# Cueball presents..Jeep leather and wheel fun!



## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

I know I bang on about not doing any detailing during winter, and I don't normally, however my Jeep was in need of a service and a little of TLC after I had kindly 'hired' it out for the summer to a visiting American in my work....Let's just say she never looked after it very well... :wall:

So, my to do list for my battered old beast was as follows:

Full service
New front brake pads
Re-paint crash damage areas (x4)
Fix blown bulbs
Repair and restore front leather seats
Re-paint wheels
Remove rust and paint brake callipers
Clean interior after failed battery/smashed window incident
Then after all that, give her a cleanup.....

Not much to do then.... :lol:

OK, wheels and callipers first:

Wheels before:









Showing some of the damage I wanted to get rid of:










And the ironX 'bleeding' from one of the wheels:










After they were clean and dry, I started to sand the wheels with wet and dry paper, starting with the lowest (roughest) grade, and working my way up...IIRC, I started on 240 grit and finished on 1500 for these. Time was a bit rushed, so didn't get the wheels 100%, I will show you later why this is important....

The wheels were then taped up, placed in my 'paint studio' :lol: and given a few coats of primer:



















I left about 30 minutes in between coats, then used my lamps to help cure the paint before moving onto the paint stage....I went for something different here, fancying a change, I went with Gold! Ford Solar Gold to be exact:



















You can see in the above photo, an area at the top of the wheel, which I did not sand completely...any imperfections at the sanding stage still show up in the paint stage - be warned and take your time with the preparation!

After a few coats of this, using the same process as above, they were given the last coats of clear coat and left to dry off, which left these to stick back on the Jeep:




























Overall, I am quite happy with the results...

While that was going on, I was busy with the service, starting the seats and doing the brakes and callipers....here is the driver's side before;










I used my dremmel style Silverline tool with the 'stone' attachments to sand/grind off the worst of the rust, again I was not chasing perfection here, but I think you could easily spend a day on each side to achieve this....

Once I was happy with the finish, out came my paintbrush and hammeright smooth paint, and a few coats later, I had this:










Again, good enough for the Jeep, and I am happy enough with the result.

Now, we move onto the front seats, which after nearly 150k miles and 14 years of work, were starting to show their age...the girl I gave the Jeep to, was short, fat and loved wearing jeans, which didn't help the drivers seat ...

This is what I had, and some of the areas I was trying to fix and to restore:




























I have never done anything like this before, so it was all new (and scary) to me!

After a bit of research, I opted to go with the furniture clinic, and purchased their large restore kit and filler... and off to work I went, trying to follow their well written instructions to the letter...

1st stage is to clean the seats with a strong alcohol solution, just a wipe down, so far so good...

2nd stage, if the big [email protected] one...the removal of the clear top coat... again done with solution...this is really the point of new return...and left the leather like this:















































__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content



















I think you can see how dull the seats are after everything was removed....another alcohol wipe down, just to be safe, and you can see the colour coming off the seats this time:










After this stage, I had the option to use the filler to repair some of the damage... For anyone that has used "polyfiller" for walls, I think it's the exact same process....small amounts fill in the cracks, sand back, repeat as needed:



















Please note that, IMO, I used WAY too much filler here, and after crying and getting annoyed with myself, spent a hour or so sanding it all back with low grades of sandpaper...please do not make the same mistake!

Anyway, after I had (somewhat) recovered the situation, and cleaned the leather again....it was onto the actual colour stage...The furniture Clinic do a colour match service, so I was happy that this would be OK...and it was!

First coat goes on with a sponge...trying to get into all the nooks, creases etc...





































After that has dried in, again using my lights to help out in my 'leather studio', you move onto the next stage, and that is again colour, but using an airbrush to apply...

It was quite fun to do, but you need to be careful not to go overboard with the paint!

Once this has dried, there is only 2 stages to go, the spray on protection coat, and the last stage gloss/matt clear coat finish... I put on 2 coats of each, then let the seats dry out for 1 day before putting them back in the jeep...

This is how my seats turned out:














































For a quick comparison on the driver's side bolster:

Before:










And after:










And a final picture to show the passenger seat back in the Jeep:










For something that I was leaning, with nothing but hope and written instructions, I am happy with the outcome...not perfect due to using too much filler and maybe I little run from the final coats here and there...but it's all trial and error for me...

While the seats were out, I took the change to give the interior a proper good clean, using the wet vac as well... As you can see, even after the window was fixed and the guy 'hoovered up' the glass really does get everywhere!



















