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Leather Seat Restoration

caz-nsx,

I agree with NSXROC the seats look great. I have a 92 black seats, with some wear, not too bad though, but they could use some freshening up to match the rest of the interior which is in great shape. Did you buy a kit or did you buy some of their items seperately. Could you list everything you bought to complete the job.

Thanks in advance,

Carl
 
Thanks NSXROC. I think this project has a very good bang for the buck DIY factor. Do they look new? No. Do they look like new plus six months of use? Yes. Nice project to waste a couple weeks of winter.

Carl,

I ordered the kit #3A standard black/satin, 4oz crack filler, and the brush.

I bought all the other supplies at home depot (lacquer thinner, 320 grit sandpaper, cloth towels). I used a 1 inch foam brush rather than the one I bought from Colorplus. I used the Colorplus brush on my armrest (my test subject) and hairs were coming out and getting stuck in the Surflex.

I also found that the crack filler dries fairly fast and is hard to remove with the 320 sandpaper, so when they say to get it in just the crack they mean it. I applied the filler with my finger just smearing it over all the fine cracks and working it in. After a minute or so it gets pretty hard, but if you dip your finger in water and rub the filler it will soften then wipe it with a cloth and most of it comes off the surface.
 
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I know for a fact that some of you had already placed your order from ColorPlus after reading this post. I didn't realize we have that many people interested in restoring their seats.

I just wrote ColorPlus an email requesting discounts to NSXPrime members in the future. Hopefully, they will agree and get back to me soon.

I will keep all of you posted.
 
For those of you wish to buy the custom color for your ivory interior, here's the "color" numbers that you need to give to ColorPlus. You don't need to send in a sample now you have this information. Note: My car is a 92 I am not sure the ivory interior in the later model year NSX is the same.

Standard: Gray

Reflectance of Standard
400nm 30.18 30.96 31.57 32.49 33.72 34.67 35.18 35.49
480nm 35.93 36.75 38.04 39.70 41.55 43.28 44.78 46.05
560nm 46.82 47.26 47.47 47.58 47.52 47.43 47.34 47.27
640nm 47.19 47.16 47.18 47.21 47.24 47.27 47.32 ------

Reflectance of Trial
400nm 24.37 28.30 30.13 31.64 33.45 34.76 35.48 35.94
480nm 36.42 37.21 38.43 39.96 41.61 43.13 44.42 45.47
560nm 46.18 46.64 47.09 47.45 47.51 47.56 47.60 47.54
640nm 47.50 47.48 47.52 47.55 47.51 47.51 47.43 ------

STD., ILL.D 10x (L) 2.33 (A) 0.92 (B)12.09 (C)12.12 (H)85.65
TRIAL, ILL.D 10X (L)72.23 (A)0.84 (B)12.16 (C)12.19 (H)86.06

(CIELAB)DL= -0.09 DA= -0.08 DB= 0.07 DC= 0.07 DH= 0.09 DE= 0.15

Tolerance Ratio = 0.15
 
NsXMas said:
Does anyone have any info on how the repaired seats wear? Does it resist wear as well as the original leather, or is it prone to wear at a more rapid pace?
Click to expand...

That is the $60,000 dollar question.
 
NsXMas said:
Does anyone have any info on how the repaired seats wear? Does it resist wear as well as the original leather, or is it prone to wear at a more rapid pace?
Click to expand...


huh... I would think if it wears out you can just restore it again..

I think I like to try this since my BMW. have driver side seat with much dreaded cracks all over the bolster.
 
Is this a great site, or what? The only blemishes on my '93 when I got it was the leather shift knob wear (I've replaced it with a new one), and the driver's seat wear (I'm going this route rather then new seats).
 
Well I bought Kit 3A, and the flex filler today. I should have it by the weekend for a weekend project. I noticed that all the pictures on this thread were with the seats pulled. I hadn't planned on pulling my seats (mainly because I haven't a clue how to do it), do any of you think that will be a problem? Thanks,

David.
 
93BlkOnBlkNSX said:
I hadn't planned on pulling my seats (mainly because I haven't a clue how to do it)...
Click to expand...
It's very easy. See here.
 
