# KDS Detailing - Rolls Royce silver spirit leather refurbishment



## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi Guys this car was in at the same time as the Rolls Royce Phanthom

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=177383

Lets just start with the befores , i decided to fly through the really older details i have done as i guess i have around 200 new threads to post and its the only way i would be able to catch up . :thumb:

The bigs ones i will spread out a bit and decide the best plan of action as 3 will have 600 + pics for each car and some videos , not sure if to post into subsections for these large threads and link them together i will think about that nearer the time of posting 

The owner of this vehicle found out about us from a local BMW dealership , it was due to having damage and bird etching on his bmw 635 and they told him its a re-paint or visit KDS :thumb:

The rest is history and the 635 now looks stunning without a re-paint :buffer:

Anyway befores






















































































































some durings
































































used a combo of wool pad and megs compounding pads for first cut to remove the dead paint and deeper swirls ,




























This is when the pad washer comes into its own , i found this the best way of cleaning pads when machining solid colours

clogged pad




























clean pad simple










The other large area to tackle on this detail was the condition of the seats and the owner wanted them like new .

befores














































seats all removed from vehicle and striped down ready for re-colouring process



















the job of masking the red piping with 3mm fine line masking tape



















after the seats had been re-coloured i then needed to attended to the red piping re-colour , you need a steady hand for this job :doublesho



















Piping before on drivers seat


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










and after










Here are the finished seats in bright sun light and indoors














































Ford GT is one of the 600 3 week details in the background 




























And lastly the finished car











































































































































































































































Many thanks for looking and i will try my best to answer any questions we i can

Kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


----------



## tamandlee (Mar 14, 2010)

So much work but so worth it, the seats looked amazing - how long will the colouring last? I presume it is basically a redye as such and therefore will last years as long as it is looked after?


----------



## Guest (Jul 17, 2010)

wow, did you mix the paint up for the seats or local company?

Thats why I am intrested in a pad washer as well, show's how effective it is :thumb:


----------



## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Another superb detail, thanks for posting :thumb:


----------



## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

fantastic work again


----------



## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

Stunning. your details make me realise just how much I still have to learn!!


----------



## Top_Gun (Dec 7, 2009)

Wow, the results on the seats are stunning 

I am sure the owner was more than impressed.

I had some problems when I restorated the leather seats on my "Z": 

I know of two kinds of colour products: Leather colour which is not fully solid, but a little translucent. It will not fully cover a blackened patch of leather, but will retain the texture, so it will often take 2 or 3 layers which need manual drying with hot air.

The alternative is called "liquid leather" - it is solid coloured liquid plastic - it can cover any discoloration, but it ends up thicker and smoothens the texture quite a lot.

Would you care to reveal which kind of product worked on the seats?

Best regards,

Detlev


----------



## Carn (Apr 13, 2007)

Fantastic turnaround...More details on the leather re-colouring if you can please Kelly :thumb:


----------



## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Great work on them seats they look like new now


----------



## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

An excellent read, I love the leather work, simply stunning!


----------



## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

Great finish as usual, those were some bad Swirls!
Still dont like Rollers though...:thumb:


----------



## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

that looks stunning!


----------



## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

No pics of Tracy?
Robbie's going to be very disappointed with this thread then. :lol:

What'd you use on the chrome - Autosol/Peek/etc, or something finer?


----------



## FrazzleTC (Jul 4, 2009)

Wonderful work, and lovely looking car now!


----------



## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

There is just no limit to what you do!

Outstanding resto!


----------



## Jody 4444 (Mar 12, 2009)

Stunning turn around and a great leather transformation :thumb:


----------



## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

Kelly thats fantastic work as ever those seats look brand new.

Totally agree with you about the pad washer its a suberb bit of kit and a must have imo.

Gav


----------



## Guest (Jul 18, 2010)

Detail Ecosse said:


> Kelly thats fantastic work as ever those seats look brand new.
> 
> Totally agree with you about the pad washer its a suberb bit of kit and a must have imo.
> 
> Gav


Can you explain why you think that of the pad washer please.

Am intrested in it, just want to make sure its a valuable tool rather than a gimmick. :thumb:


----------



## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

Awesome read there! What exactlly is involved in recolouring leather?
Thanks for posting, Phil


----------



## P4ULT (Apr 6, 2007)

one word. amazing.


----------



## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

matt1263 said:


> Can you explain why you think that of the pad washer please.
> 
> Am intrested in it, just want to make sure its a valuable tool rather than a gimmick. :thumb:


You won't need one, if you have 6 or so pads to swap over when they get to that stage.
As few people would really use that many pads of the same type (double that for the refining stage), then washing the one or two they do use, is par for the course.
As the unit makes life easier than removing, rinsing under a running tap, etc then refitting to spin dry, it makes the purchase warranted and value for money - if you value your time.


