New Life For Old, Cracked Leather
 

First, my apologies: this won't be much of a step by step guide, as in my haste, I forgot to take a "Before" picture. Or "during" pictures. Sorry; the leather repair kit showed up, and I just sorta jumped into things.

When I purchased my 2000 S a couple of weeks ago, the one thing that stood out as being in relatively poor condition was the left section of the driver's seat, and especially the bolster. The left section had a lot of heavy creasing, and the bolster had the same condition, plus a lot of cracking, with white showing through. It wasn't horrible, but it definitely was bad.

The best I can do in terms of showing you what it was like is to show one of the images from the car's eBay listing; unfortunately, it's low res and a bit out of focus. But I think you'll be able to see the cracking:

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1351364112.jpg

Stumbling about the interwebs, I found a firm that sells repair kits, and they also offer dyes that match Porsche (and many other) leather colors. I have no connection with this company, by the way.

Following the instructional video on their website, I was able to get the bolster to this state in about an hour and a half:

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1351366142.jpg

Obviously, the light is much different between the two photos, but I think you can see how much better it looks.

The repair process is simple: you basically clean and rough up the surface to be repaired, fill in any creases or cracks with a filler material (several thin coats), and then apply 3-4 thin coats of dye. You can dry each coat using a hair dryer, speeding the process considerably. In the photo above, I'd applied 3-4 coats of the filler, and about 5-6 thin coats of dye. The color matches quite well.

After about 48 to 72 hours, you then treat it with a conditioner/protectant (which is part of the kit). The only thing that I needed that wasn't part of the kit was some fine (600 to 1000 grit) sandpaper, but I happened to have some 1000 grit on hand.

The company I purchased this from is called Leather World Technologies. The kit I bought is a "Deluxe Leather Recolor and Repair Kit." It was $59.95

For having never done anything like this before, I'm very pleased with how it worked out. One thing that helped a lot: as mentioned earlier, their website has instructional videos, and I was able to watch the relevant video several times during the process. I hope this helps out some of you!

P.S.: One truly weird thing about this website is that I searched all over it and couldn't find an address or phone number. In any event, post-order communication was good, the kit showed up quickly, and I'm happy. The packing list contains a Roanoke, VA address and phone number, BTW. I guess the omission on the website is just an oversight.

Please led us know how it holds up in the long run, it will be interesting to see whether the repair still holds after a year.
Bfan

Looks good!
 

I have the same problem with my left bolster. I'll give it a shot.

had mine done by a local shop for $150 ...looks much better ...as yours does also

anyone try it on their wife yet?

Hahaha. :D

+1 on that one! Let us know :)

Great idea. Please take Before and After pictures when you do it.

I'll take some follow-up shots next summer or fall.

I tried this about three months ago and the quality, color matching is incredible. It's holding up good.
Just send him your VIN number and he will match your color

Leather Dye Porsche 911 996 997 928 Boxster Turbo Carr | eBay

Interesting info. Thanks

So what exactly is this filler material and the burning question of the day is, "Does it feel like leather?"

Even though it looks great, the feel would detract me if it felt like a patch or rough spot, etc.

How's it holding up?
Any fading or flaking?

Its been a year! Is the repai rholding out?? Im definitely curious

It has held up well with one exception. The panel on the bottom of the seat looks great and has absolutely no issues. The bolster has shown some cracking or flaking of the dye. I am guessing I didn't do as good of a job with the bolster as I did with the bottom/side panel of the seat, or my jeans rubbing on the bolster as I get into the car may be the issue. I've touched it up with dye a couple of times over the last year, and that has temporarily addressed the issue. Longer term, I probably ought to re-do the bolster.

I can't take a picture right now as my Boxster is in storage, but will do so the next time I check on it.

:/ sad to hear. Look forward to the pics!

None of this stuff is permanent, neither was the original leather, but just having the ability to touch it up is fantastic. I've tried something similar and I'm still ecstatic that it even does what it can.

Anything is better than it was!

If you truly want to get a (Porsche nappa) leather restoration job done, it's best to leave it to the pro imo. I did, although not much for seats, but for some scratches here and there and I was blasted with the results. You can't tell where the touch-up was made.

These guys used wet sanding, degreasing, rubber based putties, perfectly matched dye, a sealant and polishing. Not to mention the Aloes base cream treatment he did to the entire car's leather. NEW CAR!

One of the best $200 (+generous tip) ever spent on my Porsche car

Gentlemen, Here's two pics of the job I did on my 986 2001. I used Leatherique products. I spend ten hours on each seat just for preparation. The result is just amazing.

Nice work!