Leatherette repair, Blistering heat vs. leatherette yields a split to repair Options

[Jasfsmith]

A journey from Maine to San Diego and back during the hottest time of year in a heat wave in the Soutwest has resulted in a small split in leatherette on the bolester of my seat.

Any suggestions on repair?

[1970 Neun vierzehn]

James,
I've worked at an import car dealership for almost 29 years now and have seen innumerable vinyl upholstery repairs done by a variety of vendors. Most would involve placing a matching color "bandage" over the tear/cut/spilt and then heating said overlaying patch with a heat gun. The heat "melts" the patch, filling and bridging the gap left by the tear/cut/split. The very best repairs that I've seen have matched the vinyl perfectly but have always left a small, perceptable "bump" where the patch filled in the void where the rip had occured. There may be a repair system/restorer out there that can effect an undetectable repair, I'd like to see what is used and how it's done. I showed a number of vendors my sun damaged (cracked) dash top and all said that they could repair it, but that the repair, when completed, would be apparent. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Barring any valuable input from the Forum, maybe a high-end (M-B, Ferrari) upholsterer might be able to help. Let us know if and how you got it repaired.

Paul