Seat pleats

[Ned Hamlin]

It seems that it's a given that our 356 seats are supposed to have pleats in them, but my original light grey seats have a barely discernible, if at all, pleat. The new seat covers offered by the typical vendors seem to have a very pronounced pleat, some looking like they embossed the vinyl with heat.

I'm curious if others with original seats have noticed that there is not much of a pleat. I've included an photo that I took of my seats shortly after I got the car home. I hope it comes through.

Ned

[Emil Wojcik]

The original seats had the pleat formed by having the cover pulled down and tied to the seat frame. It looks like on yours, the cords may have broken or loosened from age. If the covers are still in good condition, you may be able to take them apart and retie them. Be careful though, the old material may be brittle with age.

I posted about recovering my seats in this old thread:
http://porsche356registry.org/356talk/1 ... 1646#p1646

If you scroll down in that thread, you'll see where I posted scans of an old Registry article showing how the seats were originally tied down.

[John Wurner]

Ned
I noticed the same, the new seats seem to have the pleats in an extreme fashion.
Here is a picture of my D, the seats have not been redone, and the pleats still show a little. They may need more tying as well as was suggested.
John

[Sebastian Gaeta]

Hi Ned,

Here is an image from an A accessory brochure; the pleats look to be pretty pronounced in this example.

I hope this helps,

[Barry Brisco]

The photo that Sebastian posted shows that originally, 356 seats had deep pleats that did not extend into the outermost sections of the seat bases. It is my observation that when 356 seats are restored the pleats are almost never done as they were originally (I know the pleats in my A coupe are not like those shown in the photo). Someday I would like to find an upholsterer who knows how to make the pleats match that photo.

Unrestored seats that we see nowadays have had so much human "seat" time that the pleats are flattened out, as shown in the photo John posted.

Best regards,

[Ned Hamlin]

Thanks guys. I have since spoken to Gary Hadden, my interiors guru, and he knows how to attach the cords inside the seats to restore the original look. When he eventually does my seats we'll make it look original.

[Jim Liberty]

Barry, would it be possible to get a copy of the seat/pleats. I have used the same upholsterer for years, and he can do this from the picture.

......................................Jim.

[Barry Brisco]

Jim, you will need to contact whoever posted the photo you are interested in. But you can right click on any photo or graphic on a web page and then save the file to your computer.