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Interior Carpet & Seat Refinishing .....

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George Zeck

George Zeck

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Hello all --

Sorry to be out of the loop. Been fighting through some terrible issues here on the home front. Back to basics ....

Am considering re-finishing the interior and would like to know what my options are other than the VB kit's? In short: for seat kits (I install) + panels (I install) + interior carpeting (I install & limited on colors) = $1,000.

I've read prior posts and of course, can't find them on this topic.

Any idea's on how to do this more cheaply? Can I use 'aftermarket carpeting' purchased from _____? What about the folds and bends? The carpet didn't seem too $$ -- just had to put up with about 3 colors (all which I obviously did not care for).

Also -- seats @ $330 + install seems outrageous. Any other options here other than cheetah-print seat covers?

Are the panels difficult to recover? Seems as if I can carefully remove the old and use as a template for new material. Anyone try this?

Thanks all-

George Zeck

gzeck@email.com

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You can have your seats redone by any trim shop. Its cost a lot more when paying somone else to do the labor of installation on frames and in car. I usually buy materials and take old covers in to copy, then install myself. When I find a commercial sewing machine I want, then no more relying on someone else. Colors available was what came originally in cars. You can go to most fabric stores and buy any color naugahyde you want and have made to fit. Panels are straight forward. Vinyl glued on. Any automotive grade carpet will work fine. Whoever makes new seat covers can sew a finished seam around edges and sew to fit wheelwells etc. VB and Moss are made in England or copied from originals. Small market makes for high prices.
 
I did buy the kist from Moss and they are EXPENSIVE! SOmeone here (TONY???) can get the sets cheaper (I found out too late!!) but I did do the job myself. They were completely stripped down to the frames, de-rusted, primed, painted and then recovered. They are BEAUITUFL I might add for my first time. You can find some posts I put in here over the last month or two on them by searching for Posts started by BLACKJOKR. Also, here are some pics to the process. I bought NO special tools. Because the car is still int he body shop, they make a fine addition to my living room as seats!!

https://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/lmelogra/1979%20MG%20Midget/
 
I got a set of seat covers (leather) from Prestige (https://prestigecarhoods.com/) for a great price and put them on myself.

I also ended up making my own interior panels using 4mm door skin plywood (original panels as pattern), covered with a think piece of foam and then vinyl over. Really quite fine, with the only missing feature being the seams/imprint/groove/whatever line things on the doors.
 
MGNoir

Did you also do the headrests in leather? I was looking at the Prestige website and don't understand what they are trying to say. Did you reuse your old headrests or do they send you new ones? Thanks!
 
George
Your seats should be the same as mine. I bought the seat kits from eBay, A guy in Colorado has them on there most all the time. put them on myself. I did get the foam kit from Moss. Carpets , again I found them on eBay. You have to watch some of the carpet kits are real cheap and some are of good quality. I think I have around $500 or $600 total in my interior. I also used black bed liner paint to do all the metal in the interior. looks good were you can see it, holds the carpet and mats from sliding around. Acts as a sound deadener and moisture dose not affect it at all. Very tough, will not chip or scratch

Taz
 
Try Jerry Grover for seats (piccione@qwest.net). He sells nice sets on ebay for $170 I think. Panel trim is a good do-it-yourself project. 1/8 inch hardboard from Lowes or HD and vinyl from local sources. If I were going to spent exrea money I would spent it on the carpet. Cheap carpet looks cheap. I've used Heritage Trim for my carpet. Excellent quality and fit and worth the cost.
 
That 170 is for black as I remember, othsr colors are just a bit more, like 10 bucks maybe.
 
[ QUOTE ]
MGNoir

Did you also do the headrests in leather? I was looking at the Prestige website and don't understand what they are trying to say. Did you reuse your old headrests or do they send you new ones? Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I ended up just using a black vinyl set I bought on ebay. I too wasn't sure what the options were for the headrests.
 
Whitephrog -

How hard were the seats to do. Had a VW yers ago and just couldn't grasp the replacement and ended up costing me much more than if I took the whole project to the shop from the start.

Paneling - what specifically do you mean my 1/8 inch "hardboard" -- plywood or a standard sheet of solid wood (just thin) ?? Or is this something man made (plastic, ??).

Also - I've seen "picione" on ebay. Anyone have experience with them? Good quality? Fit? Easy to work with?

Tx-

George
 
Hard board has no wood, it is hard cardboard like the orginals.
 
You can call Victoria British, They have a free manul on how ot resore the interior with step-by-step instructions. Call them and order it (IT'S REALLY FREE! NO SHIPPIN G COST TO YOU EITHER!!). Read it 1-3 times, put yoru parts on the floor and then TAKE YOUR TIME and build slowly. Remember this: NOTHING FITS EXACTLY WHEN YOU ARE BUYING REPLACEMENT PARTS!! Be prepared to fudss a bit but do not lose faith! I did mine myself and NEVER tried anything liek it before in my life and they cane out perfect!
 
Hardboard is almost idinyial to the original panel boards. It a brown pressed fiber board smooth on one side and dimpled on the other. You can buy 2'x3' sheet at the major home stores for about $3.50 a sheet. It comes in 4"x8' sheet as well but not as readily available in a 1/8" thickness.

I haven't used Jerry Grover (piccione@qwest.com)for seats yet but I've hear good things.
 
If your seats are still intact but riped up, just very carefully take them apart and take notice how they are clipped together. I had nothing to work from so it was a little harder. This is still a very easy job, just slip the covers on and clip them tight. I used Jerry's seat kit from ebay(Picione). Look great, fit good. One problem I had was that the skirt on one off the bottom pieces was sewed on upside down. It obviously did not fit, got in touch with Jerry and he replaced it. He will also sell you extra material to do the side pieces in the interior. Doing the interior of a sprite is pretty basic. but if you do not feel comfortable with it find a good Trim shop and talk to them about it.

Taz
 
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