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Seat upholstery for 1964 openbody dj3a; Correct pattern of seat upholstery
Topic Started: Mar 9 2016, 08:22 PM (473 Views)
dcwheels
Member
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Hello dear friends,
Next step in restoration of the dj3a,seats.
The 1964 dj3a has amazingly preserved complete set of front 60:40 and the rear seats.
The springs are still present and has torn seat covers which are maroon colored rexine.
I have few doubts before I proceed.
What would had the original rexine color been?
What would the correct number and arrangement of springs been?
And need guidance on pointers for a good seat restoration.
Thanks again.
Dinesh
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PapaC
Papac
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dcwheels,Mar 9 2016
07:22 PM
Hello dear friends,
Next step in restoration of the dj3a,seats.
The 1964 dj3a has  amazingly preserved complete set of front 60:40 and the rear seats.
The springs are still present and has torn seat covers which are maroon colored rexine.
I have few doubts before I proceed.
What would had the original rexine color been?
What would the correct number and arrangement of springs been?
And need guidance on pointers for a good seat restoration.
Thanks again.
Dinesh



It sounds like you've got pretty good seats to work with and if so here's the quick answer.

Here's what I would do especially if the torn upholstery is original to the seats or even if it fits good.

Carefully take the old fabric off of the seats frames noting exactly how it was originally fastened. Take lots of pictures as you do this and try not rip the fabric any worse than it is already.

With a razor knife carefully cut the stitching and take apart. These pieces can be used to lay out and draw a new pattern on paper, cardboard, or even your new material itself if you're careful. Hopefully you've got enough material on those seats that even with the cuts, rips, or tears that may be present you can still get a good drawing. Be aware that the original material may have shrunk some over the years so be careful or maybe allow just a little bit for that. You can always tighten it up a little bit with another sewn seam but you can't add new material after it's sewn.

Occasionally test fit on your newly cleaned up, painted and padded seat frames as you go. If you're staying original try to match the old padding as close as possible.

Once the new seats are sewn then put them back on the frames and refasten.

I couldn't even began to guess the original color but the best color you may find to compare may likely be underneath those sewn seams where it may not have faded as bad.

When buying new vinyl (rexene) I myself would try to get something of as close a color as possible and as local as so that I could to keep it simple.

Also when sewing vinyl or rexene a very thin coat of vinyl cement on the inside and right up against the stitches will help keep a seam from ripping out due to the needle holes in the future. Be sparing and let the glue dry good before putting the covers on the frame.

You might want to watch your layout on the new material. If there's any kind of pattern or grain on the material you will need the pattern to turn in the same direction on your main seat bottoms and backs before you cut them out.
Charles Tate....North Mississippi

1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible
Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts.

1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only)
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ba25
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Dinesh
I will just add

bottom springs were 4.5-5 inches tall.
back (upper) were about 3.5 inches in height.

replace any rusted or broken edge wire, helical X springs

changing to padding or foam was acceptable option, mentioned in the 1962-65 parts lists.

Posted ImagePosted Image
BA Agan

46 Bantam T3-C 2953
46 Bantam T3-C 19638 "Big Red"
49 CJ-2A 222564
51 M38 MC 28115
52 M100 285896
62 CJ5 57548-148683
64 DJ3A 8204-24210
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dcwheels
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Thanks for all the info and guidance. Shall post pictures shortly on what remains with my seats.
Shall post pictures shortly.
Thanks.
Dinesh
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PapaC
Papac
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Posted Image


Posted Image

Posted Image

Posted Image

uploaded with permission from Dinesh
Charles Tate....North Mississippi

1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible
Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts.

1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only)
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PapaC
Papac
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those springs appear to be busted up pretty bad

This leaves you two choices.

Quote:
 
BA:   replace any rusted or broken edge wire, helical X springs 


There likely are sites on the internet that sell coil springs similar to those.

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to remove all of my rusted springs off of my seat frames.

Replace them with these.

Posted Image

Tie them together good


Lay a heavy pad over them

And then use a good upholstery grade poly foam to build up to the correct thickness as posted by BA.

I understand those original springs didn't set that great to begin with so why not go to something more modern since they won't be seen anyway


I'm not exactly familiar with the mounting points on your small seat. Here's the mounting posts on my 62 DJ passenger, left hand drive to compare. I'm not saying yours is wrong but it is something I'm unfamiliar with.

Posted Image
Charles Tate....North Mississippi

1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible
Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts.

1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only)
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dcwheels
Member
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Thanks Charles for putting up those pics on my behalf.
I think the fixing hardware has been tampered with on my seats,which I shall correct.
The springs surely need to be taken care of.
Shall get back with more details once I start working on the seats.
Thanks.
Dinesh
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