Bill, Steve et al,
I am 3/4 of the way through re-doing my seats (& won't be making any more
progress soon because they are over 400 miles away right now). The
houndstooth was virtually non-existent & the foams were cruddy - crumbling,
disintegrating and apparently rat-chewed in one area.
Made new foams from the stuff I had on hand, namely a large 4" block of
upholstery foam, a 2" block (old crib mattress), & some 1/2" carpet padding.
Am very pleased with the results, and it took no great skill but,
admittedly, a whole lot of patience. My out-of-pocket expenses were less
than $30 - for 2 yds. of vinyl (to replace the center-section houndstooth),
but I did have to teach myself to sew on the wife's trusty old Singer. (My
resume now reads: gas-pump jockey, meat-cutter, Naval Aviator, inspection
pilot, chart-compiler, military planner, DIYer, half-axxed mechanic, PLUS
seamstress (seamster?).)
If you decide to try, here's some hints from my experience;
- Disassemble one seat at a time (so you'll have the other one as a
reference for how things go back). With a piece of chalk, number the
elastic bands in the seat-back, so you'll know which goes where.
- Scissors work better than a knife to cut the foam.
- On the seat-bottoms, sew a flap on the underside of the vinyl
replacement (where it dips down about 1/3 of the way back), run a tough
string through the flap, down through the foam on each side, pull it snug
from the underside and tie it to the seat basket.
- On the seat-bottoms, I used double corrugated stuff for the card-board
& put a liner of scrap vinyl completely under the foam to keep any
"foam-powder" from migrating down to the carpet. (That may theoretically
screw up seat ventilation, but frankly I don't think that's really a
problem.)
- Using the 4"/2"/1/2" stuff, shape the center sections first. After the
center sections are to your liking, the side bolsters can be done (I used
the 2" foam & a lot of patience snipping, trimming, stuffing & unstuffing,
etc.).
- Your snipping & shaping of the foam does not have to be perfect - its
natural resiliency takes care of small irregularities when you snug the
vinyl with the hog-rings. (BTW, get some new hog-rings if you can; I
didn't, & it was a pain bending each old one back into useable shape.)
- Get a #18 needle for the sewing machine (a #16 is probably OK if you
don't have a #18). Accept the fact that you'll have to hand-stitch the upper
part of the seat-backs (where there's a tough piece of plastic beading that
the sewing machine won't penetrate).
- If you are an expert seamstress/seamster & can sew straight lines (I
can't yet), think about sandwiching 1/2" foam between your vinyl
center-panels and a backing material and sewing in some factory-like pleats
to your center sections.
- Learn how to properly cuss the sewing machine - loudly & often.
All in all, I'd definitely say Go For It if your Spit is not your daily
driver. If it is your daily driver, you might be hard-pressed to finish the
project in a single week-end.
Cheers, Ree Gurley in Mexico, NY - (sans) 78 Spit FM73070U O
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