My driver’s seat was needing repair. I previously had the bottoms repaired
and had built new seatbacks:
At some point in the car’s life, the cabin was exposed to elements, and most of the metal on the seat rusted.
The thin wires on the seatback rusted through, and the burlap had deteriorated. The seat back kept popping off, and the foam was pushing through because the foam didn’t have any support. All this was leaving crud all over my interior carpet:
Finally, the neck area of the seat cover wasn’t secured properly.
I decided to tackle these jobs myself this time, with a complete disassemble and refurbish.
Seat covers came off. I found the seat cover ribs weren’t even in their slots, rather clipped onto the seat cover with hog rings. Even worse, it looks like some of the car’s original, deteriorated seat covers were still attached:
The foam came out. I washed the foam, and after several rinses, the wash water finally came clean. This will help remove any “old” smell that the seat was holding.
I painted the seat frames with rustoleum gloss black paint. (Sorry, no pictures)
I rebuilt the seatback with coat hanger wires (hah!) and new burlap. Very strong.
I felt the driver seat bottom needed more support, and the leather was still bunching up after the seat’s previous rebuilt. I decided to add some seat foam. The picture shows two pieces, but I only used one.
I put the seat cover back on with new hog rings, and was able to properly secure the “neck” area with many zip ties. Zip ties also were used to attach the ribs to the frame.
New screws replaced the rusted ones on the trim. A broken screw was stuck in the frame, which I forgot to remove before I recovered the seat. Luckily I was able to get it out without taking the cover off again. I even sanded stone scuff marks off the reclining lever. I then coated it with some spare SEM Landau Black Color Coat I had leftover from my previous interior work.
It still isn’t perfect, but it looks, feels, and works a lot better.
Costs:
| Item | Vendor |
Quantity |
Unit Cost |
Cost |
Tax |
Total |
| 14″ Zip Ties 10 Pack | Home Depot |
1 |
$ 1.99 |
$ 1.99 |
$ 0.15 |
$ 2.14 |
| 8″ Zip Ties 100 Pack | Harbor Freight |
1 |
$ 3.99 |
$ 3.99 |
$ 0.33 |
$ 4.32 |
| Washers | Ace Hardware |
6 |
$ 0.39 |
$ 2.34 |
$ – |
$ 2.34 |
| 1 Yard Burlap | JoAnn Fabrics |
1 |
$ 1.99 |
$ 1.99 |
$ 0.16 |
$ 2.15 |
| 2″ X 15″ X 17″ High Density Foam | JoAnn Fabrics |
1 |
$ 7.99 |
$ 7.99 |
$ 0.67 |
$ 8.66 |
| Hog Ring Pliers with 200 Hog Rings | eBay |
1 |
$ 15.98 |
$ 15.98 |
$ – |
$ 15.98 |
| Trim Screws | Ace Hardware |
4 |
$ 0.31 |
$ 1.24 |
$ 0.10 |
$ 1.34 |
|
Total |
$ 36.94 |