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Thread: Reupholstering sport seats

  1. #1
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    Reupholstering sport seats

    This is more like report with pics post. I always liked how new upholstery looks. I know I can get seats reupholstered "profesionally" but it's no fun. This car for me is all about DIY, not about paying someone for labor. It is easy to pay, but it's not easy to learn and do it yourself. 2 things I always wanted to do myself: paint and upholstery. Upholstery happening now.

    I did post before how I restored my current comfort seats via repaint. But those seats had pretty decent leather. About 6mo ago I got 3 sport seats. Leather also not ripped but was pretty stiff/old. And it would rip if you pull it. I figured it is not a good candidate for repaint. And I figured it's time to learn new skill.

    So far I got proper sewing machine, spent about 40-50hr reading books, watching videos, researching materials. Now that machine under control I'm learning on how to take templates, sew stuff. Practicing with cheap vinyl, this is what you going to see on pictures. After I get good with this - I will get real leather and complete project.

    So far I made 7(!) headrest covers with various degree of "niceness" ) Hardest part I guess.


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  2. #2
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    Beautifully done!


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  3. #3
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    Impressive! I definitely don't have the patience for this lol

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by bblazen View Post
    Impressive! I definitely don't have the patience for this lol
    Yeah, it's very tedious. When you think good upholstery place charges too much - don't!

    After doing 4 headrests I was almost ready to give up. But then I uphostered my shop chair, did some other practice pieces and I felt like I'm getting better. I think by the time I complete whole seat in vinyl - I will be ready for leather. I also see lot of issues with my work, but then I look at factory stuff - they have same problems! So, that tells me it's not that bad afterall. And new leather will be better than old for sure..



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  5. #5
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    Love this thread!

  6. #6
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    Wow, this is impressive!

  7. #7
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    Nice work.
    Here are some other samples of E34 leather DIY incl. dash, maybe it helps
    http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/707946/ http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/707947 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/708718
    Text copied: Subject: Goodness, thank you for all your nice comments! Author: rick540 Posted on: 2009-09-21

    To try and answer your questions in one post...

    1) I had never sewn or stitched leather or anything else in my life before. I borrowed a 20yr old conventional Elna sewing machine from my mother and practiced with offcuts. I discovered one can turn it by hand doing literally one stitch at a time and get very straight lines this way. I used a Pizza cutter to score straight lines on the back of the leather as a guide and then glued the two pieces together on the visible side with contact, stitched it and used thinners to remove the contact once it was stitched. (The thinners did not harm the leather surface at all surprisingly)

    2) The leather is about 1.2mm thick and the back was folded over both sides and glued down after stitching, used an old Coke bottle to flatten it. Leather compresses very well and stays that way when the glue dries.

    3) The centre vent, upper vent, both speaker covers had to be sanded smaller with a belt snader and resprayed to fit the holes, wasn't too much of an issue. The cluster, I used an old one shoved in with leather offcuts and then heated the plastic dash with a hot air gun, this enlarged the hole enough that the cluster fitted the leather covered hole afterwards.

    4) Gluing straight lines, used heaps of wet contact on the back, this gave me about 5 min to massage the leather into place allowing me to get perfectly straight lines and flat surface before the contact glue dried.(The trick is not to use it as contact, just a kind of setting slime)

    5) I had a few dashes lying around, destroyed the first by trying to cut the surface off to give more space didn't work, second one (the one I used) I sanded with a handheld belt sander with 60 grit sandpaper to give a rough surface for the glue and even things out. I had eight door linings and destroyed about four trying to get them apart, found out lots of Acetone allowed me to get the vynyl off and then used the wet contact technique to shape the leather onto the panel. I did the sills first and then the door lining working top downwards. The front doors were Hell where the pockets are and took a few attempts. Fortunately one can drench the leather with thinners and retry.

    All the separate little bits were all glued together before stitching and cleaned up with thinners afterwards. The door linings use two different types of foam rubber as the backing to get the surface flat. Special nylon thread was used. The leather was purchased from a local supplier called Woodheads. I used grain corrected leather (the grain is stamped on) as this hides any uneveness in corners.

