Smokeybear Posted June 21, 2012 Report Posted June 21, 2012 After pondering on it for a while, I figured I'd take a stab at redoing the seats in my 48. I went to Wally World an found some material that looked similar and would go with my new carpet and bought two kinds, a softer velvety type material with a strong canvas type backing and and a striped pattern that was canvas too. I also bought a couple yards of a soft fleece type material to use for backing on the seat backs and sides. I completely disassembled the seat and took all the springs out of the bottom. I put them back in over a piece of 3/8 plywood and tied them all together with some left over rebar tying wire to stiffen up the bottom seat. I then wired three rods across the top to stiffen it up more. I cut apart all the original material to use as templates and cut out the new material from them. I sewed them up using a cheap $70 machine I got from amazon.com. It did very well. I put it altogether tonight and I think it turned out OK for about $50 in materials and two weeks of my time working in the evenings and on the weekends. Before, thoroughly worn out and saggy as can be... After, sits and looks much better... Sorry about the picture quality. All I had was my crappy phone and it doesn't take the best picture in my dark workroom. Quote
54Illinois Posted June 21, 2012 Report Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) That is Great! Edited June 21, 2012 by 54Illinois Quote
Andydodge Posted June 21, 2012 Report Posted June 21, 2012 Mate, that is a damn fine credit to you!..........had you ahd any experience using a sewing machine or doing upholstery before this effort?.........I am quite impressed.....regards, andyd Quote
Dan Hiebert Posted June 21, 2012 Report Posted June 21, 2012 I like it! The pinstripe is awesome. Very nice job. Quote
falconvan Posted June 21, 2012 Report Posted June 21, 2012 Nice! Did you have to use a commercial sewing machine or do you have a household type? Quote
Smokeybear Posted June 21, 2012 Author Report Posted June 21, 2012 No, I've never so much as touched a sewing machine before. I made a set of door panels for the car out of that solid pegboard material found at Lowes but it's just a flat panel I covered with carpeting material. I'm going to redo them with the leftover material. I have enough to do the door panels, kick panels and the package tray. I had a gift card for amazon so I picked out one that had good reviews. It's a Brother LS2125i. Just a cheap little home machine but it worked well once I figured out how to load the thread LOL. I had a great time doing this. I always enjoy learning a new skill. I'll have to buy the headliner because I don't have one to make a pattern from. Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 Well, I finally had some time today to do some more work on the interior. I finished the door panels and kick panels. I have the quarter panel pieces cut out and the piece that separates the front from the trunk cut out, the hinge in place and the top covered. Tomorrow I'll finish that panel and the two quarter panels and put on the arm rests. Here are a few pictures. I started with the door panels, I covered the entire panel front and back with a layer of hardwood floor underlayment. It's got a plastic film to keep moisture off the panel and it has a thin foam layer. I then covered the top part in the same material that is on the seat. I bought a sheet of thin plastic from lowes that is meant to cover a commercial flouresent light fixture. I cut it out in a shape that pleased my eye and glued the bottom material to it. Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 I then topped that piece with some chrome door guard trim and stapled it to the panel. Then I added another layer of foam to keep the smooth appearance and glued the material down on the lower part of the panel. I lapped it over the back and glued it down. I think it turned out pretty good. Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) I put the door panels on the car and started on the kick panels. I waited until the door panels were on to do the kick panels so I could line up the trim. Then I got started on the back panel. I cut out the panel from plywood and cut it down the middle to attach a piano hinge, I covered it in the foam and the top part in the seat material. Edited July 8, 2012 by Smokeybear Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 I started work on the armrests. I cut out the backbone from a 2x3 and shaped it with my bandsaw. After the roughcut, I sanded it to the final shape. Then I cut out the patterns from the seat material and sewed them together. After I attached the covers to the foam covered base I wound up with a finished product. Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 8, 2012 Report Posted July 8, 2012 good to se someone making so progress..but I guess I will take the bait and run with it, why the hinged bulkhead panel? Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 I'll put up more pictures tomorrow after I finish the rest of the pieces and put them in and mount the seat. What do you think guys? Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 Tim sent me this question through PM so I thought I'd share for all to see. Gotta ask what this is for...you can send a reply here if you chose not to address this openly on the forum..my business coupe has a separator between the bulkhead panels..just curious..do you ting that you can open these panels once covered and mounted in place? There would not be room behind the seat for this this is why I ask about the why.. I made it hinged so that I can 1) remove and reinstall it easily over the seat when it's installed if needed and 2) I use a jump starter box for my tunes and I place it right behind that bulkhead. I can open it enough to get to that jump box easily to turn it on and off when I park the car for more than just a few minutes. I'm mounting the bulkhead with quick disconnects like the hood of an old muscle car. Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 8, 2012 Report Posted July 8, 2012 thanks for the reply...curious for sure I was... reasoning...I had thought of similar for my coupe bulkhead panel but with a twist..I was going to mount a smaller hinged door and a tray behind this as an access for remote battery install and the servicing of it..later decided to mount the battery in another fashion due to other components being placed behind the bulkhead in this particular build. does you car still have the divider strip in the bulkhead? Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted July 8, 2012 Report Posted July 8, 2012 Looks really good. How do t he arm rests attach to the door? Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 thanks for the reply...curious for sure I was... reasoning...I had thought of similar for my coupe bulkhead panel but with a twist..I was going to mount a smaller hinged door and a tray behind this as an access for remote battery install and the servicing of it..later decided to mount the battery in another fashion due to other components being placed behind the bulkhead in this particular build.does you car still have the divider strip in the bulkhead? Yes, my battery pack slips right behind one of the crossbars on the drivers side. Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Posted July 8, 2012 Looks really good. How do t he arm rests attach to the door? Two bolts through the door panel like original. I drilled two holes in the wood to mount it and I got two little chrome caps at Lowes to cover them once they are mounted. I just didn't get pictures of them. Quote
greg g Posted July 8, 2012 Report Posted July 8, 2012 I suppose if one got a bit tricky one could make a secret storage compartment behind a false bulkhead. Keep the revenuers guessing about how deep the trunk really is....for when bizzy coupes are used for monkey business. Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted July 8, 2012 Report Posted July 8, 2012 or........how many friends can you smuggle into the drive-in movie in the big trunk? Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 8, 2012 Report Posted July 8, 2012 smuggling folks to the drive in..first you got to have a drive in..second..get the Dodge..that is a real BIG BUTT... Quote
pflaming Posted July 8, 2012 Report Posted July 8, 2012 My wife has a good sewing machine and knows how to use it. So if I make the patterns. . . and take my shoes off at the door, maybe. . . Great job, you've impressed a lot of us. Quote
greg g Posted July 9, 2012 Report Posted July 9, 2012 We used our home machine, but we did use heavy duty upholstery thread. Also you will find that most machines have adjustable stich per inch setting. You want them pretty close together but not at max, Also look for a needle that is cmpatable with your fabric selection. If you have some one that knows anything about sewing, they can guid you an seam allowances, sewing curved pieces together. We made what would be considered covers and put them over the original cloth upholstery. We laid out the thieces using pattern paper tracing the originals and transfering the shape and sizes to the new material. Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Posted July 9, 2012 Here is the back panel and the two quarter panels. I didn't get time to install them but I might be able to today or tomorrow. I'll get up better pics then. Thanks to all for the words of encouragement. Quote
Smokeybear Posted July 11, 2012 Author Report Posted July 11, 2012 I got it all installed yesterday. I still have a few tweaks to do to the back piece to make it fold open and closed easily but it's in there. I still haven't vacuumed or done the final cleaning, that'll come before the next cruise in this weekend. Here's the pics... I'm sure glad it's done...now on to the trunk. Ugh. Quote
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