Sourcing 81-84 Manual Sport Seat Foam

[kenzinger]

Hi folks,

Was thinking of DIY'ing my seat restoration. Lots of operations out there that create high quality leather covers but having a hard time sourcing the foam.

I need just the bottom foam for the left seat insert and left bolster, the rest of my foam appears to be in good shape.

Any sources out there? Better to just buy the covers and then have a professional upholstery shop rebuild the foam and cover the seats?

[Ian Comerford]

Lakewell does a range of Porsche interior stuff and is good quality, but I understand that Porsche may have recently started supplying seat base foam.
https://www.lakewell.com/shop/porsche/911/1974-1983/seat-base-foams-pair-porsche-911-77-84-2/

[kenzinger]

Thanks for the response, Ian!

I emailed Lakewell a few minutes ago asking after the sport seat foam, their website only shows comfort seat foam. Will report back on Lakewell.

I'll check Porsche Classic but unsure if they are doing seat foam or not.

[Ian Comerford]

Check Porsche, apparently the pricing is thought to be fair for seat foam

[Bill Douglas]

When... If I ever do fix up my '79 sport seats I'm just going to get some firm foam for the bolster and trim it to size with a jig saw or similar.

[kenzinger]

No dice from Porsche directly unfortunately, checked a few parts departments online and called my local parts department.

[Dan J]

Lakewell has it I got the foam and custom seat covers for my 84 sport seats
Super quality and great service reasonable cost as well

[maverck]

I am planning to do the same on a set of sport seats. Interested to see where you land and how the DIY goes!

[911obgyn]

If you do it yourself use an electric carving knife to shape the foam.

[kenzinger]

Originally Posted by Dan J

Lakewell has it I got the foam and custom seat covers for my 84 sport seats
Super quality and great service reasonable cost as well

Confirmed Lakewell has the sport seat foam! And the price isn't terrible at EUR 320 excluding VAT and shipping.

[DerkPerk]

Is that for the bottoms only or upper bolsters as well?


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[kenzinger]

Originally Posted by DerkPerk

Is that for the bottoms only or upper bolsters as well?


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Just a single seat bottom.

[fintstone]

Pretty sure you can get them from:

Might save shipping here (USA) but I know these folks are not cheap.
https://www.heritagetrim.com/

Another in the UK:
www.*****************

[josephvman]

A professional can rebuild seat foam with better materials that will perfectly fit whatever leather you choose, at a lower cost than you'll probably pay for sourcing new cushions. I've gotten samples from a number of vendors, and Classic 9's leather was the best quality and most like the original Porsche leather on my '84 sport seats. When I'm ready to do mine, I'll order leather from them and have a pro do the cushions and install the leather. I'm in the Ferrari business and have seen dozens of seat restorations done by pros, and DIYers, and it only takes about 5 seconds to tell who did which.

[fintstone]

On the other hand, to have Classic 9 do just redo my sport seats, the cost (per their site) just for covers seems to be $3,119.00 each. $6000+ (for two) is a lot of money to most folks. Especially anyone that just spent $1800 to $2k on cores. Add cushion work and shipping and you are pretty close to $10K! That is what I paid for my entire car.

[kenzinger]

Total quote from Lakewell, including shipping, for two full leather sport seat covers with perforated inserts and one left side sport seat bottom with bolsters (81-84 manual sport seats) is $1,603.

This seems like a really great price compared to the seat leather covers I've seen at Classic9 ($2k+), WorldUp ($1.5k), Sierra Madre ($1.2k)...all of which don't include the seat bottom foam. And many folks on here have commented on the quality of Lakewell.

Originally Posted by josephvman

A professional can rebuild seat foam with better materials that will perfectly fit whatever leather you choose, at a lower cost than you'll probably pay for sourcing new cushions.

My concern is that the upholsterers I chatted with, while very professional and highly rated, don't seem that familiar with these seats. They couldn't positively identify the difference between the comfort and the sports seats and so I wasn't confident they would rebuild the foam correctly and order the right covers.

I'm in the Ferrari business and have seen dozens of seat restorations done by pros, and DIYers, and it only takes about 5 seconds to tell who did which.

I think at the moment, my plan is to source the materials and then have a professional do the install.

[junkman300SD]

I've messed with seats on old Mercedes and have never seen seen something other than a complete redo that will be as comfortable as new and last a long time. I've arrived at the point where I fix the entire system whether it be brakes, seats etc the 1st time I go into it and spend money.

I've noticed that If done well, I forget what I paid and get excited about the now perfectly functioning whatever. If I cheap out, I regret it until I get around to doing it again. Defining "done well" is always the hurdle so it can be fixed once.

I worked for a boss who was fond of saying "if you don't have the time to do it right, when will you find the time to do it again?"

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by fintstone

On the other hand, to have Classic 9 do just redo my sport seats, the cost (per their site) just for covers seems to be $3,119.00 each. $6000+ (for two) is a lot of money to most folks. Especially anyone that just spent $1800 to $2k on cores. Add cushion work and shipping and you are pretty close to $10K! That is what I paid for my entire car.

edit: apparently, I was mistaken, and the price was for both seats. So, we are really only talking $2219 for the covers and $950 to install for a total of $3169 for both seats with them installing. With the cost of cores at $1800...that would put you in some nice leather seats for about $5K if no cushion work or shipping (and $3169 if you already had some.. My bad...

[josephvman]

If the covers you order are correct and the existing foam isn't completely destroyed, along with some good pictures of how the sheets should look, a good shop should be able to do this correctly.

I'd love to have brand-new looking seats, but mine are still what most people would consider to be in excellent condition, other than the cracks in the piping on the driver's side. The patina makes me less protective of driving the car and parking it without the roof on it, or being too worried about getting caught in a little rain that I need to wipe off them.

I'd be very curious to see what Porsche's own vintage restoration service charges to recover seats, and if they would just do something like that without a full interior restoration.

Originally Posted by kenzinger

Total quote from Lakewell, including shipping, for two full leather sport seat covers with perforated inserts and one left side sport seat bottom with bolsters (81-84 manual sport seats) is $1,603.

This seems like a really great price compared to the seat leather covers I've seen at Classic9 ($2k+), WorldUp ($1.5k), Sierra Madre ($1.2k)...all of which don't include the seat bottom foam. And many folks on here have commented on the quality of Lakewell.




My concern is that the upholsterers I chatted with, while very professional and highly rated, don't seem that familiar with these seats. They couldn't positively identify the difference between the comfort and the sports seats and so I wasn't confident they would rebuild the foam correctly and order the right covers.



I think at the moment, my plan is to source the materials and then have a professional do the install.

[kenzinger]

Have decided to order the leather covers and replacement seat foam from lakewell, for installation by a local upholstery shop. Will provide pictures and a review when it's all wrapped up!