Why are Grey/Cream/Beige Leather Interiors so hard to find for a Mk3?

[les.tansey]

Hmmm, I'm really warming to this idea actually, great shout. Would be great if I could get a set of those ugly green or yellow colour concept recaros dirt cheap and then redo them in cream

Why not get a black set and dye the leather cream/grey?

Much easier than either retrimming your current seats or waiting for ages for the right set to come up.

The leather dyes only work if you are going from a light colour to a dark colour

Not true 

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Gallery.php?proj_type=car_interior&proj_damage_type=change_of_colour&searchtext=&submitsearch=Search

I remember seeing you dying your mulberry seats black with this stuff how long did it take and is it a straight forward and as good quality as they make out on furniture clinic? I've done some research on it and it does look like good stuff but thought I better ask you as you've used it yourself Did it go over the piping on the seats alright?

Also, what equiptment from this page do you need to complete the whole process
http://furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Dyes_Restoration.php
Is it just the colourant and finishing kit?

Cheers Lads

[LowlifeDubber]

I got the medium kit out of this lot
http://furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Colourant_Kit.php#prices

The colour goes a very long way and i did 2 a full rear bench and 4 door cards.It covered everything really well.
I had to buy an extra bottle of the leather cleaner/solvent for removing the old dye but all the other stuff lasted really well.
The bottles of propellant for the airbrush however suck.They freeze up after a minute or 2 and it gets really tedious,so in the end i made up an adapter for the airbrush and hooked it up to the compressor at 40psi and it was 300% better!

It is a fairly time consuming job,but take your time,dont rush,mask off all areas you dont want dyeing as the dye stains anything.
You get 3 choices of finish and i went for satin as i didnt want a glossy unnatural look to the leather.
If you run into any problems gimme a shout but i found if i rang them with a query they were very helpful.

[les.tansey]

I got the medium kit out of this lot
http://furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Colourant_Kit.php#prices

The colour goes a very long way and i did 2 a full rear bench and 4 door cards.It covered everything really well.
I had to buy an extra bottle of the leather cleaner/solvent for removing the old dye but all the other stuff lasted really well.
The bottles of propellant for the airbrush however suck.They freeze up after a minute or 2 and it gets really tedious,so in the end i made up an adapter for the airbrush and hooked it up to the compressor at 40psi and it was 300% better!

It is a fairly time consuming job,but take your time,dont rush,mask off all areas you dont want dyeing as the dye stains anything.
You get 3 choices of finish and i went for satin as i didnt want a glossy unnatural look to the leather.
If you run into any problems gimme a shout but i found if i rang them with a query they were very helpful.

I would be doing two front seats, rear bench, and 4 door cards like you, but may also get parcel shelf covered in some real/fake leather and dye that aswell. How much colourant did you have left after you did yours? As I wouldn't mind having a bit spare in case any repairs needed dooing sometime in the future.

You know when you say: "The bottles of propellant for the airbrush however suck.They freeze up after a minute or 2 and it gets really tedious,so in the end i made up an adapter for the airbrush and hooked it up to the compressor at 40psi and it was 300% better!"... This adapter you made, I'm not sure exatly what you mean but could I do the same thing? if so what does it require and cost?

Cheers mate 

[les.tansey]

Stumbled across these beauties yesterday, and have become the inspiration for my interior:


More pics on the link: http://bombercountydubs.makeforum.co.uk/t250-full-recaro-show-winning-leather-interior-mk3-golf

Would love mine in that colour with blue piping and Recaro branding on the backrests 

[les.tansey]

A few questions:

Are there any colour concept interiors that have head restaints on the rear bench?

Do all colour concept seats have "Colour Concept" embossed/pressed into the backrests?

Are the rear benches in colour concept interiors the same (with regards to shape/layout/stiching patterns blah blah) as the ones in say a standard gti? I only ask because if i'm uprating my interior, I want head restraints in the rear bench, but all of the colour concept rear benches don't seem to have them, although I do much prefere the shape of the front recaros that you get in the cc's. - So my plan would be to get two colour concept recaros up front and a standard bench with head restraints from a gti and then dye them cream.

Cheers for all the advice guys, much appreciated 

[LowlifeDubber]

I would be doing two front seats, rear bench, and 4 door cards like you, but may also get parcel shelf covered in some real/fake leather and dye that aswell. How much colourant did you have left after you did yours? As I wouldn't mind having a bit spare in case any repairs needed dooing sometime in the future.

You know when you say: "The bottles of propellant for the airbrush however suck.They freeze up after a minute or 2 and it gets really tedious,so in the end i made up an adapter for the airbrush and hooked it up to the compressor at 40psi and it was 300% better!"... This adapter you made, I'm not sure exatly what you mean but could I do the same thing? if so what does it require and cost?

Cheers mate 

I have 1/2 a bottle of dye left mate,thats using the medium size kit.It really goes a long way!
The adapter is easy to make up if your in engineering and have plenty of pipe fittings at work 
Just give me a shout when you are about to do it and i will wang mine in the post.Just send it back when you have done. 

[les.tansey]

I would be doing two front seats, rear bench, and 4 door cards like you, but may also get parcel shelf covered in some real/fake leather and dye that aswell. How much colourant did you have left after you did yours? As I wouldn't mind having a bit spare in case any repairs needed dooing sometime in the future.

You know when you say: "The bottles of propellant for the airbrush however suck.They freeze up after a minute or 2 and it gets really tedious,so in the end i made up an adapter for the airbrush and hooked it up to the compressor at 40psi and it was 300% better!"... This adapter you made, I'm not sure exatly what you mean but could I do the same thing? if so what does it require and cost?

Cheers mate 

I have 1/2 a bottle of dye left mate,thats using the medium size kit.It really goes a long way!
The adapter is easy to make up if your in engineering and have plenty of pipe fittings at work 
Just give me a shout when you are about to do it and i will wang mine in the post.Just send it back when you have done. 

Ahh sweet, that would really help, thanks... how big is this adaptor you made?

How do you recon a standard mk3 dash would take the leather dye? bearing in mind that it is like a leather effect finish... A matching cream dash would look the nuts 

[LowlifeDubber]

Cant comment on the dash colour change,i dont think it would take tbh but its worth a go.
The adapter is about 100mm long.Theres a pic of it in my build thread i think mate.

[les.tansey]

Cant comment on the dash colour change,i dont think it would take tbh but its worth a go.
The adapter is about 100mm long.Theres a pic of it in my build thread i think mate.

Yeah I might give the dash a go and I see what you mean by adapter now (I think), I'll give you a shout when I source some seats, Cheers