The biggest problem I have with the foam steering wheel is when the dye has worn off and the foam underneath is exposed, there are what I call small pits. Basically a bunch of little holes in the foam, that if not sealed will soak up your dye and show, which in turn gets you no where, it just looks like crap. So you have to seal up those little holes with something that is flexible and something that will stick to the foam. I’ve tried all kinds of methods, not sure if all of them worked out, as a lot of the vehicles I work on are shipped off pretty quick. But usually you can tell pretty quickly if somethings not going to work.

One method I’ve tried and really got no where with was vinyl repair compound, it just doesn’t stick. I’ve tried super glue, but when dry it seems to want to crack. But with small areas if you use the super glue that is flexible, some suppliers call it Flex Gel, works pretty good. Just use a small amount and spread it over the area then sand with a 240 grit and wa-la it’s smooth enough to dye. But for those larger areas it can really be a pain in the butt. Super glue just won’t work, so what do you do, well one thing I’ve found that worked really well was Sems Flexible Primer Surfacer and another is made by Urethane Supply Co, it’s also a primer surfacer. Another word that the guys I used to work with and this may be an actual product just not sure but was “Fill and Sand”. What this stuff does is fill in the small pits and imperfections so when sanded it leaves you with a smooth area to paint. The Sems is flexible enough I think to work pretty well. I’ve also been known to use a little leather compounds too. The Leather Crack Fill (the gray stuff) does pretty much the same thing as the others, it’s a solvent based filler and is flexible enough for the foam steering wheel. I use it for smaller areas and even with some vinyl repairs, it seems to help your repairs blend better.

This is one foam steering wheel I wanted to show you that a customer and I kinda fixed together. The foam steering wheel had a chunk missing all the way around it where a steering wheel roller handle was attached (not really sure if that is what you call it), one of those things that you use to assist you in turning the steering wheel, you see them on farm tractors mostly. Anyways this thing pulled a chunk out of the wheel all the way around, kind like a ring.

The customer called me and wondered if there was anything that I could do, and really at first I said nothing, because I really didn’t know of anything that would adhere to the foam for one and wouldn’t feel like a rock when cured out. After a couple of phone calls later he informed me that he used a spray foam and it stuck and is holding up. Of course, FOAM, Duh…I felt weird having a customer tell me how to fix something, but when I got over there I was amazed at what it looked like and felt like, it was just a little squishier then the other foam but it stuck and looked like it might work.

He said all he did was spray the foam all around the steering wheel and let it set overnight. He then trimmed off the excess with a knife and that was as far as he got. He said he thought I could paint it or something to make it look better, but hey I’m not here to make things better, I like things to look great.

So I went to work to see if I could finish it off and make it look like a real foam steering wheel and not a botched up mess.

I first sanded the foam, so to get it level with the rest of the steering wheel. This is when I realized there was going to be a little more work then just filling in a few small pits, there were some larger then usual pits that needed something a little more filling then just “fill n sand”. I thought to myself for a minute to see if I had something in my arsenal that would do the trick, I came up with the only thing I could think of that I had at the time and that was flexible enough to work. I used Padded Dash Filler, it’s flexible and sticks to stuff like this, so I mixed up a small batch and put thin coats all the way around the area until it was level. Now working with this stuff is pretty cool, as it’s setting up you can start sanding it with a 180 grit to knock off the big stuff, just don’t get too aggressive at first. Then switch to a 240 grit to level and smooth it out as it’s curing. I use the blue activator, which cures it a little quicker then the red stuff.

I then used my “fill n sand” to fill in the not so perfect areas. Let cure a little bit then sanded it smooth with a 240 grit and then a 400 grit.

Once level and smooth I textured the steering wheel with a little Sems Textured Coat, first applying Bulldog Adhesion Promoter, so to make sure it would stay put.

Lightly sanded it with 400 grit to get off the fuzzy’s left behind from the texture spray, cleaned and prepped it really good, then applied my grip base and water based urethane dye.

I was happy…. what do you think? Turned out really good, the customer was really happy too. I think it will hold up and last a long time.

