The next step in sorting my 83 SC Cabriolet is the interior. These cars were shipped with all leather. My interior is two-tone - brown dash and arm rests and champagne seats and door panels with brown carpet. Like any 33 year old car, the leather is worn and a little faded with lots of spiderwebbing on the seats. After investigating reupholstering and several leather dye options and seeing some really excellent dye results I've decided to go down that path first. After all, my car is a driver, I don't need a garage queen! That said, I do like things to be clean and as good as they can be, but patina is acceptable.
My car was owned by an LA area "B" actress for a while. She's not a big name and I hadn't heard of her. But, she must have had a BIG diamond ring because the top edge of the dash behind the steering wheel had huge divots and scratches in it, exposing the undyed leather underneath. Also, the knee pad below the glove box was similarly scratched up. I started with that piece since it can be easily removed. I also wanted to reglue the leather/pad on the glove box door - it had started pealing off well before I owned the car. I used and followed the Leatherique instructions and used their leather treatment products and cleaner. I sanded the part with 400 grit to smooth it out and then used a sponge brush (1") to apply the dye. I applied two coats at 30 minute intervals and when it was dry, it looked good except the larger scratches were still visible. The dye does not fill defects.
Leatherique offers a filler so I got some and filled the scratches with several thin applications of filler. Then redyed the part and the scratches miraculously disappeared. The new dye is an exact match for the original brown and the knee pad looks as good as new.
So next I removed the three plastic plugs on the top of the dash. These conceal holes where Tenax fasteners would be inserted for a tonneau cover. The plugs can be gently pried up but new replacements are available if you break them (part #999.703.182.40). I gently cleaned and treated the dash leather as per the Leatherique instructions. A week later I removed the steering wheel sanded the dash with 400 grit and cleaned with the cleaner. Don't go crazy with the sandpaper, you don't want to turn the leather to suede. After cleaning, I removed the steering wheel and masked the windshield and vents with tape and paper as you can see in the photos. You can see the result of sanding leaving color in the grain (low spots).
(this photo also shows the finished knee pad)
The conditions were perfect for the dye - low humidity and 75°F. I used foam brushes to apply the dye. I started with a 1/4" brush and worked the seam between the front and back part of the dash - you can see it in the photos. Once this dye was applied, I coated the perimeters around the masked areas and finally filled in the remaining areas. I went slowly and was careful not to over stroke the dye or introduce streaks or bubbles. I applied two coats at 30 minute intervals. After an hour I removed the masking and cleaned any areas where I inadvertently got dye.
While the steering wheel was off, I used foam brushes and detailer swabs and cleaned the instrument panel and all the instruments including the heater controls and radio. I cleaned the horn cover and the steering wheel too. Everything looks really nice and clean now!
I'm really pleased with the finish and color. It's also nice to have a really good detailing on the dash to get all the crud out of the vents and gauges! I discovered that you can pop the center vents out carefully. Once removed, I cleaned 33 years of dust and dirt out of the main duct and also cleaned the vents carefully. There is a little spring washer that goes on the post towards the middle between the vents (so they face each other). I was missing one, that's why my vent flopped around. Just so happens that I have 1000 of these that I use in my fly reel making business so now my passenger side vent stays put!