Another seat cover replacement

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Louie70Dart

Southern IL. Complete opposite of k-town
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Ok, I've used the search and looked over some of the threads on the process. The one I looked at shows buckets seats, but the process should be pretty much the same right? That is a question by the way. The main difference I have seen is all the seats have foam, where in my 70 Dart it is a cotton batting type material. Just looked at the one video on You Tube on seat recovering. How many here have replaced the cotton material with foam? Winter time is coming, and I don't think much painting will get done. I have the interior pieces with the exception of the rear seat, but since I won't be doing any sitting there, it can wait. Ok, who here has replaced the cotton with foam?
 
You can do it yourself and use whatever material you want. The goal is to have a professional looking result.
Wish I had a nickel for every ebay add I've seen that stated "new Legendary seat covers" along with pics of a half arsed install.
Any seat skins ( especially vinyl ) needs to fit tight as a banjo string and require a good bit of labor to attach. Otherwise you will have wrinkles.
Molded foam buns dont have sharp corners. Anywhere the bun is shaved to fit will get a layer of muslin fabric glued over to smooth those edges created. You could put a lot of hours into creating foam buns from scratch.
Fiber batting is much more conforming.
The OEM batting is a stack of layers with thread tacks holding them together.
I cut the tacks, separated the layers, sprayed each layer with febreeze, restacked arranged in a way that leveled the worn areas, then added a layer of polyester batting for good measure.
 
You might be able to re-use your cotton batten. I did that in my 65 Newport bench seat years ago, plus recently in my 85 M-B bucket seat - glued fibrous stuff people call "horse-hair" (might be). In both cases, the factory laid woven burlap over the springs and wires, and it degraded and the wires cut into the padding. I fixed broken springs, added more as needed, plus tie wires. Laid carpet protector over the metal, wrapped the batting in very thick cloth, secured to the metal frame with hog-rings, and covered w/ new vinyl (Newport) and original covers (M-B). The Newport seats still feel solid after 17 years. The M-B was done last year, but a tremendous improvement. My butt no longer sinks way down and the added springs make the seat much firmer.

I cheated for my A's and bought a set of Sebring and Cobra seats, since the cost of new seat covers violates my cheap-skate rule, plus I wanted shoulder belts and head restraint.
 
Ok thanks you two! Attached is a picture of where it is at right now. The cotton is pulled to some extent, it looks worse lower though. I'll try to save it by adding some material over the top of it and clipping it tight. Then go to the seat covers. I got the covers, I think they're Year One, for $225. About a third cheaper and they're still brand new. I thought it was a good deal. Ok, thanks again. When I get to it I'll post pictures of it in process. You Tube videos are ok, but ......... LOL
 

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I know it looks ugly, but your cotton batts appear quite sound. In my Newport, the center section (where one's butt sits) was torn and sunk into the metal wires, but I was able to pull it back together, add a little filler foam, and secure it with glue and thick cloth. Besides repairing the outer sides, I suggest removing them from the metal frame and putting new material between the cotton and metal. I used plastic carpet runner from Home Depot. Otherwise the metal will cut into the cotton, if it hasn't already.
 
The burlap with wires in it serves a dual purpose. it keeps the batting from going through between the springs. The wires in it keep it flat so it doesn't go between the springs but also transmits forces from one spring to the next so they move together.
This means some of the springs beyond the width of your butt are being used too without having the skin alone spreading that load. Year One and others do offer that material.
Many upholstery shops will suggest a heavy home type carpet to replace the cross wired burlap. I almost went that route but... When I was at the wholesale fabric shop for muslin fabric I noticed burlap available in colors for cheap. So black burlap from them and a coil of electric fence wire from Lowes was all I needed to make my own.
 
Thanks for the tips. I want to get my work bench FINALLY finished. Then I'll take the seat out and try the tips. When I do I'll try to take pics for people here to see what mistakes I made and how I "corrected" them. LOL
 
I would go with the cotton batting Legendary sells. Foam for the seat bottom and cotton batting for the seat back.

The videos on Legendary's website are extremely helpful and easy to follow.

I wouldn't cheap out on anything when it comes to upholstery. I ended up having to redo my seats twice because I reused the foam and it was just uncomfortable with the new covers.
 
If you have a mattress manufacturing plant in the area that builds quality mattresses you might be able to score some great quality cotton batts pretty cheap.
 
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