Upholstery - Seat Backs

Hi to all,
I am still wrestling with the apholstery on my 140 OTS, and have a question
on what is the correct material for back of back rests on car seats. What I
am removing from back of seats appears to be vinyl while what Bartlett has
supplied with replacement kit appears to be more like felt. It has a fluffy
tecture. Can anyone comment, is the felt type material correct, or did Jag
use both materials?
Thanks,
 Neville Laing

Back of my 150 OTS seats originally had the mouse fur stuff (Moquette? )
and the new kit I have from BAS, not the minimum kit but the "I am the
pickiest, most anal, perfectionistic SOB in the world Kit" has the same
stuff on the seat backs so I guess thats it then.

DAVID M DRENZEK

The last 140 in my posession was a DHC. It had the "mouse fur" , "Velour" ,
"Moquette" type fabric to which I think you refer. I wouldn't be surprised
if the OTS's came with vinyl due to the need to withstand elements and, as
far as I can remember on the only 140 OTS that passed through my hands
briefly as a parts car around '82, no rear jump seats from which some
impressionable minor or under aged girl, would have the opportunity to ogle
the seat backs. No, sorry, I don't even remember if my OTS 140 had seats in
it, much less what the material of the backs might have been. :-) But, to
fuel the controversial fire, my current 120 OTS # 670640 has some kind of
loop-pile, almost like carpeting on the seat backs.
But, I've written here before about the oddities of these seats/this
vehicle! Happy hunting!

Dave GomesNeville, my drophead has a fuzzy material on the backs. This may
have been used for the more "closed" models. Perhaps Jag thought a less
upholstered material was appropriate for the open two-seater?
James Warren

The seat backs for my two 150 OTS were covered in moquette. The original
seat materials have been replaced but are stored for whatever reason I save
this stuff for.

Bob Oates

Just a comment on the moquette, and a personnel preference. Have recently
reupholstered my 150 DHC. When it came to the moquette, I made sure that it
was used in the correct places, with the exception of the floor area over
the 'pumpkin bump'' between the rear seats, where I used vinyl cloth
instead. The motivation was to provide a surface which would not wear as
quickly as the moquette when exposed to constant placement of the ice chest
during current and projected long drives and frequent use...What a fun car
to drive.
WIlliam C. Burke

I have a related question, where I would appreciate some advice.

Does anyone know what material ( if any ) was used to cover the backside of
the two small removable back rests for the extra seats in a 150 DHC?

The ones I have display just the plywood, with a press stud to fasten it to
the hardura of the back of the compartment ( difficult to find all the
correct words in English). Front face is vinyl. Should that be leather,
since the two fron staes are leather ( with moquette on the back as many of
you have pointed out already).

Regards
Claes G Boregar

I'm in the process of restoring an early 140 rd. the original seats had a
furry material on the backs.
Kenneth P. Beck

Hi,

The XK-140 OTS has Moquette seat backs, just like the other models,

Mike Carpenter

Hi To All
Thanks to those who have responded to my question on material on back of
seat back rest. Since posing that question I have been paging through
Porter's Original Jaguar XK. Could anyone comment on the correctness of
upholstery in the pictures on pages 54,55,56 and 57 and in particular if
there should be any differences for a Roadster. Obviously the door panels
are different and I do not have the small seats for children without legs.
(Porter's joke, not mine.)

The picture on page 57 shows the side of the back rest (middle of car), is
it correct to have the 10 chrome screws on this side? Also is the shape of
the piece held in place by the screws correct? It differs from what I am
dismantling on my car.
Thanks in advance
Neville Laing

I recently redid the back seats of my 150FHC which appeared to be original.
I believe the back of the seat should be as you described; plywood with a
snap to mount the seat. The seat fronts were leather, with a (I don't know
the term) velvet-like material around the sides of the seats. Hope this
helps.
Jag150S

Hi again,
Has anyone , after trimming off chords at edges, put new seat covers over
old. Did doing this create any problems? The only problem I can forsee is
that that the seat backs will be a little wider and may rub against each
other in the center of the car. I am thinking of doing this on the back
rests because they appear to have the correct shape and are firm. The seats
are not as firm so I may have to replace foam, so may as well leave old
covers off.
Thanks again
Neville Laing

Neville:

Neat idea, but I expect you won't get a first class result. Your seat back
covers will definitely not fit properly because you will be unable to
staple the tuck strip attached to the inside of the inner piping to the
wood frame, and the feel of the seat will be affected as well. You can
always try it and undo the work before final trimming if you don't like
what you end up with.

I recovered my seats recently (with the exception of the moquette, which I
am still scratching my head over) and it was without question one of the
more difficult jobs so far. The bottoms went together easily but the seat
backs were a battle. After trying a variety of materials with which to
stuff the seat backs, I went to an upholstery supply who sold me a very
thick bat of dense cotton batting, just like the stuff that was originally
used. It worked quite well. The trick is to put in about twice as much as
you think you need and pull like hell to fit the seat cover over it. To
avoid wrinkles, the batting should be laid down in complete slabs that
match the shape and size of the space being filled. In spite of hours of
work, fitting and refitting, I ended up with a little wrinkle in one of the
seat backs, but this came out nicely with the judicious use of a heat gun
to shrink the leather (as recommended by the trimmer at G.W.Bartlett).

Nick Saltarelli
1954 XK120SE OTS
1968 E-type OTS

If you have any questions or comments send e-mail to: ted@jag-lovers.org
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