All - just recently bought a 2007 C6 Atomic Orange Convertible 3LT. I love it! Need some recommendations concerning repair of drivers side leather seat headrest area. . Is there any product that can reapply sheen to the ebony colored leather?

 

First off, I will say I love an orange Vette!

It does appear that the former owner used a lot of body/hair oil products!

The leather still looks in good shape, so that is good news. The tough part is going to be re- coloring the affected parts.

 

Congratulations on your Atomic Orange 2007 Convertible. We basically have the same car only ours is a Pace Car Replica. I also love this car. I had a similar situation with the seats since the previous owner used an entirely wrong product on the seat leather making the seats shiny, slippery and appearing more like cheap vinyl seat covers than the matte leather finish they were supposed to have.

The product that worked for me and restored the seat was a leather care kit from Auto Glym. I cleaned the seats with Auto Glym Leather Cleaner Spray and a medium bristle scrubbing brush followed by a rinse with a damp sponge. Once the leather was dry I applied Auto Glym Leather Balm with a damp sponge letting it dry then buffing it with a micro fiber towel which left the proper matte finish and an amazing new car leather smell. I did have a problem you don't have insofar as I have the Indy 500 Logo embroidered into my seat tops so had to be extra careful in that area so as not to stain or discolor it.

Since the previous owner suffered for a couple of years with a terminal illness the car needed a lot of remedial detailing. It took me 3 weeks of every minute I could spare to get it done but near the end of summer I took home a car show trophy for best C6 Convertible.

 

Is the color gone or just dull?

 

Yes, the leather is in OK shape. Your guess is as good as mine as to what caused this. maybe body/hair oil products.

 

More likely it was sweat.

Keep in mind that the leather on the seats is vinyl-coated except for the center section of the back. Leather products won't work on anything but this one section.

 

II have worked with leather all my life. Anyone who has and knows how to work with leather will tell you the two best things to use are saddle soap and mink oil. All four of my GM cars have vinyl and for years l used straight mink oil on all of my car's leather. It's a little gooey and hard to work with, but once you get used to it, it works well and lasts a long time.

But recently, I found something that works really great. It is called MR. LEATHER and it's made by FORMULA 1. It's hard to find. I've seen it in Menards. Some of the Wal-Marts carry it. O'Reilley carries Formula 1 products but I've never seen it near here in my local store. You might have to order it on line.

One or two coats will last all summer. It won't lose it's sheen after a few days like Armour All. It won't turn your vinyl white like Turtle ICE does. I think it's the best cleaner/conditioner out there. Bar none!!

 

Thank you for the great lead on the Auto Glym product. It is Black Friday and maybe I can find it locally discounted and give it a try.
Your pace car is beautiful! I really like this Atomic Orange color as it stands out from everyone else's car. I have a couple comments and questions:
1. If I am unsuccessful in "rejuvenating" my driver side headrest, I will be happy. If not, I am considering buying black leather headrest covers from Interior Innovations.They claim to look factory (their opinion). In addition, I modified their website picture and added 2 Corvettte insignia patches to get an idea what that might look like. They do not offer an embroidered insignia, which I would like to have. I would likely need to apply them with some type of 2-sided tape, which I'm not too keen on. I'll post my photo shopped type picture (blue exterior/ white interior on website picture).
2. Not sure if your car is a Z06 (mine is not), but I am kicking the idea around about painting my calipers possibly yellow or Atomic Orange. I enlarged your corvette picture and could not tell if yours are painted (which I think was an option on the Z06?).
3. While "scoping" out the enlarged picture of your Corvette - do I detect a windscreen? If so, that is another option I am considering. The picture clarity in the enlarged state was a little blurry so it might be something else behind the seats. If you do have one, please tell me if you think it is a worthwhile thing. I've been looking at one that is clear with an option that lights up the edges and a corvette symbol in the middle of it, when you apply your brakes. It might seem a little flashy but I am thinking about it.
4. I noticed your trim around your radio is Atomic Orange - very cool! I am guessing your engine fuel rail cover is also Atomic Orange. Do you have the 7.0L engine (I have the LS2 6.0L).
5. Anyway, I am considering a dash kit in Atomic Orange. See pic.
I could go on, but I think this enough for this reply! Thanks.

 

It is just dull...no shine.

 

So, likely the headrests are vinyl?

 

Yes, they are vinyl-coated leather. Any leather cleaner will just smear on it, then get on your clothes.