One thing I could have used also to fill in the spray foam area is a flexible bumper epoxy. I’ve used it before for smaller areas on foam steering wheels, and on split armrests. Seems to work really well, but I’m out right now and need to get to the supply shop and get more.

Foam steering wheel repair can be troublesome at times but using the right stuff will get the job done. If you all have any suggestions on products to use that have worked for you in the past on a foam steering wheel, please throw me a comment, I’m always looking for something bigger and better to bring my customers.

Talk to ya Soon – Mike “TIG”

Well I said in my last post that I would give you guys a post on my daily activities, and here’s the first. Thought I’d share a little of what I do on a daily basis, to let you all know in a little more detail of the repairs I do on a daily basis. The way I’m gonna try to do this is to not just list the vehicles I worked on and tell you what I fixed and so on, but I’m gonna pick a couple that either gave me fits or I feel would be a good one to talk about. Some will be long and some short, but I hope to give you a lot of info.

As you see the title of this post is GMC Yukon Denali Console Lids, this is one I run across pretty much on a daily basis and one that can be a booger to fix. I thought today this would be a good one since I worked on 2 of them just today.

The console lids peel ! The dye they use from the factory is I feel just a little to delicate to be using for a console lid, but never the less, they are repairable with the right dye and the right know how.

My pictures might not be the best, due to the fact I’m using my phone and the lighting is not the best, but you can get a general idea of what I’m doing.

These are before and after shots of the GMC Yukon Denali console lids that I have repaired. If you can see in the first shot the areas around the lids and just above the larger lid there are areas where the dye has peeled off. Its exposed the black plastic underneath and just looks, well bad.

I first clean the area really well with my prepping solution and scotch brite pad, now this is just a preliminary clean to get all the grime and silicone off so the tape will stick. Now I use the green tape, as you can see, it seems to stick better then regular masking tape, it’s got more sticky to it. I also use the 2″ wide tape, it’s a little harder to handle but I like it because it’s wide and I don’t have to use paper. ( 3M 2″ GREEN MASKING TAPE )

I mask off the wood grain trim and the CD player, this ensures my job will look tip top when I’m done. Now depending on how well your gun control is will depend on whether you need more then just tape. You can cover the seats with towels ect.

Once the area is masked off, I start my prep. I take my prepping solution and my scotch brite pad and clean and scuff the whole console area. The areas where the peeling is I will try to peel some of the areas off with my scotch brite pad so to give it kinda a strait line, not just a bunch of chunks out of the dye, this is a prelim to my next step. Wipe it down or blow it out good, and don’t get the flakes from the console area on the seats, it will stick if it drys on there.

Now here is a crucial step and it can be a pain in the butt if you use too much or the dye doesn’t cooperate. Take a strip of 400 grit sandpaper, fold it in thirds, and grab your Sems Sand Free ( Sand Free – Aerosol ). This is the only way to get the edges of the dye to feather. If you were to just use sandpaper, the dye would just peel and keep peeling, not giving you a good smooth edge which will show if you don’t use this step.

Spray an end of the sandpaper and sand the areas where the peeling is. You will see the edge of the peel melt and start to smear around. Sand until it is dry and starts to roll up, lighten up on the sanding and stop. Look at the area and see if it’s smooth, if not repeat. Now heres the tricky part, if you use to much of the Sems Sand Free the dye will start to pucker and then you have a larger area to fix. So don’t just go hog wild, this is a pretty delicate sanding trick, just take your time and let the chemical flash out before you apply any more. Sand all the areas that have peeling going on, but don’t sand the rest of the area with the Sems, you can I guess but there really no need to and you might get to much chemical in one spot and create more work, the next step will scuff the other areas for dye.

Next take your scotch brite pad and dry sand the rest of the console area, this will scuff the area for dye and remove any ruff areas from the Sems.

Alright, now you need to clean the area again to get all the sanding bits away and so you have a good clean surface for the dye. Wipe the area down with a lint free towel and your prepping solution sprayed on the towel, this will remove any fingerprints, and the rest of the grime.

