chrishf12

Never had a problem with stuff growing on or in the seats that I have done...and I have done at least 5 vehicles like this.

Spray the tire cleaner on the seats first. Its just a more powerful soap than the regular stuff.. then rinse it out with the power washer. I think i left my seat out for about 3 days before I put it back in. If you put it back in before it is completely dry then it could get mildewy from being in a closed/hot truck.

I have some before and after pictures of how my ext cab turned out, if you are interested. Just check the ext cab thread from my sig.

EDIT well I thought I had some before and after of my seat but I don't due to it drying...

SwampThing

Yeah I just checked out your resto thread. Nice work dude. Yeah, I think I'll take your advice and try your idea.

SwampThing

Well, I tried your idea. First we tore out every bit of carpet and trashed it, then we took out the seats, soaked them really good with tire cleaner at the car wash, then took the high pressure washer to them, let them dry for a day or two, and they STILL REEK! I'm beginning to doubt that it is BO, and is more than likely cat piss (oh how I loath thee, feline) from all the cat hair we found when pulling the carpet and cleaning the seats. 4 different kinds of odor neutralizer have been tried (2 different kinds of fabreeze, oust fabric deodorizer, some brand name auto cleaner, and some kind of squirt bottle thing that autozone sells). And we've tried steam cleaning it too with my neighbor's "pet-stain remover", which is just a fancy carpet cleaner... But seriously, it's still so odoriferous that a literal wall of repugnant "stank" assaults your olfactory senses with the force of a 10 mega-ton bomb if the windows are left up all day in this 90deg+ Texas summer sun. Nagasaki had nothing on this. Bat s*** insane does not begin to describe how I'm feeling right now.



Lol, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but it can get pretty bad. Any other recommendations other than have it reupholstered (they want like $900 to do all the seats, with new foam)? I will probably search for some donor seats, but I'm talking about for the mean time...

Jay351

Sounds nasty

sb5walker

Ha ha. Reminds me of my 1964 Triumph TR4 in which an entire community of mice apparently had converted the heater into a mouse graveyard. I'd have some innocent passenger complaining about the snow and icy wind blowing through the cabin, saying through chattering teeth: "doesn't this have any heat??" To which I'd reply that it wasn't that cold...

peow130

When i washed my seat i used oxyclean and a pressure washer.
The oxy will take out stains, and the pressure washer gets deep.
I just let em sit outside for a day or two

chrishf12

Thats not good... Well if it is that horrible, find a donor and swap your stuff for some new internals!

SwampThing

I'm entertaining the thought of reupholstering them myself. Can't be too hard, just take the old seats out, pull off the fabric, lay it out into one piece, and use it as a template. I think it'd be more difficult to find some proper water-resistant fabric (was thinking canvas?)... Hah, imagine that, someone like me walking into a fabric store, let alone trying to sew it all together. Awkward! Lol

Only thing that is holding me up, is thinking about what'll be needed to do new foam. Where to get it, how to shape it, and all that. Any suggestions? I figure it'd be cheaper than finding donor seats anyways. Probably need what, 5yards of material per seat, 30 yards overall just to be safe? Figure what, a couple dollars per yard, so maybe $100 for the fabric, and another $50 for all the foam, once I figure out where to get it?

chrishf12

Look around i think you can find something cheaper easier and it will definitely keep you from sewing your fingers together. Unless you just have a ton of time and want the experience. If so be sure to take plenty of pics.

thook

Hey Clint!

Listen.......I don't know if you knew this, but my wife and I run an animal sanctuary. Point being, we deal with odors more than most anyone. We use a product produced here in Arky called "Enzall". Basically it's an enzyme product. It literally eats the waste.......which is what urine is. That and ammonia. So, anyway......if you can't get Enzall where you are, there are other enzyme products on the market.

Good luck on the project, eh.

SwampThing

Howdy Matt! Que paso my friend? Thanks for the advice bro, I'm DEFINITELY going to check that route out. With luck it'll save me from sewing my fingers together like Chris said lol.

But if I do happen to try and reupholster em, I'll definitely take pics. I actually swapped some chevy mirrors onto it (gf was complaining about not being able to see because they were tiny, and I was like "women don't even use mirrors!"... lol), so I'll have to throw the pics up here and show yall. I have to admit, they are a whole hell of a lot nicer. Didn't turn out too bad either, though the fit isn't perfect.

drew303

If it's an 87 how come the trim around the cluster looks like an 86?

prorunner

Could always do some neat removable floating fender flares. xD
Instead of having em attach to the fender have em attach to the axles.

thook

That's a question I could spend hours answering, but in short....life. And, it's good.

Yeah, do check it out. It'd save you a lot of effort if works for you. You have to soak the hell out of the seats so it'll really penetrate as deep as the odor is. Then, just leave the windows and/or doors open so it'll air/dry out. We turned this fella on to that used align our vehicles. He had a possum die under his house (good God it stunk!) and could never get the odor of the house or from underneath. He used a bunch of Enzall, though, and it all went away. It's the bacterial byproduct that causes the odor = the waste.

SwampThing

Hey thanks for the tip Matt. I couldn't find that enzall, but I went to petsupply and got some of their cat piss deodorizer with enzymes. And hell yeah buddy, it took care of it good! Thank god! So if anyone has horrendous odors, pick yourself up something with "enzyme power."

Anyhow, we're making a softtop right now. We got the front bracket all taken care of (which was a great idea on my part), and got the general shape all pinned together, just need to cut and sew now. I would be taking pictures to show progress, but my phone magically broke into millions of pieces against the wall yesterday morning. Damn alarm royally pissed me off lol.

But yeah, total price has been about $10. The 5yards of black waterproof vinyl cost $6, and a couple yards of nylon strap cost about $4. The door sweep that I retrofitted into a bracket for the front was free, and I've only spent a couple hours on it. Just need to get some kind of needle to go into my stepmom's sewing machine, and I'll be good to go! I'll get some pics when I can.

SpecialScottie

Whos sammi is this?

prorunner

I don't know, I seen the pics posted on another forum and saved em because i thought it's a good idea.

SwampThing

Finished the soft top. I think it looks good, took some pictures after we test drove it on the highway. It sagged just a bit, still have to get some mini ratchet straps to tension the rear straps to keep it taut, but anyways, the goods:







Anyhow, not too bad for only spending like $15