Bak3rme

iTrader: (1)

2003 Z with leather seats.
I'm the 2nd owner of this car and the previous owner dyed the leather seats an ugly puke brown. Underneath is the Burnt Orange which is showing through at certain spots. I can see spots and creases where the orange is showing and i can get a few pieces peeled off because of thick overspray. The rest of the seats seemed to be sprayed/dyed pretty thin so i can't get a finger, razor under it without damaging the leather.

Is there any way to remove this?
I was thinking since i'm storing the car for the winter i could have this in the house and work on it during the winter if there is a way to get the burnt orange back!

Thanks

dcains

iTrader: (15)

I'd try contacting Leatherique, which is a well-known leather restoration company. Perhaps they can offer some advice and the products you'll need. I've used their stuff on Jaguar, BMW, and Alfa leather and had great results.

www.leatherique.com

g3rard

I heard that Leather Master dye cleaner is a good product. Your best bet also is going to a local upholstery shop and see what they can recommend.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Both the above posts have particularly good advice; particularly in going to a local upholstery shop that specializes in leather and asking their opinion. Keep in mind those Burnt Orange seats may never be fully restored, as dyeing and the dye removal is sure to take a toll on the leather itself. If it were me, I'd get the best expertise available and consider my options fully before trying anything.

dboyzalter

iTrader: (3)

That sucks I think it will be a task getting those seats back to their original beauty. Are they in good shape besides the color job? Their might be a reason why they were changed.

I would call around to an upholstery shop if you can find one and get their advice. But for a winter project maybe rewrap them in some new material if thats a project you think you could handle...

You could probably score some used seats for a few hundred bucks but finding burnt orange will not be an easy task...

Good luck from the other side of Mass

dcains

iTrader: (15)

In an old Alfa I had, I striped the top color coat with acetone, re-conditioned the leather, and then re-dyed with Leatherique products . A good deal of work, but the result was excellent.

Leather is really pretty durable stuff, and top-coated leather can be worked in this fashion. If leather is vat-dyed (that is, the color goes all the way through), you can't strip the color, but you can top-coat in a new color. The vat-dyed stuff is used in high-end applications, but most modern cars have the top-coated stuff, like the Z. Just try stripping in an inconspicuous spot and see what kind of result is possible. If you can provide Leatherique with a color sample, they can match it perfectly, although they may also have that orange color in their database already.