Repainting leather interior - patching cracks
 

Hi All,

I remember seeing a post semi-recently withs some pictures of a marron interior W124 (if I remember correctly it may have been a W126). The member owning it had explained how he redid his interior for a hundred bucks or so using quality product. I have spent the last hour trying to search for that post but cannot find it. Anyway: I have some cracks (no tears) and rubbed-off paint in my beige leather in the 1983 380SEC that I would like to bring back to life. I have just applied leatherique to the interior and had the car sitting out in the sun. I'll probably reapply tomorrow and let it cook for a couple of days to cure the leather back to its "soft state". However afterwards I'd like to take a crack ath the cracks and use some paint to make it look great. I know leathrique sells repair stuff but I believe there are great (and less expensive) alternatives. Please let me know.

Thanks,

Greg

Go to www.colorplus.com . I've used their products with very good results. The nice thing is they carry stock MB leather colors which match perfectly, without charging you for custom mixing. They have a crack filling product in addition to leather dye.

http://leatherique.com/

I've had good luck.

Leatherique and Colorplus are essentially the same product - split up by the contested estate of the original inventor. I use SEM Sure Coat which is very good. I don't think the crack repair works on any of them. If you don't want cracks you get new leather.

www.semproducts.com

I repaired what started out as a crack, but on examination quickly turned into an actual split, on my outboard driver's seat bolster with the Colorplus crack filler product with good results thus far. Has held up to daily use. I backed up the split with some thin leather which I glued on from the back of the seat cover.

Could that have been my thread? I used SEM and had excellent results, though my leather was more or less worn down to a brown suede like surface and didn't have any cracks. I paid less than $100, relatively high considering the car only cost me $800.

Full thread: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/155624-1985-380se-w126-stalling-fuel-pump-relay.html?highlight=380se+stalling

Some pics:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...E/DSCF0011.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...E/e2f27139.jpg

That's it (you're it) gmercoleza!

A couple more things: it did not make your leather hard - did it? How is it holding up? How many cans did you use up?

Thanks (and thanks for everyone!

It did not make the leather hard as it is a thin flexible product. The leather was in pretty good condition to begin with, just worn through the dye on the seating surfaces. The driver side bolster was particularly worn and resembled a suede jacket in a couple spots. So far, 5 months later, it is holding up awesome. I only used one can, but remember I only did the seating surfaces (not the backs, sides, etc.)

I have used SEM for years, but I will warn you that if you want to "do it once and do it right" you really should use the Sure Coat product. It's the one they custom mix for you and does not come in an aerosol can. Sure Coat will last forever, most closely resembles the original factory leather finish, and is a dead match for color if they mix it right.

I used the aerosol can product - Color Coat I believe - for a quick fix and to keep my expenses down, since a gallon of Sure Coat will run about $150 or so (remember I only paid $800 for the car). The surface of Color Coat is not as smooth since you can't adjust viscosity by thinning, which you can do with Sure Coat since it's not in an aerosol can. Also, I would say my color match is only about 95% accurate. Since I did entire panels and did not have to blend, this was not an issue. Only I can tell the difference; most people compliment me and think it looks as good as new. If you just want to do a small area and blend it into the surrounding leather, you should really go with Sure Coat.

A gallon might cost $150 but you can do an entire car with a pint. They say not to thin it but I think you can, a little bit, with water. Two thins coats is all you need. I too have found that it wears very well. Store in an air tight container and you can use it for touchup for many years.

The last car I did with Sure Coat was my 560 SEL with the navy blue interior. I did the fronts, backs, and sides of the seats, a little touch up on the door panels, and some of the carpet. I nearly used a whole gallon.

So where do I get sure coat from?

Thanks!

Here in DFW go to a place called English Color or any other paint supply chain. Call them first to verify they carry SEM Sure Coat. I'm not sure if that's the name, but basically it's the water-based product that they custom mix on site. They will make you leave a sample interior piece overnight for color matching - you want to make sure you give them a piece that has not experienced sun fading (underside of the armrest or a sun visor works best).

You will of course need a compressor and an HVLP or regular paint spray gun (I prefer HVLP for smoother finish). But I'm sure you probably knew that already...

You still own all of those MBs?