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finally able to wash the car , took headrests and gear gaitor out for dyeing, cleaned leather for prep and dyeing, pumped tyres up, cleaned under bonnet, hovered all round and then started getting rid of scratches [ yup, just started drizzling lol ]

just need some new wheels now, these have too much corrosion inside, 3 of the tyres are good [ goodyear gsd2' s would you believe, so if anyones still running these, let me know ]

Great looking F and it has the best wheels too

i agree but see my other post today !!

been busy, leather dye in dark green for seat strips, gear gaitor, gear knob, headrests,centre arm rest and steering wheel, plus exhaust chrome trims and door handles..............looks a much better car than 5 days ago when it was mucky, dusty and smelly lol................ ............................apologies for the crap photos !

Your leather restoration work looks stunning! Do you follow a guide from the how-to's in this forum or do you have your own techniques? If the latter, would you care to share them, including the products you use?

I had the chance to peruse Glenn's F the other day, and for one of the very early ones, it been well looked after and will put most 54 plates to shame!

Sundance

but then you would all know my methods and i couldn't charge 200 for a leather makeover ! Seriously though............https://m.facebook.com/groups/15949669385?view=permalink&id=10155981032874386&ref=bookmarks............................................see my post for details and link, fairly simple but better with practice . The photos on here do it no justice as the sun was too bright this morning !

BruceTF135 wrote: wrote:

Your leather restoration work looks stunning! Do you follow a guide from the how-to's in this forum or do you have your own techniques? If the latter, would you care to share them, including the products you use?

Great idea Bruce.

If you can find the time for it, that would be a popular how to guide at this time of year. What did you use? How did you apply it? How much did it all cost? How long will it last? etc.

Make a new post and I'll put it in the how to guides.

just had a 160 owner deliver some nice shiny front calipers to my house, he was amazed by the seats , so i had to give him the lowdown and a link to the suppliers lol.

cleaned and polished and slightly better photos !

Great looking car Glenn, and nice job with the seats.

OK,will not need a how to for this really, but feel free to add it to the how to list Admin.The products are purchased on eBay from a company called The Leather Clinic .They supply everything you need for the job of colouring leather. The kit will include leather prep,alcohol cleaner, colouring dye, gloss or matt finish ,clothes and sponges plus instructions that I understood so they were obviously simple to comprehend. You use the sponges mainly and they do send a few of them !
Firstly the job is to hoover and clean the seats, second is to prep the seats by dabbing on the prep cleaner.Then get rid of the prep by using alcohol cleaner on the leather. Give the leather an hour to dry out and then you can start to colour with the colourant. Again dabbing the leather with another new sponge,this is where a bit of care is needed. Don't go mad with it,less is more as they say. Put too much on and you get lots of bubbles that you then have to keep dabbing to get rid of. !!
I normally do 3 coats of colourant,leaving at least 20 mins between each coat. If you are doing headrests or whole seats it keeps the job simple. If doing panels on seats like my green ones ,just masking tape will suffice.
Then after the third coat has dried ( wait at !east an hour before putting the leather finish on ) again,with the dabbing technique with a new sponge,2 or 3 coats of finish and your done. Leave the seats for a couple of days ( to be safe lol ] , dont want those pristine white shirts of yours getting an added splash of colour !! The cost will depend on what you order, quantity wise, its not expensive for what you get as a finished article. The colour will last years ,i used my 16v coupe every day and it doesnt wear at all. Pictures are on this thread, admin feel free to add photos of my red seats and green seats to this how-to. Get dyeing folks !