Seat padding

[twigz]

I am ready to install my new vinyl seat covers but I am not sure what to replace the padding with. Can you order the pad cusion from nissan or do I just replace the old pad with a 4/5 inch padding. If anyone has any tips for me, I am all ears.

[Stryker]

I too am all ears because I definatly want to replace that when i redo my seats? Plz help us out

[hairbear]

Banzai Motorworks http://www.zzxdatsun.com/ has the foam already moulded for the seats. $100 each seat.

Bob Brooking

[Daniel]

Would I be wrong in thinking that Instead of paying $200.00 for foam AND having to put humpty dumpty together,you could take your seat and cover to an upholstery shop.Save headache maybe save money also?Justa thought.

[Rattfink]

I would think that an upholstery shop would charge mucho greenbacks to do the job. They would have to use a similar pre-made shape or do the foam shaping by hand. Or maybe not.

Just my $.02

'Fink

[Cliff. Elford]

I asked an upholstery shop owner in my area of California for an estimate for my two seats {240} . He wanted $400.00 for the two of them. After sales tax. Said he would use thick, long wearing material. cliff

[EScanlon]

When I bought my car, one of the things I had to do was get the seats back from the shop the PO had taken them in to be recovered.

The PO had not obtained a recover kit, and therefore the upholstery shop had to redo the foam, straps, and the vinyl seats had to be custom fabricated. Total cost (from what the upholstery shop said) around $400. If the PO had brought in a recover set of vinyl, it would have been less than $200.

The BIG advantage of using people that do the whole process rather than buying the individual parts is the savings. Yes you can buy the foam from Banzai, and the recover vinyl from MSA or Crown Victoria, or whomever, but then you either have to do it yourself, or pay someone else to assemble it. And then there's the problem of the nylon straps beneath the foam, and the hog ring staples and plier to work with them. You might save a few bucks on each piece INDIVIDUALLY, but as a whole, might have spent more than if you had had the WHOLE job done by a professional shop.

My 2¢

[Daniel]

My point was like escanlon.I've seen seats that people redid themselves and thats what they looked like.New skin doesn't look good if the foam under it isn't correct.It's like a new paint job on a rookies body work.Not good.A tip I learned the hard way.Its O.K. to armorall the seat a little. but try not to get it on the threads/seams.It causes the thread to rot.I learned that from the seat man while getting mine redone.Areas I had gotten wet easily separated when pulled.Areas I didn't normally hit were still strong.Too much armorall causes the fabric backing to seperate from the vinylAlso make sure to put a piece of thick flexable plastic between the seat side and the hinge area where the seat back lever lives.If you don't that tiny screw that holds the cover on the lever workings will tear your seat.It didn't take me but two times to figure that out! Have Fun!! Daniel

[EScanlon]

DON'T USE ARMOR ALL!

There, I've said it again, it is POISON to vinyl, plastic, rubber, and ANYTHING on your car.

I equate it to HEROIN. Just use it once or twice and you are as HOOKED AND DEPENDENT as any junkie. No doubt someone will cry out that their experience belies that. I'll just counter with this: How OFTEN do you have to use it? (Give your car a "fix"?) I'll bet that it is every few weeks at first, and more like EVERY week after a few uses and warm hot sunny weather.

Armor All has an additive (Silicone) which adheres to the elastomeric compounds in the plastic, these elastomeric compounds are more commonly known as the plasticizers, i.e. the "stuff" that makes vinyl soft and supple. The silicone OIL shines because ANY oil will shine when spread on a plastic surface. The main problem with Armor All is that as the silicone oil evaporates, it also draws out the plasticizers from the vinyl, and causes the PVC chain to begin deteriorating. Over time, UNLESS you use it religiously every time you note that the dash is no longer shiny, the vinyl gets hard and stiff. Then all it takes is one or two touches that would have normally just caused the vinyl to "give" for it to crack!

Additionally, since it has silicone oil in it, go ahead and try to paint your car without discovering that you will have a rash of fish eye to rival the worst case of measles you've ever seen.

Armor All, in my opinion should only be used on a car you don't care about, or for tires, since you KNOW they'll need replacing in 30 or 40 thousand miles.

If you like the smooth shiny feel of new vinyl, use a product by Turtle Wax called Clear Guard. This is a product formulated for Vinyl. It leaves a soft smooth protective coating that will last WEEKS, if not MONTHS. I use it on the interior of my Acura and have had people wonder if I garage my car (I don't). What's more, I only have to use it like twice a year. During Spring Clean Up and Fall Prep. Other than that, just a quick wipe with a dust cloth and it stays shiny, and smooth.

Since no doubt there will be people that say "Not Neither!" , I propose the following: Use the Armor All and WAIT till Fall to do it again. THEN tell me how long before you said that your dash looked as if it needed another fix. MY BET? 3 weeks TOPS, and more like 2 WEEKS!

This opinion isn't just mine. On www.zcar.com a guy posted how he had gotten a complete dash from a parts car that was in perfect condition. He started using Armor All on it, and within 2 months it had started to crack. Another guy posted about the hazy white milky powder residue on his vinyl dash after a couple months of NOT using armor all (this was the decomposing vinyl).

Use the poison if you want, but for MY baby? Clear Guard.

Just my 2¢

[Rattfink]

Thanks for beating me to that one!

Armor All is pure evil and will eat your rubber, vinyl, plastic and leather (if you have any) in no time. Anything with a parafin base should be ok to use (I assume Clear guard falls into this category), just don't use the junk with a petroleum (oil) base. Like putting paint thinner on your paint job. 'gads.

L8-r

'Fink

[EScanlon]

Not sure of the formula. I believe it contains something similar to those high-gloss floor finish waxes, but not sure.

Now that may cause some concern from everyone out there, but in the 8+ years of using it on my Acura have not had a single problem with it.

I came across this product years ago when I was restoring a 77 Thunderbird with a vinyl top. The vinyl top was so sunburnt and abused that the owner had given me the ok to remove / replace or not or whatever I could do.

Since I HATE replacing vinyl roofs almost as much as I do welding / brazing upside down (above me), I went about restoring it as best as I could. First I got the strongest vinyl cleaner I could, from a Marine Products house. Then after going to 6 different shops, and talking to 3 different boat maintenance places, I bought the Clear Guard.

Yikes what a difference!! The cleaner removed the burnt and dried vinyl, but the Clear Guard was the kicker. It restored not only the GLOSS but ALSO the color. When I gave the owner his T-Bird back, he asked me how hard it had been to replace the vinyl. When I told him that I had not replaced it just restored it, he thought I was BS'ing him, and insisted I tell him the "truth".

[civ104]

The new Motorsports circular quotes seat foam in the original shapes @ $78.00 a set.