And, yes, that is a shotgun cartridge.... :lol:

Now, I would like to think that I keep my cars pretty clean, but just to show how much dirt is hiding under seats and other hard to reach areas, here is a picture of my dirty bucket! 










Minging!!!!!!

After this, I finished off the other bits I had to do, tried some PDR work (60% success rate) and put the seats and wheels back on, ready for her actual clean!

Engine was first, sprayed with megs degreaser, worked with various brushes, the hosed off using a low setting on the PW, with the engine running to help with the drying...

After that, 303 Aerospace was used on the plastics and hoses to help tart it up a little bit...At the end of the day, it's a big beast of a workhorse, so it had never been cleaned before!!










And the after photo:










Now onto the actual cleaning of the beast!

Just the usual winter grime/grit/salt marks on her:





































The wash process was my usual 2 coats of snowfoam, 2BW using dodo BTBM, dried off with last touch and a drying cloth.

I then went around the Jeep with dodo LP lite via hand applicator, buffed this off and laid down a coat of Britemax #6s... yes that's right, no wax or sealant....nothing....

After all my work, sweat, blood and tears, here she is for another few months (and abuse):














































Yes, I know the arches aren't that clean and there is no tyre shine on there.....give me break, I was knackered! 

And that's that...as they say 

Any comments/advice/suggestions most welcome, as always!.....

:thumb:


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Nice work Cuey.


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## iainh (Jan 5, 2010)

That leather restoration looks amazing for a first time. Have read a few posts on this over the last couple of days and something I'm hoping to try out in the summer.


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## gkerr4 (Oct 27, 2005)

that looks great - the gold wheels work really well! they look like they should always have been gold!


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## MattOz (May 15, 2007)

Great work on the leather and the alloys. The gold suits the Jeep well. No wonder you were knackered!


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## SimonW (Jun 3, 2007)

Nice work on the leather, wheels look good too :thumb:

Simon
*Exotic Detail*
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## c16rkc (Apr 15, 2010)

Wow I agree with everyone!!

Amazing job on that leather and I think the Gold alloys look great!


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Good job captain - the wheels came up nicely and the leather is a big improvement. :thumb: I had no idea you had so many different studio sections to your unit. :lol:

Why did you finish off with Britemax 6 and no wax or sealant?

Is the big beastie a 4L petrol? Must swally the juice something else - I bet you love the VAT man :lol:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

wee_green_mini said:


> Good job captain - the wheels came up nicely and the leather is a big improvement. :thumb: I had no idea you had so many different studio sections to your unit. :lol:
> 
> Why did you finish off with Britemax 6 and no wax or sealant?
> 
> Is the big beastie a 4L petrol? Must swally the juice something else - I bet you love the VAT man :lol:


Neither did I...they are all moveable too... :lol:

As for just finishing off with #6... well I just fancied a change, wanted to see how it performs on it's own...and wanted to see how good the paint looked with no LSP on it (I know #6 is _sort_ of a LSP...but you know what I mean)

I never machined it either, thought it would be better to leave it if you are going to pop over for a shot of the rotary's....

She is indeed the straight 6, 4 litre petrol version....Likes a drink, but I'm still able to manage just about 15mpg now... pretty good! :driver::driver::driver:

:lol:

:thumb:


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## paulmc08 (Feb 3, 2009)

That's a massive improvement,really good job

And your first time as well,now that's impressive:thumb:


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

15's pretty good I'd say for that engine in such a big machine. So what's better mpg, the big black beastie or the Shaguar? 

I just go off topic to annoy people :devil:

Talking of rotary mister - the wee beauty turned up today and is sitting right next to me. That and whole bunch of other goodies. Mon the Santa - Woohoo


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## Footballer (Dec 7, 2010)

Don't be disapointed with the wheels, they look great! :thumb:

Speechless with the leather turnaround. Nothing but a quality result, comgratulations.


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## nurburking DS (Mar 1, 2010)

Top job there mate, your back must have been killing you after all that.


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Brilliant job, especially the leather.

I expected to see it caked in carrots from all the snowmen you ploughed down lol.


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## Idlewillkill (Jun 3, 2009)

Dude, may I ask what's the red thing on top of the spray can?

Good work, seats look awesome :thumb:


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Very nice work, and I notice you've got one of those little trigger attachments on the can (I think?). What do you think of them? I still have a fair number of parts to repaint on the XR when it warms up a bit, and have looked at these gadgets before but never been sure if they'd make spraying any better.....do they?

I'm assuming it's something like this? http://www.mossfoam.com/images/canhandler.jpg

Jeep looks cool now :thumb:


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

great job on wheels and seats nice write up :thumb:


Great job looks good black n gold...