    If I can do it, you can! Just took lots of common sense thinking and a few retry attempts. No it wasn't easy, but if you refuse to give up, you will eventually get it right. (I gave up and got desparate a few times, had bits of car interior all over the house, and thought many times "Damnit I can do this, some guy in Germany or Italy did")

    E34 540iA M60 , 1997 E39 540iA M62, Capetown South Africa
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

  8. #8
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    Awesome "thread!"



    Those vinyl covers look great!

  9. #9
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    Yeah, those seats look as good as some professional jobs I have seen - jobs that made me not want to get my seats reupholstered, but professional nonetheless. =p

    Keep it up. That would be a neat skill to have.
    Current Fleet:
    E34 1991 M5 Macaoblau on Complete (ruined)Leather Champagne - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1705166

    Past:
    E34 1989 535i 5-Speed AlpineweissII on Natur - Parted
    E34 1992 525i 5-Speed Islandgrun on Pergament - Parted
    E34 1995 540i 6-Speed ShwarzII on Shwarz - Sold to Sneezy.
    E34 1995 525i 5-Speed Calypso Red on Parchment - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1748143 - Sold locally.
    E39 1998 528i 5-Speed Black on Black - Sold locally.
    E34​ 1993 M5 Alpinweiss on Black - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...lpinweissII-M5 - Parted


  10. #10
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    Made another headrest. Those are PITA. Now it looks pretty good, just like original was. Didn't hit it with steam and it's not leather but I can tell it is right.


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  11. #11
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    Then I wanted to check how French seam will look on those. HORRIBLE. So far I tend to keep it simple, like original with no decorative seams.

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  12. #12
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    Looking good. Let us know when you are ready to move on to leather and start taking orders! I could use a sport seat bolster or two...

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sir Montalbon View Post
    Looking good. Let us know when you are ready to move on to leather and start taking orders! I could use a sport seat bolster or two...
    I'm almost out of vinyl so I may get a hide from Tandy's for $90 to practice with real leather.

    Here is a thing (re: taking orders): Probably not going to happen for multiple reasons:
    1. I'm perfectionist and I don't think I will reach that level simply due to lack of time. I wouldn't offer my service if it's not perfect.
    2. My time worth much more than trimmer's time. May sound like show off, but thats a truth and if I took on doing something - it's just for fun and maybe pay for supplies/tools.
    3. If you want GOOD quality - you need to have good leather. Good leather is at ~$10sqft(for example leather from Tandy's comes at $2-2.50sqft). Cheap auto leather is at $5. I will need a hide for what I do (centers will be in suede). If I did all leather - that would be 2 hides $600+ each.
    There is so much about leather - it's whole different topic. Basically there is no good cheap leather. Good vinyl may cost more than cheap leather.
    4. Leather comes colored and sold by hide or 1/2. So I would need to order at least ~$400 worth of material (Thread is like $12 per.. + sew foam). Economy of scale does not work well Half hide will be good for bolsters on 2 seats.
    5. Making covers is one thing, but proper install also important. Steaming, stretching, etc - all make difference on final look.

    WorldUpholstery can do whole set (2 seats) for $1600 I beleive. 600 per hide and $1000 their labor. I would think theirs should be good. This is place where I'm going to get leather. They sell german leather and samples I got look very good.
    There is seller on eBay and they can sell just parts - bolsters were at $70 but I can't beleive there is good leather and or quality on those. They also didn't respond if they have sewfoam (aka scrim foam) on theirs. It's harder to sew with foam but it makes difference in final look/feel.

    So yeah. This stuff is not simple or cheap. I also don't think replacing one or 2 bolsters will look good. 25 year old leather is REALLY old. BTW, I have 2 seats of good leather in this "brownish" color. Will put them up for sale later.

  14. #14
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    Thread copied from the E34 forum, also interesting for us E32 owners.
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

  15. #15
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    I made 3 more headrests, another set of templates for headrest. I still like single reinforced seam better then plain seam. I think it's good for now, tired of doing same thing over and over. Will move onto other parts and then do some more practice runs on headrests later.
    Given that I didn't steam/stretch very good - I think result is decent. All parts that I don't like not visible anyways after install.

