Thread: New leather base

My camera is not working - will insert photos later.

Supplies.

Leather: You will need around 1m2 of suitable upholstery leather for 2 seats. I got that (and more) from a local leather supplier in Brisbane (East Coast Leather supplies) as offcuts very cheaply. If you can't get out there, a whole hide will cost around $50 from the same supplier and you will have a lot of left-over material. You can also get auto upholstery leather from specialists for double to 10x the cost if you want.

Foam: The original LR seats have 8mm foam glued to the leather. Apparently this is common but finding a supplier is very difficult!

Pull the seat (two M10 at the front, two large torx at the back).

Flip it over, and you'll have access to the retaining strip at the back. Remove this and you can open up the front and side retainers a bit to slip the cover off.

You'll then be able to pull the base off entire


You'll have hog rings holding the leather into the foam at the top (though most were split on mine, and one or 2 on the sides

Finally, you can get it out and gaze on the horrors within.


Pick it apart (I use a razorblade to cut the seams), including the triple seam around the border - all three seams need to come apart eventually, unfortunately.

Make sure to put some alignment marks in, particularly around the rim where the vinyl meets the leather.

Make up some templates. I've assumed the side pieces are symmetrical (they're not, but I assume that's stretch or manufacturing).


You'll need to include pockets in the horizontal and vertical seams for the hog ring bars (to pull the seams into the foam). I used some bedsheet but get the bias right, as you don't want it ripping right off. Pre-sew pockets (this is the red thread).

Leather is readily machine sewed with upholstery thread but you will need a 90/14 needle or better. I use hot glue to lay out the work prior to machine sewing it (just like a sail!).


You can get thread and needle(s) from spotlight. You will break a few, certainly if you haven't worked with leather before.,

Some tricky corners. You may want to hand stitch these, particularly if you machine is rubbish (sailors palm helps a lot here).



And the leather section done in its entirety. That's the easy part done.


Next part is to stitch this back onto the vinyl base.

Transfer your alignment marks to the new leather and match it up to the vinyl base. This should probably be replaced also, but I could not really be bothered, as there is quite a bit of work involved.

Add foam and your bars (side ones 1/2 way up only at this point). I got 10mm foam from an auto upholstery shop.

cable tie or hog ring the bars into the seams. Middle first, then front, then the two sides. If you use cable ties, you can evenly tighten the two sides, but it tends to settle out in use anyway.

Reinstall the base, and enjoy the smell and feel of fresh leather.

This is a fairly complex job, but worthwhile in the end.

I've done just this job on my other vehicle, but used a pre-made leather trim set, and added new foam to the seat base. Massive job, but as you said, worth it.
Props!

Mitch, where'd you buy this? I couldn't find anything online.

Damien

Thanks for the great tutorial. I've got a couple to do in the near future. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

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Originally Posted by damienb

Mitch, where'd you buy this? I couldn't find anything online.

Damien

It was a trim kit for a Nissan 300zx... so probably wouldn't help you!

I used standard foam from Clark Rubber, contact adhesive and a electric carving knife to shape the foam on the bases, but in the end the seat looked pregnant and bloated... which was a shame since I spent so much time doing them. The trim kit I had was not the greatest either, and the leather was a little thin in places...

I bought a set of netting pliers from Bunnings and a heap of hog rings, but ended up using zip ties mostly, as there is way more adjustability in these than just the hog rings alone.

I documented my project in some youtube videos, you can find them here if you are interested...