Hornet Mk III Front Seat cover needed -- red

The cover of one of the front seats in my current "refreshing" project Hornet, is really beyond repair, it has too many rips in the leather. Newton simply wants too much money for their covers and only sell them in pairs, so I a am looking for the covers for one seat. It needs to be red, and not ripped. I can and will clean as I am proving by using Woolies' kit on the driver's seat now.

Thanks,

Paul

I might be wrong Paul in saying this but I seem to think the red seat covers always seem to be worse for splitting than the other colours? You don't seem see many on ebay I'm afraid and there are other companys who do the replacement covers (I too think Newton Commercials are expensive)
Are you sure you can't repair yours if you take them off , a difficult job I know but once off, patches can be put on (with super glue?) underneath.

On another note, N.C once emailed me to ask if I would donate my car for their stand at the London to Brighton run.
On my acceptance to their request another email was received from N.C to say their was a condition!
This condition was, my front seats were to be recovered but not only that, they wanted to put Suffolk seats in and offered me a 20% discount which worked out about £1300 ! I refused as I wanted to retain the MK2 seat.The Suffolk seat are MK3/4 with head rests! I then received another email to say they had found another doner car with the seats already done! I bet they never gave him any refund either, tight sods! LOL

Tony,

Interesting about the red seats being more prone to ripping. Since I am new to the Elf/hornet scene I am not used to dealing with the leather. I may just try removing the cover from the one seat and attempting a patch-- I have one long rip in the sitting surface, about 6 inches long. Other than that the seat is just in well-worn condition, fitting for its age, it will look much better once clean and recoloured with the Woolies kit. I have already cleaned the other seats and rubbed in some hide food and they look great. Now I have to wait a few days to apply the recolouring solution and seal them. I think if I remove the seat base from the ripped seat, and get a patch that will hold the rip so it doesn't lengthen, I may just recondition it and use it. That is, until I can find a suitable replacement. There is no beating the patina of 33 year old leather seating.

I did chuckle about your adventure with NC and their stand at L-B. I can understand their wanting to have their products on display, but I think their idea of a discount was a bit weak, to say the least. They could have written off the entire cost as advertising. I like NC quality (although I haven't seen their Elf/Hornet seat kits). I have a pair of their recliners in my 67 S -- bought some 15 years ago at less than half the price they charge now. I just installed their carpet set in the Hornet and it is lovely and made the seats look fairly shabby, but with the Woolies kit, the seats will at least look like nice old leather seats.

Thanks for the idea on patching!

Paul

Tony,
I forgot to ask -- you mentioned there were other firms that have replacement covers -- can you point me in that direction as well in case my repair turns ot to be not what I want...?

Thanks again,

Paul

Tony,

You can see the rip I need to repair in the last two shots on my Picasa page:

https://picasaweb.google.com/paulsminis/RepairsandRefresh?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv9k6S0vPq8qgE

Paul

Paul,
I used the repair/recolor products from Leather World in Virginia. I'm actually kind of surprised that you were able to get the Woolies stuff into the states. I think there are laws about mailing liquids and such. Anyway, I was able to make a pretty decent repair to a fairly good sized hole in the side of my driver seat. I wouldn't think the tear would be a problem, but I'm sure you would need to pull the cover off to do it. I think I would glue in a piece of fabric behind the whole side bolster to reinforce it, then fill the crack and re-color the leather. Click on the Red Riley banner in my forum signature and you can see pictures of how I did the repair process.

I also have a tear in the upright part. You should be able to view them at MME this year....as I doubt that I will be able to get the job done before then.

I have never had a problem with stuff from Woolies...I used to go to their shop when I lived in the UK in the late late 80's and 90's. I think we used UPS, rather than Royal Mail....

Paul

Brian,

Take a look at my pics again at : https://picasaweb.google.com/paulsminis/RepairsandRefresh?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv9k6S0vPq8qgE#5618207401336324466

The last few show the rips in the seat much better. Do you think those are saveable????

Thanks,

Paul

paulsminis wrote:Tony,

You can see the rip I need to repair in the last two shots on my Picasa page:

https://picasaweb.google.com/paulsminis/RepairsandRefresh?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv9k6S0vPq8qgE

Paul

Sorry for late reply!
Yes I thing they are saverble and its worth a try. Take covers off frames completely. clean both sides of material of grease (repair kits include pure alcohol) If possible cut frayed edges so you can push both sides of tear together. obviously try them together first.Temporarily tape edges together on face side.(you could try and stitch but that tends to pucker the repair) if you can you could superglue the edges together but that can be awkward but thats up to you. Turn to the underside and ensure surfaces are clean and dry before glueing the patch on.

