Posted By: Gunzi
Restore leather (remove shine) & seat frame fix - 06/08/2018 19:32
How to Remove the Shine from Leather Seats and fix a ‘Saggy’ Seat Base
For a downloadable version of this guide please click here.
Tools needed
Long flat head screw driver
Philips screw driver
6 mm Allen key
Gliptone leather cleaner (or alternate brand)
Gliptone leather cream (or alternate brand)
Welder (I outsourced this!)
My Coupe had the leather seat option from factory and 138k and 19 years of the driver getting in and out (10 years it was me!) caused the driver’s seat to be very shiny which looks odd when compared to the passenger and rear seats which are matt finish.
Also the lower section of the driver’s seat had a section of the metal broken which meant zero support for my right leg.
Firstly remove the shiny driver’s seat, it is 4 x 6 mm Allen keys in the 4 corners of the subframe.
BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU LIFT OUT THE DRIVERS SEAT AS THERES AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTION UNDERNEATH THAT NEEDS TO BE DISCONNECTED!!
This is the part of the seat frame which was broken, I could hear it rattling around.
There are a few Philips screws and a bolt which secure the plastic side pieces and the recliner wheel to the frame of the seat which need to be removed.
I then followed the How to guide for remove seat runners and subframe to understand how the leather and foam base are removed from the seat frame without damaging it.
Here is a photo of me levering the leather out which is tucked under and into the frame, using a long flat head screw driver.
Once the foam and leather were separated from the seat it was time to get the broken section welded. It cost me £10 to get this done by a friendly machine shop, and express instructions were given not to damage the leather on the upper half of the seat!
Here is the repair job:
I used Gliptone leather cleaner and a soft nail brushes to clean the leather and begin to remove the shine and take it back to a matt finish. This takes time and I went through several soft nail brushes:
And the finished matt look seat with repaired frame compared to the original:
Original
Repaired and matt finish
For a downloadable version of this guide please click here.
Tools needed
Long flat head screw driver
Philips screw driver
6 mm Allen key
Gliptone leather cleaner (or alternate brand)
Gliptone leather cream (or alternate brand)
Welder (I outsourced this!)
My Coupe had the leather seat option from factory and 138k and 19 years of the driver getting in and out (10 years it was me!) caused the driver’s seat to be very shiny which looks odd when compared to the passenger and rear seats which are matt finish.
Also the lower section of the driver’s seat had a section of the metal broken which meant zero support for my right leg.
Firstly remove the shiny driver’s seat, it is 4 x 6 mm Allen keys in the 4 corners of the subframe.
BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU LIFT OUT THE DRIVERS SEAT AS THERES AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTION UNDERNEATH THAT NEEDS TO BE DISCONNECTED!!
This is the part of the seat frame which was broken, I could hear it rattling around.
There are a few Philips screws and a bolt which secure the plastic side pieces and the recliner wheel to the frame of the seat which need to be removed.
I then followed the How to guide for remove seat runners and subframe to understand how the leather and foam base are removed from the seat frame without damaging it.
Here is a photo of me levering the leather out which is tucked under and into the frame, using a long flat head screw driver.
Once the foam and leather were separated from the seat it was time to get the broken section welded. It cost me £10 to get this done by a friendly machine shop, and express instructions were given not to damage the leather on the upper half of the seat!
Here is the repair job:
I used Gliptone leather cleaner and a soft nail brushes to clean the leather and begin to remove the shine and take it back to a matt finish. This takes time and I went through several soft nail brushes:
And the finished matt look seat with repaired frame compared to the original:
Original
Repaired and matt finish
