Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Hi everyone ! I would like start a thread for discussion, Q & A, and general tech on restoring or modifying our car's upholstery. What I hope to accomplish is a forum where everyone can get the info they need to work on the part of their cars that is usually farmed out to professionals. My upholstery instructor once told me, "Once you know the basics, the rest comes easy". So, submit your postings and we'll try to find the best answers as a group.
Those look great! Assuming you did it yourself, how much did it cost, and how hard is it to do? I found a local upholstery guy who will do mine, but it's not cheap. I have never worked on upholstery at all before. Thanks.
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Upholstery tip #1 To color your vinyl or plastic interior parts, I like 2 products: SEM vinyl color spray and Surflex by Colorplus. Sem is a MEK solvent base and I use it for everything from hard plastic to leather. But it is nasty to smell and can blush (turn cloudy) in humid weather. Colorplus is an amazing water based coating that can be brushed or sprayed. Believe it or not, brushing some pieces is actually better than spraying! The brushstrokes go away and the part can be rubbed to a slight sheen when cured. The water base also means low odor & overspray. Sem is available in pro body shop supply houses, while Colorplus has to be ordered custom mixed from the manufacturer. Also, Colorplus has a limited shelf life and costs more, but it really performs!
I'm going to be doing all the upholstry in my Fury... already have the covers from last year's Legendary group buy on Moparts. Yeah, it's been a year... Anyway, I think I can handle the seat cover portion of the job with some slow going and elbow grease. The two things I'm going to need help with are: 1) seat cushion FOAM. Not repro'd by anyone, I'll have to get it raw from the local upholstry supply shop, J&J Supply. They've got all kinds, in whatever quantities I want. more on that when I get closer to the job. 2) STAINLESS STEEL FINE WIRE STAPLES. I'm having a booger of a time finding 23GA stainless fine wire staples. I got myself a Crapsman air-powered stapler, and it LOOKS great, but the 23GA seems to be tough to work with. Any clues on where to find those staples in a 3/8" length? I know they're expensive, but that's not a big deal. Even if I only use 1000 in the next couple years (doing two tops), it'll be worth it.
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Hey Clair- I bought a Crapsman stapler too, and then found out how hard they are to remove in one piece! At the restoration shop I subcontract for they use Fasco staplers, 3/8" crown round wire staples that don't break when you pull them out. There is a large supply of different sizes of staples at my supplier, Active Foam (800-728-4567) or on the web. I'm going to try to match the Sears size with one of theirs. BTW, they have an excellent supply of foam rubber from which you can get the densities and thicknesses to rebuild your padding (the only place I'll buy from!)
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 11:07PM
Location: Chi Town
Posts: 12
Thanks manicmech ,
The covers were about $250 for the fronts and 150 for the rear.
I spent about 4-6 hours per seat removing the old stuff and reinstalling the new. I had to replace the burlap and build up the original foam.
It is not terribly difficult but requires a lot of patience, and a good pair of side cutters . You will also need new wire rings called Hog Rings and special pliers to close them.
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Upholstery tip #2 For clean-edged tears in soft vinyl, pull the tear together with 1/8"-1/4" wide strips of tape (I like the neon green 3M masking tape-very good adhesion) spaced out like "Frankenstein" stitches. Then, apply a vinyl cement like VLP to the exposed edges of the tear. When this cures you can remove some of the strips and repeat the process until the whole tear is gone. The VLP works like PVC cement on pipes- it melts the vinyl. So you want the smallest amount needed to do the job or you will have a wavy mess. The VLP comes with a applicator tip which is better than the others I've used, and it dries clear. I also use this to repair the piping that always comes off the side of your seat.
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Upholstery tip #3 I use a lot of adhesives in the upholstery business: contact cements, urethanes, krazy glues, epoxies, etc. But I recently heard about a new "cyanoepoxy" on an ESPN auto program called CoolChem. I ordered a sample pack and was amazed It is very useful for things you would use epoxy for, with the speed of the krazy glues. It is only available on the web at coolchem.com, and consists of the glue and a spray activator that mists on the wet edge of the bond and sets it immediately! The activator has acetone in it, so I spray it on a small screwdriver and drip it onto the bond if the item would be damaged by it. This product has replaced krazy glue for me! <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Thu Feb 16 2006, 10:40PM ]</span>
