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Hi, following on from the advice about pleats, the person who sold my friend the car had made a start on the covers so I have a good jump start. The “pleats” are actually strips of leather sewn together rather than one pleated piece like the original. Not sure whether I need to back this with anything if using over an inner tube recreation of Float-on-air? Tony
The problem with individual strips sewn together is that if any stitching lets go the seat falls apart. I suppose you could rescue it by sewing the backing on as per the original to form the pockets, therefore in effect double stitching it which would reinforce it.
When I dismantled mine I was surprised to find that each strip was individually stuffed with something akin to cotton wool. i think it needs this to get the correct appearance. To just put tubes of air directly under the leather would not be the same. Neither would a sheet of foam give the correct look if directly under the leather.
Tony it appears that the previous owner has started new covers so the stitching should be fairly robust still. You do need to fill the pleats or the cover will be flat and feel lumpy. This can be achieved by marking out on to a single piece of calico, parallel lines 60mm apart (after sewing the calico the pleats will shrink in width). Sewing in the manner of your second photo, note the fine allowance but do not be tempted to cut down his leather. The aim here is to keep to the edge of the generous leather sewing allowance and avoid HIS stitchline, double sewing a line in leather weakens the leather. The pocket for filling also becomes a little larger .
All of the preamble assumes HIS leather pleats to be about 60mm certainly greater than 50.
Yes you will need to fill the pleats and a 12mm layer of felt would not go astray.
Andrew TOP sewing leather onto half inch foam carpet underlay and then BACKSEWING with a very fine allowance, gives a suprisingly good appearance when doing 2" pleats.
Bruce old stitching gets rotten and often fails, restitching is the only cure. Leather gets brittle so you need PLENTY of leather dressing applied to the underside Cos it's more porous. Use a smaller needle and adjust your stitch length to match the original because extra holes WILL cause old leather to tear.
I remade the seats on my RP in the mid 70's following the original construction method and all the original cotton stuffing for the pockets. As I had nothing else I used my mothers vintage domestic hand Singer machine and they are still holding up. Leather was from Connelly and has worn well. Well worth persevering as you can obtain good results with even basic equipment.
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I would be very happy if I get anything like that interior. Vintage sewing machine’s often work better than new ones. I have a 1950’s industrial Pfaff which I’m hoping will do the job well. I’m getting a good idea how to do the seats so thanks. One part I don’t understand is the fabric covered panel which goes around the lower part of the seat as in Steve and Bruce’s photos. There’s nothing of this left on the seats I have, I don’t think. Squeak mention sticking fabric and riveting the panel. Is this a thin piece of metal which wraps around the lower part of the seat. The photo shows what I currently have. Regards, Tony
Sorry Tony, not sure how the lower part is finished on mine. I did not touch this as the original was ok, unlike the seat bases which were holy to say the least. As the car is currently 200 miles from me I can't nip and have a look.
I haven't got any originals, and my Tourer had been re-upholstered befor I had it, but, as I recall ....
The holes you see in the seat frame sides and front are for bifurcated rivets.
There is a flexible panel that wraps arond the seat sides and front, probably a thick, good quality card.
Or, if you have some anyway, a pre-shaped panel made of a couple of layers of thin ply. That would be very smart.
The fabric is tacked, or, using modern adhesives, stuck to the lower inside edges of this U shaped panel.
The whole assembly is then attached by the rivets, first through the outside face of the fabric - so they are visible on the finished job - through the card/ply, through the metal frame, and
then through the covering fabric which is pulled down and, in effect, upholstered on by being held by the split ends of the rivets.
It doesn't need much fixing because it ends up sandwiched between the seat frame and the dropped in seat base.
You will get some small pleats in the top front corners, because the outer side is longer than the inner side, but they should hardly be noticeable.
Do the front rivets first, then you can stretch the inside sides back a bit to the rearmost side rivets to pull these pleats out.
Some very thin padding between the fabric and the outer side of the panel would make it a bit plusher, I can't remember if the originals had this or not.
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