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

I use one now and again and it certainly makes the job more comfortable. Maybe get a wee bit more control too...


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## Bensenn_GER (Mar 24, 2010)

Amazing work! :thumb:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Thanks everyone for the postive comments! 

@ WGM - the Ninja is the worst MPG being about 3-5...then the XKR with between 8-12... then this one... :lol:

I'm glad I don;t *need* to drive everyday! :wall:

Glad to hear about the rotary...just give me a shout whenever you want to head over...

@ Idlewillkill & Viper The red thing is indeed something like the link in Viper's post...mine is called the can gun... I got it from the states when I was over...

IMO it does make it easier to use rattle cans, more control and less cramp on the fingers...I think mine is the same as this one:

http://www.paints4u.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=5539

The next stage for me will be a small air gun.... going to hook the leather airbrush into my compressor as well.... the air cans worked OK, but very annoying to work with sometimes....

I was going for the old F1 JPS look with the black and gold...:lol:

Actually didn't think it would look as good as I do now...so maybe the colour will stay!

:thumb:


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Thanks Cuey :thumb:

Is there a thread on DW with the Ninja in it?

I love bikes. Great fun but so easy to get you involved in a world of high speeds and dangerous capers. The wife won't let me have another one so I need to make do with a **itey wee mini :lol:


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

Good job sir!!

What lacquer did you use?


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Of course there is 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=172792&highlight=starship

Most pointless bike in the world to be honest.... it's faaaaar too fast...but even more worrying than that is, I was getting used to it.... :devil:

Anyway, stop taking this O/T... this thread is about my JPS Jeep and all the hard work to get her right again...

Away you go with your idle chat about danger, speed, MPG and rotary fun...



:lol:

@Nick - I just used the H£llfruads own make of rattle cans, so all the primer, colour and lacquer...we'll see how long it lasts 

:thumb:


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## John-Cupra_TDI (Apr 13, 2009)

Excellent job on the leather and wheels :thumb:


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2011)

Good job chief :thumb:


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## Deeg (Mar 30, 2009)

Excellent work there.... amazed with your first results with the leather!! :thumb:


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Nice work, thinking of doing some wheels too, so cheers :thumb:


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

i enjoyed that write up cheers cueball


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

jeeze, great work cuey! Awesome turn around on the seats!


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## ant_s (Jan 29, 2009)

Enjoyable write-up there Cuey, and sounds asthough you had some fun getting your Jeep back to it's former glory. The leather repair is really good, but why has no one asked yet... Why have you got a shotgun shell in your Jeep? lol


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

ant_s said:


> Why have you got a shotgun shell in your Jeep? lol


You never know when it will come in handy........ :devil:

:lol:


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## squeakyclean32 (Mar 13, 2010)

What an improvement to the seats after the treatment.....much hard work but a good satisfying result.....the jeep looked minty once you had finished :thumb:


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## JJ. (Sep 28, 2009)

Hi!
I really like the work you have done with the wheels and seats :thumb:
Hope to see some serious paint correction in the future


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## ayrshireteggy (Dec 13, 2006)

Great work, Cueball! :thumb:

That's a good write up for those that might want to try painting wheels or repairing leather. Cheers. :thumb:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

JJ. said:


> Hope to see some serious paint correction in the future


Your wish is my command....

I don't think I will get any worse than this Jeep Wetsanding

Hope you like!!

:thumb:


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## coljshanks (Feb 7, 2010)

cracking job on those seats...and the jeep as a whole. 
will have to keep an eye open for that on the mean streets of EK!!

:thumb:


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Epic transformaion mate!! :thumb:


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

Seats look excellent! Would be interested to see how colour safe they are and how well sealed they are. Got some old leather seats that need some attention in a mates car


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## rob929 (Aug 15, 2010)

The Cueball said:


> Now, we move onto the front seats, which after nearly 150k miles and 14 years of work, were starting to show their age...the girl I gave the Jeep to, was short, fat and loved wearing jeans, which didn't help the drivers seat ...
> :thumb:


Hope she's not on the forum :lol:

Nice job on the seats...looking good :thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Enjoyed reading that mate, nice 1st time go at the leather also, vastly improved.:thumb:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

maggi112 said:


> Seats look excellent! Would be interested to see how colour safe they are and how well sealed they are. Got some old leather seats that need some attention in a mates car


So good so far :lol:

Website says they will be good for up to 7 years... I've sent a link to this thread to them for their input/help/abuse...so hopefully they will pop in and comment...

:thumb:



rob929 said:


> Hope she's not on the forum :lol:
> 
> Nice job on the seats...looking good :thumb:


Nope, sent back to the USA!

