Two-Piece Seat Restoration Completed

[MikesRJ 558]

Two-Piece Seat restored to its original glory. The biggest surprise is the physical weight of the seat pan, they are very thick and heavy metal!

The restoration material costs ran around $65.00 (if you had to buy all the materials new and didn't already have them laying around the shop) including; metal prep and rust reformer for Seat Pan and internal Seat Plates, Primers and Paint for seat pan, Contact Cement for Seat Plate Edge Protector attachment and Seat Cover installation, 1-1/2 yards of covering material, Beading Rope, Thread, Seat Cushion Plastic Covers, 1/4" Foam Pleat Backing, and 3/4 yard of 1-1/2" Foam (if replacing both cushions).

Seat Pan paint restoration took about 2-1/2 hours work-time to complete. Seat Cover building and installation time combined (excluding pattern making) was around 4 hours total. Total cost of restoration, including time, is figured at about $200.00 - $250.00 (not including shipping) per seat, and two to three weeks turn-around time depending on metal condition and drying time of preparations and paint. Covers alone (for personal installation) would run about $115.00 to $125.00 (plus shipping) per set which would include installation instructions. Replacement Seat Cushions would run $30.00 per set. My buddy is seriously considering supplying these covers for sale, as well as the complete seat restorations, but that depends on the response to his pricing of course.

Process: Original seat covers removed and covers dis-assembled for patterning, seat cushions removed from their original "plastic bag" covers and allowed to dry several weeks then patterns created from original seat cushion parts and retained (just in case), patterns created for seat cover parts, materials purchase and cover parts cut from previously created patterns, piping made from covering material using small diameter "piping rope", material parts sewn together and test fitted on pans, seat pan stripped, prepped, primed and painted as normal, seat and back metal pans cleaned and rust-prepped, seat cushions dried and placed inside new sealed "plastic bag" covers, Seat Covers installed over original cushions and prepared seat and back pans, all Seat Covers glued in place with contact cement as was the original manufacturing/installation process.

Notes:

1) The seat and back ornamental stitching was done "in a hurry" and therefore is not perfect, but it's good enough (this was the pattern prototype and will ultimately be used on a working machine).

2) All structural seams were triple stitched about 1/16" apart for structural integrity.

3) No logo embroidered on the seat back, as was originally planned.

4) I still need to locate a new handle for the seat back adjustment.

5) Given my "druthers", I suggest anyone attempting this should replace the seat cushions as part of every two-piece seat restoration. The old cushions are pretty beat after 30 or more years (flattened and somewhat harder than they should be, at least by my a$$' estimation anyway).

6) Installation is pretty straight forward, you just have to insure bead to plate edges are even and both cover and plates have adequate contact cement and they are allowed to dry a sufficient time before installing.

[C-Series14 15]

Looks nice! Wanna do mine!!! :scratchead:

[rickv1957 74]

You can put me on the list for a couple!!,looks great,Rick

[bitten 134]

That turned out very nice. Now that you have practice...........

[Sarge 3,465]

Turned out nice !

I replaced the OEM knob on my C with one from TSC, not an exact match but I know I've seen that tri-arm knob somewhere, maybe Lowes?

Sarge

[buckrancher 2,694]

looks realy good Mike :scratchead:

[scifi4all 6]

GREAT JOB & NICE WORK! That seat looks like new.

Now you just need a stamp to make the Wheel Horse Logo. How hard could that be? Seriously I've no idea how the stamped areas were made.

[MikesRJ 558]

GREAT JOB & NICE WORK! That seat looks like new.

Now you just need a stamp to make the Wheel Horse Logo. How hard could that be? Seriously I've no idea how the stamped areas were made.

Thanks to all.

My original intention was to have a three color embroidered logo done on it. The original had the seat logo heat press stamped into the surface. The trick there is getting the temperature just right, and having the press male mold of course.

How about it Brian (BuckRancher)? Can you machine one of those? :scratchead:

[MikesRJ 558]

Turned out nice !

I replaced the OEM knob on my C with one from TSC, not an exact match but I know I've seen that tri-arm knob somewhere, maybe Lowes?

Sarge

If you remember Sarge, let me know. I haven't found one in three weeks of looking locally during my travels.

[Trouty56 567]

Mike, it looks beautiful. Very nice work.

Bob

[Kelly 1,033]

Very nice job, I have a die (well it's not mine but another member here's) but it's at my house, we have been wanting to try to heat set it on a seat. if you could get me some scrap to test it on maybeI could put a logo on it.

[MikesRJ 558]

Very nice job, I have a die (well it's not mine but another member here's) but it's at my house, we have been wanting to try to heat set it on a seat. if you could get me some scrap to test it on maybe I could put a logo on it.

Kelly, I don't have much material left but I'll see what I can scrounge up for you.

Unless you're already familiar with heat pressing, the die would have to be held at +/-5 Degrees F of the materials low-end plastic state (which depends on material composition and is different for each material used) and the down-force required should be around 2-5 lbs. Plastic state is the range of temperature where the material is neither solid (natural state at room temperature) or liquid (melted). Finding the materials plastic state, and at what temperature it starts and ends, is the bear. The other bear is regulating the die temperature.

[Sarge 3,465]

Is this the knob?

knob

Sarge

[bell 11]

Mike, it looks FANTASTIC! Great job! :scratchead:

[Coadster32 793]

Good job Mike. Seems like if you could accomplish the die stamping at home, you'd just be getting lucky. I would think that a temp. controlled room is needed. (at least for better consistancy, or production anyhow.)

On an edited note: I bet Stig can do it with a blow torch and a bottle of beer! :hide:

[Suburban 550 28]

Great Job, Mike. :scratchead:

[Lane Ranger 11,394]

This is a great place to buy most of your replacement knobs for various Wheel Horse applications. They are excellent quality and they (and you) just need to know the size of the knob(s) you are ordering.

http://www.knobsdirect.com/

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[linen beige 15]

Beautiful seat Mike!

I'm going to guess that the original emblems were pressed on with a roller die. That's a common process today, that's been around awhile. It's how embossed vinyl wallpaper is made. The roller with the design formed on it's face is heated to just the right temp and the material is squeezed between it and a receiver roller (usually flat). The rotational speed of the die rollers controls how much heat is transfered to a given area of the material as it is passed through. Sort of like a plastic laminating machine.

Lane Ranger beat me to the knob link. Kinda. This one should measure out as an exact match?

http://www.knobsdirect.com/knob.cfm?ID=149

Don't overbid on Flea bay, just buy 'em cheap here.

A lot of parts used by Wheel Horse were just everyday hardware items. The number of folks selling "rare" NOS fasteners and the like that you can still buy locally seems to be growing. :hide:

[MikesRJ 558]

For anyone interested, True Value Hardware has the seat-back knobs in their nut and bolt aisle.

Happened to be in there today and asked just for the hell of it. The guy said "Yea, we got that right over here!". Look in the plastic pull-out boxes and they are called clamping handles. Cost just about $3.50.

[Sarge 3,465]

Knew I saw that dumb knob somewhere locally around here , never thought about our local TV/Ace store....duh.

Now I can go get the correct one for my C !

Sarge