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1922 Buick Rear Seat upholstery


Mark Kikta

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Yesterday I decided to begin working on my rear seat upholstery.  I have now fully retired and the holidays are over so it's time to get on with completing my upholstery project.  So yesterday I removed the upholstery from the rear seat and sides.  While the seat obviously never had much wear, the leather was very stiff and many of the seams were tearing out so it needs replaced.

 

Underneath it all there was no real rust and only one small piece of wood that needs repair because it had been split.  There appeared to be no wood rot and it was clear that this was the original upholstery because there was only one set of tack holes which were the tacks I removed.

 

I found it interesting that the numbers "22" had been written on the inside of the body tub in the factory.  I guess that was to indentify this rear section as a "22" model during the assembly process.

 

I also found it interesting that as I started removing the side panels, it was clear that as the factory folks were getting the stuffing completed on the end pleat at the door opening that has an irregular shape, they needed to make the pleat more "Full" so they used horsehair scraps as fill material to do that as they tacked that last piece in place.

 

Also the rear back springs are still shiny black and look like new.   So I have removed all interior items from the back seat so I'm off to make new side panels first and then complete seat spring upholstery.  More pictures to follow.

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Rear interior wood needs repair.jpg

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rear seat side panel marrking for 1922.jpg

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scrap horsehair used as filler.jpg

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Thanks for posting the pictures. Even though my car is a 17 D series Mclaughlin a lot of the structure is very similar.  I can always learn something from one of these originals. 

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My 1922 Buick is a model 45.   
The padding on those 3 slats was just cotton batting attached to the slats.

 

The seat springs are held in place by the metal rim (frame) around the edge of the seat bottom frame.  This is just like the front seat.

 

Yes it is unbelievable that I saw no evidence of critters in the back seat area.

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Mark,

That's really interesting how the inside of the body has the backing plates for the fender bolts.  When I removed and replaced the fenders on our '16 I wondered just how the inside of the body might have looked.  Now I know.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

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Today I repaired the broken wood tacking piece at the bottom of the upholstery side panel.  In that picture you can see the corner of the steel frame piece that holds the rear seat bottom from sliding around.

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Today I glued a wooden toothpick in every tack hole I could find after removing my upholstery. I want to ensure I don’t have a bunch of holes when I start tacking everything back in place.  I counted over 200 toothpicks used.

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On 1/5/2023 at 10:09 AM, Mark Kikta said:

Yesterday I decided to begin working on my rear seat upholstery.  I have now fully retired and the holidays are over so it's time to get on with completing my upholstery project.  So yesterday I removed the upholstery from the rear seat and sides.  While the seat obviously never had much wear, the leather was very stiff and many of the seams were tearing out so it needs replaced.

 

Underneath it all there was no real rust and only one small piece of wood that needs repair because it had been split.  There appeared to be no wood rot and it was clear that this was the original upholstery because there was only one set of tack holes which were the tacks I removed.

 

I found it interesting that the numbers "22" had been written on the inside of the body tub in the factory.  I guess that was to indentify this rear section as a "22" model during the assembly process.

 

I also found it interesting that as I started removing the side panels, it was clear that as the factory folks were getting the stuffing completed on the end pleat at the door opening that has an irregular shape, they needed to make the pleat more "Full" so they used horsehair scraps as fill material to do that as they tacked that last piece in place.

 

Also the rear back springs are still shiny black and look like new.   So I have removed all interior items from the back seat so I'm off to make new side panels first and then complete seat spring upholstery.  More pictures to follow.

rear seat all original.jpg

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Rear interior wood needs repair.jpg

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rear seat side panel marrking for 1922.jpg

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scrap horsehair used as filler.jpg

Mark:

 Thank you for all the detail step by step dissasembly. This shoud be able to cover mid teens to later 1920s construction of the model 45 touring cars. 

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Alan Wohl's 1925-45. All original top/upholstery carpets etc. Rear window had been replaced.

 

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George Mazureck's 1925-45. Both cars with original upholstery and carpet.

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So today I began my installation phase.  I first installed 1/4" Jute padding as insulation/sound deadening around the back frame area of the back seat.  This replaces the original cotton batting that had been glued in place. 

 

My next step was to staple leather over the armrest ends so I could form the arm rest with the sewn padding.  After adding the leather, I tacked new panel board pieces in place which will give these side panels the support they need.  I copied the old side panel backs exactly.  This new panel board is the same thickness as the old panels and is waterproof as well which will give some protection against the weather.

