Vert interior re-dye project

Originally Posted by phamine

Glad I found this thread. I gather that the top matte coat was able to bond to the conditioner? When I think of a conditioner, I think of something that is oil based.

Would you have any pictures of the seat with and without the matte surface?

Did you thin the paint? If so - how much?

I'm in the middle of my own project now. I'm prepping the leather by using lacquer thinner to remove most of the old factory paint on the leather (its paint not dye=]). I used a scrub pad. I did notice some lose of grain but do notice that the leather still retained it.

I'm going to use leatherique to soften the leather before i begin painting with an air gun.

Would love to hear your opinions.

A good water base conditioner will not affect the top coat application.

I don't have any at the moment as most before and after pics were taken on different days/lighting conditions... Ill try and snap a few pics in the next couple of days.

It depends on the type of airbrush used. I thinned mine 20-30% using distilled water.

The prepping looks good and using a pad instead of sand paper will certainly help keep some of the grain. Why wouldnt you just use a bunch of white rags instead? Be careful using harsh products such as acetone and lacquer thinner. I was advised to stay away from these products as they can damage and dry out the leather. Id recommend using feebing's deglazer as it wont harm or dry out your leather. It's a little more expensive but well worth the investment.

Im not sure how the leather will react... Using leatherique's oil treatment before hand may close up the pores and prevent the paint/dye from setting in ? Let me know how that works out for you.

Cheers,
Oli

Looks great. Do you have before pictures for comparison?

Holy hell that looks amazing! I'm normally not a fan of two-tone at all but this looks awesome!

Are you sanding before applying the to coat and conditioner? I notice my gun has some splatter. I am guessing a 1000 grit wet sand would work.

Originally Posted by phamine

Are you sanding before applying the to coat and conditioner? I notice my gun has some splatter. I am guessing a 1000 grit wet sand would work.

To prevent the gun from splattering you should strain the dye mix in order to remove as much of the dry pigment flakes and crud. I usually lightly buff the final coat using a lint free rag which helps removes any excess dye. You can also lightly sand it using 1000 grit but i felt the rag was a better option.

Hey guys, so the weather finally cleared up yesterday and i was to finish up the passenger seat and install some black carpeting! Here's a few pics.

Next up is the driver seat if the weather ever clears up... Then it's time to put everything back where it belongs so that i can finally enjoy the summer if we ever get one

Cheers,
Oli

WOW. They came out great, look like new. I would love to re-dye my driver side seat but the leather is worn on the side booster and also have some crack on it. I am thinking of doing a two tone setup when I have some time. How do you remove the headrest on the front seats? I will be installing headrest monitors hopefully this weekend. I have taken the headrests off my other cars (coupe and sedan) but have not done it on a convertible. Any tricks or tips? TIA

Originally Posted by douglas_ngo

WOW. They came out great, look like new. I would love to re-dye my driver side seat but the leather is worn on the side booster and also have some crack on it. I am thinking of doing a two tone setup when I have some time. How do you remove the headrest on the front seats? I will be installing headrest monitors hopefully this weekend. I have taken the headrests off my other cars (coupe and sedan) but have not done it on a convertible. Any tricks or tips? TIA

Thanks, here's great link for the headrest removal http://www.chitownm.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2070

Just make sure that the headrest is in the middle position or else it won't slide off. Also be careful when removing the two black plastic covers as they can easily break... The good news is that they are inexpensive to replace.

Cheers,
Oli

Looks good. Not shiny like other diy interiors. You used the flat top coat from zelikovitz?

Originally Posted by phamine

Looks good. Not shiny like other diy interiors. You used the flat top coat from zelikovitz?

Yup, I used Zelekovitz topcoat flat finish 32oz did the job. It pretty much eliminates any of the unwanted gloss the dye would normally leave behind.

I wonder if you could use that Zelekovitz top coat flat finish on OEM leather.. because my cinnamon is getting a little too glossy looking

You might need to prep to get it to adhere. I bought some flat to coat for my project. Thanks again for posting this thread

Originally Posted by alibusoul

I wonder if you could use that Zelekovitz top coat flat finish on OEM leather.. because my cinnamon is getting a little too glossy looking

It should work. However, if you are looking to achieve superior results applying a de-glazer before hand is your best bet. The idea is to remove the original topcoat by lightly de-glazing the seats and then apply the Zelikovitz topcoat using an airbrush.

Originally Posted by phamine

You might need to prep to get it to adhere. I bought some flat to coat for my project. Thanks again for posting this thread

Glad i was able to help. BTW, Zeli's flat topcoat also works wonders on vinyl. If you plan on using duplicolor on any vinyl parts apply the top coat after. It'll slightly flatten the color and add extra protection.

Hey Oli would you mind posting closer pictures of your interior trim? Thanks.

anyone know how much something like this would cost to have professionally done?

OP your seats look awesome btw. job well done sir

I'm speechless, uh yeah soooo. Wow really? I think you bought new seats and your pulling our chain.J/K They really look that good! What in the world made you decide to take the seats out of your BMW and start dying them an extreme color like Cinnamon ( I really like the color but if you had messed up you would have had tie dye seats ). How scary was the thought process when you realized you were actually going to do it?



I have a question for you, As for condition of the seats. I noticed there is no sign of rubbing on the bluster of the driver seat after the dye application. Every BMW has rubbing on that point so my question is....

Was there any wear on the seat at all before hand?
If the leather is still intact and not ripped or cracked will this cover the rubbing wear issues?
Would you please post an update in a few months with pics so we can see how this dye holds up over time and use?

^^For the rubbing, I think that's why he used a top coat to minimize the car on the color coat.

did u take pics on how your seats looked before and after the cleaning?

Originally Posted by GuitarmanTT

I'm speechless, uh yeah soooo. Wow really? I think you bought new seats and your pulling our chain.J/K They really look that good! What in the world made you decide to take the seats out of your BMW and start dying them an extreme color like Cinnamon ( I really like the color but if you had messed up you would have had tie dye seats ). How scary was the thought process when you realized you were actually going to do it?



I have a question for you, As for condition of the seats. I noticed there is no sign of rubbing on the bluster of the driver seat after the dye application. Every BMW has rubbing on that point so my question is....

Was there any wear on the seat at all before hand?
If the leather is still intact and not ripped or cracked will this cover the rubbing wear issues?
Would you please post an update in a few months with pics so we can see how this dye holds up over time and use?

LOL, thanks ! I actually went to a scrap yard and bought a used e46 seat cover and started testing different techniques and products before attempting anything on my own seats. I still managed to mess up my door panels though and ended up having to fork out an extra 200$ for new ones

The pictures i posted were for the passenger seat so there wasn't too much wear around the bolster. However, if the leather is not ripped or cracked you can lightly sand it before applying the dye and it should come out looking looking pretty close to new. Ill post some before and after pics of the passenger seat once the weather clears up and i can finish up my project.

[QUOTE=GuitarmanTT;13077397]Would you please post an update in a few months with pics so we can see how this dye holds up over time and use?

No problem, will do.