Help! rain damage to leather trim

[ron6962]

I committed the unpardonable sin of leaving the top down on my 2007 XLR while I did some work inside my Church, and of course the Florida sunshine turned liquid before I knew it was happening. I got the top up and dried everything out as best I could. later in the day, the sun came back out so I opened all the doors and let it sit in my driveway in the sun for a couple hours (keeping my eyes on the sky!). All looked OK until the next day when I noticed the leather trim at the top of each door, and the leather trim around the hatch behind the seats had some dark areas and the pebbling in the leather was smooth in those areas. Ugh!

So, I am in need of any advice for repairing the damage, as this is the only blemish on the entire car. Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ccclarke]

A couple of pictures would be worth a thousand words in this case. Let's start with the locations.

By top of the doors, do you mean the flat section where you might rest your elbow? (As opposed to the arm rest.) If that's what you're referring to, it isn't leather. The only leather on the doors is on the pleated side inserts and arm rests. The top section is "pleather" or pressed vinyl with a slight grain that looks like leather (also called "leatherette" by GM.) The dash pad is the same material (though it changed to leather later.)

If your door's upper trim pieces are ebony (black) both are discontinued on GM's site.

As for the "hatch behind the seats" do you mean the front tonneau? (The three flaps that raise when the roof cycles and lay flat at other times.) If so, these are also vinyl.

If water wicked it's way around the vinyl edges and has affected the bonding, you might need to have an auto upholstery shop take a look at it. Leather (or vinyl) shouldn't discolor from rain --unless it's acid or (purple) rain!

Having spent more time in FL than I care to admit and dealing with thirty-minute monsoons nearly every afternoon at this time of year, I'd be concerned if the seat cushions (the foam under the leather seating surface) were saturated. If so, the seats should be removed and the leather covers taken off to dry the foam out indoors, not outside where the humidity is so high and can lead to mold.

If you're describing something else, please let me know.

CC

 

[ron6962]

trim rain damage

Yes, ccclarke, you described the areas much better than I did, and I am attaching some pictures to further clarify. There are a lot of convertibles in Florida and I was hoping someone may have had the same problem and might know of a possible fix other than removal and recovering. Thanks for your reply and clarifications. Also, the color of the pleather is Liquid Amethyst, which I'm sure will make it even more difficult to fix.

 

[ccclarke]

Yes, those shots do help identify the location and type of damage. Notice how it spreads outwards from the stiches? Must have been a pretty serious downpour!

Hard to tell from the glimpse of the exterior, but Liquid Amethyst (an attractive sought-after shade of violet) is an exterior color.

The interior color looks to be a two-tone cashmere mix, but isn't identified on the 2007 brochure located in the Tech Center. (The parts list identifies it as burl, which makes sense, since it's brownish/olive looking.) Two-tone interiors became popular for the XLR and look pretty sharp.

Left Side Upper Door Trim: OEM Upper Trim, LEFT (15846464) for your GM Vehicle : OEM GM Parts and Accessories | GMPartsCenter.net

Right Side Upper Door Trim: OEM Upper Trim, RIGHT (15846694) for your GM Vehicle : OEM GM Parts and Accessories | GMPartsCenter.net


The damaged rear area behind the seats is located at the top of the waterfall (also called the Back Panel Trim.) It's a single replaceable assembly with a color listing of cashmere. The front tonneau is located directly behind that.

15847225 - OEM GM Back Panel Trim | GMPartsCenter.net

On the plus side, all of your parts are in stock!

I recommend having an auto body or auto upholstery shop check it out. Maybe it will eventually dry out and unflatten.

Good luck!

CC

 

[ron6962]

ccclarke....Thank you so much for the information on the parts identification. The car is a Platinum edition and the exterior color is indeed Liquid Amethyst. The trim on the top of the dash, top of the doors, roll bars, and the tonneau panels behind the seats is a similar purplish color. All those except the dash cover have damaged areas. The lower dash area, seats, door panels, center console, back panel trim and carpet are all cashmere, and none of that is damaged.

I will confer with an upholstery shop this week and if that does not wok out, will look into parts replacement. You have been very helpful...thanks!

 

[cubby558]

Ron,

Just an fyi for you. Looking at the pics you posted and reading our comments on the color, I can assure you that area of your car is no different in color than any other XLR of the same year. The top portions of the 'waterfall' area, tops of door panels and the dash area have only been two different colors throughout XLR production. The '04-'05 models with shale interiors had a darker tan or light brown color and the ebony interiors had ebony color areas throughout. From '06-'09 the areas mentioned were ebony no matter what color the rest of the interior was. Yours may look 'purplish' up against the color of your car, but it is in fact ebony. Hope this helps.

ccclarke....Thank you so much for the information on the parts identification. The car is a Platinum edition and the exterior color is indeed Liquid Amethyst. The trim on the top of the dash, top of the doors, roll bars, and the tonneau panels behind the seats is a similar purplish color. All those except the dash cover have damaged areas. The lower dash area, seats, door panels, center console, back panel trim and carpet are all cashmere, and none of that is damaged.

