Seat stittching - older 914's, Protection - rejuvination Options

[Pat Garvey]

My seats haven't had a full load in several years (it's a 72). The early cars had stititching on the seats, as opposed to moulded seams on the newer cars. Thus far I've had no problems with the stiching, but fear the worst. I, personally , have never encountered a product that REALLY softens the surrounding vinyl Areas, so the stitching remains usable. I worry that the first 6 months of road use will find the stitching causing the vinyl to tear.

Anyone dealing with this?
Pat

[tod914]

Pat maybe one of the guys that do alot of car parting can send you down some old crusty fabric samples. Maybe Bruce? It will take up no room, and you'll be able to do your testing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Wife is happy, Pat is happy, and Fritz will be happy.

[Pat Garvey]

Pat maybe one of the guys that do alot of car parting can send you down some old crusty fabric samples. Maybe Bruce? It will take up no room, and you'll be able to do your testing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Wife is happy, Pat is happy, and Fritz will be happy.

Would be great to have about 20-25 1"x 1" samples, in various conditions. I'll pay the postage. Have some compounds/mixtures in mind, but you never know with old vinyl - some compounds can destroy the backing. Don't really think there's much hope for seriously degraded materials, but those in decent condition may have a life left.

Send me samples guys. Let me cook some brews!
Pat

[Valy]

I researched a lot about this in the past and also talked with some chemical eng.
The problem is that plastic coating of the vinyl shrinks over time, mainly from heat. There is nothing we can do about it except freezing the car.
At the same time, since it shrinks, the density grows so it also becomes harder (less elastic).
On the other hand, the backing fabric works in the exact opposite direction: the fabric loosens up and becomes soft.
Those 2 phenomenas lead to the point where only the plastic supports all the mechanical forces and it will brake.
Assuming that the vinyl didn't shrink too much due to its age, the only thing you can do is to glue it on a new fabric that has little (or no) elasticity. Contact cement works nice for this application.
I tried to do this to an old seat. The problem is that the old seat cover becomes a "seat saver" cover over the new one. It is more difficult to do then to redo the entire seat and the results are not so comfy. If you miss one stitch, it will brake right there since all the forces will concentrate on that point.