Front Seats
The following pictures show the work undertaken to repair the two front seats of the Morris Eight. I am not sure that they were the original seats, but they fitted!!! Both seats were repaired, but I have only shown pictures of one of them.
A bit of a mess to say the least. The support rubber had perished, the Hessian torn and the foam crumbling
The tilting mechanism and runners were first removed followed by all of the clips holding the cover
Which revealed a further clip holding the fabric sewn into the back of the seat
The seat back completely removed
Next the (very strong) spring holding the rear of the seat to the frame was removed
This original rubber piece held the seat foam in place with hooks going into metal plates moulded into the rubber.
The seat completely removed from the frame (in a right state)
One of the metal clips removed from the original rubber.....
..... which had all excess rubber removed
Clip glued to a new piece of webbing
Glued some more and then turned over
Then glued one final time and turned over again. The vice was used until the glue was dry
The final piece showing the original hook being used and the whole thing held together with screws and washers, as well as the glue
A different approach was also used with the webbing held in place with a small piece of wood and screws. We will see which holds up the best
Two of the new webbing pieces attached to the frame
And then there were four
A new rubber mat was cut to size and placed on the webbing to help distribute the weight
The new 3" piece of foam, before cutting into shape
The foam was marked using the old piece as a template
The first cut (was the deepest)
The foam was then turned upside down, and marked to give the correct angle round the side of the seat.....
..... and cut (Doesn't look much different in this picture)
New pieces of Hessian were glued along the front and rear edges of the foam, using fabric glue. These will hold the foam to the frame
The foam was then placed on the seat cover, and the fabric strip glued to the foam all the way around, with fabric glue
The seat was then placed on the frame, the front piece of Hessian being folded around and held in place with two of the clips.....
..... and the rear piece of Hessian folded around and tucked in on itself
The spring was then re-attached (MUCH MUCH easier said than done)
The large clips holding the end of the side pieces, were then refitted
The seat back filling was then placed in the correct position, and the seat back cover lowered over it
The fabric holding the seat back was then folded into place over the Hessian.....
..... followed by the rear cover, and all held in place with four clips
The rest of the seat was then clipped into position all round
The finished article!!!!!
Just so you know I did do both