I will confer with an upholstery shop this week and if that does not wok out, will look into parts replacement. You have been very helpful...thanks!

 

[ron6962]

Ron,

Just an fyi for you. Looking at the pics you posted and reading our comments on the color, I can assure you that area of your car is no different in color than any other XLR of the same year. The top portions of the 'waterfall' area, tops of door panels and the dash area have only been two different colors throughout XLR production. The '04-'05 models with shale interiors had a darker tan or light brown color and the ebony interiors had ebony color areas throughout. From '06-'09 the areas mentioned were ebony no matter what color the rest of the interior was. Yours may look 'purplish' up against the color of your car, but it is in fact ebony. Hope this helps.

Cubby, thanks for the color clarification. I always thought ebony was a very dark color, like nearly black. Mine is nowhere near that dark, but if it's called ebony, so be it. Thanks again.

 

[ccclarke]

Ebony IS black. (Remember when Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson sang, "Ebony and Ivory" comparing themselves to piano keys?

The parts list calls it "burl" for this model year, but GM has a habit of using multiple naming conventions for color schemes. As you can see, the trim on this 2007 Liquid Amethyst XLR is a dark brownish-purpleish color, (similar to a thumb hit by a hammer) but nowhere near as dark as ebony. (Note the contrasting ebony dash pad.) BTW: The roll bar covers are vinyl too.

CC

 

[xlrlist01]

I committed the unpardonable sin of leaving the top down on my 2007 XLR while I did some work inside my Church, and of course the Florida sunshine turned liquid before I knew it was happening. I got the top up and dried everything out as best I could. later in the day, the sun came back out so I opened all the doors and let it sit in my driveway in the sun for a couple hours (keeping my eyes on the sky!). All looked OK until the next day when I noticed the leather trim at the top of each door, and the leather trim around the hatch behind the seats had some dark areas and the pebbling in the leather was smooth in those areas. Ugh!

So, I am in need of any advice for repairing the damage, as this is the only blemish on the entire car. Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

While too late for now, look for leather treatments which help to waterproof the leather for the future.

 

[ron6962]

ccclarke....thanks for the pictures...they help make my point about the color of the trim. The pictures are the same interior and exterior colors of my XLR. The dash top, door tops, roll bars, bulkhead trim, and the panels behind the roll bars are all the same color.....a purple shade, which I assume now is properly called burl. From all the various responses, I feel there is no repair available, and replacement is the only way to get my car looking like new again. I do appreciate all the suggestions.

 

[ron6962]

repair manuals?

While unfortunate to have the damage, I am fortunate the replacement parts are still available. My next challenge is learning how to remove and replace them. Does anyone have a reference for manuals to help with that? I have seen some downloadable PDF manuals online, but it is not clear they will give me the info needed to safely remove the parts. Anyone with experience in this area? Thanks.

 

[Steve Lee]

reply

A couple of pictures would be worth a thousand words in this case. Let's start with the locations.

By top of the doors, do you mean the flat section where you might rest your elbow? (As opposed to the arm rest.) If that's what you're referring to, it isn't leather. The only leather on the doors is on the pleated side inserts and arm rests. The top section is "pleather" or pressed vinyl with a slight grain that looks like leather (also called "leatherette" by GM.) The dash pad is the same material (though it changed to leather later.)

If your door's upper trim pieces are ebony (black) both are discontinued on GM's site.

As for the "hatch behind the seats" do you mean the front tonneau? (The three flaps that raise when the roof cycles and lay flat at other times.) If so, these are also vinyl.

If water wicked it's way around the vinyl edges and has affected the bonding, you might need to have an auto upholstery shop take a look at it. Leather (or vinyl) shouldn't discolor from rain --unless it's acid or (purple) rain!

Having spent more time in FL than I care to admit and dealing with thirty-minute monsoons nearly every afternoon at this time of year, I'd be concerned if the seat cushions (the foam under the leather seating surface) were saturated. If so, the seats should be removed and the leather covers taken off to dry the foam out indoors, not outside where the humidity is so high and can lead to mold.

If you're describing something else, please let me know.

CC

Seat Doctor will fix it . It's a "do it your self kit"

 

[ron6962]

Seat Doctor

Steve, thanks for the reply. can you tell me more about Seat Doctor?

 

[rexster314]

I've bought from this place twice now. One the "Shale" dye and one called "Cimmaron" for my 2012 King Ranch. They've been perfect matches for both cars. Little elbow grease in removing any conditioner/particles for prepping then pretty much applying it, using a foam brush or a clean towel to wipe it in. I did the XLR's passenger seat when a piece of gum attacked the upper outside cushion. Removing the gum resulted in a loss of color but the Seat Doctor dye did the trick. That was 2 years ago and it's still good

 

[Steve Lee]

Seat Doctor

Steve, thanks for the reply. can you tell me more about Seat Doctor?

Google SEAT DOCTOR and see his before and after pics on his web site. Call him! He's located in Rockford, Illinois; 815-570-9534 and he's reasonable, helpful, and really nice guy!What more could you want in a vender!!??