The Upholstery Forum

Hi,
I'm wanting to do my own upholstery for my 36 Ford Restomod. I'm doing all the other work on the 36 Ford.

I bought a new seat frame and my first question is: How do I make the center fold down arm rests? Is it all foam? Wood structure? I was thinking of making the arm rests just like in the photo I attached, 2 singles.

I'm just trying to come up with a good plan.

Thanks for taking a look and offering some advice!

Jerry

Is that a wise guy seat? Those are a royal pain in the *** to cover.
For the arm rests it looks like you will have to make some sort of wood or plastic platform to create the arm rest.

Its from Glide Engineering.

Thanks for your answer. The arm rest that comes down is 1" square tubing. Can I just use 1/4 plywood for a base then some type of stiff foam covered with scrim foam? Or do I need to build a square box type structure, then foam and cover.

I also toyed with the idea of 3d printing a plastic arm rest, foam, then cover.

Jerry

@jlchapman , I am thinking a platform as well. I think you are going to just have a large obstacle there otherwise.

I would go with the ply wood base or ABS plastic if you want. Then you will want to add enough foam to the platform so that is sits flush with the seat foam when the arm rest is folded up.

I'm going to start using some plywood and create the base. Build the arm rest up with stiff foam, then 3/8" layer of scrim foam.

Its basically the first thing you have to do is determine the width of the arm rest. Then you know what your pleat width is for the rest of the seat.

What kind of clearance do you want between the arm rests after there fully upholstered? Snug? 1/4"? etc. I dont know if I have ever seen a car seat with both center arm rests next to each other. Usually there a one piece arm rest for both passengers.

Sorry for so many questions.

Jerry

On the seats I have done with arm rests in the middle. I dont really leave any gap in the foam. Then when you install the cover it compresses the foam a little bit giving it some clearance.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you need. Your questions will continue to help others in the future.