Updating TR6 Seats Mike Sabelhaus 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 1

Goals More comfortable ride  Seats just weren’t very comfortable Project on the cheap  Two kids through college and one going in doesn’t leave much for the TR6 Reuse upholstery – outer covering was still in good shape!

Clean frames and add new foam 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 2

Project notes: This was done on a ’75 TR6, other models may have different seat configurations Winter is probably a better time to do this project but it was foremost on my mind and I can be single minded at times I did one seat at a time since I was not sure what I was getting into A seat will take the better part of a couple days especially if you are repainting the frames or need to make that extra trip to the parts store Materials I used:      New seat foam (Roadster Factory, Victoria British, Moss includes seat bottom border pad, bottom foam, seat back foam, headrest foam Additional foam Hancok Fabrics Seat diaphragm includes rubber seat pad, C clips Various grades of sandpaper, 3M Trim adhesive, One Step rust prep, Rustoleum black paint, rubber/vinyl gloves, Acetone, Paint thinner and Lacquer thinner Total cost <$300 Materials I reused    Upholstery Upholstery clips Seat back straps 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 3

Removing the seats Two bolts hold the seat on the slide in the TR6.

Once removed an old table or work bench keeps the back bending to a minimum 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 4

Old seat 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms Bottom view show foam deteriorating and rubber pads cracking Previous owner had used fabric hooks on the upholstery Remove clips and gently remove upholstery 5

Disassembled seat 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms Gets messy here as the old foam had disintegrated Quite a bit of rust, old cement and foam was left after initial disassembly Bottom rubber pad is held in by simple “C” hooks Note the back straps are still attached. They are easily taken out by unclipping from the holes in the frame 6

Seat back clips Bottom back seat strap and clip easily removed from holes Rust accumulation in the corners of frame 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 7

Checking the mechanisms and cleanup At this point I tested the seat recline mechanism to make sure all of the mechanicals were in good working order 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 8

Mechanicals Rusted but in good shape On to cleaning and repainting 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 9

Cleaned and painted 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms I cleaned the frame with various chemicals (acetone/paint thinner) to get the old foam and glue off Sanded frame I used a chemical call “One Step” sold at English Color that turns rust into a black oxide Repainted frame with Rustoleum Black Alternately a good sandblasting would have saved some time 10

Cleaned and repainted Repainted and rechecked frame recline mechanism 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 11

Repainted frame Definitely much better!

9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 12

Reinstallation of seat pad and back straps Cleanup of seat back straps and reinstallation New seat bottom attached to the frame with C clips 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 13

Purchased foam From upper left clockwise - Seat back, bottom seat (2 pieces), seat bottom border pad, headrest 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 14

Strongly recommend gloves 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms Gloves were essential You will want to make sure you have enough adhesive for the project I used approximately 1 can of adhesive spray per seat Directions indicate that both surfaces be sprayed before attaching 15

Seat bottom border pad Spray adhesive on edge of pad and around the front leading edge of the seat frame 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 16

Fitting the seat bottom pad 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms Fitting the seat bottom pad - note the beveled edge I notched the pad in back to fit around the upright portion of the frame Apply adhesive to the seat frame and bottom of lower seat foam and assemble 17

Fit up of seat bottom upholstery Next few slides show a multi step process in order to get the upper seat foam, seat bottom foam and seat bottom upholstery in place Center seat upholstery Fabric wings under the seat covers should be spread out 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 18

Attaching seat upholstery to back of frame Pull seat cover material through the back of the frame and over the tension bar While maintaining the cover centered on the seat, apply adhesive and screw seat cover brackets in place 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 19

Attaching seat upholstery to back of frame Close up view of bracket 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 20

Gluing fabric wings on seat bottom The seat bottom upholstery has fabric wings that, when glued, will hold the shape of the seat Making sure seat bottom upholstery is still centered, pull back seat bottom material and tape to hold together Apply adhesive to wings and seat bottom foam 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 21

Applying seat bottom top foam Apply adhesive to upper seat bottom foam and top of lower foam where cloth wings were glued I applied some weight and let the glue dry for a while 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 22

Pulling upholstery over seat bottom After the glue dried on the seat bottom foam, the upholstery was pulled over the foam Straighten out and make sure upholstery is centered Apply adhesive around the bottom of the frame Pull material, wrap around bottom and use clips to hold in place 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 23

The seat back 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms At this point I positioned the seat back foam to insure correct fit I also pulled the seat back upholstery over the foam to get an idea if I needed to add extra foam Remove foam Apply adhesive to back edge of foam and to frame Note the slit in the center of the foam, we’ll get to that in a moment 24

The seat back foam glued to frame 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms With the seat back foam glued to the frame we will next put the seat back upholstery over the foam Not shown here but I added an extra layer of foam for two reasons:  Additional padding  Seat back upholstery had stretched and the additional foam filled the seat 25

Seat back upholstery fabric wing 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms Set the seat frame to full recline Pull the seat back upholstery over the seat back foam While doing so the fabric wing attached to the seat back upholstery should be slipped through the slit in the seat back foam Once totally fitted I wrapped the fabric wing around one of the seat straps. This will help hold the shape of the upholstery 26

Seat back upholstery front flap Pull the front seat back upholstery flap through the frame Apply adhesive to material and frame Clip in place 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 27

Seat back Front flap attached now do back flap Set seat frame to the full upright position Apply adhesive to seat back material and over material just completed in previous step 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 28

Seat back rear flap 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms Remove brackets that were used in seat bottom application Pull seat back material down Punch hole Reapply seat brackets as shown 29

Side stiffeners With some leftover fiberboard I added some side pocket stiffeners to help dress up the material 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 30

The headrest The headrest easily pulls out of the top of the seat Shown here is the headrest exploded Two screws hold a base plate to the headrest assembly 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 31

Headrest 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms Cleaned headrest of old glue and foam Unfortunately the wood that is used to attach the metal base plate was rotted so I replaced the wood inserts 32

Headrest - Installing new wood inserts Simply cut new inserts from pieces of 1/2 to 3/4’” plywood, bend tabs on end and insert wood 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 33

Finished headrest I applied new foam to the headrest Refitted headrest upholstery Repainted base plate Reassembled with new screws 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 34

Finished seats 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 35

Seats reinstalled 9/1/2007 RRTC, ms 36