 

Next, I began tacking the new sewn leather panel in place on the drivers side.  I made these panels just as they were made originally. I found so far that Buick had a reason for everything they did/or didn't do, no matter how strange it looks.  The original panels looked quite strange when I looked at the back of them.  Some pleats were stuffed with stuffing the entire length, and others were stuffed only in the top halves.  They left the stuffing out of the lower halves so that the rear seat cushion would fit in place easier and would wear on the upholstery less if it wasn't such a tight fit.  So I did the same thing when I sewed them together.  Here you can see the backside of an original side panel covering.

 

You can see here that my leather panel is partially installed.  I have tacked it in place and have not yet stuffed the end panel closed to the door.  This panel get stuffed in-place and you tack the outer edge to get the panel tight with no wrinkles.  This will be my next step.  Then after I stuff the end pleat, I will trim excess leather off of the panel. 

Armrest end covered.jpg

New panel board left rear.jpg

New panel board right rear.jpg

reverse side of leather side panel right rear.jpg

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Today I got on to sewing right away.  I sewed the leather cover pleats to the Muslin back fabric.  I used muslin backing vs burlap which was used originally.    In the second photo you can see my pile of cut strips of cotton batting to stuff the pleats with and a strip of jute as well.  Each 3 1/2" pleat on the side panels is stuffed with one 3 1/2" strip of 1/4" jute and a double layer of one-inch thick cotton batting 3 1/2' wide.  In picture four, you can see my newly sewn side panel just leaning against the side of the car before actual installation.  In the last picture you can see the side panel installed except for filling the first pleat at the door.  I'll get to that tomorrow.

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So I have completed the right and left rear side panels of my upholstery.  All I have left to do is put the final trim on to cover these nail heads and give the panels a finished look.   I will do that after I install the rear seat back cushion so I can do it all at once.  The back edge of the rear seat back uses the same trim and I will need to make that trim.  You can also see how I had to cut the seam and cover the armrest.

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Edited by Mark Kikta (see edit history)
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Today I rolled out my roll of muslin cloth and drew the pattern from the old burlap backing onto this new fabric.  I used 3 3/4" spacing to get the 3 1/2" pleat because of the seam allowances required.  I then trimmed the excess so it is ready to be sewn onto the leather.   Next I laid out my leather hide to work on the pattern for the leather portion of the seat back.  This was a large piece of leather and I was able to lay the entire pattern out on one side of the hide.  After marking each pleat and all seam allowances, I trimmed the leather so that it is now ready to sew together to the muslin backing.  Eleven of the 13 pleats are all the same, except for the ends which are wider at the top than the bottom.

 

I noticed that the outer edges of the end pleats were only sewn about 12 inches from the bottom which is about one-half of the length of the pleat. The tops of the end pleats looked to have been stuffed with loose horsehair by hand to get that very full look before they were tacked in place.

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Rear seat back cushion overstuffed area.jpg

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Today I covered the back springs with burlap and a layer of jute, hog ringing them both in place.  I then laid two layers of cotton batting on that and attached the springs in place with 5 leather straps.

 

Now as soon as get the pleats stuffed, I’ll be ready to tack it all in place.

 

 

 

 

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Edited by Mark Kikta (see edit history)
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Mark, 

   I appreciate the documentation and I look forward to seeing your postings of the fine work you are doing.  One photo bothers me.   Putting jute on the inner side sheetmetal of the rear tub is not a good practice.  Any water intrusion that happens onto the jute will act as a wet blanket on the metal.  I realize that this car will likely never see a rainstorm again, but I am not seeing a benefit to having the jute where it is located.  The jute on the wood is fine and could provide some sound deadening for the spring assembly, but even this jute brings more detriments than benefits IMO.   Hugh 

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  • 1 month later...

Today I completed stuffing the rear seat back cushion.  I have included some pictures of the completed cushion and also after stuffing.  You can see how I stuffed the cushion pleats with 1 strip of 1/4" jute and two layers of 1" cotton batting.  I wrapped these parts in a strip of a 4mil plastic bag and pushed it through the pleat with a steel ruler.  I stuffed them from the bottom because I had more material to hold on to as I pushed the stuffing into the pleats. Once the material was in place, I pulled the ruler out from the bottom and then pulled the plastic out from the other end.

