Cloth seat refurbish

[abbot]

I took the seats out today basically to free up the runners so it is easier to adjust.  Then on inspectingthe seats I have decided that the driver seat needs a refurbish.

Anyone done that?

The plastic back panel ha split and brocken.  The foam on the side rails have come unglued and out of position.

So the plan is to get a suitable sheet of plastic and use the old bit as a template. I will need to be a bit creative with my popriveter to reproduce the plastic turned back edges and folds.

  

 

[7 wonders of the world]

Oxted will sell you the parts you need, I had a plastic back and some padding form them a few years back, give them a bell.

[abbot]

Thanks for that.  I think I will try to knock something up myself 1st.  If that fails then I will call oxted.  I am a bit worried anout the cost and complication of getting bits to france.

[Golf Juliet Tango]

The back can probably be cable tied into position. Could you cut it oversize and use a hot air gun to soften it enough to mould around the frame? 

The shell of the squab is much more difficult.  It would be a proper palaver trying to get that moulded to shape.
 

[abbot]

just got back from DIY shop.  I have bought a storage bin lid that appears the right thickness of plastic to be able to cut up into a new back panel.  I got some plastic angle strip that I plan to cut and pop rivet/glue to form the edges then tie wrap onto frame.  Funnily in my working career with vehicle safety I have seen thousands of seats  stripped and re trimmed for the fitting and removal of Side Airbag Modules but have never laid hands on before.  At the end of the day there are not particularly high tech.

What can go wrong?

[abbot]

I thought I would post some pics of the refurbished activity. At the top you can see the parts used. A large container lid to provide a sheet of plastic, tie wraps to fix to frame and high density foam insulation tube for side rail padding. Not shown is a dead garden chair cover for foam backing

the seat strips down fairly easily   There are a number of points where material is stitched to the plastic so my target is to keep as much as possible of the plastic with material attached and pop rivet it to the new plastic back

[abbot]

1st pic is container lid withe ribs and edges cut off to give flat sheet ready to be marked out

2 trick pint was keeping the top double layer flap which allows hooking of seat material at the top

2 pics of finished back plate. The original back panel would have been vacuum formed with angle edges to fix material and and a large curvature at the bottom to fit form. I achieved curvature by clamping sheet between clamps before riveting old sheet on to it 

im now waiting for material to dry after washing will post some more pics of final fitting

also managed to straighten the roller that holds the headrest tight to stop rattling 

[abbot]

You can see the plastic angle stip riveted down the sides for fixing cover

Missing pics

[Golf Juliet Tango]

also managed to straighten the roller that holds the headrest tight to stop rattling 

Well done. In an old, now unused seat, I'm sure I dislodged this component.  This was in the days before I had a tonneau with pockets, so the headrestraint had to be removed every time I parked up.

[Alastair B]

Interesting to see how this develops. I contacted Oxted a short while ago about seat refurbishment cost with their kit and they said....

"Our seat back refurb. kits (£53.22) contain the seat plastic and the foams found in the seat back. UK carriage is an additional  £12.00."

Not too bad in the whole scheme of things, plus think we might get club discount.

In the end I didn't go for it, but still might in the future. For the odd hole on the seat back that had split, I ended up re-drilling the seat back holes 5-6mm inboard from where they are now and securing with cable ties, plus adding one or two new additional holes for extra load sharing.

[abbot]

if it had been pre brexit i might have gone for a kit but the cost of getting stuff to france is going up,

total cost for parts so far is less than 10 quid

[Golf Juliet Tango]

I'll refrain from any comment beyond offering admiration at the make-do-and-mend approach.

[abbot]

Foam side padding tie wrapped into position 

Then every thing assembled

i added a couple of through threads to pull it a bit tighter.  Not perfect but very happy with the result. It certainly is a lot more supportive than before

 

[Golf Juliet Tango]

Well done.

Now for the squab?

[abbot]

Thank you.  No the squab is in good shape so no action required.  I need to do a deeper check on the passenger seat but by definition it should not have had so much wear and tear.

[abbot]

My Feb copy of LF has just arrived.

I should have waited for the article on seat refresh.

[chrism]

My DIY skills are not up to the original poster, but for lesser mortals I can report that the refurb process for the leather S seats using the kit from Oxted is quite manageable. The plastic back had split horizontally and all down one side, and both strips of side foam had moved. 3 hours later, the seat is as good as new. And much more fun than Christmas shopping!

Many thanks to @Alan Morgan for his great article in the Feb 2021 LF which gave me the confidence to tackle this job.