Regarding leather restoration...
The leather in my 19 year old Aston was in pretty good shape except for
some crazing on the front seats. The finish was badly worn. Last year,
I decided to refinish it. There are several categories of leather
refinishing products on the market. I used Conolly's leather lacquer and
Vinyl-Kote.
Here is the condensed version of this saga. Preparation is very labor
intensive. This includes: washing with mild detergent, filling cracks/
crazes/rips, final (*very* light) cleaning with lacquer thinner. Filling
cracks without ruining the grain is a bit of an art.
I experimented with Vinyl-Kote. It covers well, adheres well, and dries
quickly and thoroughly. I decided not to use it. The black semi-gloss
Vinyl-Kote has a dull gray-ish cast to it which looked "wrong" in the
Aston interior.
I decided on the Conolly lacquer. The Conolly lacquer can only be used
on leather, not vinyl (Vinyl-Kote works on both). It sprays on without
any thinning using numerous thin coats. The recommended technique of
"misting" the lacquer produces a very fine texture that has a semi-gloss
effect. Heavier coats tend to look dull. Conolly lacquer dries
extremely slowly. It dries to the touch in a couple days. It dries to
the point of being usable in a few weeks. But, it did not seem completely
dry for about 6 months! Maybe... I applied too many coats. YMMV.
I would rate the results as above average, and I would recommend the
Conolly lacquer method if you have the time and patience to do it right.
It cannot be rushed.
Ron Knipper
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