Upholstery Advice On 65 Cj5

Can anyone supply some advice on reupholstering seats? I've blasted, primed and painted the seats, fixed a couple of springs...We're good to go...Found a guy here in AL who does old Jeeps...work looks great....looking for advice from y'all on picking out leather??? Any advice on the sidewall seats as well would be appreciated.

Thanks for everyone's advice!!!

 

I did save stuff. And I am looking to stay as much stock as possible. Thanks so much for your advice.

 

BTW, can I be dumb and ask why vinyl over leather? What was original? Pretty sure my seats were not the original fabric.

 

Never thought about not holding up...Especially here in Alabama....Thanks...Great advice!!

 

I had mine reupholstered locally in marine vinyl. It looks the same as the "normal" vinyl, though it costs a good bit more. It should hold up better over time than the normal stuff, especially given that it gets a fair amount of exposure to the sun, as I drive my Jeep without a top.




The upholsterer did a fantastic job, and copied the original cover patterns very closely. He had to replace a lot of the original 1966 cast foam, but you (or at least, I) can't tell when looking at the finished product.

 

That's a fantastic job. I like the idea of marine vinyl especially in this Alabama sun

 

So what kind of budget should I expect?

 

I have a 65 cj5....Those seats were so bad they were unsalvageable. I found these from a member and blasted them down. They'll be getting treated primed and painted later today.

Came out really well and are in fantastic shape I think.

Maurywhurt, when you say more expensive in the marine vinyl is there an astronomical difference? I like the idea though to use marine material

 

My original seats were pretty expensive to restore, but that was mostly due to the fact that the foam, which in my Jeep's model year was molded around the springs, was in terrible shape. A lot of it had to be replaced, and this was time consuming and difficult to pull off.

The marine vinyl itself was about 1-1/2 times the cost of the non-marine vinyl. Ask your upholsterer what the cost difference would be for your seats - it may turn out that the extra cost isn't be all that bad.

 

Thanks man!!!

 

I've got the same issue I think with the foam as I have none left. It was all but gone!

 

and worth every penny...there is vinyl and then there is VINYL...spend the money and dont look back
(im an upholsterer...ive tried to cheap out.... and regretted it)

 

Yes but unless I'm mistaken, the foam on your seats wasn't formed into and around the springs like it was on the '66 and later seats. On these later seats, the foam was originally cast in seat-shaped molds around the springs, and that's what makes it especially difficult to replace / repair. I'd think that earlier seats like yours in which the original foam or padding was placed on top of the springs would be far simpler to restore.

 

So beautiful Maury!

 

The seats you have never had molded foam, or any foam for that matter. Maury' seats have zig-zag springs molded into the foam. Maury's '66 was the first year for that. Also, his horizontal pleating was the first year for that pattern.
Your coil springs used burlap and batting under a thin layer of padding. Many '65-earlier seats had no pleating, though if they were pleated, it ran vertical.
-Donny

 

This is what my 58 looked like. And another pic if someone else’s in the same pattern.