Leather Seat Restoration

Joined
13 May 2004
Messages
492
I thought I share some information with you fellow members regarding a product I just used to restore my seats. I am sure there are you NSX owners out there who would like the seats to look better but not wanting to spend $700-$1000 replacing new leather. If you do what I have done, you will save a lot of $$$$$.

I have a 92 NSX red with ivory interior. The seats have ivory color leather. It's been 13 years, therefore, you would expect some wear and fading of the color of the leather.

My car has only 50k miles on it and the previous owners really took care of the car. My seats are in excellent condition, but it's just looked a bit old due to the color fading.

I was browsing the forums one day on Prime, and came across this company called Color-Plus (colorplus.com). I read the product information on their site and sent Joanne an email requesting broucher and additional information. She was very helpful with getting me the information that I had requested.

After review, I decided to buy their package deal, kit #3B, $112, and the Flex-fill crack eliminator, $14.95. I cut and small piece of leather from the back of my passenger seat and sent it to Colorplus for color-match. When I received my items from Colorplus(BTW, the color was right on! They are really the color experts) I went to Home Depot to purchase a lacquer thinner $4.95 and sand paper (320) and started my restoration process. And let me tell you gentlemen, I was so amazed with the result. I dont really work on cars, and I am not very good with working with my hands. The only thing I am good at is patience(since I want to save $).

I removed both seats and carried them into my living room(it's cold in Seattle now). I took the following steps to complete my restoration:

1. Wiped the seats down with the lacqure thinner with a terry cloth. You can see that a lot of dirt comes off. I didnt see any paint dissolve or been "thinned". I was not going to take out the old color, I was only re-coloring my seats.

2. After about 20 minutes, I went ahead and applied the Colorplus leather conditioner on the seats and waited 24 hours to make sure the seats are dried.

3. Then, I wiped down the seats with warm water in attempt to remove all the oil residuals. I waited another 12 hours (since I was in-door) so the seats are dried.

4. I started to apply the Fill-in Crack Eliminator on some of the cracks on the seats. This is an excellent product where I was able to cover up all the small cracks on the bolsters. I then waited another 12 hours(since I was in-door) for the fill-in crack eliminator to dried out.

5. Then, I used the lacquer thinner again to remove some of the crack eliminator that got on the seats and whatever the oil residuals might still be on the seats. (make sure the Crack Eliminator are in the cracks and not on the seats) I waited another 20 minutes before the last step

6. Applied the Colorplus Surflex on the seats. I used both the terry cloth and a very good brush. Make sure you ork on a small area one at the time and applied 2-3 coats. If you see brush marks on your first coat, dont' worry, by the time you are finished with your 3rd coat, the brush marks will be gone.

And that's all. The seats looked like new. I am very very happy with the results. My friend recently changed the leather in his NSX and paid $1200 at a local shop. It cost me total of about $125 and a few days, but it's all good.

Hope my experience can help some of you guys out.
 
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My pictures are a little bit too large to be uploaded to Prime.

PM me or send me an email, and I will be happy to send the picutures that I have to you.
 
pm sent

thanks

:biggrin:
 
that's what I need seriously....leather restoration.... :smile:



send me some before/after shots to: [email protected]
I can resize it for you and attach it here...
 
Lets see them photos!!!! :biggrin:
 
NSXROC said:
I went to Home Depot to purchase a lacquer thinner $4.95 and sand paper (320) and started my restoration process.

what did you use the sandpaper for?
 
I didn't get the before pic's....but, from what he stated, he currently is helping another friend go through the same procedure, which he will get the before shot.... :smile:



Here is THE "AFTER PIC"....
 

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I presume this is the passenger side seat no? If this area was cracked like the driver side and this is the restored look then it is pretty impressive.

Curious, do they mention what the filler material is made of?

Can we have a picture of the driver's left side? The one near the door should tell the story. TIA.
 
I can't imagine they cover up anything more than just hairline cracks. I'm presuming my bolster is too far gone to fix.
 
Hi Guys,

Wow, I was shocked with the amount of emails and PM's received. It's becoming a full-time job returning emails! But, I am glad to help.

For those who I have not emailed back, please be a little bit patient, I was busy with my stereo install all day yesterday. I will send the pictures I have so far to you guys tonight.

