Leatherique Interior Project Begins

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MSGGrunt
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Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

I would call this an interior restoration but feel that I am not an interior specialist and do not know how the end results will turn out so, I will not call it that, though my intent is to bring back the interior to as close to what it looked like when new.

I have decided to use Leatherique products. I have heard many great success stories using this product and those not so successful are few and far between. From everything I have ready it is critical to follow their instructions to the letter.

I will be "attempting" to spray on the dye as I have read that method is more apt to give a more even finish as opposed to the blot on method with a sponge or towel.

The Leatherique products I am using are:

Rejuvenator Oil
Pristine Clean
Crack filler
Super Prepping Agent
Dye

My Method:

1. Remove interior panels

2. Remove original lacquer finish with lacquer thinner using lots of lint free shop towels. The lacquer will actually remove the faded layer and let you see what the original color was as you remove the finish. I removed the dye until the towels had little material on them and when I could start to see the leather through the coating.

3. Let pieces dry for at least 30 minutes

4. Once dry rub and massage in Leatherique Rejuvenator. With the top coating of dye removed the Rejuvenator oil really sucked into the leather. I applied several coats as the leather absorbed the product. I made sure to pay particular attention to the back seats (I have not done the fronts yet), especially the tops that always seem to dry out more. They really soaked up the oil.

5. Let oil absorb into the leather. The back seats I wrapped in garbage bags and sat next to the heater inside the house. The smaller pieces, those that would fit anyway, I stuck in the kitchen oven for several hours set on 150 degrees.

6. Clean off all the Rejuvenator oil with the Pristine clean followed up by a wipe with a damp cloth. I used lint free shop towels and I have to say that I did not get a lot of dirt out of the leather. I attribute this to my use of the lacquer thinner to remove the original dye. Along with the dye probably came all of the dirt and grime.

7. Set aside pieces for dying.


Kit I ordered.
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MSGGrunt
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

Picture of one of the rear side panels prior to stripping. You can see just how much the sun and its harmful UV rays fades the leather.
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

Here I have started to strip the original dye off the panel. You can see where the Lacquer thinner has stripped away the top faded layer.
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

It doesn't show all that well in the pictures but, I used the lacquer thinner until the towel came mostly clean and could see the leather through the dye.
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

Small parts soaking in Rejuvenator oil "baking" in a 150 degree oven. The seat soaked in the oil and are now covered in garbage bags.
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slofut
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by slofut »

Good job MSG! These are going to look like new.
'87 635csi, 5sp man, dk blu on pearl beige
'88 635csi, auto, black on grey
'63 BMW Isetta
'75 XJ6C, 2dr, warm 350
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olympia57
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

I spray dyed my front seats and although I strongly advise that you follow your manufacturers instructions this may be of use to you
.
They were in good sound condition but after cleaning them with a proprietry cleaner ( big mistake ) the surface colouring was blotchy an uneven .
I used a UK supplier that had been featured on several TV car restoration shows and the products were manufactured by Gliptone.
My process was similar in that the surfaces were wiped down gently with solvent thinners and then cleaned using the supplied cleaner. After cleaning I elected to treat the leather with conditioner to reintroduce the natural oils into the leather prior to colouring. Instructions stated that once conditioned the leather should be left for two weeks .
Once this had past the surfaces were cleaned again to remove any surplus oils and then dried thoroughly and then lightly "keyed " using 2000 grit paper..
I chose to spray the dye onto the leather and used an airbrush to do so. The airbrush was the preferred method suggested by the supplier as it allows many thin coats to be applied thus overcoming the possibility of the coats being too thick and later cracking. The dye is acrylic latex based (water) and therefore can be easily diluted to the consistency required for use in an airbrush.
I have a good Devilbiss airbrush that I bought 2nd hand years ago but have also used a copy like this one that are very good and well able to do this type of job.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9cc-Airbrush- ... SwMmBV7TSU
I wouldn't try to use a suction type as they block easily and have little or no adjustment.
The mixed dye gives surprising coverage !
You will need much patience in doing the job as I ended up applying about 12 coats of dye with each coat having to dry prior to next coat being applied . Here in Ireland with an ambient temp of less than the number of toes on your feet it took a little time .........I guess where you are you won't have that problem.
The supplier said that he would apply up to twenty coats depending on condition of leather at start point.
Ensure you remove or mask up all trim components on the seat as the dye will mark them.
Mix ratio was 70w/30d for first three coats and then 50/50 from then on until a full and satisfactory covering was applied.
Patience was needed as dry coats had to be applied and care taken to avoid build up or runs with the dye being so "wet".
It's now 10 months since I did mine and they have stood the test of time well with no abrading of the finish ,although it has to be said they haven't been used a lot .
As I said I hope this may be of some interest to you . Good luck and look forward to seeing the finished job.
Don
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by wattsmonkey »

Wow, Don! That interior is just stunning. I absolutely love the steering wheel/shifter in wood.

