Help with seat upholstery

[SteveInOakland]

I've got new foam from MSA (looks great) and new seat covers via eBay, also look good. Neither has instructions. So if anyone who's done this can help...

1. Seat bottoms. My original seats ('73) have pointed tabs all around the base that poke through the vinyl and fold over. There's a wire bead running through the upholstery where the drawstring is on the new stuff. Common arrangement. Are people getting good results with just the drawstring, or should I try to thread a wire through there as well as in the original job, using the pointed tabs?

2. There's a crosswise slot in the MSA seat bottom foam and a wire rod in corresponding place on the springs. For the low area in the seat. How did you guys handle tying these together?

3. Horsehair. Should I try to substitute something for where the horsehair was, between the seat bottom springs and the foam? Or just forget it.

(Seatback horsehair, between foam and upholstery, looks re-useable).

4. Seatback, headrest. Orignal foam in two pieces; headrest separate. There's another one of those wire rods, at the bottom of the headrest area, attached to the seatback metal. MSA foam is more or less two pieces, conected by gauze. The rod deal is clearly for holding up the headrest foam, keeping it from sliding downward. Suggestions? Some kind of strap over the top of the headrest foam?

Any other tips would be really welcome. Thanks for your time.

Steve.

[Victor Laury]

The drawstring is used to install the wire. It's too long of a run to just push the wire through, you need to use the string to help it around the corners and seams.

The rod in the seat back is attached to the rod in the cover with hog rings. This difines the crease under the headrest. just doesn't look right without it

[SteveInOakland]

Thanks, Victor, big help. What do you suggest using for a wire in the seat bottom? The original stuff seems too stiff to pull through. But without some stiffness, it can't do its job...

Steve.

[Arne]

I haven't done this on my Z, but in the past on other projects I always used the original wire. If you do it with the cover off the seat, you are actually pulling the cover over the wire, not the wire through the cover.

[Marty Rogan]

Steve,

I used the original wire when possible. I have also used a coat hanger wire as a substitute.

If you are lucky enought to have some sun when you are doing the job, let the seat covers sit out in the sun for a bit and do the jon outside. It helps you to stretch the covers oever the frames easier.

Good luck,

Marty