RX300 Seat Renewal

 Leather seats require regular maintenance.  The leather needs a conditioner so it is able to maintain it's elasticity.  When it is elastic, pliable it can move with the stresses that are applied to it.  If you don't condition your leather seats the leather will become hard, and crack when stresses are applied to it.  Well, my RX300 was assigned to be my work truck, and the "frilly" maintenance like leather conditioning took a low priority.  Well, eventually this took a heavy toll on the drivers seat.

As the leather got dried out, cracks started to form, and the cracks turned into tears, and so on.  My solution at the time was to cover the tears with duct tape, LOL!  Then the duct tape started to build up.  The seat kept getting harder, and less comfortable.  This came to an apex in the summer of 2019? maybe...  So, I found another seat from a salvage yard, pulled this seat out of the RX300, and replaced it with the salvage seat.  Then the original seat spent a few years sitting around my house.

For a while it was consigned to the patio, and it has become very dirty because of the weather.  These leather seats were never intended to be exposed to the weather directly.  The replacement seat that is in the RX300 now does not have a seat heater.  That is one of my favorite features of the RX300.  Mainly for my back, the seat heater, in conjunction with the lumbar support, are my favorite creature comforts in the RX300.  So, now I want to refurbish the original RX300 seat to get my seat heaters back.

The part of this seat with the biggest issues is the bottom part of the seat, the actual seat part.  The dried, cracked leather is not salvageable.  It's covered with duct tape, and the tears under the duct tape are significant.  The thing to do is to get a replacement skin, and completely replace the leather cover.  Typically a piece of leather like this might be a couple hundred dollars.  But, this is a 20 year old truck, and we can find discounted, or clearance items that will do.  The one I found, and ordered was $62.

The back of the seat is in a little better condition, but the leather is very dried out, and cracking.  This part I did try to re-condition.  I spent a few hours cleaning, and conditioning the seat back, and head rest.  The head rest was the least damaged part.  After hours of hand scrubbing the leather I only have marginal results, and I'm not really happy with it.  The head rest looks OK, but the seat back still looks pretty terrible.

So, I've hatched a plan.  I have a new seat bottom leather skin on order.  That will look great, brand new.  I don't want to pair the new seat bottom with the grungy looking seat back.  But, we have some more parts.  I have the replacement seat from the salvage yard.  It's seat back looks great, almost brand new, but it doesn't have the seat heater.  What I have to do is remove the leather skin from the salvage seat back, and then install it on the original seat that has the heater.  This is labor intensive, but I think it will be worth it in the end.  Doing upholstery is hand intensive, hard work.  The Hog Rings that hold the upholstery together are usually deeply buried within the seats, and it is difficult to get them.  But, as I progress in this project the Hog Rings are becoming familiar.  I have to get a Hog Ring Pliers, and a supply of Hog Rings to do the re-assembly.  I'm looking forward to getting my replacement parts...