Seat restoration...

[Timbo]

That's very helpful thanks.........now back to the question..... .........

To be fair Timbo you haven't said exactly what the problem with the cover is? ingrained dirt? faded? stained? If it's ingraine dirt then DP's suggestion is probably the best bet.......are the oxe blood covers vinyl or leather though? With vinyl I'd use a nail brush on the large areas and a tooth brush on the seams. If it's faded then it might be worth looking into vinyl paint but that would depend on wheather you wished to retain the 'patina'

I have used the nailbrush technique woth neat fairy liquid to good effect on the original interior of my 1970 Marcos which is mostly a waffle pattern. Several of it's previous owners were American serviceman and I think Brylcream must have been in favour back then as the head rests in particular took LOADS of scrubbing.....if I was doing now as apposed to 1990 I would probably use CIF or Cylic Bang.

Thanks, it's vinyl as I'm being told they were never leather. Will give your method a go....

[alcoholic maniacs sc]

its vinyl not leather. after giving it a good clean with a wet cloth and sif, dry it carefully. The waxed cotton seaming will be quite fragile so avoid rubbing this too heavily. if there is dark tarnishing over the original material in folds or at the areas that collect road dirt then use thinners on a clth to give a quick rub to these. the dirt will lift pretty quick so don't rub the vinyl too hard or you will stretch the surface tension.theres nothing you can do to repair the waxed cotton stitching as the machines arent in use anymore as waxed cotton is only used in india now where it is a good cheap humidity resistant alternative to nylon.An original strap should be hard plastic with "love heart" ends. if you need to replace this with casa one then dye its bright red, dye it with vinyl dye black and after its dryed rub with fine wire wool till you get the correct aged colour.you can repair the seat from the inside with rubber inner tube and epoxy resin patching if its split leaving the broken stitching on the outside but no holes.thank god youre not fitting a nasty far eastern ebay bread loaf with stitched vespa strap, the ruination of many a fine lammy.

[Timbo]

Some great tips there, cheers. The stitching is not split but you can see inside that some is broken and will split from use. I thought of super gluing the stitching do you think that would work?

[Timbo]

[Train Driver]

Yes that is a carpet and a heater in timbo's garage, he knows how to look after a scooter

[alcoholic maniacs sc]

Some great tips there, cheers. The stitching is not split but you can see inside that some is broken and will split from use. I thought of super gluing the stitching do you think that would work?

nope, super glue is too agressive and not flexible.you will just end up with a mess that snaps in cold weather. No way to repair the stitching realistically from outside, use a softer resin glue and duck tape or rubber innertube on the inside to stop it splitting and live with the fragile stitching on the outside. the covering will be too brittle now to subject to major sewing surgery anyway now i guess. The original slightly faded oxblood seats look amazing, from a design point of view they p155 all over the bright,soft vinyl looky likey modern copies.

[Timbo]

My local old style hardware shop is owned by an ex Arthur Francis scooterist. He recommended Copydex so I glued all the stitching under the cover. It dry's clear. As you said you can't beat the colour of an original seat. Thanks for the help.