Split Seat Cover Repair

[mojobaby]

Quite recently I took my car for a Controle Technique (MOT) and failed because of some issues I had with my brakes and brake hoses. All that has been repaired and I went back a second time and passed the test.

However one of my advisories was for a split seat cover. I couldn't understand why it was an advisory, and although it has to be fixed by my next visit in 2 years time, I decided to fix it now because it just doesn't look nice.

This is how it looked before I started. You can see that apart from the stitching that has come undone, there is a huge gap, about 5cm, where the plastic piping has broken. There is also a hole further down.




After removing my seat, I turned it upside down and it started to look very complicated



First I had to remove the sliding rails and the plastic rail beneath them.



Some of the clips were also quite easy to remove, especially the ones that fitted the cover to the frame. They just popped out using a screw driver



There were a lot of these staple clips that hold the cover to the seat springs. i had to bend the clips open with long nosed pliers and just hope I can use them again



There are also some stiffening wires in the seam where it passes underneath the back rest



There are also 6 staples which link the springs to 2 stiffener wires that are stitched into a hem between the tartan centre and the 2 side vinyl panels. they serve to pull the cover downwards and give it shape



Finally the cover can be removed, and you can now see the 6 holes where the cover stiffener wires can be attached to the springs underneath as per the previous photo

 

[ecurb.renots]

I took an identical one apart only yesterday to salvage the material for any future repairs, the frame springs were badly damaged in the backrest and as i did not need it the frame was scrapped. If you need any pieces to repair your cover let me know. The seat base is worse than yours but the side panel and beeding are intact.

 

[mojobaby]

Thats quite a coincidence!! Good idea to keep the material.

Thanks for the offer, but I've nearly finished the repair, I'll put up the rest of the photos tomorrow as I progress. I needed a small piece for the hole that you can see on the side and cut it off from excess material I found under the seat. I've also joined the piping and covered it with some nylon from an old sports bag, not a perfect colour match,its black and the piping is navy blue, but close enough and it serves the purpose.

I also found the cause of that hole on the side. It was caused by one of the bolts that fix the slide rail to the frame. In fact all 4 bolts have caused some degree of damage on the inside of the side panels. That one at the back was the worst, as you can see, and actually broke through the vinyl.

 

[JdeW]

As always you provide a nice tutorial Mojo
Curious about part 2.

 

[ecurb.renots]

I was also interested to see the black strip which was under the seat runners and sandwiched between the seat and the floor mounts fitted to raise the seat. At least i assume it is not original as neither my seats or the car i removed the other seats i purchased had them fitted.

 

[mojobaby]

Thanks JdeW

Ecurb, although the seats are on my GTL, they're actually from my TL (850cc). They were in better condition, so I swopped them over. The GTL seats don't have the plastic bar, but once in position, both seats are exactly the same height. The GTL seats are also wider.

I had to bridge the gap between the 2 ends of the piping. so I first cut the flange of the piping off


I then took some electrical flex and pulled out the inside wires so that I had a tube, and fitted it to the piping



I'm really lucky to have an industrial sewing machine with a special foot that accepts the shape of the piping. I'm sure that a shoe repair shop would have a similar heavy duty machine.



The material that I used was from an old nylon sports bag. Unfortunately,I couldn't find a matching colour.
After I stitched it closed, it looks like this.



The back of the seat cover has a piece of material that fits between the seat and the back rest,. As you can see it had split open as well, but this was an easy repair



I found an excess piece of material underneath the seat and cut a small piece off. I glued it to the back of the hole on the side and then stitched around it. Once again, grey thread would have looked better.



The hole on the side was caused by one of the bolts that hold the slide rail to the seat frame. All 4 bolts cause this problem. Here is a photo of one of the other bolts, and you can see where it has been rubbing against the seat cover. Not sure if the GTL seats have this problem but all owners of TL 850cc should check their seats. I have added some extra padding around the bolt to prevent this happening again.



To put the cover back onto the frame, there is a stiffener wire in the black panel of material. It gets pushed down and the loops on the stiffener wire get attached to the bottom springs. To keep the shape and position of the cover.



Then I pulled the cover back over the frame and was able to re-use the little wire staples to secure it. I think it would have looked a little better if I had matched up the colours correctly, but I'm quite happy with the repair and at least I don't see the sponge every time I open my door

 

[Leonardo.IT]

I remember doing a similar job on my Savane.
I really envy your ability to do a great job and creating an useful tutorial at the same time.

 

[mojobaby]

Thank you Leonardo
I've been meaning to fix my seat for a long time, so actually the MOT inspector did me a favour by giving me an advisory. It meant that I HAD to fix it before the next test.
And at least I could use my old sewing machine again

 

[petak]

You are very lucky to have that strong sewing machine.......
That is reason why I give it to upholsterer to do job on mine seat covers.

And one thing more.......It amaze me how you manage to find "things" around you to fix R4 and the result is so good.

 

[mojobaby]

Many thanks Petak
I like fixing broken things instead of throwing them away, and many times I can't get spare parts, so I have a lot of tins full of plastic parts, wire, springs, etc and just make them fit.

Yes, my lovely machine. I worked in a wetsuit factory in Cape Town and when I moved to France, I brought the machine with me. I'm thinking of trying to make the seat covers for my TL so that machine will be perfect.

 

[petak]

During renovation of my R4 i had idea to make seat covers out of neopren (material for wetsuits)but material i so expensive that i had to forget about that idea.

I really do like when you fix things instead of throwing and buying new. Unfortunately more, and more plastic parts/tools/appliances are made in such way that if something get broken you do not have any chance to repair it

 

[Melissa]

wow what a brilliant fix, well done! also, thanks for your you tube timing tutorial...just did mine & it helped so much Mojo.

 

[mojobaby]

Thanks Melissa, it's been on my to do list for ages, so I'm glad I finally got it done.

Glad the Youtube video helped, just in time for your CT, here's the link if anyone else is interested