Interior Dye Touchup Color
 

Has anyone ever had to touchup a spot where the red color is wearing off on the red leather seat? It is only on the drivers seat where it rubbed when I used to get into the vehicle. The spot is on the seat back (on the outside) about left cheek level :icon23:. Is there a good brand of dye that anyone can recommend? It's not real bad (yet) so I want to keep ahead of the game.

Any information is appreciated...

i just recently used Home Page | Leatherique Restoration Products REJUVINATOR and PRESTINE CLEAN on my seats..... I didn't have any areas where i thought dye was rubbing off, but i did have plenty of areas where the color from my jeans was darkening the leather. When i used leatherique it removed all of that, and a lot more. brought the seats back to new. The color, texture and feel is fantastic!

Maybe give that a try and see how the color looks.

If not, i think that same company makes dye also.

I'd love to see pictures of whats going on with your seats. so much more can be determined from a few photos.

Great thread! I purchased by 40th used 6 months ago and it was sitting on a lot in the sun so the seats and mainly the door panels aren't as red as I see in pictures. Luckily they haven't turned pink... Hopefully that stuff will help me out. Can this be used on the door panels? if not what do you suggest?

I think its just for leather. i made sure to not get any on the fabric parts of the seats. as far as the door fabric goes, there are a few threads about that in the 40th anniversary section. People seam to have good results with a little water on a clean cloth and a soft bristle toothbrush.

I'm out of town this week, but I can get pictures on Thursday to show what I am talking about.

Alcantara® extraordinary every day

Check that link for any cleaning needs, it also has stain removal tips. I have used these instructions and can say it works great and will not hurt the material. However I haven't had to dye anything yet.

Between using the instructions for the alcantara (suede like material) and normal leather cleaning products, I have always been able to bring the interior to look so much better! I would highly recommend doing a full detail to the interior and treat it all with the appropriate products to bring it to a better look and feel!

If you do decide to do some dying please post some before and after pics:pics: I am sure we would all love to see what can be done! :tup:

Well, I was finally able to take a few pics of the seat section where the color is wearing. Let me know if there are any thoughts and thanks for looking!

sorry to say it dude but IMO it looks more like leather damage then fading, the material looks to be frayed or scuffed more then anything. Fading the leather would have kept the material looking the same just a different colour (faded) this looks like material has been damaged.........


It would be worth looking into seeing if you have any extra warranties that might cover the inside I know I had an additional one for interior and exterior above and beyond the factory warranty (I got free of charge due to a customer appreciation day BS on the day I bought my Z, which was a hook up from my buddy selling me the car from Nissan)

I know it's not fading, but actually wear from getting in and out of the vehicle. I do have an extended warranty, but this would probably not be covered because it is wear. I have adjusted the way that I get in and out of the front seat, so the wear has not gotten any worse since I bought it used.

I am posting to see if anyone knows of a dye that can touch it up to make it look better. I know it won't be perfect, but I want to keep it in check before it gets too bad.

Thanks for the photos. That kind of damage i would think needs to be filled before being color matched. Probably no easy fix that will last in such a high traffic area. I would consider getting some advice from professional leather repair shop.

Please keep us updated with details if you try anything yourself or get it repaired by an expert. I'm sure over the next few years this info might become valuable.

That needs more than some touch up, that's some serious wear.

After talking with a coworker who does a lot of paint work on the side he was talking about a company that makes a product for interior painting/dyeing. He was saying SEM makes products for dyeing the interior. You should look into there stuff he says they can match a lot of interior colours. Let us know if you end up using it and how it goes for you and let us know if you find/use another product people always like a good review :tup: GL

LMBmikeZ,

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to look them up. Unfortunately, I will probably have to wait until Spring as the old girl will be put away in the next two weeks or so. This will give me a few months to figure out how I want to tackle the seats.

:tup: GL and keep us posted!

Well, just wanted to update...

I brought the car to a local interior leather guy yesterday who works on very high end vehicles like Rolls, Mercedes, etc... He looked at the seat and said that it can probably be fixed to where it looks almost new again. He did say that the leather is not dyed through, but actually surface dyed. He would fix the area to biuld up the low spots that have been worn, and then custom mix a color that would be air brushed and absorbed into the leather. The hardest part is to redo the black stitching once the seat is colored. He charges $35/hr and said it would only take about 5 hours to finish. I was very impressed by his results in his workshop on a 59 Rolls and a 80ish Rolls that was from Isreal that he was redoing.

In his opinion, he thought that there may have been a weak spot in the leather when it was manufactured allowing the color to wear prematurely. He was also concerned that the weakend area may affect how the air bag would deply in an accident. With that being said, I stopped by the local Nissan dealer and asked them to take a look at the damage. They said that cosmetic damage was not under warranty after 12 months so that was that. When I voiced my concern about the air bag not deploying properly and the "expert" leather guy saying that the leather was flawed, they seemed more receptive to my concerns. The service manager took some pictures and said that they would be sent to Nissan to get their take on this issue and they would let me know the outcome. I also told them that the car is only driven 6 months a year and only has 18000 miles, so it should not be damaged already. I mentioned that I had been to a few Nissan car shows in the last month (ZdayZ and Midwest Heritage) and did not see another Z with damage like mine.

Oh well, that's the latest. I am really not expecting Nissan to do anything about the seat, but one can hope. If they don't, I think that I have found someone to fis it so it will look good and last a long time.

Second update...

I dropped the car off yesterday to get the seat fixed and was told it should be finished around Friday of this week.

To summarize, he is going to fill in the worn areas, custom mix the dye, spray the color, and then spray a matte finish so the repair looks like the unworn areas of the seat. I talked to him today and they have found a color that is almost identical to the red which is a Rolls Royce color, #3171 for what it is worth. Once finished, he assures me that the repair will be un-noticeable. The repair should last longer than the surrounding area, but time will tell.

While I was there last night, I asked if he could recommend a product to clean the suede (?) area of the arm rest as it was getting dirty. He uses a product called "Whip-It" and mixes it to about 8:1 and has amazing results. He cleaned the area for me at no charge, and sent me some photos of the results. I think that it turned out very well. The nice thing about this product is that it is "Earth Friendly" and is available almost everywhere (as seen on TV).

When I get the car back, I'll post some before and after pictures of the seat repair. I am very pleased with some of the samples of his work, so I have confidence that my baby will be like new before I put her to bed in a few weeks.

Haven't seen the repairs in person, but I was sent some photos of the finished product. All I can say is :happydance: !

You can't even see where the repair was made...

Not bad for less than $300. My Z is whole again!

Wow that is some fine work. I wish he was closer to me. My seat is developing the same problem at the stitching on the upper bolster. But at least I know what's causing it. The grip of my M&P is rubbing that spot when my shirt rides up. So I know how to prevent further damage.

Do you mind posting the leather guys contact info? Maybe he can recommend someone local to me.

GRK Rolls Royce Interiors, Ltd.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/GRK-R...58808364223409
101 West Bagley Road Berea, OH 44017 (440) 823-6153

Thanks.

another leather repair source
 

I used a franchised business called Fibernew to do some serious repairs on my 300X to both leather and vinyl. While product is important, quality of repairs is mostly dependent on the patience and skills of the guy doing it, especially when it comes to color matching. The guy in DFW area was really good and I was very satisfied with his work. Here's link to what my previously twinturbo.net post; but apologize for the broken photo links.

Here are links to before and after pictures for the leather and vinyl repairs he did. As I mentioned in previous post, ignore the overall color shift due to using different cameras for before and after.

Seat leather repair
Vinyl repairs