----------



## Guest (Jul 18, 2010)

PJS said:


> You won't need one, if you have 6 or so pads to swap over when they get to that stage.
> As few people would really use that many pads of the same type (double that for the refining stage), then washing the one or two they do use, is par for the course.
> As the unit makes life easier than removing, rinsing under a running tap, etc then refitting to spin dry, it makes the purchase warranted and value for money - if you value your time.


Does that mean you have one or will be getting one?

I would prefer to wash the pads straight after machine work rather than do it a few hours or even the next day.

Do you know if they are safe for waffle type pads?


----------



## angajatul (Oct 14, 2008)

Great job man...as usual I might say


----------



## pogo6636 (Jan 18, 2009)

cracking job there.
Those seats are amazing.


----------



## Guest (Jul 18, 2010)

Great work. It would be interesting to hear about how you do this. I see other people offering a spray on repair but remember you saying you preffer to put it on with a sponge or similar. I guess spray on would be ok if done right? 

What do you do / use to remove old refurbs as seen in other posts. 

Thanks


----------



## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

tamandlee said:


> So much work but so worth it, the seats looked amazing - how long will the colouring last? I presume it is basically a redye as such and therefore will last years as long as it is looked after?





matt1263 said:


> wow, did you mix the paint up for the seats or local company?
> 
> Thats why I am intrested in a pad washer as well, show's how effective it is :thumb:





Top_Gun said:


> Wow, the results on the seats are stunning
> 
> I am sure the owner was more than impressed.
> 
> ...





gb270 said:


> Great work on them seats they look like new now


i will right a long post back trying to cover the process or maybe start a new thread just on leather :thumb:

would rather spend a bit of time writing it clearly as possible

kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


----------



## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

GlynRS2 said:


> Another superb detail, thanks for posting :thumb:





-tom- said:


> fantastic work again





Ronnie said:


> Stunning. your details make me realise just how much I still have to learn!!


Ronnie you never stop learning in this game :buffer:



gb270 said:


> Great work on them seats they look like new now





Neil_S said:


> An excellent read, I love the leather work, simply stunning!


thanks guys

kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


----------



## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

tamandlee said:


> So much work but so worth it, the seats looked amazing - how long will the colouring last? I presume it is basically a redye as such and therefore will last years as long as it is looked after?





matt1263 said:


> wow, did you mix the paint up for the seats or local company?
> 
> Thats why I am intrested in a pad washer as well, show's how effective it is :thumb:





Top_Gun said:


> Wow, the results on the seats are stunning
> 
> I am sure the owner was more than impressed.
> 
> ...





Carn said:


> Fantastic turnaround...More details on the leather re-colouring if you can please Kelly :thumb:





GIZTO29 said:


> Awesome read there! What exactlly is involved in recolouring leather?
> Thanks for posting, Phil


re-colouring leather

My findings

I use LTT and liquid leather scuff master and flexi coat .

I have 5 different cleaners from LTT from mild to very strong and strong which will remove recent re-colour repairs or repairs not done properly .

When prepping leather ready for re-colour i start with gentle cleaners and slowly work my way up the strengh scale unitl the previous repair has been removed or the scuff/ warn patch is clean and fully dry .

on the odd ocassion i will wipe down with a very strong solvent for tough stain removal and prep work .

All this depends on condition and colour , no different to machine correcting paint which the tech changes depending on colour and hardness of paint and type of damaged to paint . so there is no one perfect way .

I use various different textures / sizes and shapes of sponges (i used old foam compounding pads cut with craft knife) to dab the colour into the ware parts first (watered down dending on how bad the damage is ) to slowly soak into the now coloured leather , sometimes use cotton buds to touch in tiny damage .

i can water down as much as 50/50 and slowly dab in and let fully dry .

I also use air brush and small spray guns to re-colour and even then would dab in with sponge to start with .

It all depends on budget / car / customer / seat colour / and most important if the seats have a different colour stitching to what and how i carry out the re-colour .

The paint/dye will soak into bare no coloured parts of leather so could be called a dye , but where the colour sits over the top of the original clean keyed leather is a paint .

the life of the re-colour will greatly depend on the usage of the car , and more importantly the process in the first place .

just had a BMW E46 M3 in from 18 months ago with leather re-colour and still perfect

seen here

http://www.kdskeltec.co.uk/bmw_m3_individual_aegean_blue.phtml

Liquid leather if applied neat will smooth texture with many coats , this is why i dilute down .

