Leather seat facings

[mccrackenj]

I'm sure it's a daft question but, is it remotely possible that the seat facings on my '94 Chimaera are not leather, ie: that they're vynil just like the rest of the cockpit trim?

I ask because I've tried to clean & feed them using 'Liquid Leather' and harsher cleaners (and LL conditioner) and they still feel & smell no different from seat backs & rest of trim.

I've owned various Rover P4s & P6s etc in the past so I'm no stranger to cleaning/feeding leather, I've also been very impressed with LL products before, so:

Do I just need to persevere & try repeated treatments (3 times already)

Can the LL conditioner 'go off' - it's a litre bottle so I've had it for 5/6 years.


Thanks

[rfisher]

Not quite sure what you mean by seat facings but - I've had my Chim for 4 years and have only just been told by various dealers (trying to sell her) that only the seats are leather.

Although the car has blue 'leather' door panels and not carpet (which I thought only came with full hide cars) it's not the real McCoy.

Still looks great though;

www.pistonheads.com/sales/48096.htm

Not really advertising my car - just illustrating my point.

[rfisher]

brian blakey said:

got all the right cleaner and colour from croft gate

From their web site it says quite a lot of the materials are "RESTRICTED TO PROFESSIONAL USERS ONLY."

So will they sell to Jo Bloggs on the street or is it all 'brand new customers only' 'computer says no' yer might hurt yerself type nonsense if yer get my drift?

[snorky]

in my experience the dash top and the seat facings ( the bit you touch) are leather and the rest was "ambla" fakey leather - mine is a full hide car so all the "leather" is leather - but I still have carpet on the door cards.

[hugepiece]

brian, what product did you use, i've looked on their website and there is a few different options. Did you send them a sample? if so where did you cut it from? my seats in my'94 4.0 are looking a bit cracked and scuffed so could do with some TLC.

[Cavey]

If what you talking about is Gliptone Liquid Leather then, yes, anyone can order it from their site

www.liquidleather.com/

and yes it is very good stuff. The seats in my Chim are Cerbera ones and only the middle panels are leather (disappointingly), so haven't used it there but did refurb the seats in my last 911 using their products, one a cleaner and the other a conditioner. Really brings up the smell of the leather too.

One caution: as you work dirt off the leather surface it can easily rub into stitching and if the stitching is a light colour it will show the dirt. You can't then get it out. Found this in the 911 - went from grubby grey leather with light stitching to very clean leather with grubby stitching. Avoiding the stitching is time-consuming and boring - depends what level of perfection you seek, Grasshopper.

If you're delaing with vinyl, a mild solution of Fairy is as good as anything.

[rfisher]

Cavey said:

If what you talking about is Gliptone Liquid Leather then, yes, anyone can order it from their site www.liquidleather.com/

He means this place;

www.croftgate.com/cgi-bin/store/CROstore.cgi?user_action=list&category=Leather%20Care%20%26%20Renovation

[mccrackenj]

Thank for your replies everyone.

Thanks Snorky - I didn't realise the dashtop might be leather too.

Upon reflection I think seat facings must be leather but probably have not been treated very well in the past. I'll just continue with repeated applications of Liquid Leather conditioner as I've been impressed with it in the past on 1960s & 1970s Rover seats (that's what first introduced me to the joys of the RV8 - its a bit different when enlarged/tuned and installed in a TVR though!)

For info - I have used Croftgate's leather oil in the past and thought it was pretty good too.

No experience of any other products.

[tiger]

This is my understanding

Three levels of leather available

Standard - Leather Seats Only, Door trim carpet, vinyl dash top, vinyl center arm rest

1/2 Leather - Seats, gear level gaiter and hand brake gaiter and door trim leather. Vinyl dash top.

Full Leather - Seats, Doors, Dash top, Gaiters etc the lot leather.

[snorky]

hmmm..mine stated on the original sales form it was full hide but still has the carpet in the doors - mind you I suppose you can spec roughly what you want from new...?

[ameyc]

Hi Guys,

It is possible that the interior of early cars contain no leather at all. Instead they have a rather dubious quality vinyl (IMHO)

What was the year of the car in question?

[brian blakey]

re croft gate, yes they do sell to joe bloggs,even tho ive not met him, they will advise you on the things that you need,send a sample of the trim in and they match the exact colour.Explain what you are trying to do and they will help.

[hugepiece]

does anyone know the best place to cut a sample of the leather out to send off? I assume under the seat but have never taken mine out. Also I assume that if you only have part leather then the side back of the seats will be vinyl anyway? Mines a '94 with carpet in the doors so I assume its part leather. The dash top could be either leather or vinyl its hard to tell. most people want a leather sample to colour match the die. Any ideas???

[alex.mcintosh]

Vinyl/leather door inserts were available at no extra cost on request - nothing to do with 1/2 or full hide

[Cavey]

hugepiece said:

The dash top could be either leather or vinyl its hard to tell.

From cars that I've seen (few with leather admittedly) the vinyl has a grained effect whereas leather has a smooth finish.