Kirkey Vintage Low Back Buckets with Custom Leather Covering

[Gumball]

Wow - I'm actually posting something that isn't part of my bodywork thread... feels weird working on something else for once. The upholsterer called today with the good news that my seats were done, so I picked them up on the way home and couldn't resist taking some comparison photos.

As detailed in my post on the seat mounts, I modified these by trimming the side bolsters and using some extra beading from Kirkey to finish off the cuts. I then fabricated mounts for the bottoms and backs using a combination of Breeze and Kirkey parts, as well as some stuff that I cobbled together on my own. Finally, I ordered up some seat heaters and lumbar supports from Fortes and everything went to a local hotrod upholstery shop for full leather covering with a vintage flair. Here's the end result - I couldn't be happier.

Started with this - the stock FFR seat, which wasn't comfortable for me as it made me sit too high and too far forward:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/Stock_zps48a21bbc.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/Stock_zps48a21bbc.jpg.html)

Then moved to this - the standard Kirkey vintage low back:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/DriverSideKirkey_zps3c403fbd.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/DriverSideKirkey_zps3c403fbd.jpg.html)

Which was modified into this by re-contouring the side and hip bolsters:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/ModifiedKirkeyLowBack3_zps9b01c602.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/ModifiedKirkeyLowBack3_zps9b01c602.jpg.html)

And they now looks like this - complete with piping around the edges, just like the originals:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/StockReplacement_zps12622993.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/StockReplacement_zps12622993.jpg.html)

For comparison sake - here's what the standard Kirkey cover looks like:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/KirkeyseatwithOEMcover_zpse2fd1d3b.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/KirkeyseatwithOEMcover_zpse2fd1d3b.jpg.html)

The padding they used is a combination of three different densities - with a thick memory foam that is sort of like that tempurpedic mattress stuff - and feels firm but will be great on long trips. The lumbar is a must-do if you go this route, too.

[SCFFR]

Chris,

Another great job!

Ron

[Olli]

Nicely done. I like it.

Olli

[MPTech]

That's a great improvement for those seats.
I like the frame and design, but always thought the covering fell short of a good looking vintage seat.

I think you nailed it.

[Gale K]

Looks very good!!!

[Gumball]

That's a great improvement for those seats.
I like the frame and design, but always thought the covering fell short of a good looking vintage seat.

I think you nailed it.

The credit has to go to Bruce at Mapes Auto Upholstery in Elgin, IL... he was the one who did the heavy lifting - I was just the idea guy with a vision of how I wanted them to look. He said that the hardest part was doing the entire back and sides in a single part that pulls over the seat - said it took quite a few hours to get the first one figured out and made, but the second seat was much faster. The leather is beautiful and soft, with a great smell and not too much grain... sort of like that used on German and Italian cars. The hides he got were huge, too. He actually ordered three so that we'd have enough left over for the dash, top of the rear cowl, a small armrest I'm building, and the exposed chassis tubes in the cockpit, but he only used about 1 1/3 of the three that he bought, so he gave me the rest of the second hide and will keep the third for other projects. I highly recommend looking him up if you're in the midwest.

[JL1958]

Very nice. I like that a lot.

[fact5racer]

I just wanted to post that I just got my seats back from the same place. I.e., Mapes Auto and they did a fantastic job.

[CraigS]

Very nicely done.

[ehansen007]

@Gumball can you upload your pics to your gallery here and share? Photobucket is not working for you right now. Thanks.

[JMD]

@Gumball can you upload your pics to your gallery here and share? Photobucket is not working for you right now. Thanks.

Those pics were from 11 years ago...just fyi. His account probably expired or something. ;)