Work on My F8, No. 11

[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

[Jim Price]

Mike:
I purchased the piping cord with the material. It's necessary to use a piping or zipper foot on your sewing machine when making the piping. This foot allows one to sew a seam right next to the piping material.

The material I used is an outdoor material and appears to be waterproof. Although it's lightweight it's tough and doesn't stretch.

The machine is a good one and no doubt that it's popular. I used it for many a sewing project over the years I've owned it. Figured that if I could build model airplanes I could operate a sewing machine!

Regards,
Jim

[Mike K]

Jim

You may have seen these already. I think the vehicle has changed ownership .Looks like a repro tub on it.. as it is straight and tidy .

Mike

[Jim Price]

Things were slow this week. My helper, Bob, got a bad case of tendinitis in his right wrist and as a result we were only able to work on the truck two days. In any case we did accomplish the following:

Finished the upholstery work, completing all four pieces.

Installed the master cylinder

Installed all the remaining brake lines

Installed one of the rear brakes (Bob left some of the parts of the other rear brake in his other vehicle which is a stick shift; forgot to transfer them to his other truck which has an automatic and a lot less painful to drive with that bad wrist.)

Installed the emergency brake cables

That's it for now!

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

The past week has been another one of picking up on the details. Here's what we accomplished:

On Day 89 had all the remaining outside body pieces (fenders, etc.) loaded into my pickup truck and on Day 90 took them to the stripper.

Finished installing the brakes. Whew! The devil was sure in the details on that aspect of the job!

Installed the brake and clutch pedals assembly.

Installed the emergency brake assembly which is located under the cross member. (Thanks, Mike, for the CD that covered the maintenance manual for the Ford; was a great help! )

Packed the wheel bearings with grease and installed all the wheel hubs. Made new gaskets for the rear axles.

Purchased a new innertube to replace one that had a short stem and dismounted the tire and replaced that one.

Installed a new seal in the differential face where the drive shaft enters it.

Picked up a 5" wide, 70" long piece of channel iron for the front bumper. Got it at the same yard where I scrapped the original bed. Was a break-even situation!

Got a call earlier in the week from the steel fabricator that the new bed sections and the tail gate were finished so picked them up. They look good!

Installed all the wheels on the axles in preparation for filling the master cylinder, bleeding the lines and adjusting the brakes on Day 97. (Am still short lug nuts, one "L" and one "R"! )

That was it for this week!

Regards,
Jim

[Mike K]

Jim

You know this already:it may be a good idea to check all of the brake unions and M/cylinder fittings for weepage .. before you attach all the cab/body bits . After the cab and rear body are mounted on, the brake unions amd M/cylinder can be a pain to access if you have to tighten or alter anything. This is the case on the C8 anyway.

Mike