:lol:

Cheers...



Gleammachine said:


> Enjoyed reading that mate, nice 1st time go at the leather also, vastly improved.:thumb:


I really enjoyed doing the seats... got 2 people asking me to do theirs already.... black and white...

Cheers for the comments...

:thumb:


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## PJM (Jan 23, 2010)

Nice job mate, think I'll have a go at my leather as some point. Here is my girl:










I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit but will be giving it a good go over with the rotary and have some orvis alloys to go on that need a refurb.


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Great work Cuey :thumb: Seat restoration looked absolutely spot on and the wheels, oh yes, better in gold I think :thumb: 

Nice one my man. :thumb:


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## the_allstar (Jan 26, 2011)

Just lower it a little and you wouldn't need to dress the arches  

Looks really nice mate. Great work.


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## montymondeo (Jan 2, 2010)

Great work Mr Cueball, excellent write up and has inspired me to have a go at some old wheels I have. (Good job the recent etiquette reminder doesn't extend to short, fat, jean wearing american gals :lol

regards Monty


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## iano C (Apr 4, 2010)

Great job ,I am trying to learn about restoring leather seats myself as there is not to many people doing this over here.Some turn around all the same:thumb:


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

Wow the seats are staggering. I won't mention the cartridge if you don't


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

Just read this thread after you posted a link to it and I am very impressed with the improvement on the seats, how long did you spend on them ?


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

uruk hai said:


> Just read this thread after you posted a link to it and I am very impressed with the improvement on the seats, how long did you spend on them ?


Cheers mate!

I kind of moved between the mechanical bits, the wheels and the seats... so hard to tell....I would maybe guess about 4 hours in total... give or take...

And 2 hours of that was s***g myself and sanding off the heavy handed filler :wall::wall:

:lol:

:thumb:


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

Thanks mate, it is a cracking job and no doubt adds to the overall presentation of the car. Fortunately mine are only half leather but it's nice to know what can be acheived with time and effort if I ever have to :thumb:

Regarding sanding the filler, I would be the same, I would be cussing myself all the way through and swearing that "I'm only doing this once"


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

I have half leather white ones to do very soon! :thumb:

Had a few people asking about the seats, and if I can do something for them...

And the wheels too! :wall:


Expect the "I'm going pro" thread very soon*! :lol: 

:thumb:




*joke btw*


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## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Excellent stuff. The black & gold works very well IMO:thumb:

Glad you confirmed it was a gun cartridge:doublesho first up I read about the glass and was thinking to myself....

Never mind the glass, there is a cap on the floor


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## Furniture Clinic (Sep 2, 2010)

Great Job, especially on the seats, they looked quite warn before, came up looking new again, well done.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Adam Staerck said:


> Great Job, especially on the seats, they looked quite warn before, came up looking new again, well done.


Thanks Adam...all down to your well written instructions...

I did have another one all set to repair, but, well you know the issue, so I hope we can fix that, thanks for taking the time to have a look and reply.

:thumb:


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Superb stuff....very informative...:thumb:


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## Rust.Bucket (Feb 11, 2011)

When I saw the wheels being sprayed gold I wasn't too sure, but on the car they don't look out of place at all! You've done a terrific job, and you seriously must have been tired after all that (I feel like wanting a quick nap after a quick wash of my tiny Clio!)


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Rust.Bucket said:


> When I saw the wheels being sprayed gold I wasn't too sure, but on the car they don't look out of place at all! You've done a terrific job, and you seriously must have been tired after all that (I feel like wanting a quick nap after a quick wash of my tiny Clio!)


Cheers!

The gold was actually for my project car, but it was taking some time, and the Jeep did come with goldish wheels as an option, but mostly on the Green ones for some reason...

When I sprayed them, I didn't like it, but now that they are on, I think it really suits them...and if you kind of squint........










:lol::lol::lol: OK, maybe not! 

:thumb:


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Nice work there, Car not my cup of tea but a bit like wheeler dealers if you can breath life back into a car fair play.

Leather looks a good job, I respect someone more who highlights errors than hides them away. :thumb:

Will be interesting to see how the paint does getting in and out of the seats for a while.

Cheers

PaulN


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

PaulN said:


> Nice work there, Car not my cup of tea but a bit like wheeler dealers if you can breath life back into a car fair play.
> 
> Leather looks a good job, I respect someone more who highlights errors than hides them away. :thumb:
> 
> ...


You know, the Jeep has done me very well, never let me down and it's just passed another MOT with no issues (I put 2 new tyres on - didn't fail on them, but I wanted them)....

