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Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 8:25 pm
by Amskeptic
appetite wrote: ↑Thu Feb 07, 2019 1:54 pm
Colin,
That's an excellent tutorial.
I see that the late bus has an easy way to separate the back from the seat. Not so much for the early bus.The back and seat are riveted together.
Did you add additional padding on top of the Wolfsburg West horsehair?
You can see it. Some was jute, some was WalMart pillow batting. I was very sensitive to the contours of the seat because I did not want Typical Overstuffed American Sofa, I wanted taut German form-fitting. In the earlier Baywindow buses, they were not contoured, but they were excellent comfortable good support none-the-less. Look at owners manuals and literature/press photos carefully. Yeah, make it like them.
Colin
Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:17 am
by 71whitewesty
appetite wrote: ↑Tue Feb 05, 2019 3:22 pm
71whitewesty and Zabo,
Did you separate the back from the seat before you reupholstered?
I did not separate the seat back and bottom. Didn’t want to mess with that rivet. It’s doable with out separating them.
Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 1:58 pm
by appetite
71whitewesty,
Thanks. I agree: I don't want to mess with that rivet either.
So I have the seat stripped now. The PO had a horse hair pad and then two layers of formed foam under the cover. There were 4 broken springs that the PO seemed to try to salvage with zip ties (!!!). Its a wonder that my heiney has never been poked! Ha...
I used this guy's method to repair the springs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EbpYJTZ_sU
It worked well, I think. In the absence of a real crimper, I used a hefty pair of vice grips to secure it on the spring. We'll see how it holds up in real world conditions.
Finally, I got some samples from TMI to try to match the upholstery.
I'll update with progress.
James
Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:37 am
by busboytom
[image][/image]I am fortunate to have a friend who performs upholstery miracles but mostly inside Gulfstream corporate jets. Some pretty famous fannies sit on his work. He just happens to have a shop at his home, too. I was planning on stock covers for my newly acquired 68 Westy but someone piped up and said "I bet he'd make you something really nice, let's go see what he has..." We rummaged through rolls of high end leather and fabric and came up with tough as nails fabric with creamy tan and brown leather accents. We like. Cleaned and reused frames and pads were in amazing condition given condition of bus when we nabbed it. Now for some "fanny time"
Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:39 pm
by appetite
Following up on this job:
I was able to do the installation without separating the back from the seat. Lots of room to maneuver if you have patience.
I was not impressed with the fit or quality of the TMI covers. The seams are rather weak and stitching is not the same as the original covers, despite their claims of authenticity. If I had to do the job again, I'd try Sewfine.
The horsehair seat pad from Wolfsburg West was excellent quality and fit perfectly.
I repaired broken springs using the ferrules and all but one has held firm. I used a large vice grip to snug the ferrules onto the springs; it took multiple times to get the ferrule to clamp down and secure.
The end result is OK. I'm pretty satisfied...
Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:53 am
by Amskeptic
appetite wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:39 pm
Following up on this job:
I was able to do the installation without separating the back from the seat. Lots of room to maneuver if you have patience.
I was not impressed with the fit or quality of the TMI covers. The seams are rather weak and stitching is not the same as the original covers, despite their claims of authenticity. If I had to do the job again, I'd try Sewfine.
The horsehair seat pad from Wolfsburg West was excellent quality and fit perfectly.
I repaired broken springs using the ferrules and all but one has held firm. I used a large vice grip to snug the ferrules onto the springs; it took multiple times to get the ferrule to clamp down and secure.
The end result is OK. I'm pretty satisfied...
Ditto on the adspeak of TMI.
Photos?
Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:26 am
by MarkE
I went real DIY. Bought a 3 seat leather sofa second hand, used the leather and padding and bought some car seat pads from a discount store. Put the various parts of the padding in, making the sides higher to create a “bucket” and glued all the padding together. Put the leather on, riveted brass
Eyelets around the edges then lashed the covers on with thin cord. It looks very DIY ,the seats are very comfortable and I’m happy with them
Re: Reupholster front seat
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 7:04 am
by Amskeptic
MarkE wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:26 am
I went real DIY. Bought a 3 seat leather sofa second hand, used the leather and padding and bought some car seat pads from a discount store. Put the various parts of the padding in, making the sides higher to create a “bucket” and glued all the padding together. Put the leather on, riveted brass
Eyelets around the edges then lashed the covers on with thin cord. It looks very DIY ,the seats are very comfortable and I’m happy with them
Photos? I need to see this ...
Colin