AndyK

Both leather front seats are in great shape--except the stitching right in the front corners (between the pad and bottom bolsters) has come undone.

Is there a way to fix this? Do I have to bring the car to a leather restoration place, or can I fix it somehow?

Thoughts?

pete944

Take it to a local upholstery shop, they may be able to re-stich it cheap.

AndyK

I assume they would want me to take the seats out?

Marc Gelefsky

Montclair auto top quoted me $80 per seat to do that job, seats did not have to come out, Just drop the car off.

This was about a year ago, I never got around to it.

AndyK

$160 bucks eh? Not bad I guess. Did they mention how long it would take them?

Marc Gelefsky

Sorry Andy, I dont remember. I need to stop by and see what it will cost to fix my worn bolster.

KuHL 951

Andy,
I had to reshape my bolsters on both Sport seats awhile back. If you just pull the seat out (4bolts) you can remove the bottom cover without taking the back off the seat, it's very easy (about 5 min.) Cut the old hogs rings off, dont try to pull them. You can turn those corners inside out and hand stitch right over the old seam as long as the leather isn't torn; if it is torn just stitch inside the tear about 3/16" to 1/4". Be sure and tie off the thread at the end of your repair. Buy a cheap set of hogring pliers($5), a box of small hogrings ($3) and put the seatcover back on. Travis has a good seatcover R and R writeup on Rennbay. It is quite easy and shoudn't take you more than 1.5 hours start to finish. Call me cheap I guess but I would never pay someone $160 for something this easy.

Tom R.

I had the same problem, and three solutions. edit make that 4

1. replace the seats with 928 seats like I did

2. leave the seats in the car and park at the train

3. go to one of the arts and crafts stores and get a spool of the super strong black thread (we used it on a swimming pool cover for a few years, and on a friends convertible top) with a heavy needle. run the needle through a few of the holes already there, tighten, tie a knot, trim the excess with a small scissors, and take your wife out to dinner with the 160 you saved.

4. if you want to take the seat apart, i have a good set of hog ring pliers and about enough hog rings left over from the reupholstery job on my firebird to recover a fleet of porsches.

ERAU-944

i need to do something akin to this on the seats on my '84. the stitching is coming out where the bolster meets the headrest portion... on both seats. i looked for holes, but it doesn't look like it'd be very easy to fix. do y'all think i should go to an upholstery shop?

-Mike-

nineeagles

I learned that usually once a seam starts to come apart and you try to fix it then it will come apart somewhere else as the material is starting to deteriorate.....I had seats in an older 924 that the seams came apart and I took them out and took them to a local upholstery guy who just happened to have the correct vinyl to redo them.....he just did the two side sections of each seat bottom and after they were done I put vinyl dressing on the whole seat and it matched nicely....he told me about how if one seam goes then the rest will go soon.........he only charged me $80 to do them but that was just the side sections of the seat bottoms.....

AndyK

I was told by the Concours guys that the stitching gets worn away by dirt that accumulates in the corners of the seat. You sit on it, and it becomes sandpaper, eating away at the cotton thread.

If you fix it, and keep the seats clean, it should last a long time. If the actual leather or vinyl is torn or worn..that's another story!

I'll have to see if it's doable by me. If not, I'll either leave it, or pay someone to fix it.