An Adventure in Upholstery

By Peter Arakelian

Re-upholster my seats! By myself! I’ve never done anything like this before, what have I gotten myself into? These and other equally disheartening thoughts raced through my mind as I looked down on the passenger seat of my TR6 sitting vulnerably on the back porch. I had already spent the last few months acquiring the seat kit, seat foam kit, and seat back strapping set; I couldn’t give in to the fear. Following the advice given, I turned the seat over and started slowly to take the seat cushion off. The trick is to notice everything. Many people find a Polaroid camera useful to record the existing construction, but I did without. The seat cushion assembly came off rather easily, but “assembly” was the key word. It consists of a two-piece seat cushion, foam going around the sides of the seat base, and the vinyl cover itself. I also tried to take note of where the clips were located, although in the end they go where they need to go. It is important to note that the seat vinyl has several flaps of material, not vinyl, on the inside which are meant as guides for the foam as well as places to which the foam is glued. If you keep your old cushion intact as you remove it from the frame, you will see how the flaps are used to pull the vinyl down onto the foam. Be aware of how the foam fits into the seams. Try not to be too destructive as you remove components so you can see how the foams and vinyl fit together.

Next came the sides of the seat back. To get to the clips, the backboard must be removed. It is held in primarily by the same type clips that hold on the door panels, plus two slide in clips at the top. Now, take a good long look. This is easily the most complex area of the seat. In the center are the straps against which presses the center cushion. If your straps were like mine, they are obviously stretched beyond their ability to rebound. On each side the vinyl goes from the front around the strap fasteners to the frame. The other end of the side vinyl pieces pulls under where the backboard was and attaches to a different frame rail. Again pull the clips loose and pay attention to how the old vinyl and foam was attached. Also note the cardboard pieces in the bottom on each side which incorporate a clip to hold them to the frame. The seat kit I had included new pieces that were perforated to enable trimming to the correct shape. The metal clip will have to be removed from the old and attached to the new.

The center cushion comes off easily, but notice how the flaps of material are used to hold the foams in place. My car, a 1971, has a fixed headrest, so the headrest cover is attached to the center and pulls off with it. Save everything! I constantly referred to the old pieces both to see how it was put together and to make sure I had everything.

Well, time for a break! The old seat was disassembled, the pieces in a pile next to it, the new stuff in another stack nearby. I have occupied nearly the entire center of the porch and my wife is being very supportive; the cat isn’t so sure.

I started to look over the kit for redoing the straps in the seat back. This could be trouble. The new strapping is one continuous length. The old ones are stretched. I decided to measure the distance across with the slack taken out as the basis for cutting the new strap. I had to allow for folding the strap over the new hooks; I figured 3/4-inch. Following the old axiom, I measured twice, then once again for luck. Then I added up all the figures plus the overlap to be sure I had enough strapping. Can you tell I was paranoid? Well, I came out within two inches of the available material, not bad at all. At this point, a day and a half had passed. That’s right, a day and a half! Remember, I said go slow and pay attention.

A new day and it’s time to reassemble. To paraphrase the workshop manual, “reassembly is the reverse”. Sounds simple. It actually is nerve racking, but not difficult. Follow the pattern of what you took apart. You should have paid attention to how the old side foams lined up with the frame. If you get the seat back side foams too low, they won’t meet the headrest properly; too high and they won’t meet the seat right. The seat base is tricky, but if you kept the old one, you can follow how it all goes together. Getting the vinyl to slide over the headrest foam can be facilitated by putting a sheet of plastic over the foam. This makes the vinyl slide easily and can be pulled out later—some just leave the plastic in there. You will have to glue sections in place, so be sure to get a can of upholstery adhesive. It gets tacky fast, and dries quickly.

The scariest part for me was getting the vinyl onto the sides of the back. It involved cutting the vinyl to go around the clips for the straps. Cutting! Did someone say cutting! Yes, the old ones were cut, so I just went slowly, remembering that I could always cut more, but couldn’t take a cut back. One note of frustration. The final few inches at the top of the vinyl covers was not sewn to the end. I figured a professional installer would use this to get the perfect fit. I took all four pieces (two for each seat) to a local upholstery shop and had them follow the bead as far as the material would allow—it turned out fine. Remember to pull the vinyl tight before you clip it to the frame. It helps to lay the pieces in the sun to warm and makes them become softer and more pliable.

Finally, after two and a half days, one seat was finished. The next seat only took one day. Hey, I’m experienced now. Would I recommend that others do this? Yes. It was intimidating, and I was afraid I would run into major problems, but I went slowly and pulled tight. The seats look and feel great.