84 300SD seat question.
 

I'm mixing and matching bases, spring frames, skins and the straw looking backings to try and get the best of my stash. I have a couple of straw backings that are still sound but the middle of their backsides are getting a little crispy.

Is there a way or material to rejuvenate them? I wonder what the manufactures used to bind the base materials together and keep them flexable?

I got anxious and chose Flex Seal. I fogged the front and back of an old horsehair panel and I'll report back tomorrow on the experiment.

I'm ready to remove the old skins off the back section and wondered if anyone can give me some instruction on how to proceed.

Thanks in advance.

Report on Flex Seal as a binder for the horse hair seat backing.
 

Yesterday, I sprayed a gentle coat on the back and front of the cushion and found it most suitable. This morning it is firm but not noticeably more so than before and seems to be a good to excellent binder. I hope to live long enough to see it fail.

I had only one small spot flake. it was in a spot where I over sprayed and could have been a semi dry spot of previously sprayed material. Keep a wet edge if you use it and only one coat, imo. This stuff is toxic and will dry quickly.

It took almost half a can to spray one front seat back. I may look into buying a gallon can since the spray cans are $13/ea.

I intend to coat all the horse hair on the front seats and the backs of the rear pads. I do not want to remove the leather from the rear seats.

Maybe you could take the rest of your old seat horsehair cushions and tie them together, spray them with Flex Seal and make a boat! :D

OK are we talking LEATHER ?
While you have the covers off you need to treat them with some kind of conditioner... the kinds of oils which the Animal's body would have been providing had they still been ON the animal....
Probably the cheapest and best... is Lanolin... ' sheep oil ' .... lol

The conditioners which we put on the TOP of Finished leathers do nothing to preserve them long range... that FINISH prevents anything except surface cleaning and conditioning.... cleaning IS important... but if you have those covers OFF... the something needs to be put on the UNDERSIDE... if you are wanting to preserve them as best you can....

I think FluidFilm is pure Lanolin... and cheap.. available in gallon jugs to spray on farm equipment to keep the rust from continuing in hard to reach places...

If not.. then Neatsfoot Oil COMPOUND... not the straight Neatsfoot oil... that is for harness leather exposed to weather and horse sweat...

And you need to do this to those rear seats too... once you work up the courage after this job....

I stripped the finish off the seats according to Color-plus instructions. Here's the link:

https://colorplus.com/about-leather/step-one-cleaning-andor-color-removal/

I use lacquer thinner and a scotch bright pad instead of a scraping the skins with a knife. I brushed the thinner on with an inch and a half brush. It's difficult to get the finish soft enough to remove but knowing that the color plus softener would be wasted without removing the finish I hung tough.

It is a slow process and the softener will let you know what you missed. I have a quart of softener and the skins off the seat. Without removing the backing there's no way to put softener on the back of the leather. I put a coat on the skins and another 24 hours later and gave them another day before I wiped them down with warm water.

I asked about something to bind these horsehair pads, I'd appreciate you sharing your knowledge on this subject.

No comments from the peanut section please.
 

lutz

Have you looked to see if new horsehair pads are available for those seats ?
Those are 34 years old... they were the top of the line for padding... used for expensive chairs and couches in houses back then....
Sometimes the basic material has deteriorated to the point that no easy after market fix will work properly.
What is this ' backing ' you refer to on the back side of the leather ?

Here are photos of the backside of an old seat base skin.
 

I didn't retrieve the replacement skins because it's raining hard here in the SC upstate. These are not the seat skins I'm using.

<img src="http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=147377&stc=1&d=1523833141>"

<img src="http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=147378&stc=1&d=1523833141>"

Maybe I'll replace them someday but right now I am just about spent out and no I haven't checked prices or availability.

How did this hold up?

I'm looking at a brittle pad now and had the same thought re: Flex Seal