Seat Refinishing

One of the first projects that I completed was the seat restoration. I wanted the original look so I went with Moss Motors leather seat covers, sourced from Ed Kaler at JustBrits.com, a Moss reseller (great service!), along with new foams, rubber diaphragms and seatback cardboard.

Stripping the old seats was easy, as the foams had mostly deteriorated to the point where they were basically dust! The seats had some nasty old vinyl covering on them, they were probably red with black piping at some point.... I discovered a bit of the original black-with-red covering still attached which was kinda cool.... I wire-brushed away the surface rust on the frames (quite a bit, but surface only) and painted them in a satin black Rustoleum. What a difference!







Now came the hard part - putting everything back together.... I read what I could find on reupholstering the seats (a good guide is available from Victoria British). I started on the driver's seat, figuring that if I messed up the first one, at least I would not have to look at it while driving! The most critical thing is really getting the piping on the upper and lower to match, which takes a little shifting around. It's a good idea to test-fit the top and bottom together first, and then adjust the upholstery as needed prior to gluing.

Basically, if you're doing the early seats, you use the rubber diaphragm with metal hooks that fit into holes in the lower frame. It's a tight fit, so I let the rubber sit out in the sun for a bit, then used a screwdriver inside the hook to stretch it across the frame and into the appropriate hole - bracing the frame with my feet. Kind of tricky, and be careful with that screwdriver, hold it tight! Once that's done, I used some spray adhesive to glue the seat cushion foam to the frame - mainly to hold it in place until the cover was on.

The seat back uses the foam, which was again glued to the frame, and a cardboard backing, again glued. I also used some tape to hold the cardboard in place.

When it comes time for the seatcovers, I started with the bottom. I turned the cover inside out and placed it on the cushion, then 'unrolled' the sides so it was even then used the C-clamps to hold it to the frame. I didn't use any glue. For the seatback, the simplest way is to get a plastic bag like the dry cleaners use, and slip this over the frame with the cardboard backing and foam. The upholstery will then slip easily over the foam! I ripped out as much of the back as I could, then used the 3M spray adhesive up inside. WEAR EYE PROTECTION AS YOU WILL GET ADHESIVE BLOW-BACK!

Now is when you test-fit the upper and lower to make sure the piping aligns. And that's it!