Leather seat bottom - seam repair

[JRamsay]

I was hoping to get some advice / guidance on how to repair the original leather seat bottoms on my '82 Targa. I have worked hard to clean and recondition the leather, but a few of the seams have let go and I would love to figure a way to repair on a budget??








Thanks as always for the help and direction.
Jim

[JRamsay]

Sorry got carried away with uploading pics and included some from my baby sleeping for the winter and one from my favorite spot in the summer! Jim

[scottrx7tt]

take it to a local upholsterer and have them pull the bottoms, and redo the seam. It appears though that the leather has shrunk up over the years, and that's what led the seams to split.

[JRamsay]

Thanks that is what i was thinking but was looking to see if anyone had a budget repair that could take me through some time on a budget.

[dwight45]

I had the same problem and had my seats rebuilt. It seems that when the bottom support of the seat deteriorates, the stress is on the seams of the cushion and they come apart. Just re-sewing the leather may not cure the problem. I'm sure that others may chime in on this. Left bolsters usually need refreshing too.

[vintagecarlover]

Any upholstery shop can restitch easy breezy. Have them restitch All seams when off. The threads are rotted. Keep adding leather conditioner. I've seen someone put a knee in seat bottom and with concentrated weight the seams break loose.

[JRamsay]

Thanks for the advice. Now the next question would be does anyone know of a good upholstery shop in the Westchester New York area?
Cheers,
Jim

[island911]

There is a thin piece of foam against the leather that has obviously broken down there. (should be replaced as well.) That is, the leather should pillow up from the cross stitching.

[vintagecarlover]

Jim. Save some cheese and seperate seat top from bottom. Spray penetrant on large flathead flat bolt hinge for a day or two first. Lay a piece of scrap wood over the screw a give a good hit with a hammer and respray. Use very wide flat head screw driver or good flat chisel held in vice grips to turn out that screw. Flip bottom side up and remove hogtie metal staples with needle nose pliers and pull off cover slowly. And then determine what auto upholstery shop close by u want to use. Google em. Prolly won't be 20.00. Reassemble same way in reverse.

[JRamsay]

Thanks very much for the guidance Vintage! I will give it a shot once I pull her out to get going on a new season of Targa!
Cheers

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

If you need a good leather conditioner, I've had great success with Adam's products on a few different vehicle makes of my own. They don't leave any greasy residue either. Also, 10% off right now HERE until the 24th if you want to give them a try.

[gshiwota]

I paid my local upholstery shop $75 to restitch the same problem on my car. Given the wear and tear the seat bottom takes, I think the only way to fix this is to restitch it.

[JRamsay]

As always thank you very much to everyone for the great advice and guidance.
Will let the group know when things are done and how they turned out.
Cheers

[SC-Alfa]

I had the same problem. I used one of these to fix it myself, it even comes with upholstery thread that is needed.

Awl - Quick Stitch Sewing Awl

You can find a YouTube video that will show you how to use the Awl.