You must remove the seats. It is fairly easy as KGP points out. Restoring your seats takes patience and gets messy. It is not a difficult project, take your time and you will be rewarded.
 
I just finished restoring my drivers seat. My seats are camel and I did have issues with color matching. The color sent to me was supposed to be 99.75% accurate, but was entirely too orange. The company was very accomodating and sent me white and black tints. I had to use trial and error to match my own color. I finally got it right, but it took a lot of mixing. I was hoping to repair just the bolster, but had to color the entire seat to make sure there werent any subtle differences in color in sunlight.
 
I hate to bring this back from the dead.. but just wanted to hear back from NSXROC or anyone that has done this to see how the seats are holding up since its been 2 years now.
 
I did this to my seats and had similar results, probably a couple of years ago too. While I think its a decent product for the money, I don't feel like it holds up like new leathers would, in fact when I get the chance I will be redoing my upholstery with covers, probably from leather seats. I guess it depends on your budget, if you can't afford to do seat covers at the moment then I would say give this a try, if you don't mind spending the money I would get new seat covers.

Its a quick fix and it will freshen up the seats but as I said it won't look new, maybe 80-90% and it won't hold up, of course you could keep redoing it.

EDIT: I daily drive my NSX..for now...if that matters to anyone, so account for wear accordingly.
 
BATMANs said:
how about the smell?

do the chemicals make the NSX smell like a "blue-collar" car or does it enrich the olfactory experience of the leather?
Click to expand...

I would say its pretty neutral. I let mine dry out for several days outside the car before I put them back in though. I hgihly recommend pulling the seats out, it will be a lot easier to work on than in the car, plus it would be one less thing to worry about...i.e. spilling the dye etc.
 
BATMANs said:
Will it react to the usual Leather ointments, sprays, etc. like Hide Food, Lexol, etc.?
Click to expand...

I use Lexol and its never been an issue, you may want to ask the supplier about any other specific chemicals you may use but my experience it has been fine with leather treatments.
 
clr1024 said:
Its a quick fix and it will freshen up the seats but as I said it won't look new, maybe 80-90% and it won't hold up, of course you could keep redoing it.

EDIT: I daily drive my NSX..for now...if that matters to anyone, so account for wear accordingly.
Click to expand...

I agree with CLR1024. It's really a quick fix. I wouldn't say it's the cheapest way to go as you will spend time doing the restoration and the materials will cost about $100.

It's been two years since I done the project. The seats held up okay, but I am seeing some wears again. But again, I have not periodically condition the seats, otherwise, the seats might have held up better. I don't think I will try to restore the seats again (I just don't have the time). I will try to save up enought $ and wait for another group buy or just purchase a set of leather for replacement. If I am just bored out of my mind this summer, mabye I will try to restore them again cause they do look very good after the restoration.

The smell of the chemicals used during the restoration was very neutral. I didn't have any issues with them before and after the restoration. I have used different kinds of leather clearners on the seats, and experienced none of the negative effects.

I hope the info helped.
 
I got my '91 in April '03 with 106k miles on it. I had the ivory seats refinished with Color-Plus in July (110k) and was very happy with the result. Looks great, no noticeable odor and doesn't come off on your clothes. Being a daily driver and track car takes its toll though. The effect lasted about 3 years. I had the seats refinished again in Sept. '06 (157k). Its a great, cheap, short-term fix. Bottom line, you get what you pay for. And refinishing is a whole lot cheaper than reskinning.
-Gregg
 
cool thanks guys for the input... I should just give it a try... its only $100 rather than reskinning which is 10x as much.
 
Did any of you do this? JoAnn at ColorPlus needs the number off their can to match the Ivory color. If noone PM's me with this info I will have to send a patch to her for color match which is way more exspensive. It would be appreciated!
Thanks
 
pgilliam1 said:
Did any of you do this? JoAnn at ColorPlus needs the number off their can to match the Ivory color. If noone PM's me with this info I will have to send a patch to her for color match which is way more exspensive. It would be appreciated!
Thanks
Click to expand...

Doesnt post #29 give you the info for this color?
 

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