All of the threads i have posted so far are from a while back when i was not really on DW but the last 9-12 months worth of photos and videos i have changed what i take footage of to help tell the complete story in more depth following other detailers on here .

So i am trying to fly through the older details to end up with the more recent ones which will hlep guys on here .

Aston coming with seat repair

coloured stitching


















































































colour match is the bigest problem i encounter even when sending of a sample , so have ended up with loads of primary colours which i use to tint the colour sent from supplier to get as close as possible

HTH

Kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


----------



## Guest (Jul 25, 2010)

Thanks for the answer on the leather, of course your not going to give away your secrets but its nice to see how you do things :thumb:


----------



## c16rkc (Apr 15, 2010)

Wow what a fantastic job!!... and thanks for the leather tips!


----------



## Dgioconto (May 19, 2010)

Standard KDS! Fantastic!


----------



## JasonPD (Jan 8, 2010)

Stunning result, always love seeing tired leather given a new lease of life :thumb:


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

That is truly awesome stuff,one of my favorites so far!


----------



## Dan Clark (Jun 25, 2007)

That detail is hugely impressive!


----------



## tallandy (Nov 24, 2007)

Incredible work


----------



## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

matt1263 said:


> Can you explain why you think that of the pad washer please.
> 
> Am intrested in it, just want to make sure its a valuable tool rather than a gimmick. :thumb:


we dont always use the pad washer , it just depends on the paint and pad combo then it can be very usefull .

For light cuts we may use it once or twice around a whole car , again not on every car and then sometimes on older dead paint (solid colour) we could use it once or twice per panel .

saves us alot of time keep washing out the pads over the sink during details .

Sometimes we use a megs detail brush applied direct to foam pad to clean of dried compound and paint and then other times wet clean way .

HTH

kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


----------



## Guest (Aug 1, 2010)

Yes it does, thanks very much :thumb:

(cough, I have one now haha)


----------



## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

PJS said:


> No pics of Tracy?
> Robbie's going to be very disappointed with this thread then. :lol:
> 
> What'd you use on the chrome - Autosol/Peek/etc, or something finer?


I see if tracy will stand in the pics more often just fro Robbies pleasure 

The chrome will depend if its real chrome or the plastic type with top coat lacquer over the top to what i use .

In the past used autosol alot , tried megs metal cleaning was ok .

Now just use different compounds to polish back chrome , found the black top fine compound from 3m to have the right amount of cut for most chrome parts .

Kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


----------



## Crook2001 (Jul 20, 2010)

what a boat..! superb


----------



## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Amazing work and those seats :thumb:


----------



## Kelly @ KDS (Aug 4, 2008)

Crook2001 said:


> what a boat..! superb





ahaydock said:


> Amazing work and those seats :thumb:


Thanks

had to do the same last month again but this time different colour piping and paintwork



























































































Paintwork was just an enhancement





































Kelly

www.kdsdetailing.co.uk


----------



## Eheis5 (Apr 25, 2011)

Sorry for grave-digging here but the turn-around on this car is just amazing!:doublesho


----------



## Dingo2002 (Apr 4, 2007)

Absolutely phenomenal turnaround! I saw this in the background of one of the pics of the Phantom and was going to ask what you were doing to it and if you were going to post any pics. 

Love these old school turnarounds


----------



## Skodaw (Mar 19, 2006)

WOW! - I love it when I see a new post from KDS - you always know your in for a treat


----------



## TelTel (Aug 21, 2010)

absolutely unbelievable!!!! fantastic work there. The seats look incredible.


----------



## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

That is some truly amazing work on the interior! Outstanding! :thumb:


----------



## lionheart (May 10, 2011)

just goes to show what fantastic result's can be had when you have the proper know-how.


----------



## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Fantastic work there buddy.


----------



## paulmc08 (Feb 3, 2009)

I've figured out what the "S" in "KDS" stand's for.........

Stunning

another work of art Kelly:thumb:


----------



## Raife (Jul 14, 2009)

Completely amazing transformation!!!


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Nice work Kelly, have a blue Silver Spirit in next month, big old girls with some big old panels to cover.


----------



## toomanycitroens (Jan 14, 2011)

Stunning.


----------



## Superspec (Feb 25, 2011)

I am amazed that those seats looked that good when you'd finished with them. Stunning. Paint looked awesome too. Superb work.


----------



## andy_ad567 (Sep 26, 2010)

amazing work 100% better good job mate and what a turn around on they seats looks amazing


----------



## Ali (Apr 5, 2006)

Wow! Great job!


----------



## Pedro92 (May 5, 2011)

incredible work on leather!!!!:thumb:


----------

