I bought a model A with a really good quality leather seat, which someone has "painted" the actual leather and it has peeled terribly, and needs to be redone. I have been in touch with the manufacturer of the seat and they have been most kind but of co**** its not their problem. Current budget runs to blanket seat covers, or strip and repaint. Can anybody here point me towards "paint" material supplier.
SEM does a line of Leather coatings that work very well. https://www.semproducts.com/products/market/upholstery-trim
This might be tough love advice and not the best news, but if the re-color that was done in the past is failing and flaking off because of poor preparation or poor product, it won't be a good base to coat over again. You should do some internet searches on "flaking, peeling leather dye, coating", etc. I find it helpful when I search a topic, and get a couple of hits, to notice any other word descriptions/combinations used that I can also use to search. The more internet hits you dig up, the more you will be able to tell the meat from the bones........ and there are a lot of bones on the 'net.
I've not stripped paint to change color of leather, but betting that's Mar-Hyde, and not regular rattle can paint. If so, I'd try some acetone on a small area first to see how it does at removing it? Then if it works you can do the entire seat with it. But take the seats out to do it to avoid getting acetone anywhere you don't want it. Once stripped, I'd condition the leather and put a sealer over that. Unless you want to dye it properly? If you want to dye it once it's stripped, I'd go to a Tandy Leather store, or others and get the proper leather dye. Then once applied it's can be sealed and conditioned.
Somebody used vinyl paint on it.... I've done a couple of re-dyes and the good stuff is from these guys.... Angelus Dye | Angelus Brand Custom Sneaker Products (angelusdirect.com). The trick will be getting as much of the 'paint' off as possible. The leather has to be CLEAN, I had to scrub it with either acetone or xylene (can't remember which) to remove all oils and paints. You can sand out minor imperfections in the finish before dyeing with 600 grit paper. You may want to do this to the whole seat to get the paint off. After dyeing there's a 'sealer' to apply. I've got a leather chair/ottoman combo in my living room that still looks exactly the same as when I did it eight years ago, and this was a color change. DO NOT get the dye on any non-metal surfaces you don't want it on as it WILL NOT come off; make sure you wear gloves. Apply the dye liberally with a brush, let it soak a bit, then rub it vigorously into the leather with a cloth. Let it dry, then rub it down one more time with a dry cloth before applying the sealer. Depending on the color, you may need more than one coat. The dye will work on vinyl as long as it's non-wearing areas. For your seat, I'd say you'll need about a quart each of dye/sealer. This is a messy job. And going from light-to-dark is recommended, not so much the other way. The problem you have is typical of spray-can products on leather. They work good on vinyl, not so much on leather...
You can get die in Wally World, or about any hobby shop. You'll need to take some steel wool to the seat and rub as much of the paint off of it as you can.
I have not had much luck with spray can specialty paint for vinyl - went through all of the steps recommended by manufacture company - sliding in and out of ride and finish would rub off
I'd hit it lightly with fine sandblast, Might be surprised... It'll at minimum get the"funk" off to move forward...
Wow, thanks for all the info. I haven't thought about this much but the good advice I have received here today is very encouraging. I will try something on an underneath spot. thanks STEVE
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