Cheers,

Rob
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Ralph in Socal
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by Ralph in Socal »

wattsmonkey wrote:Wow, Don! That interior is just stunning. I absolutely love the steering wheel/shifter in wood.

Cheers,

Rob
Agreed. So Clean!! The chrome shifter stalk is also a nice touch.


Ralph
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MSGGrunt
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

I second the stunning interior quote. I do hope mine turns out that well. All of that is good advice. I know the best thing I can do for good results is to follow the directions to the letter, making sure that once I feel the seats are cleaned and prepped according to the directions to clean even more and not rush spraying on the dye.

My intent was to use a gravity feed touch up spray gun. I have a 5 hp 30 gallon air compressor that I assume would work. What size tip would you recommend? My only experience painting is with rattle cans on the interior pieces of a Mercedes 300sd I redid.
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olympia57
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

As I said I used an airbrush with an 0.5mm tip . It only has a small 10cc cup so progress was leisurely but that was no bad thing as I found it helped prevent me from spraying too much too quickly , a curse I suffer from .....
I have a couple of these ,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGEN-HVLP-G ... xyHIlTYlca
Which are actually superb little guns . I think I have a 0.8 and a 0.7 tipped gun and I use them for all metal component and wood painting and lacquering .
They offer good fan and mix control but as they require more CFM than the airbrush they will never mirror the control that the latter gives and therefore pass more material even at the lowest operating set point.
If I was using the gun I'd adjust it to a low flow low material/air mix setting and spray from slightly farther away from the seat to get the paint as dry(ish) as possible upon contact , it's all too easy to get a wet & runny surface when you are spraying a dye that has the consistency of water . Open the seats out too , ie recline the rear upright so that you are spraying down onto a flat(ish ) surface .
It is essential that you fit a water /oil trap too, either ,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-4-Air-Compr ... SwAYtWN20m
or even
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airbrush-Comp ... SwI-BWKKLu
You don't want oil in the dye , and drain your compressor receiver tank often .
Have some fun playing around with the settings on the gun first to get a feel for how it flows but don't apply the dye like you would paint from a rattle can ,way too much material .
Let " Lots of thin coats with cups of coffee in between " be your mantra and you'll be fine .
Good luck
Don
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MSGGrunt
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

I think the air brush idea may be a good one. I too am one who can get carried away with laying down too much paint to quickly. If the airbrush forces me to slow down and put on less material then that wouldn't be a bad thing.
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

Thanks for all the good advice Don. I'm ready to buy the spray equipment and am looking for advice to make sure I am picking the right equipment.

A couple of questions:

1. I know on smaller pieces the small volume of the airbrush cups probably doesn't matter but, what about when it comes to the seats? Does the dye need a 50% overlay like spraying a car?

2. Would a brush with the larger capacity cups make sense if I'm dying a lot of pieces at one time?

3. Thoughts on the trigger style airbrush? My thoughts are that it would be a more normal spraying action/motion.

4. How often does the normal size cups need to be filled?

5. The compressor I picked... Better to have the tank?
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olympia57
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

Okay .....

As the airbrush is designed for a different purpose than a spraygun the fan is much much smaller . Using it as I did ,the fan is distance dependent from the surface . I sprayed about 4 to 5 inches from the surface and still it was less than an inch so achieving a 50% overlay is difficult to maintain. As you will be laying on many light coats you will see , after several ,the coverage you are getting .I attempted to get an overlay but in reality it was a case of spray ,allow to dry , check and then spray again. I never encountered a striped finish at all during the process and that was probably down to the small amount of dye that was being applied on each coat. Initially I was uncertain if any dye was actually going on to the leather and ended up on numerous occasions spraying my hand to check ...it was ! :roll:
As I suggested ,try and get away from the concept of paint spraying giving full coverage on each pass and approach it from the opposite in that many light coats building up to full coverage . Sometimes when the AB is adjusted to full flow the mix doesn't atomize properly and tends to collect at the tip and drip , watch out for that .
Avoiding runs and spatter is important , very important .

