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-   -   Has anybody replaced seat covers? (http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27365)

WhipE350 01-02-2011 09:25 PM

Has anybody replaced seat covers?
 
Looks like getting new seat covers for my 2000 'S' would be better then dying the seats.

Has anybody done this and do you like it, want to make sure they fit as snug as the originals, I'd rather have scuffs, shiny leather, and creases over replacement covers that look bad. The folks that sell the covers show what appears to be good stuff but I would like to hear from someone that has done it first.

Appreciate it, cheers!

Spinnaker 01-03-2011 02:03 AM

Have you looked at these guys yet? Haven't tried them, but others have reported good results.

http://colorplus.com/index.html

Dale_K 01-03-2011 03:45 AM

The ones I saw on the web at one of the companies that make replacement Boxster tops were so expensive that I ruled them out. If you decide to renovate your seats either by replacing the covers or by redying please post the before and after pics. The seats in my recently aquired 2000 S are not responding to the Meguiar's leather treatment/cleaner.

I read an item somewhere that mentioned redying leather seats with high gloss latex paint. I'm not quite that brave yet but my seats need some TLC.

clb0099 01-03-2011 07:20 PM

Funny you mention this as my seats are at the shop right now getting re-covered. The covers I bought are vinyl and are from ebay. The seller has both leather and vinyl. i figured that the leather would getting beat up again like it did and the vinyl could take more of a beating plus the sun would have little effect on it. The price for vinyl was 300 and the leather was 600-650. I am paying 100 per seat for installation so i am close to what it would have cost just for the leather covers. I just did my interior completely blk. I dyed the carpet blk with Hi-tech blk aresol spray (4) cans as it does vinyl as well as carpet. I took off door panels and sprayed them . All the plastic trim on dash,doors and everywhere else was removed and brought to the bodyshop so that they could paint them blk. My interior is going to be a shiny new blk.

WhipE350 01-03-2011 08:55 PM

Thanks for the response everyone. It's possible that 'colorplus' place stuff would do the trick, maybe some strong cleaning, conditioning, and then touch up dying.

clb, post pics of the vinyl and the rest when done, I"m very curious. Who did you get the seat covers from? I found two places on ebay that seem to sell the same covers. I'm figuring I can take the seats out and do it myself...I think :)

I was looking at the leather but heck like I said on mine I can't tell what is leather and what is vinyl. My car is red and seats black, I was thinking of doing the seats black with red cushions. Oh and ya the price for the leather is over $600.

clb0099 01-03-2011 09:01 PM

I will post pictures when its done... it was def a guy on ebay that i bought them from and I am getting done at a local shop. The vinyl seems very similar to the leather I figured for the money its not worth doing the leather over again.. The constant going in and out of the car makes the bolster to go to crap. I will get all the info from where I bought from and pictures probably towards the end of the week. I didn't take pictures of the seats before so kinda hard to compare.

WhipE350 01-04-2011 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clb0099
I will post pictures when its done... it was def a guy on ebay that i bought them from and I am getting done at a local shop. The vinyl seems very similar to the leather I figured for the money its not worth doing the leather over again.. The constant going in and out of the car makes the bolster to go to crap. I will get all the info from where I bought from and pictures probably towards the end of the week. I didn't take pictures of the seats before so kinda hard to compare.

Ya I'm interested in how snug they fit, i.e. factory look would be nice. Have you ever used a black spray for plastic...my door pocket flaps are kind of scuffed and I was going to replace them...but if I could just sand a little and paint and not be able to tell the difference I might be inclined to try that.

clb0099 01-04-2011 02:25 PM

I thing the snug fit has alot to do with how the installers does the work.. I mean sure the covers can be huge and not fit but a install who has done them before can adjust and make them work without taking away from the seats look factory. I had my interiors pieces professionally painted but there is many paints that will work for your lids. What is rubbing off on them is the thin layer of rubber for protection so that they don't get scratch or whatever. I would sand them down and get a good spray paint and then a good clear coat spray. I have used a paint which you can get in Home depot. The lids are as well as every trim piece is overpriced in the boxster so... I would even go as to get them professionally painted before opting to buy news ones.. as it bound to happen again.


http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xgf/R-100670334/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053i

Bob O 01-04-2011 02:50 PM

Sorry to hijack your thread.

There were several threads here a couple of years ago about flaking door pockets. I suppose you could paint them as CLB suggested, but since that involves sanding them down before you start, you might want to look at this solution, which also involves sanding, and see if it works for you.

Here's one of the threads on door pockets:
http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21811

You might also take a look at Pedro's page. There is a section on recovering the door pockets. You might like the look better than paint.

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site/Technolab.html

Just another option for you to explore.

Bob

Bob O 01-04-2011 03:06 PM

BTW...back to the original thread.......I'm also interested in new skins for at least the passenger seat bottom. A while back someone dumped a coke on my seat while ithe car was parked with the top down, and, according to the interior guy I consulted, the acid in the coke completely destroyed the leather. It can't be repaired. I've talked to and used products from everyone out there with no luck. A professional restorer in KC that I consulted said the same thing....no way. Right after it happened I found a compnay on line that supplied skins cut to fit for the Boxster. But now I can't for the life of me find it again. They had colors and exact cuts for all Porsche models. I don't know why I didn't jump on it at the time but I didn't. Anyway, if anyone finds a company that will supply only the seat bottom skin (which this company would for, as I remember, about $300 maybe less) I'd greatly appreciate knowing who it is.

oh..I really don't want to replace both seats (drivers seat is just fine) and I'm not interested in vinyl either. The rest of the seating areas are leather and I'm wanting to replace the bad one with leather too. Any info is welcome!

