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Revamped the BJ7 seat cushions

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bob hughes

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Wow what a difference

Just finished fitting new foam in the seat cushions, did both in the end and it also entailed rebuilding the seat pans which were shot, what a real pleasure to drive now, nice and comfortable, and the navigator has given me extra brownie points - whey hey.

Win - Win all round

:cheers:

Bob
 
Brownie points good! :thumbsup: Did you have to make any of those holes or are the foam replacements softer now-a-days?
 
Bob, since you brought up this subject, you raised a question about my fitting of the horseshoe type seat covers on my BT7. The new foam bottoms from Moss went on fine along with with new (vinyl)seat covers, altho they did require some stretching and refitting of the vinyl to get a smooth straight finish on the piping. The seat backs are a different story - I got the foams nicely glued in place to the metal seat back, but are you supposed to then glue the centre part of the seat back vinyl to the seat back foam? I tried working the vinyl over the seat back foams on a nice warm day, and they're still not fitting well. It seems as though the rounded top edge of vinyl on the seat back is not cut quite right - I may have to beef up the seat back with some extra foam to get a smooth fit at the top edge...

Anyone else had this problem, or am I just being too picky about the fit?

Thanks
Dave
 
You have to pad the top (and backside) of the seatbacks.

Yes, the center (pleated) section requires gluing to the foam, then once dry (PATIENCE!) you can work the top seam into submission.

Best way I found to hold the center section to the foam while the glue dries (I left them overnight):

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Greg

No, I did not form any holes, but it was suggested at Rawles that I did.
On the passenger side there is no seat adjuster on my car so I just put the foam in as received, having checked the head room to the top first.
On the drivers side there is a seat adjuster so that raises the base up, I ended up cutting 1.25 inches off the base of the foam - still no holes.
I found the seats comfortable built this way, some may think that they are a bit stiff and you do not sink into them much but I like it that way. I have no need to have the cushion grip the rear end like a bucket.
Having said that, I took both seats apart again after the first fitting of the covers. In the first one I found that I needed to pad out the central section as the covers appear to be 'home made' by a PO and did not include padding in the ribs, it looked really bad without some central padding. On the second one I included padding first time around but it was the head room issue, I trialed it without cutting and determined that I needed to cut something off in the region of 1" to 1.5", not wanting to screw it up I took a 5/8" slice off, stuck it all together - clips and glue an rivets and tested it, I had to remove clips and rivets and ease the cover off the bottom of the pan, keeping the cover glued to the top of the foam and trimmed another 5/8" off the foam. I kept the foam from the front gear box side and stuck it back on but outside the pan, as there is a big overhang - pan to foam, on that corner, I felt that it helped keep the line on the finished work. What I am getting around to in a long winded way, is that you can always cut holes in the base of the foam after if you do not like the feel of the seat, without too much effort.


:cheers:

Bob

Dave - I have no info on refurbing the seat backs, I did not intend to do anything with them at this moment and did not ask the upholsterer for any tips, so go with Randy on that one.

:cheers:

Bob
 
My thanks to Bob for his comments and to Randy for his excellent photos (obviously you're making your own ethanol with those bags of corn), which were self-explanatory and extremely helpful. You know, it's the fact that enthusiasts like yourselves (and a solid core of regulars) take the time to reply and share solutions for the rest of us, that makes this website a real treasure.

Cheers and regards
Dave
 
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