Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Benjy on Wednesday,January 15, 2025, 09:35:07 AM
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Ahoy All,
Been busy sewing up the seats for my S2. I wanted them in leather but it was very hard to find embossed leather to match the original basket weave design but I persevered and in the end I found some very lovely leather from a company called Prodital. They were able to emboss some of the hide (Cavalli) with what they call a 'mini basket' design which is very similar to the original. This is my first attempt at sewing car seats and all in all I am quite pleased with the end result. I added a bit of extra foam to the small seat cushion for added padding and of course I used new foam but otherwise I tried to keep the seats looking as original as I could. Next up are the door cards, also in leather. I'm hoping there will be enough leather left to bind the carpets and cover the centre consul too.
Cheers
Benjy 54/0949 France
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Looks great, Benjy. Nice work. How did you go about shaping the foam?
Vince
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They look great!
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Very nice!
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The bolster foam was all more or less alright once I peeled the old vinyl off it so luckily I didn't have to reconstruct it! I covered it all with an additional 3mm of scrim foam to help take out any wibbles before I fitted the leather. I unstitched the bolster panels and used them to make templates. I did the same with the seat cushions. Instead of the original hard board backing I used 3mm marine plywood and varnished it to keep the moisture out. The seat cushions are simply cut from 50mm thick foam, they needed no special treatment or shaping.
As car seats go, these are actually quite simple and straight forward. I picked up an old Pfaff sewing machine for 60€ in a second hand shop and used that. If I hadn't had the machine I would not have attempted this job but it sews so well it gave me the confidence to have a go. After all, what's the worst that can happen? :)
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Very impressive
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:beerchug: Benjy,
I love it when anyone excels at getting skilled down pat. Thank You for finding that site that produces that weave.
a link to the vendor may be helpful. I could only get my wife to do after a list of honey do's. :FUNNY:
Dakazman
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https://www.prodital.it/eng/products
I used the mini weave pattern with black Cavalli leather. 1.1 mm
It's best to contact the company direct as not all their products are on their site. They were extremely helpful and sent me free samples.
Minimum order of one hide which is about 5 sq metres in area.
The embossed panels are made from the same leather and come in 90 x 130 cm panels. Min order: Two panels
I needed one full hide and two panels so it worked out well. Not cheap but of lovely quality.
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Those seats are gorgeous. Very nicely done.
When the day comes to redo my interior, I, too, want to do the seats and other bits in leather. Your results are very encouraging, though I will be getting someone else to do the actual upholstering. Thanks for the info on your leather supplier. That will come in handy.
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Very nice work! That's how you redo a set of seats.
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Greetings all,
Here's the centre consul I also covered in the same leather. I deleted the ashtray since I didn't have the original one and don't wish to pay 250€ for a new one! Plus I don't smoke so it seemed a little silly to have it really. So instead I decided to create a small cubby hole for storage. I shall line the cubby with some embossed leather.
The hole for the gaiter was rectangular and imo unnecessarily oversized so I reduced it to a 7cm square and sewed up a simple leather gaiter.
The arm rest uses some of the original seat foam that was left over.
Next up, the carpets and head lining...
Cheers
Benjy 54/0949
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That looks very nice!
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Stellar! That looks fantastic.
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Ahoy All,
Here are some pics of the interior as of today with the consul fully fitted. As you can see the ashtray has gone and in its place there is now a more useful small leather lined cubby hole. Under the arm rest (still to be fitted, maybe with a hinge at the rear?) is access to a small leather lined space big enough for a wallet (or at least my very thin wallet, thin because I own a Lotus!) or phone. Hard to see but there is a leather tab at the rear end which allows you to lift out the base and thus gain access to the handbrake adjust etc. There is jute under the tunnel carpet for insulation and comfort. The jute and carpet is probably about 12 or 13 mm thick in total.
The dash is from a 'special' and is burr walnut. I reconditioned all the instruments and re-covered the dash pad.
The steering wheel has been polished and wrapped in new leather.
The gear nob is made from spalted beech, actually fire wood, but I thought it too nice to burn!
Left to do is the headlining, A pillars, sound proofing of the bulkhead (in addition to the stuff already fitted to the engine side of the bulkhead) and the rest of the carpets.
After over a year of working most days the car is reaching the end. In a couple of weeks the interior will be finished then I do the final job of painting the outside, although that will have to wait until April when it warms up a bit more!
Benjy 54/0949
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Nicely done!! :beerchug:
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Lovely interior. Beautiful work. I really like the leather lined cubby in place of the ashtray... very handy.
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I’m with Bainford and BDA, great work and it looks terrific.
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The next question, of course, is whether you are going to make these for those of us lacking in sewing skills. :o)
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Since I'm in France and it seems most of you are in the States it would probably work out ludicrously expensive what with shipping and duty etc. Surely there must be a trimming company in the US who can do this for you?
The leather alone cost almost $1000!
There does seem to be this company in CT who sell a complete trim kit (albeit in vinyl) for the Europa. https://www.sportsandclassics.com/parts/lotus/lotus-europa/interior-lotus-europa/lotus-europa-twin-cam-interior-kit-leather/
But thanks for the vote of confidence and all the lovely comments!
Cheers
Benjy 54-0949
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Fantastic work. I'm not capable of that kind of work, so have bought new seat covers, and that will be plenty challenging for me, but really appreciate the pics of your work. For the central console, were you able to stretch the leather at all, or was it all done with stitching to tailor it to the contours?
Best wishes, Jeff
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I wet the leather and stretched it over the middle part of the consul. I made wooden chocks and wedged them in to keep the leather in place while it dried. Once that was done it was easy enough to template up the sides to make them fit to the middle part. It's really not so hard, it just takes time and you have to be patient! Thin leather is very easy to shape and stretch.
Cheers
Benjy
54-0949
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Ahoy All,
Here are the latest pics of the interior, almost finished with the carpets fitted. I made a bottle storage holder which lives between the seats. I made it in fibreglass and covered it in leather. To keep it as light as possible it has no bottom.
I mounted the interior light on a small teak plate to lift it away from the carpet a bit. At the top of the bulkhead carpet I sewed on some vinyl which is glued to the rear window aperture. It's hard to see how this is done as standard and it looks like everyone does it differently but this seems to me not a bad way to do it. Including the engine bay soundproofing, the Nomex core and two layers of jute, plywood and carpet the bulkhead is about 65 mm thick! I am hoping it will lead to a relatively quiet interior...
The observant of you will notice inertia reel seat belts. These are the narrowest units I could find. They are from an Opel Corsa and the seats just clear them but it is very close! I cut the webbing down to length and sewed them back up afterwards.
Next up I plan to make some mats to protect the carpet, fit the headlining and finish a few more details but I am pleased to say that the interior is nearly finished.
The last job which I shall tackle when the weather warms up a bit is the exterior paint and then I can start to think about actually driving the car! I started in October 23 so I will have been at it about a year and a half. Working on the car most days. Who would have thought such a small and simple car would take so long to restore...
Cheers
Benjy 54/0949