of thing myself.

 

Did you consider used ones? There are a few LS400s being dismantled on eBay and tutorials on YouTube. It's a fairly easy and quick job, so even engaging a professional to do the job should be cheaper, I imagine.

[Howplum]

Oops! I've just noticed yours is an RX300.

[m4rkw]

9 hours ago, Howplum said:

Oops! I've just noticed yours is an RX300.

Not just any RX300, actually a toyota harrier (jap import). Same chassis but the door cards are different for some reason so the eBay ones won't fit.

[steve2006]

Another update.

After receiving only part of the order last Saturday and contacting the supplier Furniture Clinic they finally responded on Wednesday with an apology and promise that the missing bit would be sent  “with upgraded delivery free of charge”.

Well it’s Saturday again and I have received nothing more so once again I cannot continue the work, should have ordered from Rockauto who managed to deliver in 2 working days from the USA  something that  UK company based in Newcastle can’t do again.

[The-Acre]

15 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

Another update.

After receiving only part of the order last Saturday and contacting the supplier Furniture Clinic they finally responded on Wednesday with an apology and promise that the missing bit would be sent  “with upgraded delivery free of charge”.

Well it’s Saturday again and I have received nothing more so once again I cannot continue the work, should have ordered from Rockauto who managed to deliver in 2 working days from the USA  something that  UK company based in Newcastle can’t do again.

It's really frustrating, and there is very little excuse.  When I recently ordered my cam belt kit it arrived in about 18 hours after I placed the order, so it can certainly be done.

[runsgrateasanut]

Put your Deck Chair in there and get driving!!   Join the throng at the Seaside

[steve2006]

OK the rest of the kit arrived so repairs have now continued.

Having reluctantly taken a scouring pad soaked in some solution to remove the original finish and cleaned down with isopropyl alcohol I followed the instructions further completing the tear repair, filling, smoothing and than applying 8 coats of “Leather Binder”. This has made the leather a lot softer and more pliable.

A sponge dabbed coat of colour was followed by a spray coat of the same on the bolsters and front panel. I tried to mix the correct colour shade but despite my best mad scientist impression failed so have now sent a leather sample to the supplier for an exact match.

Picture shown is at the present stage, it still needs the rear panels dabbing and spraying, 2-3 more coats of paint then finishing lacquer applying.

I’m not expecting perfection (just in pursuit of it) but I think it’s certainly already looking better.

 

[runsgrateasanut]

Nice work Steve!

Are you going to improve the comfort by strengthening those two rear panels? 

I was thinking that cutting to shape something like the below could be used to restore the feel of the original seat.  I use an added Seat cushion but would dearly like to dispense with it as it slips about, if its possible to insert two additional cut to shape panels to give back that greater "bounce".

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GARDEN-KNEELER-Kneeling-KNEE-COMFORT-PAD-Self-Isolation-Foam-Cushion-Mat-Weeding/392779935753

[steve2006]

The passenger side is OK but this is something I will do on the driver’s seat, an additional pair of foam strips will bulk out the rear panels more. The only problem doing that is getting the hog clips back on, it’s very tight to start with.

One thing I have noticed the company supplies a compressed air can for the airbrush which is not even going to be enough for one seat. Priced at £10.00 a can I soon sorted out an adaptor for my garage compressor for £2.45.

[steve2006]

Well I started this project on the 4th of May and it’s still ongoing, the seat is still in the garage and the car stuck outside!

The missing dye finally arrived but despite my best efforts I was unable to correct the shade to match.

I managed to obtain a very small sample of leather off the seat ( there isn’t much spare) and then sent this off for a colour matched bottle of dye so another £30.00 including the matching fee of £12.95.

This was done on the 2nd of June and despite a couple of emails I am still waiting, apparently they are snowed under with colour matching requests but it “should” be with me this week.

Just hoping when it does arrive it matches!

In the meantime I have sprayed the seat in the incorrect colour but at least when the hopefully correct stuff arrives it will then be a case of just applying a couple of coats of that then the finishing lacquer.

 

[ScousePaul]

I think it's the loosening of the lockdown restrictions. Things I'd expect to arrive within a few days or less are taking longer. Service based industries now seem to be having to cope with the unleashed pent-up demand. I booked my LS in for some work at my regular garage and his next available slot is late July! Used to be more often than not "what day this week would you prefer". Good to know businesses are getting back on their feet I suppose (though I'm still avoiding contact outside immediate family as much as I am able). 

[39buss]

On 6/29/2020 at 9:05 AM, steve2006 said:

Well I started this project on the 4th of May and it’s still ongoing, the seat is still in the garage and the car stuck outside!

The missing dye finally arrived but despite my best efforts I was unable to correct the shade to match.

I managed to obtain a very small sample of leather off the seat ( there isn’t much spare) and then sent this off for a colour matched bottle of dye so another £30.00 including the matching fee of £12.95.

This was done on the 2nd of June and despite a couple of emails I am still waiting, apparently they are snowed under with colour matching requests but it “should” be with me this week.

Just hoping when it does arrive it matches!

In the meantime I have sprayed the seat in the incorrect colour but at least when the hopefully correct stuff arrives it will then be a case of just applying a couple of coats of that then the finishing lacquer.

 

Hi Steve,  Furniture Clinic have an impressive web site. I hadn't heard of them before and they're only about 20 minutes from me. May have a run over once the lockdown is over and they get back to normal

[steve2006]

The euphoria of the paint arriving today was extremely short lived.

Having loaded up the air brush I decided as suggested to do a patch test to ensure the “colour matched” paint was Ronseal ( does what it says on the tin).

Using an old CD I sprayed a couple of circles over the original colour and no it doesn’t match after sending samples and waiting over a month.

So now I have a front passenger seat with the old colour removed so no going back and no match to the other seats.

With the cost near to £100.00 I’m a little miffed but more so in that finding a decent replacement set is almost impossible.

There is a guy selling a velour Celsior set on fleabay in Rochdale so waiting to hear back from him now.  

[cruisermark]

Hi Steve

Could it be that the sample you sent was less worn therefore lighter in colour? hence the difference

 

 

[steve2006]

12 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

Hi Steve

Could it be that the sample you sent was less worn therefore lighter in colour? hence the difference

 

 

It could be but the samples were taken from an area with zero wear and the test area is the side base panel so again no wear, perhaps I was expecting too much but it’s an obvious visible difference.

[runsgrateasanut]

47 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

Hi Steve

Could it be that the sample you sent was less worn therefore lighter in colour? hence the difference

 

 

It would be darker in colour if not exposed to the light.

Is it tan - your Car colour?

[steve2006]

21 minutes ago, runsgrateasanut said:

It would be darker in colour if not exposed to the light.

Is it tan - your Car colour?

Yes, but it seems darker sort of biscuit colour, I did the same on the head rest which gets zero wear but maximum light exposure.