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Polar White and Rust - a restoration epic, can it even be done?


IanMc
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Today I made a start on the drivers side seat base cover. I needed to remove all the stitches so I could make the necessary templates. Here is the mess I am starting with...

 

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Oh by the way, not sure if I showed you before the little tool I have been using. Its called a seam ripper and really makes light work of popping stitches. The following photos give you an idea of how it works with its tiny (but extremely sharp) blade:

 

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Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

 

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They only cost £2-3 and it is a really helpful little tool  :thumbup

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gave my other baby some TLC yesterday.

She is now out of her Winter hibernation (a rented garage on the other side of town) , so deserved a little clean up to celebrate - oh yeah and a replacement wiper motor and linkage as the old one had decided it wanted give up the ghost during its hideaway period.

1995 MGF in Flame Red - 62,000 miles from new, but on its third head gasket - don't ask... :lol:

 

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Apologies to any purists that are now reaching for their sick bucket, but I love it and its my project thread, so there  :lol:

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1 minute ago, H-400 said:

She looks nice, enjoy her! Mid centered engine, 3th head gasket. Cooling circuit OK? 

Hi Herman,

(Very) long story short - HG went and caused hydraulic lock in one cylinder, which bent a con rod and wrecked the piston rings, piston and the (wet) liner.

Stripped and rebuilt the engine (HG No. 2 fitted), but it wouldn’t run for more than about 90 seconds. In desperation I spoke to an engine builder, who asked how I had cleaned the big end ratings on the crankshaft. When I told him I had only used a brush degreaser, he replied “I bet you have one brush bristle on a bearing face, taking up all the clearance when it starts to warm up”.

Engine strip and rebuild number 2 started and he was absolutely right! - hence HG No. 3 going on...

That was all about 10 years (and 2000 miles) ago - no problems since lol

 

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I have made some progress on the Drivers seat base cover this weekend - well, actually it is finished. It will be fitted to the frame once the Black paint I have added to the modified framework has all dried.

Everything seems to have gone far better second time around and the general finish looks better I think.

 

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Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.

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Fast forward to about 30 minutes ago - and we now have this:

 

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Pretty pleased with that. I will give myself a 7/10 this time - so far.  :lol:

Now onto the back rest cover...

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I got some decent work done this weekend on the Drivers seat back rest cover. Here is the front and back - just need to do the 'big stitch'and join them together now.

 

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

 

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

 

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The general finish and stitching quality seems to be much better on this seat - just practice I guess. If I did a few more of them, I would probably be quite good  :lol: :)

You might remember that I had the 'big stitch' done by a local upholsterer for the Passenger seat - well they are closed, so that's not going to happen... :lol:

However, I have learnt a few little tricks over the last few weeks that might mean that I can encourage my sewing machine to do this job - fingers crossed!

Take care all - stay safe, stay well x

 

 

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Well it seems like my ideas worked out and I managed to get the 'big stitch' on the drivers seat done. There are still one or two little bits to finish off, but all things considered I think that it turned out OK.

 

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A bit of steam and a punch here and there and it will probably look pretty good.  :)

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1 hour ago, hoobby said:

I think it looks Fantastic even the back rest has a big smile well done.back seats next?.

 

 

Thanks Graeme, much appreciated matey.

Yes Sir, onto the back seats now - gulp....

Oh well, we have come this far I guess - how hard can it be right?  :lol:

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So next we move on to the back seat back rest.

This is our starting point - as you can see the last 41 years have taken their toll slightly:

 

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The job itself doesn't look too daunting at the moment though (famous last words!) as it seems that all four edges are simply retained and tensioned with (easily accessible) hog rings. I have a hog ring tool and plenty of rings, so I am hoping this little section of the project wont take too long - provided I have enough material left of course...  :)

Here is what I mean about the general assembly/fixing method:

 

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Have a good day everyone  :thumbup

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And after cutting off what feels like 3,000 hog rings, but is only about 30...  you will be left with something like this:

 

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Let the stitch ripping begin!

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Last night I managed to get all of the stitching completed on the rear seat back rest:

 

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Hopefully I can get it fitted back over the frame/foam later on today to see how it fits...

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Now we move on to the last part of the seat project - namely the base of the rear seat:

 

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I'm not worried about doing the job, but I am VERY worried that I might not have either enough Leatherette (for the front edge) or fabric for the main cover.... Oh well, best start measuring then.

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Well I have done the easy bit  :lol:  

As you can see, I had some 'help' from Miss Lola...

 

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Now its time to try to work out if I have enough materials to do this bit!  :rolleyes:

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OK - well good news and bad news ('sh) on the material front.

- the good news is that I just about have enough of the main (Brick coloured) fabric - phew!

 

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- the not so good news is that I dont have enough Burgundy Leatherette for the front lower edge. However.... I have decided to use the off cuts that I have a create some stitched seam at the front of the seat to match to seam lines in the seat base and backrest. I think that I will get away with that and it saves all the hassle/worry of colour matching, waiting for delivery etc etc

This is what I am planning - you can see the proposed stitch lines in Black marker on the original item:

 

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Enjoy your day everyone!

 

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