Imperial Journey

Having achieved an almost acceptable test panel with the junk vinyl, I decided to make one last test panel. This last test panel would use the actual vinyl I will be using for the seats. I also needed to change thread from the cheap Amazon thread I’ve been working with to the good thread for the actual seats. And this is probably a good time to change the needle.

The first step was to fill up several bobbins with the good thread and swap in the new bobbin. Then thread the good thread through the machine, using the old thread to pull it through to make sure that the machine was threaded properly. Next, change out the needle. Finally, make a quick test seam to verify everything, and start working on the final test panel.

The result was immediate disaster. Seams completely open on the back. Seams with the stitches very loose on the back. Not Good! Time to start troubleshooting.

Hmm, it looks like I installed the needle backward. OK, rotate the needle to the correct position and try again. This time I’m getting stitches, but they are very loose. That looks like the tension setting needs to be adjusted. Spend the next hour or so changing the tension adjustment to both tighter and looser with very little change.

With frustration rising it was time to walk away. Well, it was lunchtime. Grab a sandwich, fire up the Internet, and start researching the problem.

With a list of things to check, head back to the machine and return to pounding my head against a brick wall. After chasing several more dead ends, I started studying the threading of the machine. I knew this was good, since I hadn’t changed anything and had used the old (working) thread to pull the new thread through the machine.

Just a minute – something doesn’t look right here… In fact, if you look at it closely… It looks like the thread has jumped off of both of the tensioner disks. KRUD.

Pull out the user manual, study the section on threading the machine a dozen times, and thread it according to the instructions.

Grab another scrap of vinyl and run a test seam. MUCH better, but not perfect. OK, start adjusting the tensioner. This time it makes a noticeable difference. After a half dozen seams the machine is dialed in nicely.

Take a scrap of the seat vinyl, which is much heavier than the test vinyl, and run a test seam. Good, but not quite perfect. A few small adjustments of the thread tensioner and it is sewing perfectly with the seat vinyl.

Yup, as usual, the one thing that you know can’t be the problem is what bites you. Yes, further confirmation that I’m an idiot.

Now, I can finally cut out the pieces for the test panel using the actual seat vinyl and sew them together.This heavier material has a different feel, but I was able to achieve a successful result.

This panel is actually better than it looks in the picture – as soon as it is stretched all of the wrinkles disappear. After a roller coaster day I think I’m ready to start working on an actual seat.

With the main seat insert largely under control it was time to deal with the next challenge – corners!

“But”, I hear you say, “haven’t you already handled corners in multiple places?” Yes – flat corners. These are three dimensional corners where the top, front, and side of the seat meet. Further, they are curved. The corners of the seat are rounded. Rounded side to side and front to back.

This complexity is the main reason I’m trying to use the original seat covering as a template for the new seat covers.

But before that it made sense to start with s simple corner.

After achieving reasonable success with this simple corner I ratcheted my courage up a couple of levels and cut out corner pieces for one of the seat corners using the seat templates. These were partial pieces – I just used eight inches or so from each piece rather than the full two foot long piece. This is the piece on the right in the picture above.

I then fit the corner together with staples. This fitting process was an exercise in frustration. I re-did it several times until it seemed close. With trepidation I took it to the sewing machine and stitched it up. Sewing seams that curve in three dimension out of heavy vinyl seems to be an acquired skill. The piece is fighting you all the way – it really wants to go off track, bunch up (creating wrinkles), and in general just be difficult. But I finally reached the end of each seam.

The final result was, indeed, a corner. And it did fit over the corner of the seat. But it still needs work. I need to take the lessons learned and do at least one more test piece.

The Imperial had been re-upholstered at some point. While the upholstery fit fairly well it was made with non-Imperial quality materials. To be frank, it was ugly! Not to mention worn, dirty, and tearing in several places. There are springs poking through the rear seat and the drivers seat is sagging and uncomfortable.

