seat upholstery question

[donm]

This question is for those who have redone their seats. I'm planning to order replacement foam cushions and re upholster my front seats but thinking about the project further, what holds the seat upholstery against the contours of the foam cushion, giving it the proper definition? I know there are hooks around the perimeter of the cushion but what holds the material against the foam? Are there internal hooks? Or is it glued?

[spider2081]

There are internal ties that pass through the foam.

[baltobernie]

The bottom foam is held to the pan by the cover. The cover has three small fabric channels on its underside called "listings". In our case, it's a square "C", aligned with the lines created where the front and side bolsters meet the seat bottom (pleated area). Coat hanger-size rods go in these channels. The four rod corners align with holes pre-drilled thru the seat foam. Springs attach to the seat pan, go thru the foam, and clip to the corners of the rods. Downward pressure on the "C" provides definition of the seat bottom contour. If the springs are broken, you can use sturdy waxed cord, like sail-makers twine. Attach to the rods, feed thru the holes in the foam, and pull the whole assembly tight; then tie off. The cover hem is attached to the pan with hog rings; see earlier post. The finished seat and cushion can compress and move slightly when occupied.

If the foam and/or the cover are glued to each other and the pan, the foam will quickly separate from the pleated seat bottom and disintegrate from internal friction. The assembly must be able to move, but still be constrained by the seat cover, which itself has some movement ability due to the hog rings.

I have seen some aftermarket covers that lack the channels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KhuDHkjZ9I

Sorry I don't have photos; DC Fiats intended to do a tutorial on this, but I forgot my camera

[RRoller123]

Donm, you may want to consider just taking it to Mark at Mark's Auto Upholstery in Foxboro. Dimitri is a genius and it will be done from scratch at a good price and quite well, from material of your choosing. I have no financial interest in them other than being a customer. And can you be ready for cars and Coffee at The Larz on April 19th? <{:^)

Pete

[toplessexpat]

I've redone mine from scratch with no real prior knowledge. Carefully took apart previous covers and made patterns (less 3/16" all around to account for stretching over the past 37 years), selected desired material (vanilla marine vinyl with scarlet welting), and created the individual components using stitch-foam backing and the marine vinyl. Then I assembled them with the welting where I wanted them.

The results are below, and they vinyl has now stretched evenly over the cushions. The "grooves" are held in place by thin fabric tubes ("listings") sewn to the inside of the stitch-foam as you assemble the seats. I used some calico. These then have a metal rod threaded through and in the case of the seat back, there are three elastics which thread through the back foam and hook over the springs in the seat back. The seat base has a steel "C" with the vertical stroke of the "C" threaded through the listing and the horizontal strokes going through the seat base and hooked onto the springs in the seat base. At least that's what mine were like when I disassembled them - and so that's how they are now! Needless to say, the metal rods were pretty rusted, and I found that that most utilitarian of repairs tools - the wire coathanger - was a pretty good replacement!

Am I happy with the seats? No. The Vanilla vinyl was a great choice for looks, and a terrible choice for keeping clean. The headrests are really not great at all, and my attempt at restyling slightly with the "hoop" of welting while being kind of cool - means you need to be VERY precise in the sewing to get right.

I'm in the middle of doing another set - slightly darker vinyl for the main body of the seats - and doing the first set has really taught me a lot (and given me a lot of patience) for doing the second set. Also - Don Taylor's booked on Automotive Upholstery is absolutely invaluable.

Oh - if you have hog ties around the bottom - then they're not really supposed to be there. There's a hard plastic strip that needs stitching and rolling into the groove around the bottom - it makes more sense when you see it!

[donm]

This is all great info, thanks. I had ordered 2 foam cushions from from IAP which arrived yesterday and now that I see what they look like it's all becoming clear. Next, I'll be ordering the front seat upholstery kit, probably from Vicks but I'm waiting to see if they have a springtime sale. Pete, I'm looking forward to doing this work myself but I'll keep Mark as a back-up.

[RRoller123]

Hey Tex, thanks for the kind words for my wife. This has been quite a journey. She keeps a blog, kind of like "Tuesdays With Morrie" at http://www.caringbridge.org. The password is "ihavefaith" for anyone wishing to follow. This damned little car is the only thing keeping my sanity.

I understand, Don, just be ready for the first Cars And Coffee at The Larz to show them off! Here is an example of what Mark (actually his man Dimitri) can do from scratch, in your choice of material. (I chose genuine, imitation, faux, authentic, leather.)