If you use a plastic primer, apply it now. I usually use a wet paper towel to apply my primer. I use a grip base, which is a water based sticky primer. This gives the water based dye a glue like substance to adhere to and helps with oil migration from hands. Basically makes the dye stick.

It’s time for your water based dye. I use water based because it’s water based they use from the factory. Remember me talking about using too much chemical and the dye puckers, well thats what will happen if you use a solvent based dye, so only water based, no rattle cans.

I mix my dye by eye, and I came up with a little formula that works pretty good. I mix my dye to match the darker gray dash, then add silver. It matches really good, sometimes I have to tweak a little with some yellow oxide and white, but normally not. Don’t forget your crosslinker and make sure your strain your dye.

Spay about 3 coats of dye, drying in between. Usually the areas that were peeling will disappear pretty quickly, but I try to put about 3 coats just to be safe. Sometimes around the areas that had the damage I will turn the air down on my gun so that little droplets of dye come out, this gives it a little texture and helps to hide the damage.

Finally, topcoat with a low gloss topcoat with a little slip additive added to it to give you a soft feel to the finished product. Peel your tape off, and there you go a new console, if you did it right.

All I can say is that this is a tricky little repair, but if you take your time and pay attention, you will have a new console when your done, and one that will last.

If you’ve got any questions don’t hesitate to comment or join my forum and post it there. Talk to ya soon

Mike ” TIG”

The process of resurfacing leather takes certain steps to follow, which if not followed correctly, will cause the dye to lift and peel from the seat. As I have always stressed in all my articles is the prepping process. The only way to make a dye job on a leather seat look, feel, and last is to clean it thoroughly and prep the surface for maximum adhesion of the dye. Let the leather dye do what it is designed to do, don’t cover up dirt.

The way to to do this is to clean the leather seat with a scrub brush, a mild soap, and warm water to start. Scrub the seat from top to bottom, paying close attention to the creases and crevices in the seat, these are places for the dye to lift if dirt and goo is there. Wipe it down with a clean towel, again getting down in the creases.

Now the prepping process goes on. In a spray bottle mix in equal parts, water, rubbing alcohol, acetone, ammonia, and TSP substitute. Spray the seat in sections starting at the lean back, and scrub the leather with a scotch brite pad to scuff the leather just enough for the dye to adhere and to remove any more goo hiding out on the leather wiping clean as you go with your towel. This solution will also open the pours to leather and soften up the original dye for better adhesion promotion.

Once clean and scuffed apply a thin coat of grip base or sticky primer to the seat with a damp Bounty paper towel. Apply a thin coat to whole surface of the seat, basically where your going to dye is where the primer will go. Dry it with your hair dryer. This will give you a good sticky base for the dye to adhere to and make your job last.

Dyeing the leather seat takes finesse and good gun control, the dye needs to be applied in thin coats drying between coats or the dye will not adhere properly. One way you can tell if your applying the dye to thick is when you spray you water borne dye on the seat and it “fish eyes”. What this means is you will see little bubble like places in the dye when you spray it on. So thin coats and dry between each coat. Start your dyeing process on the lean back furthest from you and work your way towards you, down, and out. This helps to keep from dragging your hoses and cords over your freshly dyed seat.

Paint gun choice is up to you, but I will say a small detail gun is choice. I have tried the airbrush, I have tried the Prevals, and I’ve tried the siphon feed guns, and the best gun in my eyes for dyeing a leather seat is a gravity feed touch-up gun. They are small enough to maneuver around in the vehicle and hold just the right amount of dye to finish the job. I use the Sharpe 7040 HVLP a small very reliable gun, in fact I bought 2, one for back up. It sprays a small enough pattern to control, but not to small like an airbrush, and lays the leather dye nicely onto the seat. Paint gun choice to me is pretty crucial to making your job a success, so make the right choice when you pick your paint gun for maximum results.

Once the leather seat is dyed, top coat with your water borne clear. I always like to add a little slip additive to the top coat to give it a soft feel. Don’t forget to crosslink the topcoat, this will help to give you more chemical resistance. This process helps to seal the dye and give you a longer lasting leather resurfacing job.

