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Seat foam

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Rhodyspit75

Rhodyspit75

Jedi Knight
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I am planning to buy new seat covers for my Spitfire. I can't bring myself to pay the price for new foams and I'm bored so making them myself would take my mind off the cold and snow. Has anyone made there own? There is enough left of my original foams to use as a model but I'm not sure what type of foam to use.
 
I've seen guys in an auto upholstery place use electric carving knives to shape the foam.
 
https://www.bigolbear.com/images/SPITFIRE SEATS.ppt#257,2,Slide 2

This link is pretty good reference to use in dismantling and recovering the seats.

I am doing EXACTLY the same thing.
I bought High Density foam remnants at a local JoAnnes fabric shop.

Looks like it'll be quite the project, but all the DIY websites I've seen have used a simple electric knife for shaping and a bandsaw for cutting.

I uncovered the driver's seat last night and the thicker foam in the seat backs disintegrated into powder. I'll use a 3" piece of foam to carve that section, then regular 1/2" HD to pad the rest.
 
Welcome to Rhody and TD!!

Rhody, I lived in Pawtucket for a long time and I'm now just over the border in MA.

Are you a member of CCBCC or NET or BMCNE?

I had Eddie at JT Leddy on Central Ave re-pad my original TR6 seats. He did a great job for less than the kit costs. He's now making customer seat trims in matching Chestnut, to fit the Miata seats that I bought for my TR6. That project is here: Miata Seat Conversion
 
Welcome guys! TD - never thought about the ban saw. Great solution. I have 2 foam sets and 2 seat cover sets to get to before spring. I asked my wife if she'd do them and she said Yes!
I need to prep the frames and locate the webbing and clips again... Anybody?
 
I am going to redo my seat this spring also. I had spare foam laying around a tried my hand at the shaping thing. Maybe it was my knife but it seemed it would drag alot.
Im in the process of rethinking the process and may do a layer of the memory foam to insure a prefect fit and comfort.

I will be watch and see how you make out.
 
Gave it a try last night...however no pics, and not a lot of progress a bit chilly in the garage. Apologies for a long post...

I found that in order for the "Turkey carver" to work well I had to approach the cut at a perpendicular angle, then turn into the carving once into the foam.

I took the old seat foam remains, laid them flat on the new foam, drew around it with a sharpie marker. I left everything approx. 3/8" bigger than the mark so it would fill the covers. Plus because the old foam had powdered I had to guess a little.

Began the cut square to the foam and worked around the rounded edge.
Very much like cutting wood, start from a square shape, then cut down corners to create filets. Used three inch HD foam for the bolsters, then layered on 1/2 foam across the face.

The only real problem I encountered was gluing the new bolsters to the old seat back because of the powder remnants. I had to literaly wire brush the old stuff off to get to solid material for the glue to adhere.

I used 3M spray adhesive. Sprayed the touching sides on both the old and new, and squeezed them together.

I have the drivers seat back glued up, complete with new burlap backing @ 2.99 a yard. It does not look like professionally built foam, but once in the upholstery, it should fill it out nicely.

As far as the webbing goes, so far the Spit's have been fine, but on my MGB I used tie down strap. 1 1/2" wide nylon strap like that used in cheap ratchet straps. Cut to length plus 3 inches. Once the end is wrapped through the wire hooks, I used a hot awl (16 penny nail) to melt two holes and used 2 rivets with washers, rather than sewing. Just as strong as a line of thread, and easier for me to accomplish in the garage. YMMV. I just cut the old webbing off the existing hooks and reused the hooks. But I imagine that they could be made as well, just think miniature coat hangers...
 
Show us some pics if possible. We love pictures mouth breathers that we are.
 
Same process is in my immediate future, and I was wondering....

Was in the local "can't sell it anywhere else" store the other day, and they had 1 inch thick sections of that "memory foam" that they use for mattresses.


HMM,

Wonder about putting a layer of that under the seat covers.
Thoughts?
 
It does not have the same ability to bounce back after constant compression that regular seat foam does. That's why the people who buy those mattresses are so P/O'd after 5 or 6 years.

I always said if it was good enough for the astronauts that was great. But they didn't sleep up there every night for years and years.
 
Interesting to hear this stuff, not sure if I am going to go this route, haven't taken the covers off yet, but new foam (even on sale now at TRF) seems awful expensive for some cut foam. Not saying it is a rip off, no idea what goes into setting up to make a batch of foam, but I I need some I will probably try my hand at shaping it myself as well, thanks for the info on it.
 
I think most of the cost of the seat foams is in the cutting and assembly, which is all by hand. I have brand new foams in my basement, don't ask me how much they cost, and how much I paid to get them here, but on hind sight, I think I would have bought one set, and used that as a correct pattern for the other one. A paint pot full of contact cement and away you go.
 
In regards to the carving knife - as a kid, I worked in a shop that built interiors for trucks, boats and campers. I worked as a vinyl laycutter. We used Wolf saws to cut the foam and I recall using spray silicone on the blades to help them glide through the piles of foam. You might want to try it.
 
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