Hardway

The breakdown above includes the prices of everything I had to buy that I did not already have. It comes out to $582 so if you split that it comes to $291 and that is of course my time being worth $0. If I was paying myself $10/hr and have 8 hours in it, that brings the total ito $371 for the single seat.

I had considered doing the same thing Madkaw and for traditional vinyl seats I understand that is what you want to do to soften them up. However for these I was advised the material would shrink instead of expand thus making it hard to get them on. The material was pretty stretchable right out of the box and I think the material is comprised of a higher amount of rubber based on how they feel.

Now comes the REAL WORKOUT, getting the rest of the cover on. I placed the foam back in place and for the better part of an hour and a half I pulled, tugged, and persuaded the cover on. This is where the plastic would have helped a lot. In the end I got it on but took plenty of breaks in between. Looking back on it I am thinking I should have glued the foam to the seat back, especially around the edge where it is supposed to sit on top of the seat round bar. Next you will be securing the material down with the tangs just like on the bottom cushion. Originally the seat had the front of the cover laid down first and then the rear of the cover placed over it. The original cover did not have the extra little flap on the back to cover the tangs so I went the opposite direction, I put the rear of the cover down first and then the front. My thought was since more pressure would be on the front of the cover I would want to tangs working in a direction to secure it. To start you need to straighten your tangs again if they are not. Starting at the center and with the reinforced edge of the material for the back pull it over the tang, cut a small slot with your utility knife, and push the material all way down. This went fairly well and I was pleased with how the back looked. The front of the cover put up a real fight and I employed the help of my wife to hold the seat down while I pulled up on the front of the cover and eventually hammer down each tang as I went along. As you can see the material does not wrap around the sides 100%. I believe a few factors contribute to this, first the foam and seat covers are made by two different companies. Second, everything is new and while flexible its’ just not flexible enough. However the exposed area will never be seen once installed. If you have a method of making yours fit better by all means try it. I did not want to remove the cover after all the work to get it on and attempt to trim the foam back so I left it as-is. Stand back and marvel at your work. The home stretch! Locate the holes for the bolts that attached the hinge hardware and cut a small X over them. Push the material down as the material will split and hug bolt holes. I started with the bottom cushion fitting everything a little loose at first. I also would only cut one hole at a time, once I cut I would install a bolt in to it. Once all the connecting points on the hinges were bolted in place I tightened everything down. The end result is a fully restored seat for your Z car ready for many miles and years of enjoyment. Overall I am very pleased with the covers, foam, and work I put in to it. The area on the side of headrest is not as tight as I would like it to be. Adding more foam here might be a possibility the next time around. When it sits in the car on a warm day it may help as well. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me and I will do my best to answer them.

Next, flip the seat over and make sure the cover is centered and how you want it. Move and tug it until it is in the desired location. Flip it back over and make sure all the tangs are pointed straight up. If they are not take time to straighten them. Now to install the cover, starting at the front and center, push the reinforced edge of the material over the tang. The tang is not sharp enough to puncture the material, use your utility to cut the material just enough to let the tang push through. Once the material is all the way over and down around the tang take your small hammer and tap the tang down over the edge of the material. Starting from the center and working your way to the front edge do this for all the tangs, CHECK YOUR PROGRESS! Flip the cushion around and make sure everything still looks good. If everything looks good, pick a side starting at the front and do the same as before. You could also crisscross from each side to help ensure the cushion is staying centered. Once you are done with all the tangs pull the strings at the back as tight as you can and tie them in a knot. An extra hand helps here to hold the knot in place while you tie on top of it about 3 times to make sure it does not come loose. I cannot stress enough to CHECK YOUR PROGRESS. I feel I did not do this often enough and my lower cushion is slightly off center. However the covers are man-made and may not be 100% symmetrical anyway. Once you are done your cushion should look like this. Next, time to tackle the upper seat. Start by turning the seat cover about 80% inside out, locating the flap under the headrest. Using wire or in my case a coat hanger you will need to measure and cut the wire leaving an inch or so on each side to fold over. I did a double wire as you can see in the picture as I feared the coat hanger wire would bend too much while trying to hog ring it. Install the wire in the flap as shown below. I trimmed the foam on the back of the seat and straightened all the tangs in preparation for the cover. Start by sliding and working the top of the seat cover over the head rest. TIP: Notice when I took the old seats apart they had pieces of plastic over the foam. This was to help slide the cover over the foam. Some people say to use PAM cooking spray but I would fear the smell may come through the material on a hot day so I did not. I do wish I had wrapped the seat using some plastic shopping bags or a plastic cover from the local dry cleaners. Moving on, I ran in to another obstacle, how to hog ring the flap in place with the foam covering it. Well as I carefully pushed the foam away it broke. I assume this is meant to be as I do not see how one could ever hog ring the flap in place with it there. It did not affect the end result so don’t panic if yours breaks too. Start at the center of the flap and install 4-5 hog rings to secure it.

