dying my tan leather seats

[BrockLee GS-T]

i have a spyder gst and and imagine I'm not the only one who got screwed with the black and tan leather. everytime i walk up on my car all i see is the entire back half of my car is a gross tan leather that is horrible to look at. so i decided to fix that

i read all the posts here on dsmtuners about dying seats, but didn't really find what i was looking for, so i took at much advice as i could find, and i did it myself. everybody here swears by sem dye, but its not available around here, so i talked to a restoration shop nearby and they told me that all they used was mar-hyde, and that i should use that, so i went to o-Reilly's* and picked up a can of jet black vinyl spray. first off i pulled the seats out and wiped them down and cleaned them with 409. then i wiped them dry and i taped off the seats and applied about 3 coats of this stuff and pulled the tape off. if you pull the tape off immediately after spraying, you can go back with a wet paper towel and wipe off any accidental overspray. well, the project is done now and all i can say is MUCH MUCH BETTER. ill try to post some pics for you guys to look at, and let you know how it holds up, but as of right now, one day after i sprayed i cant even scratch it off, so i think its going to hold pretty well, hope this helps anyone needing some advise on dying the seats

 

[BrockLee GS-T]

here are the pics, enjoy!

and another note for those wondering, the dye is a perfect match with the existing black on the car, very pleased

Give me your opinions on what you think! positive and negative welcome, thx

 

[AdoreGSX]

I dont really like it. I also have black/tan interior. There are a few places on the door I would make black to clean it up. But I love my tan interior and half the people I know with dsms wish they had it...

 

[spyder97gs]

It does look good, but I don't particularly care for it's looks overall. I died all my interior black with Duplicolor vinyl & fabric spray. Is Mar-hyde the brand you used? Mine comes off where the cracks were in the seats, I wish now I would have never done it.

 

[DarkTalon2GNT]

I dont really like it. I also have black/tan interior. There are a few places on the door I would make black to clean it up. But I love my tan interior and half the people I know with dsms wish they had it...

Rub it in why dont cha.... at least I'm getting a black dash soon....stupid flippin grey interior *burns it*

 

[dsmmyth]

Looks grrrrrrrreat. Sorry, I just had frosted flakes.

 

[BrockLee GS-T]

It does look good, but I don't particularly care for it's looks overall. I died all my interior black with Duplicolor vinyl & fabric spray. Is Mar-hyde the brand you used? Mine comes off where the cracks were in the seats, I wish now I would have never done it.

yeah, i used mar-hyde, it is the best stuff that you can buy around here, so it's what i had to work with. mine may with time come off where the cracks are, but i doubt it caus i stopped at the cracks, so it may wear decent, we'll see

 

[SpYYder]

i would pay ALOT of money to get a tan interior for my spyder... i've been looking for one FOREVER...

 

[BrockLee GS-T]

dont get me wrong, i like the tan and black interior, its just that on the spyder you see the back half of the car and its all tan, no black anywhere to be seen, its just a bit overkill and boring, but i do love the way the front half of my interior looks

 

[SpYYder]

oh definitely, i feel the same way, i planned on making some of mine black too, that is IF i can EVER find and get the tan interior...

 

[Talon2z]

That looks great. I have the same interior and I just got in the black roll bar for the car. The setup you have on the backseats would help set off the rollbar as well. How long did that take you and how much is the interior spray.

 

[BrockLee GS-T]

That looks great. I have the same interior and I just got in the black roll bar for the car. The setup you have on the backseats would help set off the rollbar as well. How long did that take you and how much is the interior spray.

it probably took me about an hour at max to do, the seats come out really easy, most of the time it took was just to tape it all off. the marhyde only cost me about 5 dollars give or take a buck, another hint when spraying, just do like 2 to 3 good layers, no more. the one area i did a little heavier than that isn't quite as soft and doesnt look as good, so id say 2 good layers and a touch up layer, if you have any more questions feel free to ask

another thing, ive been looking at the rollbars, what kind did you get, how much was it and how hard was it to install, was it worth it?

 

[DSM MAN]

I think it looks pretty good Did you do anything to the front seats? Pics?

 

[BrockLee GS-T]

i havent done anything to the front seats yet for a couple reasons, the back needed the black bad, the front isnt quite as bad, but mainly because my plan is to see how they weather, if they look bad after a little while or if they hold up, if they hold up, ill do it to my front seats, i just didnt want to do it to the front if they faded or anything because the front will have a lot more wear due to driving. so im going to wait a month or two, see how it goes and then go from there, i may just dye them too, and if they do end up fading or not wearing well, ill just have to go buy some recaro's so to answer your question, no

 

[spyder97gs]

carb and brake cleaner should hose that dye right off of there

 

[Talon2z]

it probably took me about an hour at max to do, the seats come out really easy, most of the time it took was just to tape it all off. the marhyde only cost me about 5 dollars give or take a buck, another hint when spraying, just do like 2 to 3 good layers, no more. the one area i did a little heavier than that isn't quite as soft and doesnt look as good, so id say 2 good layers and a touch up layer, if you have any more questions feel free to ask

another thing, ive been looking at the rollbars, what kind did you get, how much was it and how hard was it to install, was it worth it?

The bar was $449.99. I got it in black. It also comes in tan but I didn't think that would look very good. I ordered it two weeks ago and still have not received it. I'm hoping that it will come in this week though. I ordered it from classic design concepts. Once I install it, I'll send you some pics and an approx time for the install.

 

[dsmmyth]

By the way Brock, or anyone else that knows, you think this Mar-Hyde stuff would work on the door panels? I used that Dupli-color junk and it sucks. And by door panels, I mean the pleather like material at the top, not the bottom plastic part.

 

[spyder97gs]

Now the flat black duplicolor vinyl and fabric spray worked wonderful on my leather door inserts. It looks good and won't scratch. If you use the High Performance Dupli-color, it really is junk, and costs more. It is lettered in Green and the good stuff is tan. But on my seats, it comes off where the cracks were, but I dont think I can help that.

 

[BrockLee GS-T]

alright, here's the update, i was carrying some tools in the back seats today(ramps mainly) and the seats did seem to scratch a little, so to those reading this, im not totally sure that this is the best method of dying your seats, IT DOES SCRATCH OFF, not easily, but it will, so just my experience take it for what its worth

 

[Apeximprt2nr]

I think it looks pretty nice

 

[Apeximprt2nr]

Come on people, if you want different interior color than what you have, go to Ebay and get parts and build up your interior. That's what my brother is doing in his 92 bimmer.

 

[SpYYder]

Come on people, if you want different interior color than what you have, go to Ebay and get parts and build up your interior. That's what my brother is doing in his 92 bimmer.

Do you know how long i've been searching Ebay and the trader for tan SPYDER SPECIFIC interior pieces? Weeks? Months? One and a Half Years?

 

[BrockLee GS-T]

Come on people, if you want different interior color than what you have, go to Ebay and get parts and build up your interior. That's what my brother is doing in his 92 bimmer.

Im with Him^ im glad your brother can "get on ebay and buy parts for his bimmer" but if you would have looked for parts on ebay for an eclipse spyder...you would know there are NONE, but thanks for the tip..

 

[Apeximprt2nr]

Oo. Woops I dont have a Spyder so i wouldn't know Ebay doesn't have many, if any parts.

 

[spyder97gs]

Well you really need to improve your searching ability.. !

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7980291036&category=33701

Junkyard thats 35 miles away from my house is selling some out of a Spyder.