69-73 early sport seat restoration tips or leads?

[whiteSC59]

Just picked up a pair of 73 early sport seats at a great price and am looking for threads on restoration of early sport seats or is this a project that a rookie could do?? if not, who does them and at what costs can i expect.

I can get all metal powdercoated for free but curious about the recovering process. if not too bad and dont need a bunch of new expensive tools id like to try it myself. tips or ideas appreciated. ill post pics as soon as i have them in hand. regards all, marco

[vwbobd]

two words........Tony Garcia

[Tom C.]

Here he is . . .

Autobahn Interiors Specializing in Excellent Porsche Interiors
3970 Sorrento Valley Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92121-1444
(858) 453-2400

[Carrerax]

Thats where mine went. Came back PERFECT! Not cheap but well worth it when you consider the value of them when done.

[rfn026]

Only two words you need to know - Tony Garcia

Richard Newton
Intervention Motorsports
Speed TV Blog

[whiteSC59]

okay, spoke with tony. kewl guy...now, which way to go?? all (black) leather with perforated centers, houndstooth centers and leather or vinyl and ??

[tharbert]

One of my seats had an issue in the gearbox that kept the two sides even. Both seats also have age issues. I read a lot of posts here about re-upholstery. The feeling I got from the posts is that home made upholstery looks, well, home made.

I did successfully fix the innards of both seats. From there, I'm going to rebuild/recreate the padding and springs then get the premade upholstery from our host. As with many things on this car, I could "send it off" but where's the fun in that.

Or send it off.

[Carrerax]

Mine are black leather with houndsthooth centers. You should get something else

[whiteSC59]

anyone ever buy seat covers from our host?? if yes, how did they turn out? and hows the quality??

[Mike O'Meara]

I redid my sport seats using covers from Autos International. I admire your wish to do it yourself and I can obviously relate. Before I made the decision to do it myself I had the opportunity to hang out in the shop of an oldtimer renowned for his work on custom hot rods, antiques and 60's era muscle cars. In just three hours of watching him I learned an amazing amount. Funny enough, he had a seat that was brought back because it wasn't quite right, and I got to watch how he filled in with foamand how he pulled the material taut in order to get the right look once the cover was back on.
My seats were nearly perfect save for dried out and cracked covers and very minor deterioration of the foam on an upper outer bolster. I took pictures at every step of the removal of the old covers in order to understand the way they were attached. I had to buy hog ring pliers and a huge bag of hog rings. I am pleased with the results, but of course, I see several spots that I would like to redo for just the subtlest improvement in fit. I stripped and painted the frames and recliners, and after no luck finding reasonable rates to reannodize the rails, I painted them, too.
Considering the value of the seats and the stunning work that Tony does on both the seats and the rails and recliners, one would have to be on a really tight budget (me) or really want the satisfaction of doing everything on the car but final spray of paint (me again).
One final consideration that never crossed my mind in planning this job was that the stretching process of pulling the vinyl tight with one hand while using the hog ring pliers with the other had me using muscles I hadn't stressed in years, and if one is getting older (once more, me) the result can be quite costly, too. I had tendonitis in my left elbow for a full year after, and it was directly the result of the pinching i did while doing the seats. Hidden costs will kill you, or at least have you talking Advil for months after. Good luck with your efforts, but do a search of Tony's work before you commit.

[RSTarga]

tony is the best

[whiteSC59]

mikeOmeara, can i pick your brain?? regards, m

[manu72S]

great job. I have to do the same. only for the driver seat

[Mike O'Meara]

Sure can, m. Glad to help. Email me at michaelome@sbcglobal.net if you wish. Mike

[Scooter]

After having spent a month working with a well-known upholsterer, I can tell you that it is worth it to have a professional do the work. They can get the high quality material and they know all the tricks to get a nice tight fit that will last for years.

[Soterik]

Originally Posted by whiteSC59

Just picked up a pair of 73 early sport seats at a great price and am looking for threads on restoration of early sport seats or is this a project that a rookie could do?? if not, who does them and at what costs can i expect.

I can get all metal powdercoated for free but curious about the recovering process. if not too bad and dont need a bunch of new expensive tools id like to try it myself. tips or ideas appreciated. ill post pics as soon as i have them in hand. regards all, marco

Congrats on the sport seats.. love em'

I've done a lot of work with Tony over the last 20 years, first when he was with Auto's International, and again when he went out on his own a few years ago.

He does excellent work, but I also want to recommend you take a look at possibly doing a unique color interior. I took a silver/black targa and put a green leather interior in it, and got to use a very interesting blk/green/white houndstooth, it wasn't correct for the year, but it was used by early 911's in the 60's. Came out great and I'm going to do it again, but with a different color this time.

Here's a pic of the seat and one of the interior.

cheers,
eric
SSP, sport seat police...

[dave_r]

Does anyone have an estimate of what it would cost for tony to do a set of sport seats. I am just looking for a ballpark figure, it doesn't have to be exact. I was thinking $1000-$2000, maybe more, maybe less.

I also have a set of early elephant hide sport seats that need some attention. A seam in the bottom split and some mice ate a little of the piping on the edges. I just want them repaired, leaving as much original as possible. Is this job for tony as well.

Who is comparable to tony on the east the east coast.

-dave

[RonCT]

Restarting this old thread. I'm wondering if it is possible to "reconfigure" comfort seats into sport seat configuration. It looks from the surface to be padding that creates the bolsters, so wouldn't a restorer like Tony be able to make "Sport skins" and add the appropriate foam for bolsters?

Thanks,
Ron

P.S. I did try a search - not easy to get an answer to "can you turn comfort seats into sport seats".

[Trackrash]

Originally Posted by RonCT

Restarting this old thread. I'm wondering if it is possible to "reconfigure" comfort seats into sport seat configuration. It looks from the surface to be padding that creates the bolsters, so wouldn't a restorer like Tony be able to make "Sport skins" and add the appropriate foam for bolsters?

Thanks,
Ron

P.S. I did try a search - not easy to get an answer to "can you turn comfort seats into sport seats".

There are some problems with this. First the sport seats are narrower. You would have to somehow make the frame about an inch and a half narrower. Then the tracks are different in the way they mount.

So, it can be done, if you are willing to cut up some seat frames and re-weld them. You also have to fabricate the bolsters and somehow make the foam to fit what ever covers you have.

Do you have experience with upholstery and metal fabrication?

I converted mine. It was a lot of work. One of those if you have way more time than money projects. My only regret is I made mine like the newer high back sport seats. What was I thinking? Some day I will make them into the low back style, if and when I get tired of the race seats I am using now...

[RonCT]

Asked and answered - thank you. Instead, I think I will just get a new skin set with fabric centers to change things up. The kits, like the ones from Lakewell, certainly appear to do the trick.