Morris Minor Owners Club

The rear seat base on my blue/grey 1970 upholstery is covered in brown stains (no jokes thanks). Is this likely to be the glue that has seeped through the vinyl or something else? I've tried cleaning with various household items without success.I'm reluctant to change the seat since, otherwise, it is in excellent condition. Any idea how to remove the stains or is it possible to restain the vinyl?

What is an upholsterer likely to charge to replace all the vinyl seat coverings using one of the standard kits on the market?

All replies greatly appreciated.

Hi
regarding the recovering of seats for a morris minor I am having my seats recovered at the moment,I ve supplied the material
a round 10 metres,which coversthe whole of the interior the cost of having the seats ranged from £400 to £750 with me doing the panels myself.

If it's just the rear seat base that needs replacing why not just see if you can get hold of a good second hand one, or alternatively buy a replacement cover? It isn't difficult to recover seats yourself, you just need to take a bit of time. Not sure that the stains would be glue - can you post a picture up so we can see what the damage is? Seats can be dyed but it depends on how bad your stains are. There's a great thread here showing an interior refurbishment, including dying and recovering vinyl seats, which might be useful: http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... et+fitting

covered in brown stains (no jokes thanks)

Spoilsport!

Hi

This is a photo of my rear seat showing the stains. Any advise how to remove them or is a vinyl colour required?[frame][/frame]

Have you tried Vanish soap? Add a little water and scrub with a nail brush or similar.

Looks like what my old rear seat had on it, mine was a mixture of oil and dirt from when i had a wheel on the back seat, nothin i did got it off just had to replace with a second hand item and sold it on

Spoke to the previous owner yesterday. He tells me that the seats were kept in storage for four years when the car was off the road being rebuilt. The seats looked like this when unpacked. He tried numerous ways of removing the stains without success. Looks like I'll have to replace or restain.

gliptone is realy good for this also you can get many diferent colours of rub on dye

On this subject, any ideas how to remove rubber marks made by tyres? My rear seat currently has a very nice "toyo" imprint from where the new tyres sat there for a week or so

i've found that ciff works a treat, with a little hot water and a nail brush

Last resort try cellulose thinners on a rag. It has worked for me,

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try each of the suggestions. I don't really want to replace the vinyl since I asume I'll have to do it all to achieve a uniform colourbut in the longer term I might go down this route. I note that Newton and Charles Ware offer new vinyl kits for seats. The Newton version is significantly more expensive. Anyone know whether the quality is worth the extra cost?

The suppliers charge less for the seat covers than Newton C do as they buy in bulk from Newton and you would just be a "one off" purchase. The delivery time is also shorter to the suppliers than to an individual as well.

In the past I have had a new interior for my Traveller and also 2 sets of Suffolk seats from Newton (via a supplier) I'm very happy with the quality/workmanship. It's not hard to re-cover the seats yourself using the kits they sell)

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Are you saying that the seat covers sold by Charles Ware are supplied to them by Newton C and, therefore, the same product?

I'm reasonably competent at DIY but have never done any upholstery before. Can they be fitted perfectly well by a novice?

Yes, most of the morris suppliers use Newton to supply their seat covers. If you're going to recover them yourself the best tool is a digital camera! Photograph the removal of the old ones and then use the photos to re-fit the new ones.

Hi. Thanks. Seem to be taking one step forward and one back. I've been told that the new vinyl covers are not the same colour as the originals and I will need to change the door cards etc. Starts to get expensive.

to clean Vinyl seats , cleaner for PVC windows is avalible on ebay dose not harm seats can also be used for cleaning tar off paintwork

Hi

I have not had this problem specifically, but when I bought my minor I thought I would have to get a complete new interior due to the level on ingrained grimew on the seats - however I took a punt on AutoGlym's interior shampoo plus the blue cleaning pad which is sold seperatly and it worked absolute wonders - this is about £15 worth in Halfords so I would suggest it is well worth a go.