Upholstery and seat foam

[awsl]

I am just starting restoration on the seats in my '72. I am looking for input on various seat foam and upholstery kits that people have used (that is, from different sources).

[Arne]

Mine are still original. But I have seen a car with foam and covers both from Classic Datsun Motorsport, and they were absolutely first rate. If/when I do mine, that's where I would/will get them.

[Oiluj]

I used foam from MSA and had my seats done by a local shop. The MSA foam doesn't seem to have as much "bucket" shape, compared to the original seats, especially in the backrest. That said, it looks good and is comfortable. I'm now working on a cosmetic refresh of my neighbor's 72 automatic. Since the butterscotch seat kits are NLA, she had them custom done by a guy her boyfreind knows. They came out really nice.

I'm waiting to get a swatch of material to send to Les at Classic Datsun to see if he can have matching interior panels made. If not, we will have them custom painted.

[steve91tt]

I have the msa leather kit. Looks great but the foam is thicker than the original. I sit about 2" higher than I did with the stock foam and the foam does not seem to be compacting with time. With the seat in the lowest position I hit my head going over bumps from time to time.

[240ZGL]

I did mine about 6 month ago. I used the MSA kit and the MSA foam. It took about a day for each seat. The MSA foam is stiff stuff and it can be frustrating at times to get it just right but it does go together right. I did the passenger side without the new foam first and found the covers to go on real easy but the seat just felt mushy so I redid the seat with the new foam, then I did the driver side the next day. I also refinished the hardware and bought new clear plastic protectors. They look great and feel pretty good for that year seat. If stock is what you want then it's the only way to go.

[Ptero]

Wow that MSA kit looks amazing!

Why does the picture of their kit on the website look like such garbage compared to yours?

Edited September 4, 2011 by Ptero

[ConchZ]

Mine are still original. But I have seen a car with foam and covers both from Classic Datsun Motorsport, and they were absolutely first rate. If/when I do mine, that's where I would/will get them.

I used the CDM foam and leather covers, in white. They were a very tight fit, I mean tight. Had to shave the foam a bit, even. I decided to do that after I measured and compared the dimensions of the originals with the CDM ones. The CDM was definitive smaller. They are a combination of leather seating surface and vinyl back. Heating vinyl makes it stretch, but heating leather makes it shrink, so you can't use the old warm them up first trick. They also aren't wearing well for me. The outboard edge of the drivers seat back outside bolster is already worn from my sliding in/out of it, so I have to be really gentle when I enter/exit the car. They sure look good, though, when they are clean. White leather is hard to keep clean, did I mention that?

[Reverend]

Any pics of banzai motorworks seat covers?

[ZCurves]

I have the msa leather kit. Looks great but the foam is thicker than the original. I sit about 2" higher than I did with the stock foam and the foam does not seem to be compacting with time. With the seat in the lowest position I hit my head going over bumps from time to time.

Same Here! I am going to shave some foam from mine prior to the Great Texas Zcar event... The quality is all there though, I am very happy with the MSA Kit.