Man, the installer didn't get the stereo finished right yesterday(I've got whinning engine noise), so I have to bring the car back to him this Thursday. I have the other driver's side seat in the house now. My honey is "harrassing" me to get it done so she doesn't need to see it sitting in the living room. Women!!! I will work on the seat tonight and tomorrow and if for some reason if it's not done by Thursday, it will sure get finished on Friday. I will send you guys the "after" driver's side pictures then.

I am not very good with posting pictures, so could one of you pros out there post the pictures here for the others to see. It's more convenient that way, thanks.
 
I recently had my leather restored, too. I got the guy's # from my Infiniti dealer. He replaced the bolster leather and then reconditioned my leather complete. The entire process cost me $350. I thought it was a little high at the time, but I guess that was a heluva deal.

Casey
 
Here are the pictures:
Before
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After
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8390After-Seat.JPG
 
My buddy posted the pictures for me. Thanks Gary!

I got home at started working on the seat. It didn't turn out the way I wanted because some of the cracks are still kind of visible. I should have put on a couple more layers on the Crack Eliminator before re-coloring it. But, I was lazy. Although, in my opinion, it's not 100% percent perfect, it does how tremendous amount of improvement. You really can't see the color diffence from before and after. The seat looked old and kind of dirty, but it's looks very good in my living room right now. We are pretty satisfied.

For those of you consider buying the Surflex, consider this. If you are just going to use this for you car only (2 seats) you might not need the whole pint of it. I only used close to 1/2 pint (almost 1/2 can).

I don't think I will re-color the seat again for a few years. By that time, the 1/2 can of Surflex will no longer be good (shelf life of one year). So, is there anyone who be interested of buying the remaining 1/2 pint of Surflex from me for $25 shipped? Let me know. I use PayPal. This is the custom color (ivory). If you order a pint from ColorPlus alone, it will cost $80 for a pint plus shipping.

Don't give up hope on your seats! I almost did, and I am so glad I didn't give up! I am no an expert, but it turn out great. Some of you will definetely do a better job than I did. If you take on this task, please let me know how your restoration project turn out. Good Luck everyone.


Let me answer some questions,

Joseph:
The sandpaper is used to sand down the Fill-In Crack Eliminator after it's dried. Sanding will make the surface smooth.

HRANT:
I don't know what material filler is made out off. I looked at the container and it didn't say. Contact ColorPlus if you want some more information on this.

JLINDY:
Dont' give up hope on your seat! I really don't think your bolster is too far gone. I believe give time and patience, you should be able to "fill" the crack one layer at a time, and after you re-color your leather, they will be gone. If not all gone, you will sure see dramatic improvement.
 
I may take it off your hand but cannot confirm until I am able to make the deal on this NSX over the weekend.

I will let you know.
 
where did you cut the 1"x1" sample piece of leather from? I pulled my seats and dont see any leather underneath them or at the back that I would to cut out (without removing the hemmed leather at the bottom). I would hate to cut them up like that.
 
NSXROC

I also have ivory interior. Could you post the color-match number for the ivory leather . This could reduce the time to receive product rather than sending in the piece of leather for the correct color. Thanks, Thom.
 
After seing this thread I ordered products from Colorplus and have reconditioned my seats. It is a very easy but timely process. I also noticed that there is no place to get the sample from. After talking to Joanne I ordered the standard black with a satin finish. It turned out really well, the color is just right. I'm not sure I would have been so trusting if I had anything other than black.
 
caz-nsx,

Do you have before and after pictures of your seats? If so can you post them.
Did you take your seats out to do it?

Thanks,

Carl
 
Yes, I removed the seats. Here are a couple pictures.
 

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Good job Caz-NSX! The seat look very nice. I keep getting compliments from people when I told them my seats went through restoration DIY! I think I would be happy too if I used ColorPlus' standard ivory color, but I thought perhaps, I should at least try to keep the color original since the kit is only a fraction of $ to pay comapre to replacing the leather whick will cost $800-$1200

I didn't post my "color" numbers because I wasn't sure if the ivory color is the same for model years after 1992. I will put that here later tonight so the people can use it when oredering the ColorPlus products.

I received a huge amount of emails after I posted this thread. I sensed there's a huge interest with leather seat restoration. I am going to contact Joanne at ColorPlus to see if she will be willing to offer some sort of discounts to us NSXPrime members. I know for a fact that at least five people have already ordered the products from them.
 
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