The first step in re-doing the back seat was to take off these seat covers. Where I found that the covers were installed over the original seats. Good news, as I should be able to use the original factory covers to make templates and do a better job of fitting the new covers.

The factory material was in amazingly good shape. If all of the seats were like this all that would be needed is a good cleaning!

Of course not all of the seats will be like this. But it gives me a good starting point.

Interestingly, the seats have a significantly deeper yellow tinge than the side trim. They are a richer gold color than shows in this picture, while the leather side trim is close to the door cards. I still think that the new color choice is good – we will find out for sure when the new seats are installed

The next step is to remove the factory seat covers and separate them into their component parts. These are in good enough shape that I will use them to make templates for the new seat covers.

I have never done anything with a sewing machine. I have to learn everything from scratch. Using a technique known as a cannonball dive into the deep end of the pool.To summarize the early results, I suck at sewing.

Exactly as expected. At least for this stage in the game.

There are some essential tricks to starting stitches on a sewing machine – basically you have to hold the two threads (spool and bobbin) when starting a seam. If you don’t know these tricks life gets ugly immediately. Fortunately She Who Must Be Obeyed was kind enough to show me these tricks and I quickly mastered sewing seams in scraps of the junk vinyl.

Next was sewing straight and curved seams. My straight seams were curved and my curved seams didn’t follow the line. Again, as expected.

I cut out some squares of vinyl and drew a checkerboard of horizontal and vertical lines at one inch spacing. I also drew rounded corners between the lines. I then proceeded to sew along the straight and curved lines. As if by magic, the more times I did this the better the results were!

After a few days of practice I was doing reasonably well with the most basic of basics: operating the machine and following a line with a seam. I also had a sore back and a stiff neck from crouching over, concentrating intensely, and exercising fine motor control of both me and the machine for several hours. Time to move to the next set of skills!

I have a design in mind for the seat covers. I want an insert with vertical padded pleats in the middle of each seat, surrounded by a flat border. The pleated insert will be made of perforated vinyl and the border of solid vinyl. I also want the corners of the insert to be rounded, not square.

The padded pleats are made by sewing the vinyl to 1/2″ thick sew foam. This is a thicker version of the 1/4″ sew foam that I previously used on the door trim. The result is that the foam and vinyl are squished together along the seam and expand to the full 1/2″ thickness between the seams giving the padded effect.

Sewing something over 1/2″ thick requires practice. Which means cutting out practice squares of vinyl and sew foam, drawing pleat lines and curves on them, gluing them together (so the vinyl and foam don’t shift), and sewing them together.

Once again, I suck at sewing. Once again, practice leads to improvement. Once again, I had a sore back and a stiff neck from crouching over, concentrating intensely, and exercising fine motor control of both me and the machine for several hours.

One of the challenges with padded pleats is that the distance between seams shrinks compared to flat material – the material has to go up and down as well as across. In this case the shrinkage is 1/16″ per seam. In other words, if you want the final insert to be made of 2″ pleats, each pleat on the pattern has to be 2-1/16″ wide. Not a big deal as long as you know about it and include the compensation when laying out the pattern.

Time to put all the pieces together and do a complete seat panel. This is a three step process: first, sketch out the design for the panel showing all of the pieces and dimensions. Second, lay out each piece to exact size on a sheet of posterboard and cut them out. Then take each of these pieces and add 1/2″ all around them for a seam allowance. For the padded insert, add the 1/16″ compensation for each pleat and then add the 1/2″ seam allowance around the edges. Make a set of posterboard patterns with the seam allowance.

Third, take the pattern pieces with seam allowance and place them on the vinyl material. Arrange them to minimize the amount of vinyl wasted when you cut them out. Trace around the pattern pieces. Place the actual size pattern pieces inside each piece and trace around it – this gives you the seam lines that you will sew along. Then cut out each piece and sew them together. Sounds simple enough…

Now to exercise everything at once: Start by sewing the pleats to the insert. If the border is multi-piece, sew these pieces together. Then sew the border to the insert.

