White Interior update

Karlus said:

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Tonyrodz said:

I'd think using leather conditioning wipes on the painted seats would promote them peeling much quicker.

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Karlus said:

We will see. How are OEM leather seats made? I thought that leather was painted.

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Karlus said:

We will see. How are OEM leather seats made? I thought that leather was painted.

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Karlus said:

Almost all OEM leather is "painted." It may be called a "pigmented protective coat" but it's still urethane paint that is on the top which they are calling a "protective coat." It's the reason why water beads off unlike say "King Ranch" leather which is aniline dyed and water drops soak in.

It's also the reason they can match vinyl sides with leather fronts on seats and its all the same color. Vinyl has no pores to soak up dye.

I have very little doubt that the paint I applied will wear away over time as it sits on the surface and is subject to friction, but the seats below are an ivory color. I'm also dubious that "leather conditioner" really soaks in past this urethane, but that's fine.

Here is an image of BMW paint wearing away


So, all that is necessary when things wear over time is to "respray." I can get it done in an afternoon or two. Most likely the driver's will need it much more than the passengers or rear seating.

The paint I used also has a bonding agent (glue) that helps it stick to the existing paint topcoat on the leather.

This time I just sprayed the white paint. When I need to "respray" I will use white and then a clear coat. On the door skins, I tried to scratch off the white with a fingernail and the paint won't budge. It's on there good. Again, if I scratch it with say a key or whatever it might remove the paint exposing the rubber below.

The biggest part I had problems painting was the actual plastic because it was so slick and oily. I ended up pulling "charcoal" panels from a dead Tahoe in a junkyard that are really close to black plastic.

At the end of the day, it's an 17 yr old vehicle that I wanted to dress up like my Navigator, mostly to see if I could actually do it.

Here is info on auto leather:
https://www.thehogring.com/2018/06/18/hydes-explains-auto-vs-furniture-leather/

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Karlus said:

Funny you mention. Those are actually the blackest ones I could find and they came out of a Hummer H2. I couldnt find actual black belts that also worked with the airbags (yep, the 2003s have seatbelt pre-tensioners that fire with the airbag.) I didnt want to spray them black because I was worried about it rubbing off on the white. So I had to cut the Delphi pretensioner out of the passenger seat and resew it into the H2 seat belt. The mechanism that allows the belt to go inside of the chair is the same. It was a bear getting those bolts to come out after 17 years of rust and blue loctite, but I did it.

I also have a black dash skin that I used and the dark charcoal is really close in color.

Believe me, I looked for black, but this was it.

I do have actual black belts for the passenger rows as they dont have sensors or come up thru the seats.

Thoughts?

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Karlus said:

It's been awhile since I have posted an update. Finally got the door skins painted and installed. I also put in a 1700 watt Kenwood system with Rockford components and 10" Alpine in a custom enclosure under the seats. I'm also switching out all of the bulbs with LED.

What's left? Gotta paint the inserts behind the door handles and A pillars and install. I also gotta touch up the back door black insert above the handle as I got a little peeling.

Most of the paint adhered to the door rubber surprisingly well, but I didnt prep the inserts as well as I could have.

Later this year, I am going to pull the seats again, spray them white once more and then use a clear coat designed for leather to seal it all in.

Forgive the mess, I am off to vacuum later this week

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SouthernDuke said:

it looks great either way. I agree with not painting it. That seems like a mess waiting to happen. If google has nothing for you I have one last thought and I doubt you want to redo it but if your willing to disassemble, cut, resew, and reassemble then have you looked at non GM belts? I would think as long as the width is the same then any black seatbelt would do.

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BillyfarmerO71 said:

you did a great job. One Question, where did you get that steering wheel cover?

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