Using my limited welding skills I repaired the crack as best I could using a series of staple welds. Even with my welder set as low as it would go and using .023 wire, gas, and a copper backing plate it would still blow holes through the metal due to it being so thin and fatigued. It looked pretty crappy when I got done but it was stronger and no one would ever see it once it is recovered. I also used a body hammer and dolly to re-curve the metal as well to help restore its shape. Next was prep and paint. I used my pneumatic rotary tool to clean off the old adhesive and paint around the seat back as well as knock off the old paint and surface rust from the hinges. I then went over all the surfaces with Super Clean degreaser to clean everything before applying a few light coats of semi gloss black spray paint. Since the top of the seat had foam on the back of it and I took the advice of a forum member and replaced it. Unfortunately I could not find foam as thin as what was on the seat so I went with the thinnest I could find, 1/4 inch. I sprayed the 3M adhesive to the back of the seat and the foam, let it setup for a 60 seconds, laid the seat back on to the foam and wrapped it around the edges. Then using almost every clamp I had to hold it in place and dry overnight. Finally we get to work with new stuff! Here are the new foam cushions and seat covers. I decided to tackle the lower cushion first. Note the flap sewn on the cover. Take the wire you removed from the old seat cushion, measure the length of the flap, and cut the wire to length giving you an inch or so on each side to fold over as shown below. Your seat foam should have either a large cut out or the outline for one. If your foam does not have the cut out like mine did take your utility knife and cut the 1” slot out of the foam, this where the flap will pass through. Wrap the cover over the foam cushion and pull the flap through the slot. This flap will be hog ringed to the springs when you place the seat assembly on. To help pull the flap to the springs I installed two hog rings and threaded zip ties in each. This would give me a sort of handle to pull on the flap. Now take the seat assembly and place it on the foam cushion, working the edge of the cover around it. Once you have the cushion centered start by pulling up on the zip ties and hog ringing them to the springs. I had to stand up with my foot on the seat, bend down, pull up on the flap and hog ring it. *In the picture you see a lot of zip ties connecting the springs. This was an effort by me to increase the strength of the springs. I don’t think it really worked so it is not documented.

Next I tackled the top of the seat. Locate the tangs at the bottom of the cushion, gently pry them up straight, and slip the material off of them. The cushion comes off like a sock. Take your time so you can see how it is fitted. Note it should be hog ringed towards the top under the headrest. Using your wire cutters you will need to cut the hog rings and finish pulling the cover off. You will see that as you take the cushions apart it makes a big mess so take a few minutes and vacuum up all the foam and material that is now covering your floor. Once I had the cover off I removed the foam from the front and back of the seat top. It was then I got a good look at some cracked sheet metal on the seat back. This was caused by a previous owner reclining the seat all the way back and letting it rest on the edge of the package tray behind the seat.

