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1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
It's kind of a thankless chore. I did this on one seat a few years ago. Hand stitching it is, but with a stitching awl it's easier. Need good light and good eyes. And you have to be patient, kind of FEELING the next hole as you go along.
I used a stitching awl, Stewart's Speedy Stitcher, that I bought at Sears a long time ago, kind of a holdover from their days as suppliers to farmers who fixed their own harnesses by kerosene lamplight, but maybe still sold there? Stewart Mfg. Co. Worceser, Mass., may still be in business, might find it on the internet. Or check out farm feed stores or tack shops or online versions of the same. Locally here, they still stitch together some Sebago Moc shoes by hand with versions of these.
Or you can buy a heavy sewing machine needle at a fabric store and lock it into a baby ViseGrip and use that, if you know how to make the lock stitches (my package showed me how).
To make the loop work you have to attach what I think is called a listing, replacing that rotten original fabric. I used some knitted nylon upholstery fabric I found at a yard sale, tough as iron. Held it in a folded shape with pins and sewed it to one side of the leather first with light thread, then stitched through it as I re-did the main seat stitching. Make little nicks in the cloth at the points where the springs will attach.
Then I wetted and washed the leather just before restretching it and reattaching; applied Lexol leather conditioner to the BACK of the wet leather, using a micro-oiler bottle with needle spout to get thru the scrim-and-foam backing, just before installing, and worked it in. The cover went on easy and dried nice and taut and nice and supple.
Others have paid upholstery shops to do the stitching. I'm kind of leary of machine stitching as I assume they miss the original holes and create another whole series of punctures, kind of like pre-perfed ready to rip apart in my estimation. But it saves a massive amount of hand work.
Can you find good seats in a junkyard? Would probably be cheap as there's not much competition for them at this age.
posted by 70.105.23...
, Sat, 1 Nov 2008 07:09:59
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