[Leonard124]

Hi,
I am in the middle of doing this as well on a 1980 spider.
For the seat bottom, the upholstery is held down using hog rings which attach to the wire which is in the seat foam and the other which you add in the 3 channels that are found in the seat upholstery. I used wire from a coat hanger.

The seat back is another story. Mine was missing everything and the old seat covers were slipped on and that is it.
I also made three wires and placed them through the channels in the new upholstery. If you notice the foam on the seat back, there are holes that go through and I used these holes to place string through the seat foam and wire and just tie everthing together. I basically used the 2 springs as anchors to tie the covers on.

I will be doing my last seat back sometime next week...I will try to take pictures so that you can see how I did it

[fiat218]

I've redone mine from scratch with no real prior knowledge. Carefully took apart previous covers and made patterns (less 3/16" all around to account for stretching over the past 37 years), selected desired material (vanilla marine vinyl with scarlet welting), and created the individual components using stitch-foam backing and the marine vinyl. Then I assembled them with the welting where I wanted them.

The results are below, and they vinyl has now stretched evenly over the cushions. The "grooves" are held in place by thin fabric tubes ("listings") sewn to the inside of the stitch-foam as you assemble the seats. I used some calico. These then have a metal rod threaded through and in the case of the seat back, there are three elastics which thread through the back foam and hook over the springs in the seat back. The seat base has a steel "C" with the vertical stroke of the "C" threaded through the listing and the horizontal strokes going through the seat base and hooked onto the springs in the seat base. At least that's what mine were like when I disassembled them - and so that's how they are now! Needless to say, the metal rods were pretty rusted, and I found that that most utilitarian of repairs tools - the wire coathanger - was a pretty good replacement!

Am I happy with the seats? No. The Vanilla vinyl was a great choice for looks, and a terrible choice for keeping clean. The headrests are really not great at all, and my attempt at restyling slightly with the "hoop" of welting while being kind of cool - means you need to be VERY precise in the sewing to get right.

I'm in the middle of doing another set - slightly darker vinyl for the main body of the seats - and doing the first set has really taught me a lot (and given me a lot of patience) for doing the second set. Also - Don Taylor's booked on Automotive Upholstery is absolutely invaluable.

Oh - if you have hog ties around the bottom - then they're not really supposed to be there. There's a hard plastic strip that needs stitching and rolling into the groove around the bottom - it makes more sense when you see it!

Tighten up the material, looks crinkled/ wrinkled

[toplessexpat]

Tighten up the material, looks crinkled/ wrinkled

It was ... the photo was immediately on completion, it's tightened fairly nicely now!

[fiat218]

Tighten up the material, looks crinkled/ wrinkled

It was ... the photo was immediately on completion, it's tightened fairly nicely now!

Great, I do like the red with it

[toplessexpat]

Thanks ... Mk2 is currently underway. Given the frequency of getting grubby around the spider, vanilla wasn't the smartest choice. I'll post photos of the finished article (once a suitable period has passed, we know how much you like things tight Jim..)

[fiat218]

Thanks ... Mk2 is currently underway. Given the frequency of getting grubby around the spider, vanilla wasn't the smartest choice. I'll post photos of the finished article (once a suitable period has passed, we know how much you like things tight Jim..)

I'm too old to get things tighter. Lol

[GLIDER]

Hey Tex, thanks for the kind words for my wife. This has been quite a journey. She keeps a blog, kind of like "Tuesdays With Morrie" at http://www.caringbridge.org. The password is "ihavefaith" for anyone wishing to follow. This damned little car is the only thing keeping my sanity.

I understand, Don, just be ready for the first Cars And Coffee at The Larz to show them off! Here is an example of what Mark (actually his man Dimitri) can do from scratch, in your choice of material. (I chose genuine, imitation, faux, authentic, leather.)

these look great , just for general information do you know the approximate cost ?

[RRoller123]

Please pm me if interested and I will relay the cost of the job. I am a current customer, paid cash, did the work during the slowest month, and also have other business dealings like storing my campers and boat, etc with him, so it may not be accurate to quote a figure in public that he might then be expected to hold to for others. But I will gladly share the info on a pm to those interested!

The advantage is that you get completely custom work, in the material of your choice (which effects cost) and matches the original stitching exactly (as I requested). He also repaired the seat frame which was broken inside.

Pete