In response to questions and requests on how to recover Z car seats I thought I would put together a post outlining my experience when recovering the driver seat in my ’72 240z. The job took me around 8 hours from start to finish but I worked in 1 or 2 hour increments. Stretching and fitting the covers is the hardest part and will give your hands, arms, and shoulders a workout. This is a job that anyone can do and is a worthwhile job to tackle yourself as many shops can charge $300 - $500 in labor to recover a single seat. The key is to take your time and walk away if you get frustrated or tired and constantly check your work to see how everything is fitting. If you are not happy with how things are looking, stop where you at and see what you need to do to correct the issue. *Please note, I am not an expert or professional of any kind and this is the first seat I have ever recovered. This is written as a guide and your situation may be different. I am not responsible for any damage or injuries caused by someone taking on this project. If you doubt your skills or capabilities in doing this job please contact a professional. Materials Synthetic Leather Seat Covers from Ebay - $200 shipped to my door New Seat Foam Sets from Classic Datsun - $310 shipped to my door 100pk of hog rings from Amazon - $7 shipped to my door Semi-gloss black Krylon spray paint - $6 at parts store 15ft roll 1/4 inch thick foam - $15 at local fabric store 3M Heavy Duty Spray Adhesive - $8 from Home Depot Tools KD-Tools Hog Ring Pliers 2pk, straight and 45 degree from Amazon - $36.81 (These are totally worth the money and very well made) Needle Nose Pliers Traditional Pliers Channel Lock Pliers Heavy duty wire cutters Assortment of flat head screw drivers Assortment of Phillips head screw drivers Small hammer Socket Set Assortment of medium sized clamps Utility knife with new razor blade Pneumatic rotary tool with fine wire brush attachment Super Clean degreaser Paper towels Vacuum cleaner/Shop Vac Remove the seats from your car and move to a location that gives you plenty of space to work and offers some protection to the surface you will be working on since the seats have studs on the bottom. My living room with its plush carpet, TV, and air conditioning was the best spot for me. Assess the seat and if anything broken. If it is make appropriate plans to repair the broken parts. As you can see my seats were in a pretty sad state but were complete and functional. The foam had collapsed in the bottom cushion causing you to instantly sink about 6” or more once you sat in the seat. I could tell by the cover the seat had been recovered before due to the lack of vent holes and it did not match the passenger seat. Disassemble the seat by tilting the top cushion all the way forward. This will take some of the pressure off the bolts as you remove them since the right hinge is spring loaded. Take some time to inspect everything as you go along. It is also a good idea to take notes or pictures just in case you do not remember how everything goes back together. My seat was shedding its potato sack material in between the springs but for the most part all the hardware looked good. I started by disassembling the bottom cushion first. First you will need to slowly pry up the pointed tangs at the back of the cushion with a flat screw driver. This will reveal some more tangs that it covers up. Then gently pry up all the tangs around the perimeter of the cushion, pull the material up from around the tangs, and lift the seat and spring assembly out of the cushion. Inside the edge of the cover is a thick wire. Remove this wire if you can, you will need it later on.

The do have padding sewn in to the covers, not sure if its foam or how much. Below is a close up picture of when I attached the hog rings below the head rest. If this does not help let me know and I will see if I have some other pics.

Thanks for the info and link Blue. I see the line running to the front passenger side wheel is pretty long so I will run up to AutoZone tonight and see what they have. Below is the thread I was trying to find earlier. This would allow me to get rid of the hard "S" that goes behind the caliper. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread35333.html

In wanting to replace my calipers and brakes lines with SS units a previous owner did me the favor of rounding off almost every threaded line connection. So out came the vise grips and I was able to get everything apart. The problem is now the line connections need to be replaced. The hard lines for the front brakes are very small and dont offer very much room for cutting the lines, installing a new fitting, and flaring the end of the tube. I found the auction below and it seems to be a reasonable deal. What are your thoughts? I already know I will need to replace the hard lines going from the MC to the front wheels. I have not tackled the rears yet but from the looks of things the connections are in better shape. http://www.ebay.com/itm/All-metal-brake-line-kit-Nissan-Datsun-1970-1971-1972-1973-1974-1975-1996-/380466753526?fits=Model:240Z&hash=item589595eff6&item=380466753526&pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr I have also considered dumping the S shaped hard line and getting some different SS lines from Modern Motorsports that uses a brass flared fitting that goes in to the caliper itself and allows you to connect the SS line directly to it. I cannot find the thread right now but I remember the picture and info. Has anyone else deleted the S shaped hard line?

Beautiful work Mally. I absolutely love the Porsche and the color. Is the dash all original and do you plan to do any restoration work on it? If not I fully understand as I kinda like the patina it has.

Given how much work it is to recover the seats I would say buy the covers you really want. If you really like leather then you should get it, otherwise you will regret your decision every time you get in the car. You can tell just by feeling the seats they are vinyl but the texture on them helps. The term "synthetic leather" is a bit of a stretch but they do feel nice. For me it was all about best bang for the buck. I had strongly considered a set of covers from Classic Datsun when I ordered my seat foams. If these do not hold up I may be going that route in the future.

Thank you for your compliments everyone. The seat continues to sit in my living room and the wrinkles have already started to disappear. Your are right PSDenno, a few hours in the car on a warm day should make them look perfect. I think I am going to hold off on installing it until I install my new clutch master. Should be a lot easier with the seat out of my way.

Pretty good idea. I have old dwell tach box I bought off CL years ago to tune an old Corvette I had at the time. Makes tuning and viewing RPMs a breeze.

Interesting. My rubber bumper must be missing. I can now see what you are talking about Carl on the purpose it serves. Maybe I can find some rubber material and make a new bumper for it. Need to dig out the FSM to see what it looks like. If I install poly rack bushings would I still need the clamp or do the poly bushing clamp the rack down hard enough to keep it from moving?

