20-20 Hindsight

[v8s4me]

Here’s a little tip. If you are planning on doing a lot of work inside your S, buy some cheap seat covers to protect the leather. I wish I’d done it. I’ve scratched the driver’s seat and now have to have the centre panel replaced. The seat covers were only £10.50 from Argos. Made of nylon they are abrasion resistant and an added bonus is that they are shower proof so when I’m working on the S out side I don’t have to cover it up if there is a little bit of rain. As they say, a wise man learns from his mistakes but the clever man learns from other peoples!

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7...

Edited by v8s4me on Friday 7th January 12:19

[tvrgit]

depending how bad the scratch is, you might be able to fix it with a kit from http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk in Gateshead.

I refinsihed my seats with it in NOvember, and the the difference is amazing (only the deepest cracks are still visible, and I could have sorted those as well if I had taken more time).

Before:


After:

[AutoAndy]

Hi Andrew, the seat re-ferb looks impressive.

I have seats like your "before" shot.

When you contacted that company, which products did you use? Also I presume you have to specify a colour - As my seats look like the same "TVR cream" colour as yours, what did you tell them it was?

[tvrgit]

AutoAndy said:

Hi Andrew, the seat re-ferb looks impressive.

I have seats like your "before" shot.

When you contacted that company, which products did you use? Also I presume you have to specify a colour - As my seats look like the same "TVR cream" colour as yours, what did you tell them it was?

I bought a "leather restoration" kit - you get various cleaners, colourants and sealers, and all the scourers, pads, etc you need - even an airbrush to spray it on (although I bought a better airbrush and compressor).

My colour is described as "magnolia" but my seats were a shade or two darker than the door trims and centre console. Colour matching is easy - I cut a tiny piece off the back of the door trim (I think they need a penny-sized piece) and they matched it - perfectly. So now the seats match the trim - well to my eye anyway.

If you look at my web site for November you'll see the whole process.

[v8s4me]

Unfortunately I've torn the outter layer of the leather so it's probably beyond repair. What was the product you used though as I could improve the rest of the seat covering in the way you have.

[tvrgit]

If you follow the link I posted earlier, you need a leather restoration kit as I said. You can also buy a filler that should sort that scratch. Look on their site at some sample repairs - a lot worse than yours.

[mep12345]

tvrgit said:

If you follow the link I posted earlier, you need a leather restoration kit as I said. You can also buy a filler that should sort that scratch. Look on their site at some sample repairs - a lot worse than yours.

I've spoken to them and although I've yet to do mine they said even a tear can be sorted with their repair kit and recolouring kit together (I have a small one in my dash panel.

[v8s4me]

Food for thought and a lot cheaper than a repair panel. I was planning to have the seat stripped to fix the slider and replace the foam on the side of the back and the seat cushion anyway so in my particular case it might be a false economy not to have the panel replaced. I’ll definitely look into one of these kits as a way of refurbishing the rest of the seat and the passenger one though. Be very interested in any other feedback on the repair kit.

[tvrgit]

What's to lose? If it doesn't work, you were going to replace the panel anyway. Worth a try - it's a "shot to nothing" as snooker players say (if they are better than me, all of my shots are like that).

[Deeman]

Might appear a stupid question, but how can you know for sure you have leather seats? Were all S cars fitted with leather, as mine are blue seats and look more like some kind of vinyl material?

[tvrgit]

Deeman said:

Might appear a stupid question, but how can you know for sure you have leather seats? Were all S cars fitted with leather, as mine are blue seats and look more like some kind of vinyl material?

Some were all leather. Most (I think) had leather seat and backrest facings, but the sides and back were vinyl or alcantara. That's what mine are. The kit can recolour the vinyl to match the leather, but the prep and finishing is different

You need to look at the reverse side of the material to tell the difference - vinyl will have a woven base, leather doesn't.

[phillpot]

Deeman said:

Might appear a stupid question, but how can you know for sure you have leather seats? Were all S cars fitted with leather, as mine are blue seats and look more like some kind of vinyl material?

And some were all vinyl, or I've heard it refered to as "Ambla"

[tvrgit]

phillpot said:

Deeman said:

Might appear a stupid question, but how can you know for sure you have leather seats? Were all S cars fitted with leather, as mine are blue seats and look more like some kind of vinyl material?

And some were all vinyl, or I've heard it refered to as "Ambla"

"Ambla" was the word I was thinking of when I said "Alcantara"!

ETA it's my age you know - I'm getting like Nellie Pledge.

Edited by tvrgit on Saturday 8th January 08:28

[Deeman]

Thanks Guys - I'll have a proper look, as the seats are cracking up quite a bit....