After the topcoat is dry, apply your conditioner and stand back an drool over how nice that seat looks.

Now you have the confidence to stand back and know your dye will stay and your job was done right. I have been dyeing leather seats for a long time and I would love to hear your input on Leather Resurfacing. There are so many different things you will run into when dyeing a leather seat, so drop me a question or 2.

Solvents and water based dyes just don’t mix, obviously.

From about the year 2000 or so the auto manufactures have been using a standard black plastic to mold some of the trim pieces and dashes in your vehicle, then dyeing them to color spec with a water based dye. Or just dyeing the plastic the same color like in the Cadillac Escalades. I’m guessing the reason for this was a couple of things, look and feel for one, and cost. I’m not really sure if these are the reason, but there are a lot of dashes and trim pieces peeling, from the solvents we spray on the inside of our cars. So a word to the wise, find water based dressings, and use only mild detergents mixed with water to clean your auto interior. Make sure to check with your local car wash or detailer too, and make sure that they are using water based products to clean your car.

Now how to fix the problem of a peeling dash. My advise to you is if your not confident with this fix then don’t try it, call a professional. You can make a bad thing a really bad thing really fast, believe me, been there done that. The fix is quick and works, but if not done right then bam you have an area twice the size as before. If you haven’t read it then go there now it’s called Sem Sand Free for Repairs. It gives you a step by step way to fixing your problem with your dash peeling.

Sem Sand Free is a wonder chemical when it comes to this type of fix, but you should use a water based dye to color your project. If you use the rattle can dye from the auto store your asking for problems. They spray a heavier coat then a spray gun will and will cause the dash to peel even more due to the fact they are a solvent based dye. So if you have access to a spray gun then spray the dye into a gun then spray the dash with a dry coat of dye, if you don’t have access to a spray gun then hold the rattle can back away from the repair about 18 inches, this will help to create a dry coat in a way, keeping in mind to dye with light coats and let them dry between. You are spraying a solvent onto a water based dye, so light coats, this will help to eliminate more peeling. But my advise to you is use water based, looks and feels better anyways and no worries of more peeling.

When it comes to the smaller trim pieces the same trick applies, but in some cases it’s easier to just strip the dye completely with the Sem Sand Free, then dye the whole piece.

There are a few downfalls, one the curing time. 48 hours, maybe for an individual but not for a tech in the field. The compounds I know of are quick and easy…And work. But if there is the repair that will hold up like that and then I’m all for to checking it out, looks. The other concern I have is dye, dying onto a wet surface…HMMMM. Don’t know. Well I’ll make a check into this and see.

Leather repair is a craft and not all products will work on everything. Trial and error to extent, but cleaning and prepping your area extensively, before you start any project will make your ending result a success.

Hope you like this it is pretty wild stuff.

If you got any comments on this one let me know, I’m really curious to see what everyone thinks on Leather Magic.

So, with that said I’m going to give you what I call the “quick fix”. A temporary fix to get you by until the car is sold or you get enough money to do it right. Now I’m not going to give you some substandard way of fixing your leather seat, remember I do this for a living and from time to time I have been asked to do the “quick fix” to get someone by. Although I don’t like doing that for the people I do work for. To me thats my name and reputation that is on that repair, but when someones in a pinch you got to help them out.

This is a seat in a 2003 Ford F-350 from a customer of mine that I fixed. If your seat looks like this it’s not gonna take much to make it look a lot better then that.

Supplies…. you will need some stuff before you start this project and most of them you can get from your automotive paint store.