Once again, I suck at sewing. Once again, practice leads to improvement. Once again, I had a sore back and a stiff neck from crouching over, concentrating intensely, and exercising fine motor control of both me and the machine for several hours.

The result was several panels that steadily improved:

Ending up with a test panel that incorporates everything I plan to include in the actual panels. While there is still room for improvement in my technique, this one isn’t completely bad. I’m beginning to think that I might actually be able to pull this off!

Since the test panel in junk vinyl turned out OK it made sense to create another test panel using the good vinyl.

Not too bad. This is basically the image I had in mind when I started. The colors are fine. It wouldn’t hurt if the insert were a slightly darker shade of brown, but these colors work well. It is interesting experiencing the differences working with the thin, stiff junk vinyl vs. the heavy and supple production vinyl.

I think I’ve learned enough to start working on the actual seat cover. Of course starting with the junk vinyl and going through the learning curve of working with a complete 3D cover, not just a “simple” flat panel.

While sewing is needed for the seats and door panels there are a couple of trim pieces that don’t require sewing – I can start with those. The back seat has a trim panel that goes between the seat and the side of the car. These will be a great place to start.

These trim panels were not installed. I found parts of these panels in the trunk of the car. They were in terrible shape – worn, dirty, water damaged, and torn in half. Complete replacement was required!

Time for some CAD – cardboard aided design. A cardboard template was trimmed and adjusted until it fit the space.

Once the cardboard template was fitted the outline was traced onto a piece of 1/8″ hardboard and cut out.

The next step was to cover it with 1/4″ fabric backed foam and some of the JoAnn test vinyl, stretch the vinyl, and staple to the back. The result was OK, but had some wrinkles and was a bit thick. But it did fit properly.

Since I now had the real fabric I started on the actual panel. Once again, a piece of 1/8″ hardboard was cut out. This time I applied spray adhesive to the hardboard and a piece of 1/4″ fabric backed foam and secured the foam to the hardboard. I then trimmed the form to the hardboard so that the foam didn’t wrap around the edge.

The next step was to cut out a piece of the real vinyl – SoftSeat Light Cashmere – about 3/4″ larger than the template. Spray adhesive on the foam and vinyl, carefully position the vinyl, and apply the vinyl to the foam. After it was in the right position I rolled the vinyl to the foam to secure it in place.

I then flipped the panel over and started notching the vinyl close to the edge – but not so close that the cuts would show from the front or side. Starting from the middle of an edge the vinyl was carefully stretched over the back and stapled in place.

The end result was this complex shape with no wrinkles in the vinyl and good definition along the edges. I’m rather proud of the result! With the first piece a success, the second trim panel was made and installed.

If only the rest of the interior could go this smoothly! I rate the chances of that happening as somewhere between zero and zero, but I’m an optimist…

With the shop and materials for upholstery work coming together I ran out of room for stalling on what material to use. Time to make some decisions and place an order.

The first big question was leather or vinyl? Leather is the leader for luxury – and is by far the most expensive option. Vinyl is good, widely used, and can be relatively inexpensive. The deciding factor was that I’m going to be making mistakes. I expect to make and re-make things several times while learning how to do this upholstery thing. It would drive me nuts to destroy or waste several hundreds of dollars of leather! So, vinyl it is.

I couldn’t find a local place stocking automotive fabrics, so it was on to the Internet to find out what was available online. Searching quickly turned up several suppliers. Your Auto Trim Store seemed to have what I was looking for, so I ordered several sample kits for different types and colors of automotive vinyl fabric as well as samples of foam backing.

With a sample kit you can see and feel the actual fabric you will be using. Going through the sample kits I decided that I liked the texture and feel of SoftSeat brand automotive vinyl. SoftSeat is available in both solid and perforated, allowing you to build more comfortable seats. Softseat also had a good match for the factory interior color.