A larger cup would be a good idea but not too large . I think you will benefit , as I did , from having to refill the cup regularly as this tends to limit the amount applied . You will have mixed up sufficient dye in another sealed container prior to starting so it only takes seconds to refill the cup and continue.I found that the small quantity sized cup I had went farther than I anticipated. The dye I used didn't set like paint so the pre mixed material in the sealed container will keep. Your dye may differ so best read instructions and always follow them rather than mine .

Trigger style airbrush is a great idea but I've personally never used one . I found that I had to fit a small section of felt pad to the top of the trigger button mine to prevent ache on the tip of my finger .

I'm not entirely certain on this but I think that the circa 9cc cup on my AB would cover 66% ie two thirds of a seat face , therefore three filled cups would cover the seat base face and the upright face too. Remember to lay the front seats flat when dying , ie reclined . I used no more than 150 to 160ML of undiluted dye on my two front seats .
It's not a race ,so take your time and approach it slowly .

Tank is better as it is nicer to work in the quiet rather than having the buzz of that small compressor going constantly . I have two compressors ,a large 3HP/100Lt and a smaller 2HP/50Lt . I used the smaller one with a dryer/separator /regulator ( trap ) .I bought that smaller one about 4 years ago for about the equivalent of $100 and it's been a great buy ,like this one .
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warrior-50-Li ... SwbdpWUu26
I've actually pulled it out of the rear of my van and sprayed a friends rally car with it when his failed .....It would perhaps make more sense to purchase one that size rather than the purpose made airbrush one .You could of course use your large compressor suitably regulated .
I found my AB operated best at around 1 bar ( 14.5psi) but all are different .Get quick release couplings for the gun to hose and hose to trap.

The only advice I can give you again and again is to take your time and apply many thin coats .Spend some time playing with the AB using a premixed paint for AB's on a large sheet of paper , it'll be of similar viscosity to the dye mix . You'll quickly get to understand the operation and adjustment of the AB.
You'll do it and don't hesitate to PM me if I can help.
Don
PS
For the wider audience .
All I have written is for redying seats to the original colour / shade and therefore mustn't be referred to in any way when changing the colour of leather . I have no experience of colour change and any attempted claims relating to such will be referred to my attorney , Lawyer J. Noble Daggett .
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by hornhospital »

olympia57 wrote: Lawyer J. Noble Daggett .
"(S)He draws him like a gun!"

(Excellent write-up!)
Ken Kanne
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by slofut »

Don, would a detail gun not be a better choice? Hvlp, like this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sharpe-Finex-FX ... 65&vxp=mtr

These are great guns btw... you can get a small or large pattern with a minimal amount of material, all adjustable of course.
Bill
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'88 635csi, auto, black on grey
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olympia57
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

Hi Bill.
I sometimes use a 1.5 fluid tip for spraying heavy primer filler ( although a 1.8 is best ) so I'd respectfully suggest that a 1.3 would be far too big for a low viscosity dye but as I haven't used that type of gun it would be wrong of me to say that it wouldn't be fit for purpose. As I said earlier , I have a couple of 0.7 /0.8 tip guns that are designed for "smart " repairs and one of the jobs I used them on was restoring a number of Gymnasium machines that when broken down had 1.25" x 1.25" square frame chassis .
I used them in the hope that I'd cut down on the overspray and thus waste and mess caused . When the fan is reduced to min it was more a cone and to reduce the fluid flow to what would be the desired level for such a low viscosity and prevent it drying before it landed the pressure would have also have to be reduced to below the atomisation point causing spatter and an orange peel finish.
I have to be clear here in that I'm no expert in spraying and I can only call on my successes , and failures , in what I suggest . In the real spray painters world it may be nonsense........
I spoke at length with the guy who supplied my dye , and he was very helpful , and he explained how he did it and that was with an AB and many light coats.That was good enough for me .
I do know people who have sponged the dye on and they say that they are happy with the finish . As I've never had both applications next to each other to compare it could be that they are both acceptable , but the material used to sponge a seat would be much more than an AB .
I'm not saying that the method I used was the only one , but I can say that what I was advised to do worked .
At the end of the day the dye will be laying on the top of the leather ,some will soak into the pours but most will be surface so it would make sense not to have too much material on such a pliable surface , hence the use of an AB applying light coats to avoid build up and runs .
I'm thinking that this is getting into overkill mode now , I hope I'm not making it sound more difficult than it actually is because it's straightforward and simple to do ,really !
Cheers
Don
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

