Is old upholstery reusable?

[ladysilverhawk]

[N8N]

Before you do anything, go buy yourself a big tub of hand cleaner, WITHOUT pumice, but WITH lanolin. Rub it into the vinyl, use a toothbrush or other small brush. Wipe clean with a soft towel. Now the vinyl should be nice and clean. Reapply hand cleaner, just smear it on and let it soak in. Just let it sits there until it dries. Buff again with a soft towel. Repeat until you are satisfied that the vinyl is as soft as it should be. Sounds like BS but this is the best way I have found to "restore" old vinyl that's just gotten dry and hard. If after this the seats seem OK and none of the seams have rotted or split you've got a fighting chance of reusing them.

good luck,

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight
62 Daytona hardtop

http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

[curt]

My president of four months has excellent upholstery material. The front seat padding was sunken. I took it to an upholstery shop and had new foam padding, springs retied and all the stuff upholsters do under the fabric completed. It looks grand and it works fine. What color is your President? Ours is white over yellow. My wife loves the car's color.

[tstclr]

I had a 60 Pontiac Catalina with the same problem-mint original upholstery but noexistant foam (you could feel the springs under your rear!). A friend of mine and I removed the seat and carfully removed the seat cover. We bought foam at a local fabric shop and trim it to fit. Everything went back toghether easily using new hog rings. The results were great. If I recall, the hardest part of the whole thing was being in that fabric shop with all the estrogen floating around !

Todd

[Studedude1961]

Wonderful discussion. My 1963 Cruiser is upholstered in a combination of vinyl and cloth. The vinyl portion of my seats are in very good condition. The cloth is worn. The underlying foam is shot. I can feel the springs. My question for other 1963 Cruiser owners is this: Can a person have the seats reapholstered and still keep the good vinyl? I'm afraid it will crack to death if it is overhandled by being removed totally. My knowledge of the ins and outs of upholstering is on par with my knowledge of brain surgery. Any suggestions?

Studedude1961
--1963 Cruiser

[ladysilverhawk]

[DilloCrafter]

Here's a tip for those planning to buy and cut the foam themselves: go to a thrift store and find an old electric carving knife - you know, the kind from the 60's or 70's in almond and olive colored plastic, with two serrated blades that slide back and forth over each other. It's the best thing around for cutting that spongy foam, and you can get one for under $5.

1955 1/2 Ton Pickup

[studegib]

Hi LadyS, I used the old monogrammed vinyl of our 63 Cruiser with new cloth inserts over twenty years ago. It was in good shape then and remains in good shape to this day as my granddaughter rives it daily. I did continue to use Armorall regularly.

Gib