Try Hillborn in Florida. They specialize in RR/Bentley

 

Awesome, thanks. Great that they are established and if I decided to do all the seats one year, I could go back in another year and have the door panels, dash, carpets, trunk done to the same level of quality and match.

 

If you want to split the manufacturing of the seats and door cards over two years, make sure that you buy all the leather at the beginning. Also, when the leather, other than seats, are not cracked or otherwise damaged, you may want to consider re-dying them to the same color as the refurbished seats. It's worth a try at least.

 

I would say, if at all possible, find someone who can repair and restore the original leather - it's amazing what the right person can achieve - I say right person, because it takes experience and the right materials to do it properly.

The main reason I say this is because you cant buy leather like the original any longer - Connolly no longer exists (in its original form) and they tanned and coloured the leather with a whole load of secret formulas (all, apparently, held in the head of a chap called Norman, who never wrote anything down - at least that's the story I heard). Also, the way Connolly tanned the leather changed over the years so a '74 Shadow has differently tanned Connolly leather to a 1990 Spirit.

Also, leather type aside, I've heard it is very difficult, ever for the best trimmer, to replicate the factory finish.

These people are ex-connolly, and worth speaking to, even if you are on the other side of the Atlantic. Very knowledgeable about restoring original leather:

www.leathercaredirect.com

 

Thank you for this insight and advice. I have reached out to them.

The reality is that the leather probably is restorable. There are a couple short tears but the rest is OK. I have used Leatherique products here in the US for restoring re-dying the seats on my Ferrari with pretty good success. That being said, the Rolls needs a much deeper level of restoration. I will explore restoration AND recovering but would prefer the restoration approach if that could work out.

 

Jason, Can you post some pics of the problem areas of the leather?

 

I sent Steve pics and he said "no way"- too far gone to restore! And he said he almost never says that! I guess I will try Hillborn...

 

Is it not better to find an interior that is used but in good order from a car that is being parted out?

 

I don't know if Hilborn is in business at the moment. Tom moved out if his shop late last year, ads ceased in Hemmings. The next ad I saw in February or March had an address that was a U-Ship-It mail-box store, but then, those ads have stopped. I would like to think he's still open, somewhere, as I need some carpet work. Please Let us know if you find anything out.

 

May I make a suggestion, why not have the drivers seat back re done as well as the back seat back redone, then have the rest dyed to match, it would be a much less costly undertaking. In my area (Boston) we have a guy who does repair and re-dye jobs for all the local dealerships and what a job he does, he did my front seat squabs only and he matched the other leather to a tee. I'm sure there is a similar person in your area. Thinking further about it Jim (that's his name) could probably do some type of repair on the rips as well, (although he would tell you he can not guarantee it), then dye over it. Again, surely there must be a similar craftsman in your area.

I had him also do two repairs on my boat, I had two tears on the back bolster, although he said he couldn't guarantee the repair, I must tell you this is season two with the repair, not only is it just fine, even in a marine environment, you couldn't find the repairs unless I showed you where and then, I still don't think you'd see it.

I will post a pic of my seats once I find one

 

I know they look bad with the tears etc - but easily restorable. Definitely the route I would take as it's so much less disruptive and far better to retain the original leather.

Another company to think about is Furniture Clinic, who are a British company but they do seem to have a presence in the USA. Here is a video of a restoration they did on an XJS interior - which would also be Connolly leather, albeit the Jaguar stuff was not to the same spec as RR because they were cheaper cars (If you speak to ex-Connolly people they will recount how fussy RR was, rejecting hides that would have been acceptable by other manufacturers)

Anyway these were really bad!: