Restoring Leather Seats

[Dweller]

I bought a 325 SE with all cream leathers last year but it did not have the sport seats I wanted just the comfort ones.

I found a pair of cheap knackered old sport seats and went about restoring them in my downtime over the last few months!

This is the process I used

1) Take off all factory seal with chemicals
2) Sanded down all cracks, the more detail the better result
3) Patched splits and filled all cracks with leather compound filler
4) Clean thoroughly
5) Sponge on desired colour (I matched it to the old seats)
6) Spray on colour with airbrush
7) Spray on satin leather seal


BEFORE

These pics were taken after all seats were thoroughly rubbed down smooth and after the leather compound has been applied (white bits)






AFTER

These pics were taken after the first few coats of spray, just need to do the laquer finish today then done!





Quite happy with the results so far! However I think with all the time and effort ive spent on these plus cost of paint matching and filler etc, would have probably totalled close to the price it would cost to have bought a decent set in first place haha! Still always good to learn new skills eh! Will post the finished article up this week

[Rtaylor2208]

For spraying what equipment did you use? I.e. gun and compressor or something else?

[Dweller]

hobby airgun ant attachment , can of air!

[verde]

Holy fuck man youd never guess they were the same seats! Gunna look sick in the B25

[Mo13]

Look GREAT!!! which product did you use?

[oomz1975]

Nice job, how long did the whole process take?

[Gert_8]

Excellent work and good result! How long did it take you in total time to do one seat?

[Dweller]

id say it took about 4 hours to sand each seat down, a further 2 hours applying the leather compound, an hour full clean, 2 hours sponging, 1 hour spraying colour, 2 hours laquer

Total about 11 hours per seat! Pretty ridiculous haha Thanks ppl

[harry_p]

looks great, and i've been tempted to give it a go in the past but i do wonder how long these treatments last with normal use

[Dweller]

I'll let you know haha, I was sure to put 5 coats of superseal on and 5 coats of satin laquer so its got a figting chance!

Fitted them in the car last night, felt a bit dry to the touch so going to soften them up with some autoglym leather balm

[The_Haywood]

i was looking to do this but all the threads on forums i've seen about it have said to remove the leather off the seat but looks like you did it in place... was it a ballache getting in all the little nooks of the seat??? i'm wanting to change mine from butterscotch to red.

[Gavla]

Looking good, always seems a good idea at first but once finished and you add up the costs you think "why did I bother" we have all been there and have we learnt anything, absolutely not

It is not the cost but the time that is the issue, the cost is minimal compared to the end result.

[Gavla]

i was looking to do this but all the threads on forums i've seen about it have said to remove the leather off the seat but looks like you did it in place... was it a ballache getting in all the little nooks of the seat??? i'm wanting to change mine from butterscotch to red.

If you are going with a completely different colour then it would probably be best to strip the seats first.

Get hold of Rav33uk, for a quote to this for you...?

[G-Bear]

Quite happy with the results so far! However I think with all the time and effort ive spent on these plus cost of paint matching and filler etc, would have probably totalled close to the price it would cost to have bought a decent set in first place haha! Still always good to learn new skills eh! Will post the finished article up this week

Great work. I wouldn't worry about that. For me the restoration of bits is what it's all about. I looked at two tourings last summer. One had new bushes all round, B8's and half decent but new springs on. The other pretty much looked stock from the day it rolled off the production line, with no new bushes.The difference in cost was about £500. I went for the stock one as I wanted the satisfaction of doing all that work myself... even though it's going to cost me more than £500

Besides it great to bring those tired looking chairs back to life..

[Dweller]

Yep definately gives you more pride in the car if you do it yourself!

[jimbom30cab]

Yep definately gives you more pride in the car if you do it yourself!

That's the hobbie for me, i love fixing and making things better, the planning and research is just as much fun also

[G-Bear]

Yep definately gives you more pride in the car if you do it yourself!

That's the hobbie for me, i love fixing and making things better, the planning and research is just as much fun also

The problem I find is too much planning and research can stall actually getting anything done..