Retrimming front seats

[DavidCosham]

I am a new member and have just purchased an XJS Celebration convertible. The car's in great condition apart from the front seats and centre armrest. I've been advised that they are too far gone to be reconditioned - lots of previous attempts to recolour, dodgy stitching etc - and so need to be retrimmed. The foam has also collapsed so I've searched for good quality second-hand seats from the usual places, but with no luck.

I'm based in Somerset and would appreciate recommendations for retrimmers or any other suggestions from other more experienced members.

Thanks, David

[franrca]

Hi David and welcome!

I have a Celebration coupe and will be having the front seats, armrest and door cards recovered (replaced in the case of the door cards) by Aldridge Trimming. Depending on what you want to spend and the approach you want to adopt, if this is something you're interested in, you can either order the bits you need from them (on eBay) or take your car into them.

As guidance, they estimated -

To supply and fit the front seat covers would be £1281.19 and the door cards would be £393.07, so total would be £1674.26 (incl. VAT).

Armrest and pockets recovered which would be an additional £166.92.

They estimate about a week to do.

I think the 2 seat covers are just under £900 just to order.

Hope that helps a bit - I've given up keep spreading cream coloured yuk on the driver seat to cover up the few minor cracks I have and general wear and tear. Currently my car's having the central locking repaired by KWE, so no doubt I'll postpone the work above for a little while.

Richard

[franrca]

Oh and they are miles away, up in Wolverhampton...so a bit of a trek...

http://www.aldridge.co.uk/

[Tintin]

Hi David

I was much impressed by BAS International in Cwmbran, S Wales but have not had any work done by them. Their priced brochure is worth a look. BAS may be at Stoneleigh this autumn if you are going and want to meet them face to face.

I didn't use BAS because I decided to have a go at refurbishing the drivers seat of my 1996 Celebration myself using a kit from Furniture Clinic. I was absolutely amazed at the resultant improvement to colour and finish - and I am a complete amateur with upholstery! Only you will know if the deterioration of your seat is beyond what can be refreshed by re-finishing - I decided that it was worth the effort and cost (about £50) to try it myself and see - and it worked!

Robbie

[DavidCosham]

Hi Robbie - did you take "before" and "after" pics of your seats?

Thanks,
David

[ptjs1]

David,

I would politely suggest that unless your stitching has disintegrated or the seat foams have collapsed, then it's perfectly feasible for you to refurbish those seats and armrest using Furniture Clinic products.

The wear on your drivers seat is really quite typical of late XJS wear and shows up worse on the cream-type colours.

I recently redid the drivers seat on my car which had some wear in similar places. See pics of after & before.

Right Squab - before

Right Squab - after

Front Squab - before

Front Squab - after

Right Bolster - before

Right Bolster - after

I would recommend that you buy the basic kit and also some flexible filler and some leather binder. As regards finish, I would use Gloss, followed by some Gloss diluted with Matt. You might need to experiment to get the precise finish you require. The most fiddly part was using cocktail sticks to laboriously poke every stitch hole after each coat to avoid that over-painted look that cheap recoloring can give.

Many of us have had really good results using the FC products. The modern products really do give a very cost-effective alternative to £2000 worth of new seat covers. And even if you do ultimately end up needing new seats, the £50 you'll have spent will still be money well spent and really good practice for future seat refurbishment.

Worth a try IMO.

Good luck

Paul

[franrca]

That looks really good Paul - whilst I need to get my door cards replaced, you've got me thinking re the seats and armrest.

[Tintin]

Hi David

I concur with Pauls points re stitching padding and the general approach of refinishing over new leather but would add a couple of points.

You will need to mask up the piping before spraying the general leather. Even so, you will get some overspray on the piping which will then need re-colouring. The piping is vinyl, not leather and needs a different prep solution and you will need to colour it using a fine artists brush with the appropriate colour. After the piping the whole seat can be sealed.

I would use gloss then satin sealant rather than thinned gloss.

Set the seat back rake to a suitable position for the work using the motor before removing the seat, as you can't adjust it once the seat is disconnected and on the bench - obvious, but annoying when you forget!

Have a chat with the guys at FC - they are really helpful and knowledgeable.

I have no before photos of mine but attach some of the "afters".

Good luck.

Robbie

[ptjs1]

David,

Good point from Robbie re. the piping that you have on your seat. I would also suggest that you undo the two bolts and split the seat back from the squab, and also remove the runner base. It's so much easier to work on the seat and get a quality result without the runner in situ and with the seat in 2 parts.

Paul

[Brakebuster]

what if you have contrasting stitching like me .....ur stuffed, lol


nice results above though boys


BB

[ptjs1]

BB,

It is technically possible to mask the stitching using extreme patience and very small strips of tape or else using a liquid masking agent. Even on my cream seats, the stitching seems to be a slightly paler, almost white, colour and I did (very momentarily!) think about going down that route . But fortunately common sense prevailed and I just spent time with cocktail sticks instead to clear the stitch holes.

If anyone fancied going down the restoration route but didn't trust their own skills, you can pay Furniture Clinic to do the work for you.

Paul

[Brakebuster]

i did think of a ' magic marker ' after the recolouring was done, as i have ' mulberry ' stitching on ' Doeskin ' seats in the '40


but now i have installed replacement seats which are very passable, i am not in any panic

IMG_1497 by MyPix on Talk Photography

BB

[ng4xjs]

My seats okayish but the foam has all but collapsed. Has anyone just replaced this?

Nick

[JaguarMike]

Hi David,

just this week we (Coventry & Hinckley Region) had a talk by Maggie Walker of Interior Revival and what that can do is called magic! See http://www.interiorrevival.co.uk. They have done lots of Jags (incl. early XJS, Lance's Eventer & Sir William Lyons XJ6 driver seat for Heritage), very early Bentleys too. Nothing too much trouble it would seem and far cheaper than replacement from what she was saying.

They are in Newark, Notts (NG22 9ZD), Tel: 07813 678 645. Might be worth a call and some Emails? Just mention our recent region talk, it might help.

[ng4xjs]

I'm on the look out for a half leather doe-skin Driver (RHD) front seat. Anybody got anything? I've exhausted all the obvious sources.

Kind regards
Nick