Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Upholstery tip #8 If molded foam is not yet available for your seats, here's how to make it yourself. First, you need an accurate cross-section of your old foam. This can be cut from a section of the seat that received less wear, or measured from someone else's foam if you are lucky enough. To measure foam that is too nice to cut up, put it on a table and stick a 6-10" long needle or welding rod through the foam in key locations to measure the depth and write it down on a piece of paper with a drawing of the cushion for reference. Use this to create a template out of cardboard or masonite. Next, obtain some medium firm polyurethane foam planks. The foam should be no thicker than 4", as this can be cut on most bandsaws or with an electric carving knife. Trace the shape of the cross-section onto the foam many times ( like cutting cookies out of dough ) laying them out to keep waste to a minimum. Cut these sections out with a wood cutting blade in the bandsaw or the electric meat carving knife. Be sure to spray the blades with silicone lube to keep the foam from dragging. After all the pieces are cut out ( and maybe some firmer foam for the ends where we always slide on the edge of the seats) spray glue (such as 3M 's #8088 General purpose adhesive) and stack the pieces together like slices of bread to form the cushions. Then trace the overhead view of the seat onto the cushion and trim it to shape. You can round the edges of the cushion with a air sander and 24 grit discs or the carving knife. When the cushion is done, glue burlap or heavy canvas to the bottom. If the seat (usually buckets) has listings that go all the way through the foam, you can slice the foam down to but not through the cloth so you can hog ring to the frame easier when installing the covers. Just follow what the factory did and everything will fit !
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Upholstery tip #9 The best glue to use for most upholstery materials is spray contact cement. In our shop, we buy commercial 5 gallon pails of contact cement in spray viscosity and apply it with paint guns. This kind of glue withstands heat and weather better than anything else. The best guns to use are the cheaper Binks and DeVillbis copies usually available at swap meets, auto body supply stores, and tool mail order catalogs. Mine is a $ 59 gravity-feed gun by Husky (Home Depot) and I like it very much. We leave the glue in the guns and clean the tips only when they are clogged. I don't know why, but the name-brand expensive paint guns never work right. The glue is similar to Formica or Weldwood contact adhesives (which I use for brushing), but is thinner. When spraying glue, a narrower pattern and lighter fluid adjustment is necessary for proper coverage. Glue spatters show up through the vinyls as bumps, and can go right through cloth, causing stains. Several light, complete coats on both sides, allowed to dry until tacky is best. To re-position a mistake without ruining your materials, try heating up the area with a heatgun to soften the glue. If you use this glue on foam, go light and don't press too hard or the foam will collapse and permanently stay stuck together. Spray can glue is marginal at best, so we use it to hold things together for sewing, or for glueing foam. On cloth that is just too thin and soaks up the glue, we mist it with 3M Super 77 and spray the base (that's not porous) with the contact cement. These stick together pretty well. If you can't spray the glue or need it it a small area, brush it on with acid brushes and keep them stored in a jar of 1/2 lacquer thinner and 1/2 acrylic enamel reducer. Either of these solvents don't work alone, but together they do - go figure. Clean the tip and parts of the spray gun when they need it by soaking in carb-cleaner (the strong type with the basket in a can) and rinse with water.
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
Wow!! This thread is pure gold, Scott, I agree we need an upholstery forum to make sure it never gets deleted.
Stitcherbob, I have two questions.
First the passenger side sun visor on my vert has a "crushed" area where my wife had a clip-on mirror that was clamped on with a spring clip - similar to the pocket clip on a ball point pen. There were two clips, about 1/2" wide and about 5" apart. There aren't any breaks in the vinyl, just the foam has collapsed after 30 years of sun and pressure. I was thinking of injecting silicon using a large bore needle but am afraid of bulges and the the holes left by the needle. Any ideas??
Second, how do you apply the chrome "tape" that wraps around bucket seat headrests? Same question for the chrome stripes that are used on the Fury front doors. The stripes on my doors have discoloured and most of the chrome has worn off. I've been looking at them trying to figure out how to redo them without making matters worse. I thought about double sided tape but figure it wouldn't hold on the first hot day.
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Hey Bill- You read my mind on the chrome - that was my next tip! I showed Steve (71F3) how to recover the chrome stripes on his door panels with a hobby shop product called Bare Metal Foil. It's like self-adhesive gold or silver leaf that the pinstripers use, only thicker and easier to handle. I'll go into more detail tonight after I get home from work. As far as the dents in your visors, there's nothing that will work except for heat, humidity and time away from those darn clips! These things tend to revert back on their own in closed up cars in the summer. Inside the visor is a masonite panel with the hinge stapled on (which is why they break when stuck and not lubed with silicone spray) and some padding made out of a sort of fiber. If it was newer it would be foam, and you could inject steam into it via the hole (after removing the chrome storage peg by twisting and pulling), but the fiber is going to be more set in it's ways. You could try the steam, though. It has saved our butts on more than one occasion.......
Joined: Sun Feb 05 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Pa
Posts: 3064
Upholstery tip #10 To renew the chrome that is heat-sealed onto door panels, headrests and even the ridges on dash panels, you need a product called BARE METAL FOIL from better hobby shops. This is a self-stick, real metal foil that is so thin it doesn't appear to leave an edge when overlapping pieces. It is on a wax paperboard backing board. First, clean the piece to be chromed. Then fill any digs or sand out any scratches, because they will show through the foil. Then, using a # 11 X-ACTO hobby knife, you cut a strip of BARE METAL foil larger than the area. Then lift the piece off of the backer board with the tip of the knife and apply to the area. Buff it down with a soft cloth (t-shirt material is good) making sure it gets down into all of the detail. Then you trim as close as you can to the edges with the knife. Be careful here- the knife must be very sharp to keep from dragging the foil and so you don't have to press against the door panel to cut it. Otherwise you will have to wait for the "Replacing my door panels" tip ! This foil can be used on headrest bands and dashboards, too. When covering areas that ring around an area, the splice shouldn't be visible because, it's so thin you can lap over the starting point.
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
Been busy looking through the Bare Metal Foil site and discovered two neat products, Bare Metal Plastic polish and Experts Choice Pressure Sensitive Adhesive. Both are found here. The plastic polish looks like just the stuff for gauge face plates and the Adhesive looks just plain handy to have.
Joined: Mon Oct 10 2005, 10:45PM
Location: Lansing MI
Posts: 513
I've used BMF on a number of occasions in the modeling world, and it is great stuff. The best bet is to put a fresh blade in the knife at the beginning of the project. Even a little dullness will cause the foil to tear. It is also great for a masking material if you are painting fine detail. Seals down tight over imperfections, and comes off cleanly.
Bob, how much handling can it take in an automotive setting? I've never used it on anything other than static display pieces.
BTW it comes in a number of finishes. Bright Chrome, Aluminum, Black chrome, Gold, and Copper are the ones I remember. <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Wed Feb 22 2006, 02:02AM ]</span>