Work on My F8, No. 11

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

..... I took 5 long agonizing years to get were you are at today.....

What do you take...... Geritol ......or what do you smoke.....???

What ever keep it up!!!!!

You are an inspiration.

Boob

I have to agree . Took me 8 years to get the C8 on the road - even then it was in a semi finished state. I only ever took it on 2 club outings - on very old, perished and cracked Dunlop 'S' pattern bar tread 900-13 tyres.

Mike

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

I have to agree . Took me 8 years to get the C8 on the road - even then it was in a semi finished state. I only ever took it on 2 club outings - on very old, perished and cracked Dunlop 'S' pattern bar tread 900-13 tyres.

Mike

And what's it doing next March? Hopefully ready for another outing

You can always trailer it there.

[Jim Price]

Bob and Mike:
Thanks for your kind words! I'll have to admit that this is my third restoration project so I had some experience to base my planning on when starting the F8 project. As a result of these previous projects I developed a list of suppliers and contacts which also has been very helpful.

However, the help I've received from my two friends, Bob and Dylan, has proven to the most important aspect of the success so far. I've paid them both a minimum wage for the 15 to 20 hours a week they've both spent on the project. Bob has brought numerous tools and equipment as well as his skills as a welder and mechanic to the project. Dylan, the college student, brought the enthusasim of the youth and a desire to learn. Together they've been invaluable.

My decision to have the cleaning and painting done by someone else has been a big help and has given us all time to work on other tasks.

And, I'm a retired Certified Public Accountant, (Chartered Accountant to the Commonwealth countries) and a bit compulsive when it comes to organizing a project.......

Last but not least, has been the help and wealth of ideas I've either read or directly received from you MLU site members. My hat's off to you, Geoff, for hosting this great site!

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

The person who observed, "It's easier to take something apart than it is to put it back together." sure was right on the money! It seems than this past week every time we turned around we were missing a bolt, had the wrong size fitting or incorrect part! We did, however, accomplish the following:

Re-mounted the tires on the rims. (Found that one of the tubes has a short stem so will need to replace that one.)

Installed all the brake backing plates.

Installed the front brakes. (We're replacing the entire brake system with all new parts. See the picture.)

Installed the front bumper brackets. (They needed to be straightened out flat. See the picture.)

Installed the front wheel spindles and the new king pins.

Installed the steering tie rod and assembled all the steering parts together.

Did some more work on straightening out the major dings in the fenders. (Will leave what's left to do on them to the tender mercies of the body shop.)

Installed one of the rear brakes lines. (The original lines were copper and am replacing them with steel. See the picture.)

Started the upholstery work and finished both seat back covers. (See the picture.)

Disassembled the instrument cluster. Found some push-pull, three position switches to replace those present. Was able to save all of the knobs. They've all got age cracks and I haven't decided whether to replace them or not.

That's it for this report!

Regards,
Jim

[Mike K]

Jim,

Excellent job on the seat covers . What type of sewing machine are you using ( make and model ) ? I see piping around the edges I think.

Mike

[Jim Price]

Mike:
Thanks for the compliment! I use a Sears Kenmore 24 Stitch (programable) portable sewing machine. It's an old one but works quite well! Yes, you do see piping, two rows of it around the front and back panels just like the originals. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I do have an original seat back cover to use as a pattern. I found the "push the dot" furniture both at a local hardware store as well as at the upholstry supply store.

Regards,
Jim

[king of obsolete]

looks good jim, i have follwed your daily updates since you started. in the Great White North a week a go, the temp got to +89f. that was it, too hot for any of us to work or do anything. my hat is off to you and working in the extra hot heat.

thansk
KoO
Published Author

[T Creighton]

Speedy progress Jim,
More photos of the seat apholstery work please.
It's the next job to do on my project.
Regards, Terry

[Mike K]

This is the tiny sewing machine Jim is using to make his seat covers ! .. Amazing , all I can say .
Mike

[Jim Price]

Several of you have expressed an interest in how I went about making the seat covers for my F 8, Cab 11. Here 's my best shot at it!

Mike, you're right on target with that picture of the sewing machine I own and used to make the covers. Where on earth did you find that picture of one just like mine?!?

The first thing that I did was to make a plywood insert that fits into the bottom of the seat "pan". I used 1/2" thick plywood and drilled holes at each of the four "drain" holes in the pan and then inserted those "nuts" that have prongs for holding them in place in wood.

I purchased 4" thick medium to heavy density foam for the seats and 1" thick medium density foam for the seat backs. Also on my shopping list was enough piping cord to make two seams on the seat back and one on the seat itself. The material was approximately 2 1/2 yards by 60" wide outdoor, khaki (with a tint of dark green) material. I opted for that as I didn't think that my sewing machine would have the power to sew cotton duck material. I'd had some experience with this type of material as it was used on my Kubelwagen (instead of a black vinyl) and has proven to be quite weather-proof!

I sewed the piping strips first using 1 1/4" wide material. Having cut the foam to match the edges of the seat back, I used it as a pattern to cut the front and back seat panels. (I added 1/2" to all pieces to allow for the seam coverage.) I first sewed each of the piping pieces to the 2 1/2" piece that goes around the edges of the seat and then sewed on the front and back panels. Although I'd had an original seat back cover to go by I did change the way the "push the dot" fastners were installed by making separate panels for them. That way I was able to control how tight they fit around the bottom metal flat strap on the seat back frame.

As for the seat, I made a sort of a "sack" for the seat foam and board bottom and tied off the material with some parachute cord. Although both of my seat frames have the pins for the fastners I opted to go with the thought "if you don't see it, it isn't there" and figured that unless someone pulls off the seats they won't know the difference.

I know that I've been a bit wordy but one never knows how far to go when describing the steps one has taken to make something. Please excuse if I've bored anyone!

Attached are some pictures of the seats. Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,
Jim

[Mike K]

Thanks Jim

So as I understand it : you made up the piping yourself by using a length of cord or plastic filler , sewing it into 1 1/4" wide material ?

Anyway, your covers are easy to remove for washing . The end result looks very nice.

Sounds like the material you used is a relatively lightweight fabric . The original canvas cover material was probably 16 oz or so.

I found the sewing machine pic by using GOOGLE.. they are popular little sewing machines .



Mike