 

Then I took the cushion out to the car and tacked the bottom edge as the original one was tacked in.  I used a tack at each seam location across the base.  Now I'll use the old seat bottom to push the cushion into position and I'll start pulling and tacking the top edge and then trimming excess stuffing and material. Once this is complete, I'll tackle the rear seat bottom.

Back seat cushion complete waiting stuffing.jpg

rear seat back cushion before stuffing.jpg

Stuffing rear seat back cushion.jpg

Rear seat cushion stuffed.jpg

rear seat cushion bottom tacked in place.jpg

Rear seat back cushion roughlt tacked in postion to begin final  installation.jpg

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After stripping the cushion off of the springs, I see that the springs are in great shape.  I have no broken springs like I did on the front seat.  Also the springs are not rusty.  They are filthy however and need a good pressure wash. 

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Mark, 

      Looking good so far, but I need to point something out.  The back side of the rear toneau wood is reserved for attaching the top.  The top of the back seat is installed like the front seat back.  The seat back tacks are installed vertically.  The arm rests do curl over and are attached with horizontal tacks.  This is because the gypsy curtains are held with "pull the dots" and "pull the dot studs" on the outside of the armrests.   There is a transition where the top rest comes out between the two.  

 

The other interesting thing about Buick Touring cars is that the seat trim in the rear is different than what is used on the front seat.  The rear seat trim is a folded over design with decorative nail heads.  The trim across the top of the front seat is hidem.  Looking at the back of the front seat, they used the folded trim with the decorative nails on each side.          Hugh

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Edited by Hubert_25-25 (see edit history)
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Hugh,

 

Here are the pictures of my original seat upholstery.  Both my seat cover and top were attached on the back side of the wood frame.  The only tacks that were on the top of the wood frame were the tacks holding the leather straps attaching the springs. It appears that our cars were different in this regard.

 

As far as the trim goes, I am aware that it is not the same as the front.  The trim around the back seat will be the same as the door trim.  I bought the premade trim that I can stick cording in but I’m thinking of trying to make it out of skived leather.  Not exactly sure how I will engineer that yet however.

 

Thanks for keeping me straight Hugh.

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Hugh,

 

You can also see by my toothpicks that all the tacks were applied to the rear of the frame .   Looks like they changed the attachment process by 1925.   You have a natural breaking point for the trim where your saddle bolt enters.  Mine  enters lower in the body.

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Edited by Mark Kikta (see edit history)
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I am now working on the seat cushion for the rear.  I have already finished the front seat. Once I finish the entire rear seat, I’ll only have the doors to do to finish the entire job.  Then on to the top.

lots of work ahead!!

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Mark, 

   Interesting to see the changes in the upholstery to the back seat.  I got to looking at the "Back Stay Fastener".  The 1923 and earlier is a little different than the one used on my 1925.  I was not sure if your top was still attached, but this is how the "Back Stay Straps" are attached.  The 1925 book of parts lists the back stay fastener and the back stay strap, but there is no picture.  In my 1923 book of parts, they have this picture and they list the back stay fastener, but they do not list the strap.       Hugh   

 

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Hugh,

 

Yes that back stay you show for 1923 and earlier is exactly what I have and it just bolts to the back of the seat frame like everything else.  That is how my back straps were attached also to the bow.

 

Thanks,

Mark

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I took the back cushion off and then dismantled it so I could get good measurements and note them for making the seat cover .

 

I was curious about the stamp inside of the leather seat cover “ST B”.  Wonder what that stood for in the original factory manufacturing process?

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I used the same hide that I cut the seat back piece of leather from.  I couldn’t find a way to get the entire seat cushion laid out in one piece so I was able to get 10 of the 13 pleats in once piece and then I got the other 3 pleats cut individually from the same hide once piece at a time.  Then I just sewed them all together and my seat cushion is sewn and complete.  On to stuffing it next.

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I cleaned my springs with some Purple Power and they look great.   After they dried well I began covering them with a layer of burlap first. Next I covered them with a layer of 3/8 inch jute. I used hog rings to attach both of these layers.  I hog ringed them to the springs underneath the edge. Next, because this is the seat and I want it to feel somewhat firm, I will lay a piece of horsehair on top.  The horsehair is woven into a piece of burlap which keeps it all together and it feels like good padding.  I’ll lay the stuffed seat pad on top as I put it all together.  Originally the seat had nothing between the pleating padding and the springs.  This should feel much nicer.

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