I feel like I owe it to try and look after her.... many more years left I feel! :lol:

As for the errors...well it was all new, so no point trying to con people that it was perfect...plus hopefully other people can maybe use this as a guide so sorts....

The question of staying the course for the seats will be something I keep my eye on...I am giving them a weekly wipedown with the Dr leather wipes, and nothing else.....so we'll see!

Something that has been highlighted is now that the front seats look very good, the back ones which didn't look sooo bad, now look really worn! :wall:

So more work needed I feel!

:thumb:


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## 335dAND110XS (Dec 17, 2010)

Cracking job! Particularly impressed with the leather restoration!


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Nice job you have done there :thumb:..

I bet you are pleased with yourself with how the seats turned out..

As for Arches and Tyres, to tired, I don't know ..


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

thats a hell of a lot of work, i would have been k'od fair play


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## fizzle86 (Apr 1, 2010)

Bit of a thread revive but my brother jus got an e36 BMW with full leather and it needs some work!

i was just wondering is this the kit you got cauz it doesnt seem to say it has filler need the one with the filler!!

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Colourant_Kit.htm

thanks Cueball :thumb:

great work


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## zcomputer5 (Aug 31, 2007)

I would like to repair some leather on a 350z which is scuffed, I am interested in which kit did you actually buy and how much did it cost? Thanks.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

fizzle86 said:


> Bit of a thread revive but my brother jus got an e36 BMW with full leather and it needs some work!
> 
> i was just wondering is this the kit you got cauz it doesnt seem to say it has filler need the one with the filler!!
> 
> ...





zcomputer5 said:


> I would like to repair some leather on a 350z which is scuffed, I am interested in which kit did you actually buy and how much did it cost? Thanks.


Sorry, I just noticed these last posts... yes, the kit I used was the one in the link above...

I sent anyway a small of my leather for a perfect match....

:thumb:


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## Claireeyy (Jul 20, 2009)

Wow very impressive work on the leather, brilliant first effort :thumb:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

*January 2012 update!*

Hello all! :wave:

This is the first of my 2 updates this weekend, I thought it would be better doing then this way rather than starting a new thread...

So, my Jeep needed a little TLC, she has been bumped, bashed and bruised as usual, and since it's now a few years since I done the seats and wheels, it's a good time to have a look how my DIY is lasting...

This is how she looked as I started... hasn't been cleaned in a long time, but has been off road a few times and a trip up to the north of Scotland... the only think I have done is a PW down to get the worst of the mud off... as you can see.. 














































And this is how my wheels were holding up, these have never had a sealant on them BTW...



















And finally the seats:





































Onto the wash... not any pics of this, I had a full weekend on the go... but basically it was my normal foam and 2BM with dodo SN, the Jeep was then cleaned and glazed by ClearKote Pink (Red + White mixed together) by hand. I used CG bare bones on the arches, and the wheels were cleaned with Wolf's Decon gel and Bilberry...

The seats were cleaned with a few Dr Leather wipes, and the carpets were cleaned with AS bisk/G101 where needed...

To finish her off, most of the panels were given 2 coats of Vic Concourse wax, but I panel was given a coat of Zymol Royale, and another one was given a coat of Zymol Vintage...

And here she is for another while! :lol:




























And the reflection from the Royale section:










And the vintage one:










I'm pretty happy how the wheels are holding up (1st time DIY, with Halfraud rattle cans):



















There is damage on one of them, but that was my fault! :wall:

And, likewise, I'm happy with how well the seats are lasting:





































Thanks for looking, and as always all comments and criticism most welcome...

:thumb:


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## bigslippy (Sep 19, 2010)

Great results on the leather seats:thumb:


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Lookin grand Mr C. All the jobs are bearing up well :thumb:

Love the big ass spots! :doublesho

I mean the spotlights, I don't know if you have bum based spotage :lol: you probably do lol 

:thumb:


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

nothing wrong with my @ss!! 

:lol:


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## toomanycitroens (Jan 14, 2011)

Good old boat that.
You're spoiling it.


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## TOMMY_RS (Aug 2, 2010)

looking good, im very impressed with the leather resturation!


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Old thread I know, but this just popped up in my browser! Cracking work on the seats fella... Need a full on guide. Will need to do the ones in the Cupra at some point.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

:lol: cheers mate...

I may have some RS6 seats to do soon...so I'll take better pics/notes...

:thumb:


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## Nally (May 30, 2012)

love the empty 12 guage shell


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

The Cueball said:


> :lol: cheers mate...
> 
> I may have some RS6 seats to do soon...so I'll take better pics/notes...
> 
> :thumb:


I'll send you all my seats up  lol


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