Repairing seats with Leatherworld Tech kit

So my 99 Cab seats have seen better days so rather than replace or even recover, I thought I would give a repair a try as the kit from Leatherworldtech.com was under $100 delivered. (I have no affiliation or interest in the company aside from using their product) I'll keep posting as I make progress. I removed the seats from the car to make it easier to work on as I needed to also repair a tear and wanted to take apart the seat bottom. 1. The seat rails have plastic covers covering the bolts. The front two are held on with two phillips heads and just slide off. The rear two are just clipped on. You will need an E12 socket to remove the bolts. 2. To remove the bottom cushion there are two white plastic tabs to pull the plugs out and pop them out. 3. Take the two small screws out of the seat adjustment panel and pop off the controls and push up and out to get the face off. Then detach the electrical connector from the panel (wedge a couple small flat heads in the tabs and it pops off) 4. Detach the electrical connectors from under the seat and cut the zip ties. 5. The bottom seat then lifts up from the front and pull it out. I posted a couple of pics of the current seat condition which has a lot of cracks. 6. the middle seat back comes out by pulling out the black rail from the back of the seat at the bottom which loosens up the piece. The go to the front of the seat and the top has three clips in the pic so it just requires you to pull up. Last pick shows some of the filler I applied from the kit. More to come as I fill and sand.

My seats need some TLC as well. I recently had one small piece of leather replaced on the left side of the driver's backrest - $450. If I remember correctly the piece was 4 inches by 22 inches. I don't think a repair kit would have worked on it. I'm anxious to follow along as you do this.

Another coat of the filler and here is a pic of the soft backs being touched up. My rears didn't need to be colored but the kit came with a great cleaner and sealant that I used on them. The finish looks new now. Soft backs being filled Notice the difference in finish?

Looking good! Are you spraying on the finish or using the sponge on method?

Very nice indeed, would be interested as well, and see how well you can completely remove all the cracks on the seat bottom and back side-bolsters. Thanks for sharing your DIY, cheers,

Subscribed. I am in the middle of adding heat to seats that did not have them, and it requires major disassembly. Not that hard really, and if a replacement section needed to be added you could save money by DIY the covers.

I'm curious how it holds up over time. Thanks and following.

I did mine with the leatherworld kit over two years ago and it has held up very well... see here for the whole story https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...therworld.html

You know a car geek when you get up at 4am without an alarm clock to put the first coat on before work

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Perfect, thanks! As my side bolster looks about the same as yours did pre-restoration, I'm about to order a kit. So, low gloss or semi gloss? As this is rather subjective to judge..

Nice write up so far! Please keep us posted with pics and details.

I went with the low gloss because I figured that just the act of sitting on the seats they'd get sort of polished/burnished by the fabric contact. Same with the steering wheel and e-brake handle...It was a little different/dull initially, but that's exactly what happened - the sheen is a perfect match now

I'm planning on this project as soon as my car returns. I read you can cover all those holes for the heated vented seats, but it's time consuming to poke the holes back with a toothpick

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Subscribed. My seats look just like yours. I refinished my shift **** with leatherworldtech products a few years ago, and it's held up well. The seats seemed like too much work, but now I'm rethinking it. Can't wait to see more.

Always intrigued to see new products and methods of DIY fixes. Will be attentively watching and awaiting the finished result. Looks good..

A few new photos after coat 3 of the dye. I am half way through the dye bottle so far. Coming along nicely Seat bottom Close up of the side bolster. It was the part worn the most when I started.

How is the center section of the back held in? Velcro?

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See step 6 above. The bottom is wrapped and held at the bottom by a black plastic rail that is exposed in the back. Slip that out and then the bottom comes free. Them grab the top of the section and pull up. Picture shows the three clips at the top.

This might help Black rail at the bottom Pull it out from the rear of the seat

If that's the third coat of dye, your doing something wrong. Are you shaking it well before using? Also, it looks like you may be wiping it on... try more of a dabbing technique, and let more material stay on the surface. The only thing you have to be careful of is bubbles... 😉

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Yes I am wiping it on with the provided sponge. I shook the dye as I can see it does separate. I'll try the dab and thanks. It does look a lot better after coat 5 but not there yet.

Coat 5

Yeah, dabbing it on works well - if it leaves bubbles, just use the drier part of the sponge to break/smooth them out. It looks like you're getting closer to opaqueness...

Thanks for the tips on removing the back! You seem to be really cautious with how much dye you're using, but better that than using too much. You are going to be very pleased when done! I used the same stuff on my console. Sanded it down and just wiped it on with foam brushes. Taking it out of the car is pretty easy, and makes the job much more enjoyable, and with better results.

