#Project SR76 (my 1976 Stingray) is getting a new interior – converted to black. Tearing down the passenger seat and cataloging production numbers and dates.
Next up will be the back of the seat. It’s a bit more complicated.
Finishing up the front seats of Mustang and putting them back in the car. Yes, I know I should have gotten all the new carpet and the heat and sound deadening but I didn’t. They are easy enough to remove so not really a big deal. I did notice while the seats were out just how thin the carpeting actually was, there is nothing between it and the floor pans, I’ve got to get those done…soon…soon.
Here’s some shots of the final production.
Drivers seat
Passenger's Seat. This is the one I just finished.
I thought I’d take a minute finish up the write-up on the very first upholstery job. I finished it up a two weeks ago and really missed driving the Mustang, but that’s what happens when you do your own work and you can only fit it between all the normal life stuff that needs to get done.
Yes, as I was reminded twice by a couple of car acquaintances, I used a kit, some say they aren’t much different from slip covers, but as you can see in my shots here that’s a bit of an understatement.
Now these next two videos are not all that great but I think you can see the removal of the back and the fasteners. I’ve worked with these type of fasteners before in my father’s body shop (back in the early ’70s) nearly all door panels and seat back were fastened in that way. They work really well but bend them (and they do bend easy of they aren’t aligned with the hole and pressure is applied) and you’ll have to spend sometime reshaping them, even then they might not hold properly, or replace them.
Check out the videos:
Here are a few more photos and the finished product. Not to bad for my first one. I have the passenger’s side to do.
With the plastic seatback removed.
Needed to remove the back release
2 piece
release removed.
Helpful hint: All the hardware and fasteners have to pass through upholstery. Rather than try to cut holes, I made X cuts and pressed the screw or hardware through. This made it as tight as possible.
Markings on the Foam
Good shot of the cloth sleeve with the wire passed through.
Here you would pass the hog wire while in the hog-nose pliers through the cloth between the upholstery and the wire. You then have to shove this down between the two pieces of foam and grab a spring.
Finished product.
Replacing the seat track was done before I married the bottom and back. Placing it back in the car was a little tricky..until I figured out that moving the set on the track was the way to get the studs to drop back in to holes in the floor board.
Over all this was not as tough as I thought it would be. The passenger side will be quicker. I’ll post the final product on that side.
After removing the seat track I had to remove the seat stops.
There are two and easily removed.
Next I started removing the upholstery wire. These pliers hook inside the wire and separate them for removal.
Removal
Here are the wires removed. They can be reused if you want to straighten them out.
Wires
Mostly removed.
Part way off however one small deal to handle
Thinking I was on the down hill side with the removal of the old upholstery, I ran into……the …..tuck!!! This consisted of a wire running through a cloth sleeve and the wire is attached to the springs with the hog wire.
Top Arrow is the cloth sleeve with the wire running through it. Bottom arrow is the hog wire crimped to the springs underneath.
Basically the tuck is how they separate the bottom of the seat and the cushions edges, which with vinyl that helps keeps you backside in the seat during those high-speed maneuvers.
Ok, this was the learning seat. I was too busy learning to do too much photography so I’ll to more with the back to this seat and the next.
BUT…………………………..here is my very first seat bottom..completed.
Sorry it’s been more than a couple days…a week plus actually. But hey, it 115 degrees in my garage.
So I removed the seat and inspected the underside.
Again this was my first upholstery job, ever. So removal of the old upholstery on this first seat was a learning experience so I didn’t get too many shots.
Here is a shot of the seat out of the car.
Seat Out
You have to remove the plastic covers for the hinges and the rest of the hardware to separate the bottom from the back.
Just a couple of screws to remove the covers, hinges and hardware
Here is the underside of the seat with the track hardware still attached.
Back removed the track still in place.
The track is remove with 4 star bolts. Be careful use the proper socket, I happened to have just purchased a huge set of tools (a bit more the ‘average guy’ might have) that had the necessary socket set. If you don’t have those, find one of those universal sockets that ‘form’ to bolt.
4 star bolts hold the track to the frame of the seat bottom
