Seats

Do you like my seats? I hope so, because I am really proud of them. These had been banished to the darkest, filthiest corner of my shed about twenty years ago and had sat there, undisturbed, until I found them under a mound of inlet manifolds. To say they were disgusting is an understatement.

I am bouncing around a bit in this restoration, but you know what it is like - boredom with one job sets in so you tackle another. And so it was with my seats.

The one on the right is as it was when dragged out of the shed. On the left we have a restored one.

The first job was to strip them down, which I enjoyed very much. All those little clips and springs were put away for reassembly, and the covers removed and put through the washing machine a few times. They came up a treat. The covers had some fag burns in them, but at this stage I didn't want to fit new ones. As I have said before, I get a little thrill out of putting original bits back on the car. So, ever the innovator, I bought an old door card and used the tartan from that to invisibly patch them from behind. That worked a treat.

The foams were in a pretty awful state, but salvageable so I bought some foam from a seller on ebay and patched them back together using spray glue.

Next it was time for the frames, which were broken around where the backrest meets the base.

This is common, apparently, and I briefly considered ordering new ones before welding them back up. I chuckled at the "this seat is approved..." safety notice stuck to the frame, right where one of the retaining brackets had snapped off. I hope the welds hold.

One of the most fun parts was re-padding the headrests. Having peeled off the covers I was left with a pile of dust, literally. With replacements costing about £30 a side I decided to have a go at making my own, using foam and spray glue. They worked a treat, and with a little help (i.e. putting the cover in the microwave for 20 seconds - I'm not married) they were looking great again.

Dust

Making new side pieces

New foams

Reassembly was pretty straightforward, with a little jiggling about (the covers and foams, not me). The old webbing and clips were reused and fitted back on the painted frames.

The vinyl panels on the seats were cleaned up and black shoe shine (the type in a bottle) used to get them looking great again. The result? A pair of very presentable seats.