Quote Originally Posted by artificer View Post
Mike,
I think this goes beyond surface treatment. The harness is a VERY hard finished chrome tan, rather than a suede finish waiting for Blanco.

If I had my guess, I'd say it was built intending to resemble the suede + blanco without the hassle of actually having to do the work.

Short cuts usually = fail. Sad but true.

Also, the machine stitch is MUCH finer on the repro than it is on the original. (which is more of an aside than anything)
I concur. And I'd be afraid if you tried to "fix" it by sanding, you're probably going to do a lot more damage than you want trying to make it look authentic. If you're REALLY serious about it being suede and adding white stuff to it, I'd probably use the pieces/parts you've got as a pattern and go get some roughed-out leather or suede to make new stuff from.

There's also a few places that can take leather and refinish it to match pretty much any color you want to match. My wife knows some people in Memphis, TN that do this, though it's pretty expensive. If you want, I'll get details and maybe they can help you take that route. Just let me know.