Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 07:47:03 -0800
From: Mike West <mwest@cdsnet.net>
Subject: Cheap Seat Rebuild

Cheap Seats . . .  Hookers . . . and Fire trucks

Someone asked if there was a cheap way to rebuild a seat.

I built a cheap seat once. . .  it's still out in my bug.

It's about seven colors but it rides real fine.

With the seat covers on, it looks as sharp as any do.

The tale . . . . . . . . .

Laying up in Lancaster, California. There along the railroad
tracks that parallel the main road between Lancaster and
Palmdale.  The T-bird Motel or some other famous name. . . .

Hookers and pimps and drug-pushers with a strong dose of the
law.

$106 a week will get you room with hot water and a change of
towels every week.  :-)

Every nite is a circus extravaganza that goes on till dawn.

My friend lived in a room up front next to the hookers.

They like the front rooms where they can just hang out the
door and watch the traffic.

He had a dog, Brandy, that needed a couple of walks a day and
we would do this together for protection or some such.

It's an interesting way of life if you'd like to visit there.

Cheap rooms and  . . .  . . . . .  .  :-)

Back behind the Motel is a carpet installation place.

My main source of supply . . . . . :-)  For the seats, people!

The drivers seat is a piece of misery if you're in it more than
a few minutes.

I pulled it out and took it in my room .

Stripped it down and found the cause of most my misery.

The support bars for the back springs was broken and when I
sat on it it sagged in the middle of my back.

Borrowed the old mans propane torch and brazed that back in place.

I wired all the coil springs and many of the back wavy springs
together so that the load is distributed better.

Now we need some fabric and stuffing, all that was in there
originally is trash or gone.

Dumpster Diving is a recognized survival technique in that area
so needless to say the Carpet Place supplied all the necessary
stuffing and such.

The material is brand new, I assume because the new buyer didn't like
the carpet the seller had just put in, they would rip it all out and
put some more new in.

There is a felt, about 1/8" thick used for an underlay for the
carpet so a roll of that will work against the springs.
Cut a piece of heavy carpet with the jute back to put on the seat springs.

Then there is that blue sponge foam rubber, about 1/2" thick
that also is used under the carpet of the better homes in the
area. That is used to make all the formed stuffing.

Get a can of 3M spray adhesive and just build it up as thick
as you like.

A pair of heavy duty scissors and a razor knife are all you need
for the forming.

Soon I had a well padded seat with some pretty fair material
built up.

If it's good enough to walk on, it ought to be good enough to
sit on.

Now, I had carefully removed the original seat covers because I
can't even afford the JCW jobs.

The usual hole in the butt and across the shoulders etc.

Around the corner in front, same area as the Carpet Place,is a
shop that does boat seats and the like.

He has the Naugahyde material to fix the covers with. . .

He's a tightwad and has nothing in his dumpster.   :-)

I cut out the areas that need replaced, all the way to the existing
seams.

I carry that discard over to the shop and negotiate for Naugahyde
and thread.

For about a $1.50, I get all the material I need, not exactly
the matching color but it's a better grade stuff than what came
out. Scraps. As I recall, he gets about $20 a foot for it off
the roll.

I cut it to the shape of the old piece and using a sail makers
needle and a pair of needle nose pliers I sewed in the new
material, using the existing needle holes there along the seams.

Where you can't use the old holes is the hard part.
The holes are ripped out or whatever.
The old material is like iron. I did break one needle getting
it thru that stuff.

I should mention that the sailmaker needles came from the 98 cent
store.

You get a whole package for 98 cents, various sizes etc.

Probably spent a week off and on sewing in these new pieces.
Actual time is just a few hours but my hands would get tired.

Or I'd get pissed.  :-)

Total cost for repair of 2 front seats was under $5.

I had a set of those pull-over cloth seat covers, cost about $10.

They're still on there and the seats are as firm as the day I
put them together.

 The Fire-trucks . . . .

 The cops can't search a room if no-one will answer the door or there
is no-one there. No probable cause. . . .

 So what they do is call the fire-department and report a fire in
Room xx....

The Fire Department is not restricted by "probable cause". They can
break the door down if necessary any place that has a reported fire.

Of course once the fire department gets in the police can follow etc.

Not one of my best stories but hey . .  . .  :-)

west