View Full Version : I died my tan leather seats, to black
PuckPuck
10-02-2003, 10:51 PM
I bought some SEM paint made to dye leather, vinyl and fabrics. This paint costs me roughly 50$ (CDN Funds) for a quart and is intended to be sprayed from a paint gun at 20-25psi. The good part about the low psi is the much lower amount of fumes and overspray then other auto paints. The paint needs to be shot initially in two coats. The first one being a "dry" or very light coat, followed 5 minutes later by a "wet" or heavy coat. I also added a third coat when finished to make sure I got all the spots. I also did the cracks and hard to reach areas first, let it dry then did the rest of the seat. Having a friend to help you pull back the seat to open up the cracks helps.... alot.
I also painted my koni yellow struts. I don't want yellow on my car, so it had to go. I sanded them, then primed them and painted them using a Wheel paint from Duplicolor. I also added like 10 coats of clear to the struts.
The SEM leather dye paint should be found somewhere on the net, I bought it locally at an auto body supplies shop. The wheel paint should be available at most auto parts stores.
Linky with pics (http://atomicinternet.homeip.net/teamneco/puckpuck/showgallery.asp?galleryid=21)
Q4kntmare
10-02-2003, 11:14 PM
looks great! I've got to dye my yellow cougar head out of my seats some how. Still not sure.
ignernt
10-02-2003, 11:42 PM
I've been thinking of this myself. My seats aren't tan they're like a graphite, but I want plain black. Plus they're starting to get worn out... 10.28.98 build date.;)
Look great though, Pierre. :thumbsup:
ND4SPD
10-02-2003, 11:54 PM
Damn Pierre!! those seats have never looked so good... i almost want them back now! :)
PuckPuck
10-03-2003, 12:12 AM
Originally posted by: ND4SPD
Damn Pierre!! those seats have never looked so good... i almost want them back now! :)
NEEEVVVVVVVVVVVAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::e vil::evil::evil:
spacedog73
10-03-2003, 10:58 AM
Thanks PuckPuck, I did'nt know that this could be done.
"dyeing the leather"
I keep seeing leather seats for sale, but they always seem to be the tan or grey ones, and having a DSG, I want black.
Know I now it can be done.
Dante
10-03-2003, 12:37 PM
Looks Great Pierre!
Did you end up doing the back of the seats? Just curious because there were no finished pics of the rear and i was wondering how much of a PITA it was to do inside the pouch.
PuckPuck
10-09-2003, 11:41 AM
Originally posted by: OJE
Did you end up doing the back of the seats? Just curious because there were no finished pics of the rear and i was wondering how much of a PITA it was to do inside the pouch.
sorry i didn't reply ealier... anyhow if you notice the one pic of the back of the seats, you'll see the pouch kinda sticking out... what i did was stick 2 bolts (about 2.5" long) at either end of the pouch to hold it open.... once that was done when spraying the rears, i would spray inside first, then do the rest... it was actually quite easy like this. The only downside is there are now 2 small tan dots down below in either pouch where the bolt was... i was going to just go over thoses 2 spots with a black paint marker... although i don't have back seats in my cougar so i doubt anyone will really look down there anyhow....
reason why i did the bolt thing, instead of just holding it open, is because as the paint is drying i didn't want it to stick together.....
also i've gotten a few posts about does the paint rub off.... now the paint can does say to wait as long as you can before reinstalling the seats... i actually let them sit for 24 hours before i did anything with them... then about 48 hours later i finally sat on the seats and rubbed my ass and my finger around.... the paint did not rub off.... currently i'm out of town, but i will be returning today, and will give the seats a real good shake down wearing WHITE clothing.... this will be the ultimate test to see how well this works....
also the seats feel like real leather... they don't feel like they were painted or what not... they look and feel like they were originally black leather seats.... if my white clothing test passes i will be doing my door liners and other parts of my car too, possibly even the entire dash... that's how pleased i am at this point with this stuff.....
ND4SPD
10-09-2003, 02:25 PM
omg... heh, i'm kinda nervous FOR you about trying them out with WHITE clothes :tongue:
though from what you're saying, it sounds like that stuff really IS 'the real deal'
paint it black Puck! paint it all black!! :)
frenchblueC2
10-10-2003, 09:43 AM
looks 10x better.
no offense to those who actually like the tan leather, but that shiz was ugly!
big improvement. nice work.
JAMallott
10-11-2003, 12:01 AM
Originally posted by: frenchblueC2
looks 10x better.
no offense to those who actually like the tan leather, but that shiz was ugly!
big improvement. nice work.
ditto!
looks really nice!
eurocrisp
10-11-2003, 08:09 PM
Can this stuff be brushed on, at all? I want to dye my dashboard and door panels... everything thats dark muddy grey to black like it is stock in the 01-02's.
ND4SPD
10-11-2003, 09:40 PM
that is my dream to Neil :)
eurocrisp
10-12-2003, 04:19 AM
I know its possible, that bright orange widebody with "nice pussy" written underneath the rear aluminum wing whos not from Neco did it, but didnt say what he used. It looked completely factory. Ill have to just get out the effort and use google for a couple minutes.
black would definatly be better. (http://www.recordedmemory.com/cougar/5_3/pages/P1010136.htm) ...so would being widebody. ...with airbags.