I (of course) had trouble deciding what color to choose. A black car with black interior is classic. A black car with white interior is really sharp – and a stain magnet. Red? Kind of dramatic, but works with black. Rose is a bit more subtle but could look really rich. Gray? I like gray, so this could work. Hmm, some shades of blue work well with black; maybe teal or turquoise? Or maybe go with something really dramatic, like screaming banana yellow!

After enjoying prolonged indecision I finally decided to go with the factory color – a sort of cream. The existing seats had been re-upholstered at some point were a completely different color, but the door cards were still the factory color. Well, a dirty 60 year old version of the factory color… Further, the headliner was close to the factory color. Also, the dash is brown. Changing the color of the dash and the plastic dash pad would be a major project.

With the SoftSeat sample ring in the car I determined that SoftSeat Light Cashmere was a good match for the factory color. The plan was to use solid for most of the seats with perforated inserts where you will be sitting. I find that having contrasting inserts in seats provides a richer appearance, so I decided to also order SoftSeat Medium Prairie Tan for the inserts.

With colors chosen the next question was quantity. Automotive Vinyl is typically around 54″ wide and is ordered by the yard. I did a rough calculation of how much material each part of the seats, door panels, and trim would require, allowed plenty of allowance for cutting the pieces out of the roll of fabric, and then added another 25% for safety and mistakes.

To give myself flexibility I planned on getting enough Light Cashmere to do everything plus enough Medium Prairie Tan to do the inserts.

At this point She Who Must Be Obeyed pointed out the importance of getting everything you need at the same time. If you don’t have enough fabric and have to order more, there is a good chance the new order will be from a different dye batch and the colors won’t match. OK, add another 25% or so to the order. Realistically I probably have enough vinyl to do two complete cars.

It turns out that ordering automotive vinyl online is much cheaper than I expected. The SoftSeat vinyl is under $14 a yard for solid and under $19 a yard for perforated! The initial order I put together was under $600; going in I expected materials to cost over $2,000! Hmm, at this price might as well add another yard or two of each vinyl…

In addition to the vinyl I also needed foam: 1/4″ fabric backed foam for most of the trim work, 1/4″ or 1/2″ fabric backed foam for seat backing, and 1″ or 2″ high density foam for seat cushions. The same online store carried foam so I went ahead and ordered everything I needed.

Even after adding more vinyl and adding the foam the order was under $800. The order was placed and the materials have arrived. I’m now committed!

Since upholstery work is completely new the workshop needs to be reconfigured a bit to support it. The main features are a work table and an industrial sewing machine. I don’t have a sewing machine yet, but I have tracked down a source and hopefully will have one in a few weeks. In the meantime I can start work on some trim panels that don’t require sewing. Step one is a round of Shop Tetris to free up space around the welding table and empty a location for the sewing machine when it arrives.

While the welding table is great, a steel surface isn’t ideal for upholstery. Some scrap plywood and a chunk of outdoor carpet dropped on top of the welding table converted it to a very sturdy work table. To make the table more productive I added a triple air outlet (to simplify the use of multiple air tools) as well as an electrical outlet.

Trim panels make extensive use of staples. A special type of staple – ones only 1/4″ long which don’t penetrate completely through the thin cardboard or hardboard used in these panels. Since you will be using literally thousands of these staples an air stapler is definitely the way to go. After a bit of research I ordered a Meite pneumatic stapler and a box of 10,000 staples.

The next item needed was fabric to build the test parts – specifically some fabric backed vinyl material. She Who Must Be Obeyed took me to JoAnn Fabrics where we found some vinyl on sale at 1/2 off and bought 6 yards. This was the first time I had been in JoAnn Fabrics as a willing participant. One thing to know is that they have a central station where they cut fabric to length and give you a slip of paper with the information you need to check out and pay. While standing in line at the register the cashier called out to me “excuse me sir – do you have the slip for that fabric?” I was able to answer “yes; I’m here with someone who knows what she is doing”. Apparently most guys don’t know how the store works…

We also picked up a couple of yards of 1/4″ thick fabric backed foam which is used on trim panels to give them a more luxurious feel.

