Description
After you have looked over the car and realized everything that has to be done with it, you are best, to begin with, the interior of the car. Take out the seats and pull up the carpeting on the floor, assuming that there is carpeting on the floor.
The upholstery may be salvageable. Reupholstering a car seat can take quite a bit of work and should be done correctly. You are going to need the same type of material that was used in the original upholstery, such as vinyl, leather, or fabric. In most cases, you will need vinyl.
Chances are that the padding under the seat will also need to be replaced. Padding and vinyl can be purchased at any fabric store where you can also get tools that can be used in the reupholstering project.
If you need vinyl cords, you can purchase them online or in a store that specializes in upholstery products. After you have removed the upholstery and padding, you should clean the seat, remove any rust and check the springs. If the springs are rusty or rotted, they should be replaced.
Once you have taken the seat apart, cleaned the metal of any rust, and replaced any springs that were bad, you can then begin to replace the padding as well as the vinyl. There are many different methods when it comes to upholstering car seats. This is normally done with small nails that are covered up by cording. Unlike furniture upholstering, which uses ordinate studs, car seat upholstering is sleek and less elaborate. The most important aspect to remember is that you will have to make sure that the material is taut over the frame of the seat before beginning to affix it to the seat.
The seats should be set aside and the floor inspected for any rust. Any rust can be cleared away with a sandblaster, provided that it is not too bad and has not rotted through the floor. If the floor has been rotted through, you will need to replace it. This involves basically taking the entire car apart and putting it back together. In most cases, complete floor repair is not worth the effort. In the previous chapter, you read about things to look for prior to starting the hobby.
Once the floor has been cleaned, the new carpet can be installed. This is not difficult and carpet remnants can be picked up relatively inexpensively, however, you will want to match the original carpet with the new carpet as closely as possible.
Also in the interior of the car, you need to take a look at the dashboard and steering wheel. Take a look under the dashboard and see what is working and what is not. Chances are that many of the electronic items are shot. These will have to be cleaned and rewired.
If the parts on the dashboard have seen better days and are in dire need of replacement, you are going to have to find replacement parts for your make, model, and year of car. You can begin by perusing catalogs or looking online.