Thanks

Bob

timothy 01-04-2011 04:04 PM

Bob, GAHH sells the seat bottom leather but for quite a bit more than the $300 price point.

http://www.gahhinc.com/convertibletops27_57_341_3008/leathercarseats1202/product_info.html



Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob O
BTW...back to the original thread.......I'm also interested in new skins for at least the passenger seat bottom. A while back someone dumped a coke on my seat while ithe car was parked with the top down, and, according to the interior guy I consulted, the acid in the coke completely destroyed the leather. It can't be repaired. I've talked to and used products from everyone out there with no luck. A professional restorer in KC that I consulted said the same thing....no way. Right after it happened I found a compnay on line that supplied skins cut to fit for the Boxster. But now I can't for the life of me find it again. They had colors and exact cuts for all Porsche models. I don't know why I didn't jump on it at the time but I didn't. Anyway, if anyone finds a company that will supply only the seat bottom skin (which this company would for, as I remember, about $300 maybe less) I'd greatly appreciate knowing who it is.

oh..I really don't want to replace both seats (drivers seat is just fine) and I'm not interested in vinyl either. The rest of the seating areas are leather and I'm wanting to replace the bad one with leather too. Any info is welcome!

Thanks

Bob


WhipE350 02-05-2011 05:47 AM

3 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale_K
The ones I saw on the web at one of the companies that make replacement Boxster tops were so expensive that I ruled them out. If you decide to renovate your seats either by replacing the covers or by redying please post the before and after pics. The seats in my recently aquired 2000 S are not responding to the Meguiar's leather treatment/cleaner.

I read an item somewhere that mentioned redying leather seats with high gloss latex paint. I'm not quite that brave yet but my seats need some TLC.

I reconditioned my seats and am really pleased, saves a ton of money. Hard to get good before and after pics in the basement with a flash but I think from the pictures you can see they look awesome.
I did all 4 steps, rejuvenate, clean, prep, dye. If I hadn't had scuff marks I would have only done the first 2 steps. For those out there with nice seats and very few scuffs I would highly recommend the first two steps, you will be amazed at the results.
Since I had to wet sand to dye, the finish comes out very smooth and satin in look. I watered down the dye a bunch so it wouldn't look like paint and wouldn't be too shiny (this was 'my' method, many thin coats). I did the passenger seat first and then the drivers, the drivers came out better because I had learned a lot from the first seat.
First pic is a BEFORE of the passenger, the next two are AFTER on the drivers seat, drivers seat had more wear but less deep scuffs. I filled no wrinkles, I like the slightly wrinkled look, has similar character to my 50 year old face :)
I used Leatherique (no affiliation), they were recommended by a friend at work. George is real nice and helpful.

clickman 02-05-2011 12:37 PM

whip, post a pic of the passenger side redone, the same view you had in your first pic

WhipE350 02-05-2011 08:05 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Clickman, seat is already back in car, but I took a pic tonight with a flash. The flash is good for showing imperfections. You can see it is much better and since it looks better in natural light I didn't add more dye, though after I see in the sun I may do some touch up.

Dale_K 02-06-2011 07:19 AM

Those reconditioned seats look pretty good to me. I have a feeling the tan seats in my car might not come out as good but I'm probably going to try this eventually. I've heard of Leatherique but I don't know much about them. Looks like their system works.

clickman 02-06-2011 09:13 AM

No kudos on the photography :D , but wow, what an improvement over the "before" pic. I'll have to keep this in mind.

WhipE350 02-06-2011 07:54 PM

Along with restoring the paint, doing the seats was one of the more rewarding visual improvement on the car. The drivers seat came out way beyond my expectations, it was pretty weathered when I bought it and felt they were deserving of a discount, but had I known how leather can be brought back to life I wouldn't have worried. I'll be doing my son's beamer seats and girlfriend's nissan seats soon too.

sasha055 02-09-2011 08:57 AM

Those restored seats look amazing:)

How does it hold to wear, paint transfer?

I'm worried that my biege seats will look good after painting but won't as resilient as factory paint.

Sasha

WhipE350 02-09-2011 02:59 PM

Sasha, I haven't had them restored long enough to know how well they will wear, I have wiped them hard and nothing comes off at all, the dye is very resilient. I think the factory dye is lacquer based and the stuff from leatherique is water based which makes for easy cleanup and also means it can be thinned easy so that many layers can be put on.

As I indicated I did a little bit different process then recommended, since mine are black (and it may not matter the color at all) I put many layers on with dye that was thinned with water. This gave me a satin finish which I liked better then what I saw in the pictures on the leatherique website. I'll probably send George an email tonight and ask him if there are any downsides to putting on many thing layers, like how well will they stand up. For the tough spots like I showed in the photo I did come back with un-thinned dye and then used a damp cloth once it started to dry to blend it.

I was more careful on the first seat I did with the sanding and such, but once I realized it wouldn't hurt anything I was more aggressive on the drivers seat. I was really surprised the drivers seat came out so well. This was a great project I would recommend to everyone. If you want more details how I did it I can provide, just pm me or I can put them here.

hwJimm 06-24-2017 10:59 AM

Boxters Leather Seat Covers
 
Hi:
I did my Boxster and very happy with the set, and especially the price.
Not sure if they have any other models:
BestLeatherKits.com.


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