• Denatured alcohol – used for prep
• sandpaper – used for prep and sanding of cracks in leather 240 grit and 400 grit a couple of sheets of each will be good.
• 1 aerosol can of Sem Plastic and Leather Prep - if not available not really necessary but nice to have. helps to open the pores of the leather to help the adhesion of the dye.
• 1 aerosol can of Sem Classic Coat or Sem Sure Coat leather dyes (if you get the sure coat, it’s waterborne and is a lot more flexible and more like the finish already on the leather and will not dry the leather out). But most auto stores only carry the Classic Coat which will work, just don’t load the dye on, the more chance for it crack later. Now take the vehicle with you or something to match the color, if you ask the guys at the auto paint store they can probably find the right color for you.
• A sealer of some sort is needed to seal the raw leather before you dye it but not always necessary. If available Thompson Water Seal will work, or a leather sealer like Leather Tac this will help the dye adhere to the raw leather and help to smooth out some of the rough leather. Another trick is glue, but it needs to be a flexible glue and one that does not contain silicone. If you can get leather glue from your local craft store that would be perfect. Glue will seal the leather and lay down the rough leather.
• 1 can of a plastic adhesion promoter, I like Bulldog easy to use and it works
• terry cloth towels
• paper towels
• soft scrub brush
• Scotch Brite pad – green one is fine
• latex gloves
• hair dryer – helps speed things up a little

Clean the seat thoroughly before you start. Mix a small amount of mild soap ( Dawn dish soap ) and warm water in a small bucket. Dip your scrub brush in the solution of cleaner and scrub the seat from top to bottom, making sure to get down in all the crevices of the seat, wipe the seat clean with the terry cloth towel. Now take the Scotch Brite pad and dip it in the solution and scrub the seat again, this time scrub in small circular motions, this step not only finalizes the cleaning process it also scuffs the dye on the seat to give the new dye something to adhere to. In some instance dye will come up when this step is done, don’t worry because your going to dye it anyway. Wipe the seat clean with a towel. Next, wipe the seat down with the denatured alcohol on a paper towel, while the alcohol is wet wipe behind it with a clean paper towel, to remove all the goo and silicon that will keep the dye from sticking to the seat,

Once you have cleaned the seat thoroughly, it’s time to work on the cracked or worn area. Take a strip of your 240 grit sand paper and dip in the cleaning solution and wet sand the area where the cracks are, you will see the dye start to lift and move around while you are sanding this is a good thing, move that dye into the cracks and use it as a filler. Wipe the area with your towel and see if the area is smoother, in cases where there are cracks is where I use leather fillers to fill in the cracks, but this is the “quick fix”. Now dry the area with a hair dryer if available. Getting the cracked area as smooth as you can get it will help to hide the worn area and make your repair look better.

Now if you the Sems Leather Prep use it now, follow the directions on the back, pretty simple, wipe on wipe off. If the area is still a little rough use the glue with your figure and rub it onto the rough area and smooth it out, let dry and sand it smooth. Seal the area if you can by wiping the sealer with a paper towel on the area.

Time to dye. Use a small piece of cardboard to use as a blocking card for the over spray. You will have some over spray so cover the areas with an old sheet, like the console and seat belts. Spray the seat with the dye holding the can 12 to 18 inches from the seat, using short swooping burst, don’t just start spraying away. Spray light coats, letting them dry between (use the hair dryer). You can sand between coats, if there are still some rough areas. In some cases if the cracks aren’t filling in, you can spray a heavier coat over the cracked area and rub it into the cracks with you hand. Two to three coats of dye should be sufficient. Spray the whole face of the seat to blend the color and make it look more uniform, remember short bursts and light coats. Now hopefully at this point you should be seeing a good looking seat.

This is what your seat should look when your done, granted I am a professional and I use all of the top of the line products, so yours may not look this good but it should be close.

Let dry for a few hours before you drive, but be careful, only sit on them if you have to. Optimal drying time is 8-10 hours for the dye to cure out totally.

The last step is to condition, I can’t stress this enough. Leather needs to be conditioned to keep it soft and flexible. There are several types of conditioners that are great to use, one I recommend to all my customers is Lexol, it’s created by a company that deals in just leather products. Just pick a good one and make sure you put it on, it will finish your job and make your seats feel and look great.

Hopefully this helps you in you leather repair adventure. If you have any questions about your leather repairs don’t hesitate to contact me, there are so many different situations that have so many different ways to fix them. It’s really hard to put it all in one article. So join my forum or email me with your questions on how to fix cracked leather.