Leather repairs

[oneblueleg]

Can anyone recommend a decent leather repairer around central southern England, ideally near Basingstoke?

[Geeman]

A-Trim in the London area can supply second hand panels, like bolsters, etc. Give them a ring (advertise in the BMW magazines...) He quoted me Ԛ£35 for each section. Not bad...

Giles.

[motorsport]

What bits are you reapiring as i am in the process of finishing a full interior refurb. It is now basically looking as new again. If yours aint too bad the same stuff should work ok. Although part of my refurb did also include heavy cracking and the odd hole/tear or two.
Andy.
Will try and get some pics early next week.

[Geeman]

Andy... how did you repair the cracks and holes / tears...? Very very interested!

Giles.

[nav786]

geeman- are you not selling the sport? i have passed you no. onto a mate cos i thought you were selling up

[Geeman]

I am... but if I can repair stuff in the meantime to make it more attractive, then I will...

It's still up for sale dude.

Giles.

[nav786]

cool mate. you may get a ring over the next few days if he is serious. i was just told to keep an eye out for 1.

[motorsport]

Basically the leather is sanded back to reveal the bare leather using a 240 grit automotive paper. Ends up showing the suede texture of the leather once the damaged dyed surface is removed, the cracks then become minimal and can be repaired. The leather can then be softened with a leather care and then an additional prepping agent to open up the leather pores. Any tears or holes you can fix a backing to the area (glued behind). Firstly with any holes/tears you slightly enlarge the damage to a squared area big enough to insert a patch onto the backing. Flexible leather filler is used on any cracks, or spaces around the patch. Build thye filler up slowly to get nice and even. Works well on our leather as there is no grain to the finish. Then apply the dye sparingly over 4ish coats to get an even coverage. Best when leather is warm, i.e in the sun or heated garage.
Wait till you see the pics, great results even in Lotus white, i also redyed a pair of dark tan headrests for the rear using the same process. In the end i could tell which ones were original so i don't know which of the 4 seats i fitted the redyed ones too.
Andy
Not difficult just time consuming to get great results

[oneblueleg]

I have to confess, I'm asking for a mate, I don't have leather (anyone with a cheap cab interior to donate, feel free), so I don't really know what sort of problem he's got... I just thought you lot were the right people to ask...
cheers for replies so far, sounds interesting.