1st time R19 16v owner

Newbie Joined: 25 Jun 2006 Posts: 18

Thanks Neal

will do proper links for future photos

picking up a leather interior tomorrow, gonna give it a good going over with some old fashioned cherry black boot polish and fit it at the weekend

so more to follow

how hard is it to do a cambelt, im told that they are one of the weak links of this engine is thisw correct

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

boot polish will come off on your clothes, be warned!

cambelt is not a weak link at all, they just tend to break because the cars are neglected and the belts not changed when theyre supposed to be. Not very difficult to change.

Newbie Joined: 25 Jun 2006 Posts: 18

any ideas on what else to do to cover up some light cracking of the leather ..... (then again anything is an improvement over whats in there at the moment)

or should i just polish them and stick to black clothes for a while Smile

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

I used some shoe scuff dye stuff on my old leather. Not polish as such, it's a watery runny black liquid that soaks into the cracked bits and colours it black so you don't see it (as much). Anywhere else it wipes off of.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

Paul_P2_16v";p="99582 wrote:

any ideas on what else to do to cover up some light cracking of the leather ..... (then again anything is an improvement over whats in there at the moment)

or should i just polish them and stick to black clothes for a while Smile

i used the stuff you can get from places like tesco for leather sofa's etc.
It softens the leather to make it less prone to cracking and also helps to restore places where it's already cracking.

Level 5 User Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 119

its seems i'm actually on of the few people in the world who actually wants to firm their leather up. If you've ever seen the leather in the mini cooper S's thats the kinda thing im after. Modern leather seats are firm as. you can rub all sorts of stuff on them and it wont slightly damage it. You only need to sit down on my seats and their get scratched up and wrinkly

Retroholic Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 3315

no you defo want to soften it up as like when you condition your skin, leather needs feeding its when you leave it and it drys out is when it cracks and flakes

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

indeed and the best stuff to use is the horsy crap, horse saddle stuff is the business for this.

Cars are a harsh environemtn, extremes of temp and sunlight exposure.

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Horsey stuff is called 'saddle soap' btw...

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

nah saddle soap is saddle soap, other horsy stuff, amber knows all abotu them as she likes horses.

theres a 500 stage treatment for a bridle etc etc

Level 8 User Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 270

well i need to give me leather some treatment and dont know of any horsey places so what should i use instead.

those window rubbers aint cheap then.

Newbie Joined: 25 Jun 2006 Posts: 18

nearest one to portsmouth is

Snowhill Saddlery
01243 672023
17 The Parade
Chichester, PO20 8BN