Hvithaien

Just started a little job on my car that involves a type of work I have never done before....Upholstery!
I want to fix the pads/inserts of my front seats. They both have the common disease with sloppy inserts/pads. When I am done fixing the pads, I will also redye the seats using dye from UK based company Dynamix.
The job scares me a bit, but I bought a hog ring plier and I guess I am ready for the challenge..
I got the passenger seat out and have separated the backrest from the seat portion. I am now looking at how to get the seat cover and foam separated from the frame.

I'll try to post some pictures as I go along, and if someone that knows this job wants to comment (Paul C.?), please do!


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E

Jerry Feather

E: My trim guy and I did this on my seats about three years ago. As I recall, the seat bottoms are taken apart by first taking the rings off underneath then pulling the cover up and over the side bolsters. When that is done you will find that in the crevise between the side bolsters and the center area with the inserts, the whole cover is held down there with some more hogrings. Take them out. Next you will find that the center area of the seat bottom is glued in place beneath the inserts. the glue is primarily related to the part underneath the valleys between the inserts. There you will find that the insert valleys are sewn to some fairly stiff webbing about 2 inches wide which is in turn glued to the basic foam of the seat bottom. Pull that loose and then the cover with the filled inserts will be free of the seat foam. You do not need to take the foam off the seat frames.

Now you can do what you need to do to restore the inserts and/or the side bolster cover which is one unit. You can refill the inserts with some suitable new foam so they will hold a new-like shape and then you may need to find some replacement webbing for under the vallies, unless you are going to keep what came out.

This part of the seat is put back together in reverse order. First glue the stiff webbing down in the correct locations, then hogring the gusset between the inserts and side bolster down into the bottom of the crevise, then pull the cover over the side bolsters and across the front and back and hogring it back on. Or it may be that the underneath of the perimiter has some snap strips that fit over the edge of something on the frame, I just don't remember for sure.

The seat backs are a little different. The insert part there is a seperate piece from the rest of the seat back cover.

Jerry

Imo000

I'm interested to see what the pros have to say. My driver seat has a failing bottom side pad that makes the seat frame come very close to the leather. Makesthe seat very unconfortable too.

Champagne

With all due respect to Jerry and his trimmer, very little of that long description applies to E, since he has early seats.

E, the root of your problem stems from a flaw in the factory cover design of the early seats. I have devised a way to circumvent the problem, but it is very difficult to do unless you sew.

I will try and take some pictures to illustrate the problem and point you in the right direction.

In the mean time, here is an example of a seat bottom like yours, that came to me after a pro tried to fix it:



This is what the seat looked like with a properly fitted cover. I used the original foams and trashed the extra foam that he had used.
Overfilling an ill fitting cover is a clear sign of poor craftsmanship:



Paul

fbarnhill

Paul, I know this is your domain but If you could please post some pictures, I also would like to take a shot on the ones on my 79. I can't afford to have it done and it needs it badly. I had the drivers seat out last week and almost started on it and chickened out. My leather is in pretty good shape but the inserts have gone flat and the panel on the bottom left swings out and hits the emergency break handle. It also is not very compfortable on long drives. If you would be willing to share some knowledge here, I will give it a shot.

Thanks,

Hvithaien

If I understand it correctly these wires are part of the arrangment that keep the "valleys" pulled down.



It would be super if you could post a few pictures and some guidelines Paul C.

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Erik

Champagne

Hey Erik,

no, what you point to only serves at holding down the base foam.



The only thing holding what you call the valleys down is glue on the 3 supports I point to in the above picture.

These supports are made of felt and sewn to the cover. Then, they are simply glued in between the pads. There are no mechanical attachments of any kind.
That is the flaw in the design of these covers.

I can't go into details here, because even though I love to help those who want to help themselves (and do so all the time), there are some who would use the information to further their own business without putting in the time, effort and money that developing these solutions actually cost.

Paul

fbarnhill

Thank you Paul. This will help some. It would seem to me that finding some mechanical means of keeping the valleys down might be a better method than just the glue. No damn wonder that just about every 79 I have ever seen has them popped back up. Thanks for the good picture. I may give it a shot just for the heck of it.

Hvithaien

I understand your policy absolutely Paul.
I approach this job very cautiously as I will not mess up my seat..., but I figure that if I don't break or tear anything I can always throw in the towel and contact the local upholstery shop...
I am about to cut the hog rings that holds the sides of the middle section down so that I can have a good look at everything.... Wish me luck!

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Erik

fbarnhill

Erik, I would appreciate any and all pictures you might be able to take along the way. I hope to follow you down the path if I can get the time. Since you are going to be in there anyway???

Thanks,

Champagne

Erik,

if you do hit a snag, do take a picture and email it to me and I will do my best to help you out.

Paul