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Redoing the Vinyl Seats

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10musketeer

10musketeer

Jedi Trainee
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Anyone have any tips or suggestions for me? I'm getting ready to redo the seats in my midget with the typical vinyl covers from the big two places and need some advice and tips for fitting the covers. Should I use an adhesive on the backside of the vinyl, or leave them. I've heard both opinions, and notice that the uppers strech across the foam and doesn't lay flat with the contours. Will it lay flat over time, or is this a place I need glue? Someone told me that the glue will ruin the foam and I will have to scrap everything and start over with new foam and vinyl. What have you guys found out when doing yours?
 
Some adhesives will eat foam. So you would have to be very careful with that. Some vinyls will stretch with time and fit how they are supposed to but I don't know if there is a gaurantee about how much it will stretch or settle.
 
I just recovered the seats in my Spitfire. The instructions that came with my seat kit indicated that certain areas SHOULD be glued.

I went to my local Ace Hardware and picked up a can of 3M Hi-Strength 90 spray adhesive . It is indicated for use on several plastics including foam. I found that it worked GREAT and did not attack the foam in any way.

Here are my seats before:
seats-before.jpg


And after:
seats-after.jpg


The entire project took little more than a weekend.
 
The biggest pain was probably the headrests. I got smart on the second one and glued some thin plastic to the foam, which made sliding the new cover on a bit easier. I just used the plastic that the seat foam kit had come in.
 
Alright ! when should I send mine up to you ?? ha ha !
I watched a show on tv they were doing furniture cushions put the foam in a plastic bag, vacuumed the air out, put it in the cover released the vac pulled the plastic out..uummpaaa prefect seat cushion ! of course they did hundreds a week.

gotta love that Volvo, how long have you owned it ?

Tom j
 
Yeah, I guess if I did this for a living I'd have all kinds of nifty toys that would make the job easier. Seriouly though, the plastic glued on the headrest trick really did a great job (and it was free). /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

I've had the Volvo since October 2004. It's not the quickest car on the road, but man does it love to cruise!
 
SunbeamTom said:
Alright ! when should I send mine up to you ?? ha ha !
Click to expand...

Funny story... I took those before and after pictures down to the British car place near my house when we went to pick up my transmission. The owner was going crazy trying to answer five phone lines, help us, and work on all the cars he's got out in the shop right now. He's so overbooked right now he asked me if I'd like to do some upholstery work for him. I'm not sure if he was kidding.

Tempting idea if I wasn't so busy trying to get my own car back in one piece by May. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Those seats look great. I need to do the same thing, but I'm switching the beige houndstooth for black. I'll PM with any questions if you dont mind.

Funny, we could probably make a good set with what I have from mine (the driver bottom is good, the back is shot).

Nittany for a cat? Any relation to my Almamater?
 
Yep. Penn State alum here. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/yesnod.gif

Ask away with the questions, though I've only done one pair of seats so I'm hardly an expert. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Jerseygirl said:
Yep. Penn State alum here. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/yesnod.gif

Ask away with the questions, though I've only done one pair of seats so I'm hardly an expert. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
Click to expand...

We are!!! ...

PSU '89 BS MIS
 
I will soon be putting new vinyl in my Midget. The foam inserts aside, the "kit" will cost me almost as much as it would to have the local upholstery guy do it.
Are there any benifits to using the "kit" from the big two over having the local guy do it?

As this thread is over a month old I'll assume that 10musketeer is done with his project.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]the "kit" will cost me almost as much as it would to have the local upholstery guy do it[/QUOTE]

I doubt it! You've not fully priced upholstery kits yet....send me a PM with your Moss parts numbers & be prepared for a pleasant surprise!!

Oh, have you met Mickey Richaud yet? He lives in Clarksville also & has an MGB & a TR8.
 
Joelb - you have a private message...
 
I would add, for those who haven't already done it... for those who have tight-fitting covers that are pulled down over the seat backs, you can throw a plastic dry-cleaning garment bag over the seat foam before starting in on the tug-o-war. It makes it slip down a little more easily, and once the cover is on you can reach up and rip/pull out the plastic.

-D
 
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