In the repair kit you should find some glass paper to roughen up the surfaces of all cracks before applying the rubber solution into these cracks (Instructions do come with these kits and they are all pretty much the same.) once the rubber solution is dried and ready you can start applying the colour . My kit had a aerosol can and spray gun supplied but I found it better to use a sponge to rub it in. This is followed by a sealing solution (again I used a sponge)

In my Elf I had a repair like yours but right by the hip and was on the drivers side where you plonk your bum as you get in!
This repair was very noticeable so I swapped the seat with the passenger seat so the repair is "safe from my bum" as I sit in the car. You may consider just swapping the covers over if you want the same seat frame? (mine was right on the piping so was awkward)
A tip, you may realise that the leatherette material is stretched if your cushioning material is weak so you should consider replacing this to help support the "new cover" from being stretched.
Take your time and you should br rewarded
Tony
Ps .Do you still want names of other upholstering firms?

Tony,

Thank you very much for the visual aids and the encouragement! I will attempt to repair them, but if someone finds and offers a set of covers that are better than what I have, I won't hesitate to take that road. In the meantime, I have finished colouring and sealing the rear seat and the driver's side seat (which some previous owner must have swapped sides as normally one does not expect that the passenger side front seat should be the most worn.) I was well pleased with the quality of the Woolies kit. I will continue with the process on the passenger's side seat -- I cleaned it and massaged in some hide food already. I will recolour and seal it before I remove the covers and attempt the patch. I should probably order a Newton padding kit for that one as well.

I have been doing some searching and find that I can find lots of places that offer repair kits and should have no trouble finding them here in the US. I am very pleased with the Woolies kit for cleaning, feeding and recolouring -- it did a great job. I used to stop into their shop when I lived in Feltwell in the UK in the 80's and always found their stuff top quality.

Thanks for the help!

Paul

I think rather than recoloring and sealing before patching, I would remove the cover and do the repair work first, as you will need to blend in the repaired area and you would need to clean and remove any oils or sealer beforehand.

Brian,

Unfortunately, I will find out how that goes as I already have cleaned and fed, but on your advice I will hold off on colouring. I think the hide food may actually help by making the dry leather somewhat less brittle and more supple...I will allow it to thoroughly dry, before I pull the covers off to attempt repair.

Paul

p.s. I took a look at your shots of the holes you had in the Miata seats -- holy cow (no pun intended) those were some big holes!

Gotta say you made a smashing job there Brian.

The repair is holding up nicely, but there are a few new scratches mostly on the passenger seat. I've got to stop letting the dog ride in the Elf! I'm about to pull the seats out and touch them up for the summer. Hope I can find the leftover red dye!

My repairs have held out too but I'm afraid the material has stretched again (maybe not enough support or I've put on weight? I think the latter!) May need a re think on another restoration before next season? Still comfortable though!

I sold my original red front seats to a friend to use in one of his Minis, and as far as I know he still has them. I could ask him if he would consider selling them on if you're interested.

Brian,

I would appreciate that if they are better than what I have and intact -- not ripped, torn, etc. I would also be interested in knowing which of Leather Works products you used on your Miata seat repairs...

Red Riley wrote:The repair is holding up nicely, but there are a few new scratches mostly on the passenger seat. I've got to stop letting the dog ride in the Elf! I'm about to pull the seats out and touch them up for the summer. Hope I can find the leftover red dye!

Woolies said on their instruction sheets that the die products are only good so long and not to store them outside in freezing weather -- probably less of a problem for you than for me....

TONYELF wrote:My repairs have held out too but I'm afraid the material has stretched again (maybe not enough support or I've put on weight? I think the latter!) May need a re think on another restoration before next season? Still comfortable though!

I think that goes to not rebuilding the underpinnings, perhaps? The seat I need to repair will need new cushioning I am sure, especially since the rips are so long.

I used the Deluxe Leather Repair Kit but they have other repair products, and I would call them up and ask them what they recommend. When I called and talked to them they were very helpful and told me exactly what I needed and how to do it.

Problem is now solved, thanks to the kind wisdom of the clan. Plus Brian has found a source for a pair that are in much better shape than mine. Good Work, Guys!

Paul

And I know at least part of the history of those seats. They were pretty comfortable the last time I sat in them. Here's a little glimpse.

If you would like the rear seat that goes with them, let me know.

Brian!

Very nice....my seats are very comfortable....it's just one that is ripped and will keep on ripping more. Our friend wanted to use them in his Lotus Elan....but they were too wide! They are going to require some cleaning and re-dyeing, but are solid. My back seat is not too bad after my work on it. However, I probably should snap up your rear for best match. Let me know how much you want and if you can drag it to MME I will get it there.

As a side note, the shipment with your bumpers is at port awaiting an USDA inspection, of all things. We have our fingers crossed that it clears and makes it to me in time to load up to head to Chattanooga....

Paul

My rear seat will be at MME, unfortunately it's still attached to the Elf. I've got a set of seats from my half-elf that I'm going to get recovered to match the fronts, but not got there yet. I do hope the shipment clears. That would be a bummer!

That's no problem, Brian. It can wait until you get the other set recovered....my back seat is fully serviceable as it is. At least I can get a good look at it at MME.

It appears that the shipment may just get here in time...fingers crossed!

Paul