1959 Triumph TR3A Restoration Project, Seats, Part 2, Reconstruction

Restoring the old and tired seats in my 1959 Triumph TR3A project.
‪@MossMotorsCom‬
Parts Used;
Moss Motors Seat Kit (Red Vinyl) Part Number 642-055
Optional;
Tack Strip Kit Moss Part Number 681-410
Seat Padding Kit Moss Part Number 643-938
Local Purchase
1/2 Inch Foam Upholstery Padding
Coir Matting
Cotton Batting
Spray Adhesive
1/4" and 3/8" Staples/Staple Gun

[@davidwarr8600]

A very rewarding job. When jobs like this turn out so great they are probably more rewarding than mechanical work.

[@cheftush]

Agreed, it’s probably a good thing that I enjoy working on old Triumphs as much as I enjoy driving them 😉

[@davidwarr8600]

It is easy to see. @@cheftush

[@pda49184]

I can't fault that re-upholster job David. Once again, patience and attention to detail while retaining elements of the original paid off.

[@cheftush]

Thank You. I did manage to steam a few more wrinkles out. We will have a better look at them when they go back in the car. Cheers, Tush

[@huwdavies6650]

Are you free Mr Humphries? I'm Free. Classic British comedy on in the background on the TV.😂 Perfect accompaniment for restoring a classic British car seat.

[@cheftush]

Absolutely!

[@markaluge]

Nice job Chef, you were a lot quicker at doing your seats than I was!

[@cheftush]

Thanks. Probably about 20 hours in them….just a guess 😉

[@jerryhouck2708]

Sometimes people don't realize how much is involved to redo car seats correctly, particularly vintage / old ones. The first ones that I ever did was on a 1965 Mustang and that was fairly straightforward. My '71 TR6 seats were a little more involved. At least interior upholstery is not a greasy job like some of the other projects on our old cars. Great video series Dave. Keep 'em coming! your "West Coast" pal......Jerry 😎👍

[@cheftush]

Thanks Jerry…takes some times and patience to be sure…not cheap either…if you go whole hog and buy covers, horsehair pads, batting, tack strip kit etc, you are looking at a $1000 investment.

[@jameskearney4100]

You are a man of many talents!!

[@cheftush]

Thank You James.

[@thecapitaltriumphregisterclub]

Excellent craftsmanship. Well done!

[@Andrewcc.]

Great job tush, they look really good.

[@RustyBeauties]

Looking great

[@vernoncarroll9839]

The seats look awesome Chef. 👍🏻

[@cheftush]

Thanks Vernon. I appreciate it!

[@GraphicMill]

There is nothing you can’t do well! Nice job Chef!! And I see you’re a bass player, and I’m a drummer, we need a guitar player and a singer! The Rusty Rockers! Lol

[@cheftush]

Rock on! I’m a former drummer as well…I have shoulder problems so had to give that up along with the motorcycles….

[@stevesankey6339]

I would say that you have done a 1st class job,

[@cheftush]

Thanks Steve, I appreciate it.

[@ronthorn5900]

Great vid David .On my 3 I have swapped the seats around so folding seat on the drivers side.Two reasons,One my 10 year old grandson is often a passenger in the car and with a seat belt on I feel it’s a little safer with the fixed back. Secondly I run almost permanently with a full tonneau so it’s a lot easier to tuck the drivers side behind the seat if it folds forwards .😊

[@cheftush]

Actually , I like that idea regarding the full tonneau cover..I hadn’t considered that…Cheers, Tush

[@barry6274]

Really look good all around. The oldest of the old cover had a real shine to them and wouldn't have been my favorite... not that you or i need to worry about it, just ineresting the difference of materials over time.

[@cheftush]

Agreed…the original/shiny covers were actually in pretty good shape….

[@mikeg5877]

Morning Tush ;-). Two old covers for the price of one!

[@cheftush]

Good morning! I think the double cover helped to preserve the seat internals a little bit better than normal, so it probably wasn’t a bad thing in the end.

[@rickdaniel8478]

Zoom zoom 😊

[@mikehoroho8453]

I see you play bass. That's cool. I do too.

