At Advanced Leather Solutions, we sometimes find ourselves in projects that test the boundaries of our experience and skill set, requiring new and inventive strategies and chemistry to complete the project. The leather restoration of a 1953 Jaguar XK-120 seats was such a project. The client's goal was to save the original leather. This then became a leather conservation and preservation project.
The leather seating was in a very serious state of deterioration with many fissures and cracks into as well as completely through the leather. Most people would have said that the only way to "restore" these seats was to replace with new leather due to the extensive deterioration. However, with a classic car, our first priority is always to save and preserve the original leather, as this is integral to the valuation of the vehicle.
We have recently completed the project. The process incorporated both traditional and new chemistries and techniques, including the resolution of oil saturation, fiber separation and break-down, finish failure, pH damage, and other issues.
The result was both a structural and aesthetic success, while retaining the original materials, and it's "antique" patina. We documented the process via video. The video is available for download (please note, this is a non-streaming 241Mb mpg file, and may take a while to download, depending on your connection speed). Right-click on the following link, and choose "Save target as" (IE), or "Save link as" (Firefox, Chrome) from the menu, and save to the location of your choice on your hard-drive. download link.
If the download link doesn't begin bringing the video file into your computer, then click on this direct link:
http://www.advleather.com/Produce_9.mpg
Copyright 2010, Kevin Gillan
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