Given the looks of your outcome Don I personally will take all the advice you have to offer. I have greatly appreciated your in depth contribution and can only hope my interior comes out as nice. Slow, light coats, dry time in between... Drink favorite beverage and repeat. The only thing I will have to ask the Leatherique guys what they suggest for thinning the dye and listen to any advice they give for using an AB, what pressure, what size nozzle, etc... Being a water based dye I can only assume it will be similar but, this may be an incorrect assumption on my part.

I finally settled on and bought this gun. For the money a second smaller, more portable compressor is a great idea. I was originally thinking of an AB specific compressor as they are designed to work with the AB but, if I can regulate the pressure down then a larger one will be about the same money and be more versatile in the shop.
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olympia57
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

That looks a nice AB and should be comfortable to use for the purpose in hand , well done . Try it with the 0.5 needle .
You'll find that AB to be seldom used but utterly essential piece of kit to have . It's an incredibly useful tool for touching in tiny areas of bodywork that would be way to small for a conventional spray gun. A guy I know showed me a burn through on the edge of a panel on his recently painted Audi RS2 recently due to his over enthusiastic machine polishing .
He still had some paint left over and we easily managed to invisibly repair the damage with the AB rather than repaint the panel.
Great tool to have .
Don
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

More parts soaking in Rejuvenator Oil. These are the last of the rear passenger compartment pieces that needed to be conditioned and cleaned.

Airbrush arrived but, I still need to buy a smaller more portable compressor and a decent air drier/oil separator.

I am at the point where I need to contact Leatherique and order the prepping solution and dye. I have a leather swatch from World Upholstery & Trim that is a perfect match for the original color that I will probably send to them so they can custom mix the Natur color. Leatherique lists a Natural 0231 but not the 0200 Natur that the M6 came with. Coincidentally, the swatch from World is numbered 0231 Natural and it is a near perfect match. I am not sure how much of a color difference there really is between the 0200 Natur and 0231 Natural? Anyone?
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

Double Post :oops:
Last edited by olympia57 on Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

Looking good Sir .
I had a very disappointing first attempt when I did mine in that I relied on the colour code that was listed for my car on the suppliers website ,0110 parchmant , being accurate.
After I redyed the first seat it was all too apparent that the colour supplied was nearer Pearl Beige 0178 ,and was far too light and did not match the original shade at all. It was a real PITA.
The supplier was very good and listened to my tale of woe and asked that I return the remaining dye along with a small sample of the original leather on the car . This I did by removing a section from the excess at the rear of one of the rear seat , there's plenty in there . This was the best place to take a sample as it will never have been exposed to the UV light and should therefore be as close to original as possible.
Once the supplier mixed up a new batch to match the sample I did it again and all was well.
I'd consider giving your supplier a sample as the delay for me was extremely frustrating .
Don
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by MSGGrunt »

I think I have discovered the 0200/0231 difference. They appear to be the same color, Natur, with 0200 code being the Napa leather put in the M6/L6 cars and 0231 being the code for the "normal" leather. So, no wonder the 0231 sample that World sent me matched perfectly. At least now I know what to order from Leatherique and don't necessarily have to have a custom color mixed. The dark brown of my 87 is a totally different story. That may need to be custom matched.

http://www.e-24.ru/eng/theory/colors/1987-02/
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by slofut »

Don, I can't get over your interior. As has been said, it is truly stunning! I have a feeling it looks better somehow than they did when new.
I have a question though, are those factory seat hides or have they been reupholstered? I've never seen vintage e24 seats that the pleats weren't pretty much flattened out. Those are incredible.
Bill
'87 635csi, 5sp man, dk blu on pearl beige
'88 635csi, auto, black on grey
'63 BMW Isetta
'75 XJ6C, 2dr, warm 350
'86 XJ6, th700r4
'75TR6
'64 Olds 88 conv
"68 T120 Bonneville
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olympia57
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Re: Leatherique Interior Project Begins

Post by olympia57 »

No they're original Bill .
The car has only done 70K miles so I guess the previous owners have been slim and trim........unfortunately after my bulky backside has used them they'll soon show signs of use. :roll:
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