This is actually about my family's '96 Crown Vic. When cleaning/reconditioning the leather seats yesterday (using Z9/Z10), I noticed a small crack forming in the driver's seat. Not too surprised after six years and 155k+ miles, but was wondering if leather can be repaired, or if you have to replaced the whole seat cover.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

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94 Artic White Z28, M6, 120K+ miles, white "salad shooter" wheels,
!CAGS, !Skip Shift Light, Scanmaster, '99 Center Console, LS-1 Brakes, (Thanks Brent!)
BMR STB, AS&M CAI, B&M Ripper, !TB, Borla Exhaust, Zaino!
No drag racing, but LOVE passing "I brake for no reason" cars

[This message has been edited by My94M6 (edited November 26, 2001).]

 

No one has any comments, even if it's of the "No, you idiot, there's no way to repair wear." type?

Thanks,
Mike

 

Well, my dad had a small rip in the leather of the back seat of his Grand Am GT. He took it to the dealer (who outsourced the work to someone else) and they covered the rip with some sort of liquid leather sealer - it looked like the stuff they used to promote on an infomercial a while back that would repair cracks and rips in vinyl - needless to say it didn't look very good. He ultimately had to take it to an upholstery shop and they replaced the section that was ripped with new leather.

 

Thanks for the info. Do you know of anything I could use to protect the leather; something I could put over the spot (understanding that's just what you described, in a sense) to keep it from getting worse?

Again, thanks and have a good one,
Mike

 

In the interim, you could try using something like Zaino's "Leather in a Bottle" or some other brand of leather conditioner in an attempt to keep the leather soft, but it won't help at all to cover it, but it may keep it from getting worse. I am not sure what process the guy at the dealer used, but you may want to contact your local dealer and ask them about it. As I recall, it wasn't too expensive but like I said before, we weren't too impressed with the way it turned out which is why we ultimately replaced that section with new leather. But to replace the leather will cost way more.

 

That's what I've been using. I checked out another website that had been recommended to me my the Corvette Forum, but it was basically a leather conditioner. The Zaino leather products are great, esp. the Z10 (leather in a bottle). Also, this wear spot I think is just in a high wear area, the left rear side of the driver's seat bolster. Your comment about replacing that section of the leather is probably the only way to fix the problem.

My biggest concern is that our CV is a rather rare color, a light bluish green, and that's the color of the leather. Of course, I don't guess I'd HAVE to go back to that color.

Thanks again for the comments,
Mike

 

The question is Can you repair leather.I can't,but a professional can.In the furniture business,the person cuts out the old piece,replaces it with a new piece,burns it in,and you or me can't tell from original.Might contact a leather furniture store in your area,or any car dealer in your area ,and find out where they send thier vehicles out for repair.Hope this helps.

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93 Formula
about 94,000
Homemade air w/K&N off road cone
MSD 8.5 wires
NGK TR55 copper gapped @.050
A4
Firestone Firehawks SZ50ez's
High flow cat
Flowmaster 3-chamber muffler
Quakerstate high performance 10-30 blend
ACdelco oil filter(reg)
G-5 package(oil cooler ect.)
323's? in the rear(can't remember )

LE bellows
IAT relocated back to factory specs.(too lean before)
AC Delco gas filter(once a year)
Updated G.M. coil
Red w/Chrome swirl wheels.
TB Bypass.

 

Fatdog,

Thanks for the suggestion. In that light, I'll get with an upholsterer and see what they think.

Thanks, that's the first positive light I've seen on this subject.

Have a good one,
Mike

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94 Artic White Z28, M6, 120K+ miles, white "salad shooter" wheels,
!CAGS, !Skip Shift Light, Scanmaster, '99 Center Console, LS-1 Brakes, (Thanks Brent!)
BMR STB, AS&M CAI, B&M Ripper, !TB, Borla Exhaust, Zaino!
No drag racing, but LOVE passing "I brake for no reason" cars