Plus 2 seats

[tonyabacus]

Mine is an S4 so seats are different, however I just had them back today from a being refurbed with new covers, foams and hessian by a local guy who makes the covers.

I decided this was the way to go after taking the seats apart and finding that although the covers were reasonable the rest was basically scrap. After 50 years the foams etc had finally given up the ghost, but then after 50 years what did I expect. So the challenge, do I do the refurb myself or get them done professionally. My guy could sell me just the covers on their own, which meant I needed to locate a supply of the foams etc myself. That was not a problem as a local foam supplier could provide all I needed. But looking at all the clips, hog rings and pieces of foam I had taken out, I started to realise the work involved.

The skill of course is knowing exactly where and by how much to stretch the covers as well as where to add any additional support materials to ensure a visually pleasing result. Having seen too many botched jobs in the past years I was conscious that I wanted things to look and be right for the next 50 years.

Speaking to my upholsterer who was quite happy to pass on the help and advice if I went ahead myself, he explained the the biggest issue is knowing what density of foam to replace the old stuff with, its not the thickness of the foam that matters it is the density he explained. Cutting the new foams would not be a problem as I had the old as a pattern, but then I would need additional materials to pad out those places where the creases form.

The crunch comes in knowing where to put additional material and how much, so that there are no lumps and bumps and creases and tucks don't form later from poor fitting. On balance I decided to make sure the end result did not let me down, so having negotiated a real good price I had him do the seats and after seeing the quality of his workmanship, I had him recover the steering wheel too.

So, my two pence for what its worth is think carefully about what end result you think you can achieve and how long it may last before undertaking the work. But if you want to go ahead all the materials (except perhaps the covers) will be available locally at a good foam supplier. Take your old foams and ask them to show you a like for like density foam to the original and perhaps a slightly denser material (not thicker). They will also have the hessian for the underneath and a good glue to stick it on with.

I have been restoring cars for far too long during the course of which I have learnt the hard (and expensive) way that it is better to know when to call in an expert than make an expensive mistake.

The end result, see what you think, here are a couple of attachments
Tony

[Chrispy]

Those look lovely. I bet you're happy with the result!

[mikealdren]

Can you let us know who your excellent supplier is? Are they re-trimmed with leather?

[tonyabacus]

Hi All
Yes I am really pleased, the more I looked at them when I got them home last night, the more I knew it had been right to get them done properly.

The upholsterer is Paul West who is based in the West Country and has had one or two good mentions on our site previously. I spoke with him about passing on his name if asked, as a courtesy I wanted to ensure he was happy for me to do so, so please mention my name. I have no association with him except as a satisfied customer and happy to recommend him to other members.

He is contactable on [email protected] or 07876471754

Tony