    IMG_2529.jpgIMG_2530.jpgIMG_2531.jpgIMG_2532.jpgIMG_2533.jpg

  16. #16
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    Wow man great job !
    Me E30 87/ 325i + F25 12/ M-Sport + E32 94/ 740i

    G/F’s E34 92/ 525iT + F48 18/ X1

  17. #17
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    Got some real leather from eBay. Automotive leather but.. Who knows. It was real cheap, I got it strictly to practice sewing real leather.
    When I received it (2 almost full hides) - I realized that color is really close to the seats that I'm reupholstering. I'm not sure what it is - but you guys know. You can see 2 hides + piece of original bolster next to each other.

    If someone needs replacement bolsters/etc - I will make them for you in this color. All it takes - shipping + some beer money. For me it's practice and to cover cost of material. Cannot guarantee perfect result but it will be decent I promise

    IMG_2543.jpg

  18. #18
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    I need a drivers lower bolster I have some parchment leather I’d happy to ship it your way and pay you for your time !
    Me E30 87/ 325i + F25 12/ M-Sport + E32 94/ 740i

    G/F’s E34 92/ 525iT + F48 18/ X1

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by e30luv318i View Post
    I need a drivers lower bolster I have some parchment leather I’d happy to ship it your way and pay you for your time !
    I'd hate to take your material and get it wasted
    Send me a PM with address. I will make one in leather I got and ship it to you. If you like it - I will take your leather then. Deal?

  20. #20
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    Got a question in PM, I thought it would be a good info to add here

    A while ago I had an idea of using as rear seat outside panels for a source of matching leather to replace
    the worn outside lower and upper bolster on my sport drivers seat.
    What size roughly is your template for the upper bolster? Would I be able to cut it from a rear cover?
    I really doubt it. I will post pics of templates next time if I don't forget. But I don't think you can make any part of other part aside from some small pieces.
    When you add sew allowance and flatten out - they all pretty big. MAYBE if one piece will be made from 2 pieces with seam strategically placed so it's not very visible.

    Like I mentioned in my post above - 25 year old leather is OLD and brittle. If panel looks intact - it's dry and it's not going to conform/stretch as new. And once stretched - won't be as strong.
    Unfortunately the more I learn about all this - the more I understand that it's pretty much all or nothing if you want it to be good.

  21. #21
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    Just some pics of today's progress. Templating of a back piece. Finding centers, then marking one side and mirroring to another.
    It is not done, yet, need to compare to what other side looks like when taken from old piece. Then I will do more remeasuring against foam padding. And the make final tweaks. So this template is not final.

    IMG_2553.jpgIMG_2554.jpgIMG_2555.jpg

  22. #22
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    While waiting on some more supplies to do centers I started working on bottom piece. Pictures show:
    1. Bottom bolster was templated
    2. Templates ready, added about 5mm to where seam was. Seems like all seats done with 7mm sew allowance. I use 1/2 inch, so 5mm added everywhere.
    3. Marking leather. Side pieces covered by plastic cut from sides/legs and actual tops of bolsters cut from better parts of hide.
    4. Leather marked with silver pen. Special pen which can be washed off if needed.
    5. Top pieces of bolsters glued to sew foam and helping seam was made to join edges of foam/leather.
    That was it for now, hope to finish those this week.



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  23. #23
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    Such awesome work man!!!!!!
    Me E30 87/ 325i + F25 12/ M-Sport + E32 94/ 740i

    G/F’s E34 92/ 525iT + F48 18/ X1

  24. #24
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    Yesterday I made 2 bottom bolsters. Left one without decorative seam (just like original), right one with single seam, will make my seats like this.
    Didn't stretch them, thats why wrinkles, but they came out great.

    Also, making 3 bolsters for one of the members - see how much of a hide it takes for 2 top bolsters and one bottom bolster. One hide should be enough for what I need. 4 bolsters and headrests.

    I am duplicating this post in E34 forum as those seats the same
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