[@cheftush]

Not well Mike 😉

[@mikehoroho8453]

Me either. I just thump around myself. ​@@cheftush

[@HamishRacing]

Well done chef great job. If you have a hairdryer to hand 😅😅 it could be useful for relaxing the cover. Stitching skills from trussing up birds ? Well done. 👍

[@cheftush]

😉 no hair dryer but I’ve got a steamer on order. I was smart a learned to sew early in life…the skill has served me well…

[@wtbm123]

Cool

[@mikehoroho8453]

The steam should take the upper wrinkles out.

[@cheftush]

Yes, just ordered one from Amazon…should be here today and I’ll give it a shot.

[@stevesutton1991]

Looks gurd

[@jimconklin8040]

I would almost bet, that the wrinkles on the beading are from the manufacturer, not because of what you did. If that was a problem at the Triumph factory, they could reject the order, as the people who assemble seats were "professionals", You being a novice, might think it was your fault. They look damned good, David!

[@cheftush]

I think one area might be how the pleating was stitched…I think the others are my fault..I did try and play around with the beading on the inside of the covers to see if it made a difference as to which way I laid it…didn’t change anything. I’ll try a little steam tonight and report back.

[@alanm.4298]

Great job, Chef! Again, I really like the dark red color. Not sure what paint you have planned for the exterior of the car, but that red would look superb with a white or black, as well as a few other colors. My TR4 has essentially the same seats. I noticed a tag on the springs or underside of the pad on one of yours. Was anything printed on it? The reason I ask is because there was a similar label on the underside of one of my car's seat pads, with "Zest" written on it. I didn't understand that until years later, when I learned that was Stamdard Triumph's pre-production code name for the TR4. It's still a little baffling because my car is from late in the 2nd year of TR4 production... not all that early. The covers on my car's seats were replaced amateurishly long before I bought it, but based upon the VIN would have used slightly different covers over the same seat frames as yours. Where your covers (and the first 15,000 approx. TR4s) have all the pleats in the covers running from side to side... for a short time TR4 seat covers had the pleats running front to back (up to about 20,000... incl. my car). Incidently, Moss Motors online catalog is incorrect, shows the opposite. As I'm sure you know, later TR4 (thru TR250/5?) went to an entirely different seat with a tubular frame, rubber diaphragm, squares back, etc. Moss also doesn't offer the color interior that was original to my car... Shadow Blue, I think it was called. Must have been a special order, because that supposedly wasn't an upholstery color Triumph ever offered along with the original Spa White paint on my car (bessides some scraps of the original trim and paint, my source is the BMIHT certificate... which also states it was leather trim). Another "oddity" on my TR4 is that it didn't have "fuzzies"... the trim commonly sold to finish the door frame on TR4. Instead it has a more modern style plastic-covered moulding that matched the interior color (but unfortunately was painted black by a previous owner). It's interesting, but sort of a moot point for me. I will be going with vintage racing seats and trimming the interior like was done in some race cars of the period. Even so, I would like to get close to the original color simply because it's rather uncommon. (John Skinner in England is the only place I've found offering a similar color.)

[@cheftush]

Hi Alan, well, originally I was going to go back to the factory black exterior, but lately I’ve been thinking about a grey…like Triumph Dove grey…although I’d like to do a modern take with Porsche Chalk Grey …..I think it would look great with the red interior.

[@brandonhowes1972]

Looks great! Do you feel like angled hog ring pliers were the way to go, or would straight pliers have been better? Gearing up to do my own seat cover replacement soon.

[@cheftush]

I was happy with the hog ring pliers…it was nice to have a couple different options for the hog ring sizes as well. Good luck with your project.

[@indyme2]

Looking great. This is not an easy job. You need to retire wealthy and do TR3 videos daily, lol.

[@cheftush]

I like that idea…especially the retire and wealthy part 😉

[@user-ft5wz5gt7e]

Are you interested in selling your old interior? My Red Leather was eaten by a rat looking to keep the car worn and original like a old Mitt thanks nice work on new interior

[@cheftush]

Sorry, but I’m giving it to a friend to help with his 57 TR3 project.