 

You are correct having noticed the Wind Restrictor (brand) that I installed. Yes, it is worthwhile and is about a 50% improvement over having none. The illumination kit really makes it show at night and I also installed the dimmer kit so I can tone it down a bit as this picture shows it at maximum brightness. You have a choice of clear or smoked with the plastic as well as the standard C6 logo or custom logo. I chose the custom Indy Speedway logo but some fancy custom graphics work is also available and you can even submit your own designs. Incidentally the squiggles you see in the picture are my attempt at masking the glowing blue lines and dots caused by a defect in my camera that shows up in night pictures.

The Pace Cars only have a few changes from a base 3LT. They all come with the Z51 performance package. The front and rear brakes are about 1" larger and have drilled rotors, the front and rear sway bars are larger diameter, the shocks are firmer, there are coolers for power steering and engine oil and lastly they have the split spoke wheels finished in "Sterling Silver" and mounted with Goodyear super car tires which are still crap so they were replaced with Michelin Pilot SS ZP.

The car is currently in winter storage but this coming March I will be removing the wheels and sending them to a specialty wheel repair company where they will re and re the tires, strip and refinish the wheels, repair the curb rash, replace the TPMS sensors that are at the end of life and re-balance them as a package deal.

At the same time I am considering ordering and installing the color matched painted caliper covers as they look nice and are a lot less work than painting the calipers yourself. I have dealt with Zip Corvette one of the vendors on the forum for a lot of my supplies and accessories.

The engine in my car is the same as the base LS2 but has the fuel rail covers also finished in Atomic Orange. Good luck in your choices and have fun with this fabulous car.

 

Icecap, Thanks for the response. I have looked at the installation video on the wind restrictor and I am not entirely comfortable installing this myself as it also requires cutting into the electrical brake light harness. I also like the idea of a dimmer on the unit. Can you get to the dimmer switch while driving? Did you have the wind restrictor installed or did you do it yourself? Am I correct in assuming yours is tied into the brake light?

Like yours, the rotors in mine are slotted (drilled) as well. I may also go the route of just adding caliper covers - atomic orange or yellow might be the best bet.

I am also very happy this car has the Magnetic Selective Ride Control option, as I am a quality engineer for the OEM that has the patent on that system and makes these units for Corvette and other high end vehicles.

As you might guess, I am very excited about this car. I drove it with my son to the National Corvette Museum (4 hours from here) about a week after buying it. Ordered & received the build sheet & window sticker. Last week I had a Ziebart clear bra put on the front bumper and mirrors. Received my black ONYX fitted cover yesterday from Amazon. Next purchase is a trickle charger before putting to bed for the winter! Thanks again.

 

Will send you a PM later today with some info and suggestions.

 

For auto leather care, Lexol products hands down

 

Here's a simple test to see if the clear coating is gone from the dull area on your headrest: Take just a little bit of clean water and dab it onto the area. If the clear coating is still present, the water will just bead up. If the water is absorbed into the leather, the coating is gone.

If the water does bead up, perhaps the rest of the seat is gunked up with layers of protectant. For cleaning, I've successfully used a mixture of 1 part Woolite and 10 parts water. Test the mixture on an unseen area. If all is okay, gently scrub the seat, wipe dry and then go over it again with clean water and wipe dry. See if this makes any difference. (If you can, use a white or light-colored towel so your can see how much dirt and gunk you've removed.)

You can always have the seat re-dyed. There are many mobile professional outfits who do this, and your seat will look like new.

 

If cleaning doesn't work, you can also try the spray dye. It worked well on my C4, when the side bolsters wore. I got it from Ecklers.
https://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corv...2005-2009.html

 

sjw91 - Thanks for the reply. I have looked at this on-line and it sounds promising. I wish it was something I could brush or dab on instead of spraying. I think there is also a spray to make the surface tacky before you spray the dye on. I think I will likely take the convertible top down, then mask everything off except the headrest, with paint drop clothes and tape. I think I'll try it on something else to see what it looks like first. I am not sure what side bolsters are. By chance, were they ebony colored leather or vinyl? Any tips you might have applying this?

 

you can buy the headrest side bolster cover with embroidered crossed flags from GM with colored stitching.Its been awhile but I think I paid around $200. for the pair.I replaced all the seat covers with 2 tone red and ebony GM embroidered crossed flags with red stitching for both seats.cost at the time I did it it was less than $1,000. for both seats

 

Side bolsters are just the sides of the seats. On C4s, they were leather and the dye rubbed off pretty easily. C5s and C6s are vinyl on the side, so it doesn't wear. (I don't know about C7s).

You really don't have to worry about masking or prepping. Just make sure the surface is clean (maybe a quick wipe with alcohol or acetone). Just a few light sprays should do it. If you spray too much, it will look bad.