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Courtesy of Aaron from Aus
When i bought my E12 the interior was not the best. Structually it wasnt to
bad, the seats had some minor tears and sun damage, the carpet was badly
stained. especially around the handbrake lever.
My first intenetion was
to just swap out the seats with a set from a E28 at wrecking yard, i bougt the
set for $250.
The leather was structually great and the back seat was in
good condition as it was, the front had drivers seat had a bit of wear, and so
did the passeger side, but less so.
After washing them with Sugar soap,
they came up alot better again....but still lacked the rich coulour and lustre
that good leather seats bring.
I got a Quote from a Leather dying place
in Richmond (Melbourne), they remove the old dye, spray on new dye and bake it,
Cost $650, i wasnt about to spend $650 on leathers that cost me $250.
So
i went down to the local Auto Shop and had a look for Dyes and came across VHT
Vinyl and Carpet dye, that also worked on Tanned leather.
I bought
Buckskin colour and tried it on a spot of the back seat, at first the colour
looked odd, but after it dried it looked OK, so i tried it on one of the big
sunspots on the shoulders of the back seats and it covered it straight up
perfectly.
The reason i bought Buckskin is because it was the closest
colour to the original leather colour, and as it dried the original colour came
out more and more.
So i done all the seats and was very happy with the
result, i was just going to put the seats in as they were and not bother to do
the rest of the interior with the Dye, but i quickly changed my mind as the
green carpet and door trims just didnt match.
Here is the pic of the first section i done, that being the top section of the back seat, the lower part i rubbed in the left over from the first Can of Dye into the bigger scratches with my fingers....you should be able to see the lines in the Photo.
The carpet took about 6 cans of black Dye from memory, you have to remove all
the seats and mask up areas that you dont want sprayed, if it does get on
something you didnt want it on (as long as it isnt Vinyl, Carpet of leather,
plastic) it will wash off after it dries because it is Dye, not paint ie: if it
gets on metal, let dry and rub off with water and soap.
Firstly i
Vacumed the carpets and made sure they were dry, i did a section no more than
1/2 metre square at a time and using a stiff scrubbing brush to rub the Dye into
the carpet, as per the instructions on the side of the can.
Then
re-coated the same section again with the Dye.
Note: Also if your
working in a confined space with this stuff, ensure adequate ventilation, it is
quite toxic, and dosnt smell good either, it has Tolulene in it a known
Carcnogen. Really try to avoid breathing this stuff in.
My Car took
7days of windows open to get rid of most of the smell, it still smells and will
probly be a while till it fully resides, especially after having the windows up
overnight.
After about 5 cans and i was done....when you get the carpet in full sun, you start to see spots you missed, i got another can for that, and touched up spots, and whenever i see a spot i do it.
Door trims are the hardest part, only because they are difficult to remove
and refit..rmoving not to bad, refitting a bit of a pain, Finding all the screws
on th E12 door trim is a hassle, but i have made it easy for you here with a
Photo that identifyes all the Screw points and hidden plastic covers.
I hope that helps in removing them.
Before masking them up, Rub some
Methlayted spirits or Alchol over the parts your going to mask as there may be
remanants of Vinyl reviver (armour all) that could prevent the Masking tape from
sticking properly.
I found the best way to mask up the fine bits of
chrome around the ash try and middle of the door was to stick the making tape on
the chrome and then using a sharp razor blade cuting away the Excess tape, being
careful not to cut the door trims.
Also, before painting the Vinyl on
the door trims, clean them thourghly with sugar soap (or similar detergent),
Dry, then rub them with Metholayted spirits, Alcahol or Pre wash thinners, even
after all this the Dye in some spots didnt want to bond and bubbled, but after a
few more coats it just went away....same should probly go for the seats as
well..although i didnt do that to the seats.
Sorry i dont have any
photos of the door skins before i did them, there is a photo were you can see
them below were i have a before and after.
As you can see it looks fantastic.
I used:
Seats: 4x Cans of
VHT Buckskin Tan $48
Carpet: 5x Cans of VHT Satin Black $60
Door
trims: 3x Cans of VHT Buckskin Tan $36
Total: $144
For a $144 i
have a brand new interior, i also spent $250 on the seats themselves, so a Total
of $394
If you try and cover light covers with dark colours, it will
take alot more cans and cost more, Vice versa.....so dont try and cover black
with White, Red over white....you might end up with pink, i stuck with as close
to similar colours, ie: tan seats, Tan dye, Dark green floor i went black.
If you do this Mod be prepared to waste 10 minutes of your life just
standing there thinking how much of a wonderful job you done and how great your
interior looks.
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