I got my driver side seat done this week. Below are pictures of the finished product. Overall I am pretty happy with the results. For as tight as the material is around the rest of the seat I wish the areas on the side of the head rest were as tight. It took me about 8 hours of total labor time to do the one seat. This included tear down, weld repair, clean up, paint, re-cover, and final assembly. I took alot of pictures during the whole process and plan to write up a how-to document later this weekend. Getting the covers on was the REAL WORK. It requires a good bit of arm and hand strength as well as knowing when to stop to let it relax. If you have any old arm or shoulder injuries doing this kind of project may cause them to flare up so just be aware. Let me know what you think. Before: After:

I can see from other members pictures that most of us seem to have what looks like an exhaust clamp on the driver side of our steering racks near the mount. What I cannot figure out is what is the point of it? Its not holding anything in place nor is it butted up against the mount. I removed mine when I replaced my oil pan gasket and have not put it back on yet. Before I do I would like to know if I really need it.

Glad to hear the new injectors worked out well for you. I have been in the same boat several times with 3rd Gen F-bodies and their TPI systems. If your car had a heat shield you definitely want to put it back on. The exhaust manifold or header creates a lot of heat and can bake your intake manifold. Once you reinstall the heat shield post up your results and if it does not help we can look at some other things. Sorry to hear about the broken rear strut, not a fun job but worthwhile to get it done.

Jay Leno said it best "some cars make you want to pour a glass a wine, pull up a chair, and stare" Some cars I just love looking at but there are others that I would love to look at it for about 30mins and then drive it for hours. The Miura, 260 GTO, 275GTB, original GT40, Jag E-type roadster, '63 Vette, Countach, and F-40 are just a few. The Z did get a lot of cues from other cars and I think that is what makes it so appealing to so many people of all ages and preferences for cars. A lot of cars are either Love it or Hate it but I don't think anyone out there hates or dislikes the Z's. Its obvious the E-type and several '60s Ferrari's influenced the Z. Pop on a set of head light covers to a Z and it looks track ready and a little more exotic IMO. As a side note, all the cars on that list are well outside the budget of most car guys which is the way it goes for things that are considered beautiful. I don't think the Mopar is all that beautiful, its a muscle car brute plain and simple. It looks good and mean but its not beautiful. I think a '57 Bel-Air or '59 Caddy is beautiful and should have beaten out the Mopar.

I have been in the same spot before with several cars, right around the 5 year mark too. A '88 IROC-Z and a '98 Accord Coupe V6, both were DD's, served their purpose well and were very loyal to me. However you know when its time to move on and when it comes it best to sleep on it for a day or two and if you are still ready to sell then do it. If you ever want another Z they will be out there, no one is crushing them anymore as more people become aware and appreciate them. This of course will slowly drive the prices up but that also means more people are putting money in to the ones that can be saved. The BRZ and FR-S are sweet cars. I too have thought the same thing about them, a modern Z type car for the modern times. The 370z is a great car and a true Z in the fact it comes from Nissan. But from a price stand point they are still a semi-lux 2-seater sports car. The BRZ and FR-S are more like what the Z was and I truly appreciate that. $25K is still a lot but at least the automakers are making something fun, sporty, and affordable for a lot of people. Good luck in whatever you decide to do, I am sure you will make the right choice. If you do decide to sell your Z I agree with Doug, you should see good money for your car. That along with selling your Explorer will make one heck of a down payment or just sock it away in the bank and get a ultra low interest rate if you can.

I know a few years ago he had a video of his orange Datsun 510. I remember him talking about it and how 5spd's were considered some what exotic back in the day.

I have seen in other videos an orange and a lime green 240z in his collection. I know Jay says he never sells anything but since there seems to be no trace of them online maybe they were sold.

So I picked up a 2lb spool of Hobart .023 wire at Northern Tool yesterday along with some tips and a new ground clamp since a previous owner had attached what looked like a cheap jumper cable clamp. Today I set about trying to make it work. With my welder as low as it would go and a wire speed of around 5.5 I was able to get about 70% of the cracks welded. I did a "staple" kind of weld across the crack since trying to even tack weld at the crack would burn a hole through. I am assuming this happened due to 40 years of metal fatigue. All in all it still looks like crap but it is stronger and no one will see it. I also picked up some 26ga sheet metal at Lowes thinking I might just tack it over the cracks as it would provide a thin plate and some reinforcement.

I have searched his Jay Leno's Garage site and Googled it many times but come up empty handed. I know he did a video of his Datsun 510 a few years ago but I cannot even find that now. If anyone knows about his Z's I would love to hear about them.

OMG!!! I definitely wish I had waited for this one. If the description and body is any indication of the lack of rust this is a steal!