[s-cars] Interior "refinishing"

[lebakken1 at netzero.com]

Bruce Mendel wrote:

If there are stains on leather, and it just looks a bit "tired", is 
anyone aware of a good method to bring it back?

It's beyond cleaning, so I'm looking at re-dying or something along those lines.

Any experience in those that have restored leather before?


Bruce,

Several years ago, I transplanted a Mocha (dark brown) leather interior into my 4000Q. The leather was a little tired, so I went to a shop that I had seen called European Leather Restoration. Mostly they specialized in the restoration of antique furniture, however, they occasionally did some automotive work.

The price was going to be exhorbitant if they had to do the removal of the seats and door panels from the car, and then reinstall them, or $200 if I just handed them the works. I preferred the latter not because of the $$$, but because they did not seem very enthusiastic about the RnR part, and I did not want it screwed up.

The results were fantastic, and that interior looked great against the Zermatt Silver of the car.

The quality of the leather in an S-car is several orders of magnitude greater than the thinner leather that was put in the 4000's, so I would expect good results using the refinish method. Looking at my S4, I have noticed also that the stitching is showing a slight fray from rubbing, though it will easily remain servicable for some time. If your seats have this problem, it could also be fixed at this time as well. The refinish shop also provided me some extra dye, which may be applied to local wear spots using a typical paint spray gun, though I never had the occasion to use it.

Check out a few leather refinishing shops in your area, then get ready to learn how to remove the seat. I bet these seats weigh over 100lbs.

HTH

Craig Lebakken
94 S4