Bruce:
I work at Moss Motors, so please take this as a biased point of view.
Hopefully I can be of help though.
1. The seat bases are usually in very bad repair. The wood support and
folded steel bottom are both available as a good repro, so I wouldn't try to
salvage ones that are in bad condition. The seat frame you want to salvage
if possible, usually it just needs a wire brushing and repaint.
2. The seat and panel kits that Moss supplies for the MGA are made in S.
Cal by the Moss upholstery department. They are excellent! The panel kits
are made on a plywood backing, so will stand up better than the originals.
It's pretty obvious that I am very proud of these products. There are other
good kits out there, so listen to the rest of the list. As I said, I am
biased.
3. Installing the panels is not a big deal. I strongly suggest getting the
seat kits installed by an upholstery shop. An amateur can get nice results,
but it's like many things, experience can make all the difference. This is
comparable to installing dry wall for the first time. The right tools and
experience can make a nice job look easy. Doing it yourself takes time,
care and when you are finished may still look a bit weird.
4. Spend the money and buy "MGA Restoration Guide" by Malcolm Green. It
has a very good color section on seat restoration. So far it is the best
book on MGA restoration that I have run across. If you decide to use an
upholstery shop, lend them the book so they can see how the seat is supposed
to go together.
Personally I hope you do as much of the work as possible. Redoing the
interior has to be the most rewarding job on the car. That or the glue
fumes make it seem so.
Hope this helps.
Kelvin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bamadio@statestreet.com [mailto:bamadio@statestreet.com]
> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 9:02 AM
> To: mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: MGA Upholstery Kit Help Request
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> I seek your collective advice on restoring the interior of my '58 MGA.
> Specifically I would like to get an idea on how difficult the
> project is
> for someone who has never done this but and who has some
> limited knowledge
> on the subject; let's say on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10
> being 'don't try
> this at home'. The scope of my project is such that the only
> thing I think
> I can salvage is the seat frames so you can see I looking at a fairly
> comprehensive project. What are your thoughts; tips tricks
> techniques,
> etc.
>
> I am also interested in the groups opinion on the leather set
> that Moss now
> has on sale: quality, originality, etc
>
> TIA,
> Bruce...
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