Restored and Refinished the Leather in the Hundy (1 Viewer)

[bamachem]

I was torn - OK, bad pun - but I was torn over whether I should spend $1000+ on new leather or attempt a refinish. I didn't have any tears, so I gave it a shot.

I did my reasearch and chose leatherique products. I got the Rejuvinator Oil, Pristine Clean, Prepping Agent, Crack Filler, and Leather Dye. I got enough to do the front and middle rows completely for $170. Not bad, as long as it lives up to it's reputation...

We'll see.

Here's the pics.

First, this is the condition of my leather after a thorough cleaning with a soft brush and soapy water, then toweled dry. You can see that there's LOTS of missing finish coat on the leather.

 

[bamachem]

Sorry for the "off" hue, but I took most of the pics w/o the flash to keep from overexposing the images.

First Step: Soak the seats in the Rejuvinator Oil and massage it in with your hands. I did this on Tuesday Evening, let it sit overnight, and cleaned it off Wednesday morning to drive it to work. Repeated again Wednesday evening. This got the leather buttery-soft. Incredible results!

 

[bamachem]

Thursday. D-Day. More like S-DAY. Ufff....

Trust me, the most nerve-racking part of this process is that it has to get worse - WAY WORSE - before it can get better.

The next step: WET SAND the leather with Prepping Agent. This removes most of the OEM finish in the worn areas, and a good bit of it on the rest of the seat. The trick is to remove the outer layers w/o buffing all the way down to the grain and creating seude.

As you can see, I had some hairline cracking in the driver side seat. Minor stuff in the same places on the PS seat. Both armrests and console cover had some uneven "ripples" in the leather.

This is where the crack-filler comes in. Basically like a latex, I smeared it on VERY thin using an old driver's license. You do NOT want to over-do this step. Go with a very small amount at a time and do it in layers.

 

[bamachem]

After that dries about 20-minutes, you come back and sand w/ 600-grit to make sure you have a nice smooth surface to work with. Any imperfections will show through the dye coat, so as with anything, preparation is key.

First coat of dye:

 

[bamachem]

Before you say anything, the dye goes on a MUCH different color than the original seat color. I was told not to worry about it as the color will change over the next week and will "ripen" to the final finish. We'll see.

Regardless, it's better to have "light" colored seats than what I had...

Second coat of dye:

 

[bamachem]

Here's where I messed up a little bit. I didn't get ENOUGH of the crack filler in this area as you can still see some of the hairline cracks. Even so, it's still WAY better than before. I can always "top off" this area and re-dye later if I want.

Oh yeah, new LX wheel... Only problem is that it only fits upside down? How do I fix that?

 

[bamachem]

Dye coats went on Thursday @ 6pm and again at 10pm.

Here's the seats on Friday morning:

 

[spressomon]

Nice job and post!!

 

[syrinxstar]

Wow -- impressive!

 

[Brock]

how do you insure it is colorfast and not going to come off on clothes when you are in there sweaty or wet....is there a curing period or a process of wiping down after it cures to ensure it stays fast?

 

[4Peanut]

Great post Andy! Fortunately, my leather is in excellent condition, but it is comforting to know that there is a product out there that offers such great results. Enjoy your new interior!

 

[bamachem]

how do you insure it is colorfast and not going to come off on clothes when you are in there sweaty or wet....is there a curing period or a process of wiping down after it cures to ensure it stays fast?

It's supposed to be fine after the 48-hour cure. It's supposed to bond to the leather and be completely color-fast. We shall see. I have heard of people putting a type of "clear coat" on leather finished for improved wear. Worst-case would be that I may have to do that.

I used this stuff one time in another car I used to have. I dyed it about 4 years ago, and it wore well while I had it. Last I heard, the dye and repair job (to a tear) I did on the driver seat was holding up great...

 

[Tahomatom]

Very Nice. Before spending $170.00 in product did you get a quote from a shop just to see what how much you saved.

The PO must have had the leather conditioned before I bought it. It looks great and I would have never known he had it doen except the steering wheel is starting to show some age. I cant believe the wedding ring is doing that much damage in just a few months so he must have had it done when he had it detailed.

 

[bamachem]

I called all around and all the shops wanted to do a custom leather replacement. They didn't want to use a "kit" and they didn't want to refinish what I had.

My only viable option was to spend $1000 on the kit here on MUD and put it on myself. I still may, but hopefully this will buy me a few more years. Time will tell, that's for sure.

On the damage to your steering wheel, wedding rings will rip the finish off and gouge the leather QUICK once the leather gets dry (no conditioning, in the sun, etc).

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Hard to believe they are the same seats.
Do they look as good in person as they do in the pictures?

Solid post!

 

[boombapslappy]

Wow! Looks fantastic!

I'd heard of the product before but have never seen such a well written review. Thanks for posting!

 

[Fireguy]

Holy crap that looks amazing! I'm going to do the same thing to my seats next week. This needs to be stickied.

 

[lash]

Wow! Nice work dude. I've got mine going to upholstry shop Monday to replace the panel closest to the door on each front seat. They're cracked/torn beyond repair. After that, maybe I'll try this system. Looks great!

 

[SmoothLC]

That's amazing! Those before and after shots tell the whole story.

 

[bamachem]

Hard to believe they are the same seats.
Do they look as good in person as they do in the pictures?

Solid post!

I think so. Put it this way, with the original seats looking like they did, the pictures show THAT much of an improvement. In person is even better....

Holy crap that looks amazing! I'm going to do the same thing to my seats next week. This needs to be stickied.

Sorry, but I doubt it. LOL... Not to rain on your parade, but it takes 3-4 days for them to get the stuff to you at best. I ordered last Wednesday, got it this past Tuesday. 6-days later. I would plan two weekends from now. Start mid-week like I did and you can have it ready to use by Saturday evening.

If your leather is "firm" at all, then you'll need at least two treatments of the oil to soften them up. That's a day each. You'll need to then prep and sand, let it dry at least 3-4 hours in very warm weather with a fan blowing on it before you dye it. I waited 4 hours between dye coats, and it worked fine. After dye, you have to wait 48 hours, then buff with a towel before you can even drive it.

It's not something you do in a day or two, and the more patients you have with it, the better the results will be in the end.

In a couple weeks, I'm going to take my 2nd row out, put the 3rd row in (for the kiddos) and strip/dye them in the garage. I'll post pics of that as well.