14N Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 With a ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ attitude and armed with knowledge gained from the internet and YouTube, I set about changing the colour of my seats with some leather colorant/pigment dye. I really like red seats, especially in a grey car, but thinking the red would contrast (in a bad way) with my ever-so-slightly orange engine bay, I opted for a more neutral colour and chose a light grey so it would work alongside the colour of my car and still offer a contrast to the black interior. On paper, it’s a simple 4-step process. Easy peasy. 1. Remove seats 2. Prep seats 3. Apply colour and finish 4. Refit seats This is how the job actually panned out in reality: 1. Remove seats 2. Prep seats 3. Apply colour (with sponges provided as per instructions) 4. Dislike finish 5. Dislike colour as it was too dark 6. Realise you’ve screwed up a perfectly good seat 7. Put ‘wanted’ ad for passenger seat on forum 8. Figure out a Plan B to save the seat after little/no response to ad 9. Buy more leather prep (used to remove colour) 10. Buy more (lighter shade) leather dye 11. Buy cheapo airbrush kit and can of propellant from eBay to apply colour 12. Prep seat (again) 13. Start to apply colour 14. Struggle with cheap airbrush kit and can of propellant (if you’ve ever used one, I’m sure you understand) 15. Buy small compressor for airbrush off the internet 16. Await delivery – compressor arrives 17. Realise that the mini airbrush kit you’ve got won’t fit the mini compressor you’ve now got 18. Swear 19. Make the airbrush kit fit the compressor by using ‘bloke ingenuity’ and duct tape 20. Finish applying colour 21. See how the seat looks in the car before applying leather finish 22. Dislike colour again and learn that colours displayed on the internet often look very different in real life 23. Swear (a lot) – buy MORE leather prep to remove colour 24. Buy MORE colorant, ensuring you’re happy with colour 25. Remove 2nd colour 26. Prep seat (again) 27. Apply 3rd colour 28. Knock over and spill the bottle of colour, just as you’re beginning to question whether you’re actually going to have enough to finish the job 29. Swear more, maybe even cry a little 30. Clean the mess up and finish applying colour 31. See how version 3.0 looks in the car 32. Happy with the result carry out steps 26 and 27 on the other seat, avoiding step 28 33. Apply leather finish to both seats (I chose satin. Gloss and matt were options too) 34. Refit seats 35. Share the results of your easy 4 step mod with everyone else Should I have left it alone? Yes. It’s my Zed, am I able to leave it alone? No. Would I do it again? No. Do I regret it? No, not now it’s finished. Am I happy with the (finally) finished result? Yes 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmc Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Looking good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Great result, brave to do it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Looks good in the end though mate. Did the airbrush kit thingy have a much better finish than the sponges then? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Love it Ian!! And pmsl! Thank you Sent from my Zed using Nangkang tyres front, RE040's rear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dashurik Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Good result! Which brand name you used to do the job:paint,compressor etc? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Sweet job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 brilliant mate, a job well done and I really LIKE!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Wow! They look like a top job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hensh65 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 You are doing a bad job t putting me off doing it with how good they look. How hard would it be for an absolute moron to change alezan to cream?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundy Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Looks awesome pal! Didn't realise this was possible. Thanks for the laughs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedutch Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Ian, really good finish, car must look even better now. I wouldn't have patience to try this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Well done for finishing this as it sounds like one heck of a mission to do properly. Look's fantastic now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bems Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Looks great. Had a laugh reading what you wrote. Worth it for the end result though. Brave man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate them. I'm just glad it all worked out in the end, as I did have my doubts for most of the process! Did the airbrush kit thingy have a much better finish than the sponges then? Yes! Totally. You do use the sponges to apply the first few coats of dye, working it into the leather and difficult to reach places and it does look streaky/uneven at this stage, but once the airbrush is used, the patchiness and streaks disappear. You then just apply more colour until you're happy with the finish, before applying the leather seal and (in my case matt) finish. Once the colour was all uniform and no patches were seen, I applied more coats to the areas that wear the most, such as the edges of the seats by the doors and bolsters. I did the same with the seal and finish. Good result! Which brand name you used to do the job:paint,compressor etc? No idea what brand the airbrush is, or the compressor I'm afraid (although it does look like a little elephant if that helps)! The leather colorant and prep etc were bought from different sellers on eBay, but they all arrived in the same type of bottles, so I would assume that they're all manufactured the same and just labelled by the seller. How hard would it be for an absolute moron to change alezan to cream?? Well, if an absolute moron can change black to light grey, anything is possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 OK, here's an outtake... When your seat looks like this, you really do question WTF have I done!?! This was taken as I'm starting to remove the first (I think) colour. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 ^^ Wow that look's really bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 ^^ Wow that look's really bad. It was!!! Unfortunately, wasn't an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Definitely worth it in the end though Ian as your seats look great now ~ and unique too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 They look great, one of those projects that once you start there's no turning back Nice work ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 They look great, nice work in the end. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 My shift gaiter was feeling kinda left out, so that got the same treatment today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I like the finished result alot, great write up too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davectr Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Congratulations mate, all your hard work and perseverance has paid off, they look great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Looks good Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.