Thanks for the inspiration Tinker... Here is my first adventure in seat restoration.... It was cheap but wasn't particularly quick. This seat was on my '41 Excelsior and with the oil cloth turning to dust I had to do something. The seat in general is really crusty so I figured it would be a good one to sacrifice in the name of learning by doing.
Where I started
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Oil cloth and old padding stripped. I was careful to salvage the old pad to trace
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Had some 1/8' foam (randomly green like the original) laying around the warehouse so I glued up 4 layers... next time I'll just buy 1/2" but this is the cheap and quick thread!
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Then I hit all the rust with a wire brush, washed and dried everything
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Sprayed with Rust Reformer. Then painted with Rustoleum enamel
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Ready to glue.. Weld wood contact cement... gotta get it right the first time when the foam and pan go together... it is not forgiving once stuck
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Then I contoured the foam to the pan with some 80 grit
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Ready for leather
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I got a decent calf skin for $20 at Tandy and looks like I can get 3-4 saddles out of it... I did try to find a curbside couch but no luck...
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For the leather I used the 3m spray adhesive. I made a stencil out of newspaper to contain the overspray so I could glue the top but stretch edges by hand without getting sticky
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I then worked the leather from center of pan to edges getting it nice and smooth
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Next I stapled the leather to a piece of plywood working around the edges getting it tight. I let it sit in the sun for 30 mins and took the staples out. Then I trimmed excess and glued the leather to the bottom of the pan... No pic of this step due to adhesive on the hands
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And done... not too shabby. Learned a lot and could certainly do it quicker in warmer weather next time.
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