For someone that doesn't want to go though this trouble here are a couple other options that a friend used in the past on his 996 and got great results. http://classicsofttrim.com/ http://www.seatcoversunlimited.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjw-LLKBRCdhqmwtYmX93kSJAAORDM6IJp9_FS9MjM2n_3JUZBp9XAINJHrkIxzVJoVWVZIbxoCi brw_wcB

Almost there and thanks for the tip on dabbing. Dab the area and pull the bubbles works great. Decided to do the steering wheel too As well as the handbrake. Took the console off only cause I had to adjust my Numeric racing short shift to realign the shift. Almost there!

Nice!

Steering wheel and parking brake done. I included a close up of a spot at the 9 o'clock spot that was worn through. Great results.

Looking good. Thanks for keeping the progress documented.

last coat went on and 24 hr later i am poking holes all day long to get the perforations back. I used a toothpick You can see some of the holes filled in Poking completed with a toothpick The bottom side bolster that was in the worst shape Just needs the protective coat 48/72 hr after last due coat I did't do the headrest so you can see the transition. I think this will be taken care of by the top coat which darkens it and a little sun to fade it together

All done! I am really happy with the results. Leather is not a perfect surface so imperfections in my process and not noticeable at all.

Huge improvement over before. You should post your before and after pictures side by side at the top or here so folks can appreciate where it came from and where it ended up. Good work and you should be proud taking that on yourself. Cheers, D.

Nice job!

Seats look awesome. Nice job looking better than before.

Just recd my Leatherworld kit for my Savannah Beige seat bolster, hope it comes out as nice as yours.

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Crikey, talk about a labor of love. I bet every time you sit down you will think about that toothpick! Final result looks fantastic though, thanks for documenting this process for us.

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Spread the filler on lightly each coat and make sure you sand with 600+ grit between would be my suggestion to get a smoother finish. I was getting impatient as my seats were in my wife's work out room so there was some pressure to finish it. The close up's show the imperfections but I was not sweating it as you can't see it unless you put your face close to the seat.

That's fantastic. The cost vs reupholstering makes it a no brainer. Can you post up a picture of the back?

Ok, I'll say it, that doesn't not look very good. Has a very "painted" appearance and there was obviously some dirt or grit in the finish. I'm not saying you could have done any better, may just be the nature of the product or the condition of the seats. Looks better than before from a distance though so if that was the only goal, well done.

^It certainly looks much better than before^. To get more of a natural leather look, you should use more of a dabbing technique with the sponge, otherwise you get the painted/wiped on look. I think the photo's make it stand out - I don't think it's something that anyone who didn't know about it would notice when getting in the car...

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No offense taken. The filler does definitely change thne texture of the leather as it fills it all in. I did go a little too heavy with the filler on just a couple coats and not enough sanding. I would have preferred to air brush it and the contamination is from the sponge as I rinsed it but dried it outside so dust probably got it in. I switched from just whiping it on with the sponge to dabbing it and pulling the dye to lay it on thicker. I used the whole bottle of dye and probably wasted a lot with the first few coats as it absorbed into the sponge rather then getting it on the leather. Your spot on and it looks great from anywhere but up close but way better than before. Reapolster is the only way to get it back to new but at $70 it is a great alternative.

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No dinner and a movie first?

"I switched from just whiping it on with the sponge to dabbing it and pulling the dye to lay it on thicker. I used the whole bottle of dye and probably wasted a lot with the first few coats as it absorbed into the sponge rather then getting it on the leather." That's always the problem with DIY'ing things, we all learn as we go. By the time we're done, we've got it down - but will probably never do it again! I got the bottom seat bolster, the side bolster, a steering wheel, shifter & boot and various other little spots throughout the interior. I've still got an oz. or two left that I use for little touch ups here and there. The nice thing about the kit, is that you can just buy the dye now if you need more, since I'm sure you have plenty of the filler and the conditioner left over.

Big improvement, thanks for sharing. Let use know how it holds up over time in this thread please.

Just finished repair on driver side seat bolster with Leatherworld kit. Had about an inch long cut and many cracks, used their filler and then dyed the bolster. Very satisfied with the repair but couldnt quite match the color to my Savannah Beige seat. I used their color match kit and after using almost all of the dye trying to match the rest of the seat I had to give up and leave the repaired bolster a bit lighter. Still pretty happy with the repair.

very nice congrats. Give it time to fade to match. Did you give you seats a good scrub with a degreaser?

Yes, used laquer thinner, soap and water and then leatherworld supplied cleaner. Appication of dye came out very well as did the actual leather repair. As you suggested im hoping the color will darken in time.

Nice! It looks like you did a great job...Your seat does look quite dark/soiled. Give it some time and it should even out nicely. The Leatherworld stuff is really pretty amazing.