I had enough scraps of 1/8″ hardboard left over from other projects to make the test panels and the first trim panels I wanted to do. Add in a can of spray contact adhesive and I was ready to get started! These first test pieces were just that – test pieces to be discarded after creation.

Getting started of course means reading the books on automotive upholstery I had previously purchased and spending many hours studying You Tube videos. I finally screwed my courage up to the sticking point, grabbed a cup of coffee, and started making a mess.

The process for making trim panels is basically cutting the backing to size, stretching the foam and vinyl over it, and stapling it on the back. With no bubbles, bulges, puckers, or wrinkles. Most trim panels have curved edges, making this a bit tricky.

“Mistakes were made”. The first test pieces had significant room for improvement. No surprise; that was why I was starting out with throw-away pieces. As She Who Must Be Obeyed has observed several times “it isn’t as easy as they make it look on You Tube.” I’m aware, I’m aware…

Go back to You Tube, study details that I missed the first time around, and head back to the workshop.

The next test pieces were better. Still not perfect, but considerably better. Hmmm, almost like this is a learning process…

The original plan was to restore the Imperial in three stages: mechanical, paint and body, and interior. The original plan was also to accomplish each stage in a year, with three years for the total restoration. I’m now nine years into the project…

The first two stages are largely done. Some work remains, like HVAC and a new sound system, but the drive train, paint, and chrome are done and the car is on the road. It is now time to move to the third stage of the restoration: The interior.

When the Imperial arrived, the interior was the worst part. Start with bare floorboards with no trace of carpet to be found. The front door trim panels were in decent shape, but were tired. Someone had started to replace the rear door trim panels, and had cut and fitted hardboard panels to replace the factory cardboard. There was no covering on these panels – they were just bare hardboard. They weren’t even on the doors – they were in the trunk. Some smaller trim panels were missing completely and need to be made from scratch.

The seats had been re-upholstered at some point many years ago. Unfortunately they used a cheap vinyl that didn’t match the rest of the car. This vinyl is old, cracking, starting to tear, and dirty. Actually, it was filthy when I got the car – one of my first projects was a good cleaning of the interior!

The seats also have some structural problems: the drivers seat is very soft with little support. I don’t know if this is a problem with the foam, weak springs in this area, broken spring supports, or something else entirely. While fine for short drives, this is not comfortable for longer drives. The rear seat has some springs actually poking through the cover – certainly not comfortable! When I took the rear seat out there were chunks of old degraded foam all over the floor.

The one bit of good news is that the headliner has been replaced. The new headliner is high quality, extremely well fitted, and looks great. Since it is difficult to do a good job installing these old style headliners I have been very careful not to disturb it! This has had some downsides – I wasn’t able to install any sound deadening material or insulation in the roof when I was doing the rest of the car, and I wasn’t able to install mounting points for a shoulder harness so only seatbelts have been installed.

Special skills and equipment are needed to do upholstery and interior work, so I tracked down a good interior shop and got a quote.

$15,000.00. Plus materials – leather would probably add another $3,000-$5,000. And over a year before they could start on it.

Not happening.

Anyone who has been following this little saga will have realized that I have very little sense of self preservation. After a bit of research my thoughts ended up at “well, I learned how to do bodywork and welding, so I should be able to learn upholstery and sewing.”

If I plan up front to start with practice pieces to learn on, take my time, and stay willing to start over and re-do things until I get it right I should be able to get acceptable results. Right?

She Who Must Be Obeyed has many years of experience sewing and is laughing at me. She points out “you know, it isn’t as easy as it looks on YouTube.” Yeah, I’m aware of that… She also has the sense to stay well away from this project.

I also understand that skill is something you end up with, not something you start with. And this is a chance to get new tools!

So, join me as I get frustrated and annoyed, pound my head against a brick wall, and hopefully able to eventually give the Imperial an interior to be proud of!