thesharkfactor

hi folks,

i thought i would share this with you..

my recaro chairs were in a bad way. filthy, mildew, spilt sagging cushions, sagging cloth borken botslers etc.. you've see it before..


now, they are as good as new.

this is what i did, i hope some of find it useful..

i did post this in another thread, but it deserves a topic of it's own..

firstly, i did the driver seat with autoglym clean all. it came up not bad, but not brilliant and no matter how much i scrubbed it and re-applyed the clean all, dirt kept coming through.

bit of a wasted effort and bad idea- i'll explain why in a moment..

instead of scrubbing the passenger seat in vain, i removed both front chairs from the car and stripped them apart. i removed all the cloth from both chairs and put them in the bath filled with warm water and washing powder and hand washed them.



you will not believe the dirt that came out them! the water was black and had to be changed twice. all the dirt came out them after a good soak scub and rinse..they hung to dry and now look like new.

with the seats stripped, it was a good opertunity to repair the split cushions and bolsters. a visit to hobycraft shop for thin sheets of foam and sheets of cotton wadding, staple gun and spray on glue.. i was able to re-cover/wrap the back cushions with wadding as they were badly worn, i repaired the spilt base cushions and recovered them with a fine sheet of foam, repaired the damaged bolsters with the fine sheets of foam after filling the cracks etc..

this brings me onto the two resons why it it NOT a good idea to wet VAX or scub your chairs.

scrubbing them with a wet cloth and cleaning products damages and wears the foam underneath- i can see the wear marks i left after stripping them. understand the chairs are despratley dirty with decades of filth and dust and dampness. you may think you have cleaned the surface cloth but what you have done is wet the filthy foam below which will now seep dirty water back into your cloth as it dries.

when you strip the seat you will understand.. the foam underneath is covered in mould and filth too. as the foam wears away in time with the movement of the cloth above, the dirty particles colate in clumps under the cloth- near immpossible to remove without taking the chairs apart. if you try to clean them from the surface they will only get dirty again very quickly as the dirt is still there.

best get them out the car, take them to bits- all you need is a screw driver and small pair of pliers, each chair takes and hour to dismanlte and an hour to build again. the cloth comes off and goes back on pretty easily and the cushions and bolsters will be like new again with NO sagging and firm cushions. a full days work but worth it!

still work in progress, last thing i need to do is wrap and fix the cloth around the back cushion as staples dont do it. for this, i'll need to get a long shoe lace and tie them up like a training shoe to chaive the grip and tighness required. originally the cloth had splayed out staples fixing them to the cushion but this is not possible without some sort of machine. tiing them up with a lace will do the job nicely. but thats for another day.. i have taken many pics, some are below, but many more can be viewed here...


































the result- new seats. firm cushions like new, no sagging material- get this- you can sit on the chair, get up, and there is NO creases ion the fabric- just like new.





sorry for bad lighting- its late..

many self explanatory pics can be viewed here!

Gadget

Just goes to show what a bit of time and effort results in!

turbo m

iTrader: (2)

Nice one saved a few quid too..

Rsmat

iTrader: (2)

Nice effort mate and great for sharing...BUT....the bolsters still look collapsed...You can still buy them cheaply anyway ive replaced mine.

thesharkfactor

link please! i know what you mean, there is wear on the bolster still. a good repair, but replacement would be better!

Rsmat

iTrader: (2)

There you go mate have a browse...

http://www.capitalseating.co.uk/prod...76&appgrpid=14

thesharkfactor

WOW!

i never knew those were available! thanks mate.. i'll put 4 new bolsters on my to-do list. will need to be back of the queue for now though, there are other things on the car that require more urgent attention than the seats which now look a million times better than they were. they are not an eyesore anymore, but i'll will keep those in mind and get round to them soon enough.

thanks again for the link!

Rsmat

iTrader: (2)

No probs mate... And good luck with it.

vroooom ptssssh

Great job, something I really need to do on my S1!

Anyone know if the sierra/rs turbo bolster foams are the same or not?

I have 4 I got given for a "sierra" but not sure if they will fit my rs turbo seats?

Rsmat

iTrader: (2)

They are the same mate.

botters

iTrader: (2)

nice job mate, i did same to mine but put them through the washing machine instead, i did one at a time and putting the clean one next to the old dirty one the difference was like night and day!

thesharkfactor

i was going to put them in the washing machine, but when i did, i didnt like the way the long plastic edges of the fabric were been twisted and bent and was afraid they may do damage the while being spun around- and let's admit- there are no second chances lol.. i was too afraid the cloth would be shredded!

the bath did just as good a job and far more gentle. our bath has a foot grip sort of area on the base which was great for scrubbing the cloth back and forth over and you could really see the dirt coming out.

the vast majority of the dirt that came out them was seat foam dust that had worn off the foams over the years.. thats why the water gets soooo black and filthy im sure.

@vroooom.. get those new sierra bolsters fitted!...according the the link above, they are the same part.. and from memory of the cossie we had recently, they are exactly the same chair- only the fabric is a different pattern/design.

........

i have the rear seats in the house now, these dont look so easy to take apart- probably made in a differnt factory using the same cloth.. i doubt i could get them back together with any tension in the cloth. so for these i'll be using a diluted solution of Autoglym Clean all, warm water and a bug removing sponge...



..this stuff is magic but very strong and nasty, so ffs don't ever let it get anywhere near leather- the paint stripping effect is irreverseable.

1.9 xr2 on 40's

i usually washing machin the material when the metal is out and i have boxes of broken up recaros from back in teh day so select a set of good foams

did you have to weld teh frames? i find there ar every few i dont weld up,they split in alsorts of places and you can tell if you try to 'flap' the bosters like wings

i often weld them up kinda like seam welding everywhere and they are like a different seat once its done, just so solid

vroooom ptssssh

Sweet, thanks for that!

Yea I thought that myself but got told once the base on sierra recaro's was longer (or was it wider?) so wasn't sure! glad they are the same tho
2 are in ford wrapping and 2 are from that company posted above iirc!
I had an absolutely MINT series 2 80spec interior I sold a while back, was too good to swap the cloth over for my S1 seats though, got 2 old not so good 80 spec seats I may be able to get some centre foam from to help sort mine.

Recaro trimmer, what sort of price is a leather re-trim likely to skin me?

markc

Bit of a thread revival but searching for an issue pulled this up.

Just to add to the above, the staples in the backs are very easy to reuse and refit.
No machine required, just time.

All you need to do is 'close' the staples and reinsert them through the original holes in the fabric, push them in to the foam where you want them and from the front without stabbing yourself or pushing them right through feel for the staple and push them open. This then makes them wide again or wider than before if required, holding the fabric to the foam again.

Gives the chance to tighten the fabric around the foam to remove the sagging as well.