The seats are fairly easy to re-upholster if you have the upholstery kits
pre fabricated. The hardest part is getting the seats apart (adjustment
plates for backs-they are some sort of Whitworth bolts that are near
impossible to get out!) I have upholstered many alpine seats as I have a
commercial sewing machine and one of my tricks to get a nice looking seat is
to sew in pulls to the front corners of the center of the seat and pull them
through the bottom so that the bottom of the seat conforms to the new foam
without relying on glue forever. I also replace the cardboard around the
back of the seat with sheet plastic that used to be old signs...consequently
they look good forever. The stock seats are great if you like
originality...definitely use series III up though...if you want some smaller
nonstock seats that are very comfortable (like recarro) then try a set of
Fiero seats. The headrests can be removed for originality or some of them
have stereo speakers in the headrest part(nice for a convertible) and they
are actually narrow enought that you can place them closer to the center
hump so that you actually sit in front of the steering wheel, not off to one
side like stock...As far as the frames go..I just wirebrushed mine and
painted with rustoleum ...you don;'t see the frame anyway..and go with new
foam pads, also padding all sharp edges in the front lowers..and be sure to
lube the seat tracks well so that the seats adjust easily....Good Luck with
your project
-----Original Message-----
From: K. Patrick Wheeler <pwheeler(at)ix.netcom.com>
To: alpines(at)autox.team.net <alpines(at)autox.team.net>
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 6:51 PM
Subject: Seat restoration
>My PO has placed what I believe are Mustang seats in the car, although very
>nice and comfortable, they take up too much room, make it hard for me to
get
>in and out of the car, and are too far forward for my driving comfort as
I'm
>a bit taller than he was (and they are not original, eeek!). I've two
>Alpine seats and all the foam and covering to restore them, also courtesy
of
>the PO. Has anyone done this and any ideas on how to go about it, or is
>this something I should take down to a local upholsterer? I'm handy with
>needle and thread, but have no equipment other than that. One of the
frames
>is in excellent shape, the other is rusted and still has pieces of the
>original seat attached. I had thought of powder coating (there are three
>powder coaters within half a mile of me) but thought it might be overkill.
>Also thought of sandblasting the rusty frame, but was afraid I'd have
>nothing left when I was through.
>-Patrick
>SV, Richmond, CA
>
>
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