This custom seat cover has been one compromise after another!!!!!!!!
First lets look at the colours, I wanted a dark grey to match the original with a dark green
piping to match the cars body. The company I was using said they couldn't get the dark
grey SO I thought I would try a lighter shade of grey. Too light and it has been nagging me
ever since! you decide
And now for the comparison first an original Volvo V70 seat cover still on it's foam and seat
frame! The seat upside down in this photo but you get the idea of the sunken panel on the
back which gives the rear passenger just a littl more leg room
On the sides of the base cushion cover there is a fabric strip to hold a strip of metal rod which
is hog ringed to the frame
On the sides there is a fabric flap which protects the rod, the hog rings and seams from the
movement of the seat. When it comes around to the fron the raw fabric edge is behind so it
cannot be seen.
And the head rest has a zip underneath to keep averything neat and tidy as it can be seen
from the person sitting behind the seat
I will now state a fact for all to understand, my Mother used to work in a clothing factory for many
years. She worked alongside my grandmother and other relatives at a company called Dewhursts in
Peterlee. So she is a machinist and knows what she is talking about! And she was NOT impressed
by the standard of work which was shown.
And now for the recovered version done by Elite Foam
Remember the sunken panel for extra leg room on the original cover? I had requested on the new
cover. Instead it has been made into one long tubeing!
On the original seat back there is a rod across at 1/4 way down then half way mark, these work to
pull the middle panel into the contour of the foam structure.
Back to the headrest the seams aren't right on the sides and has glue on metal bars. Although these
bars would be hidden in the seat they do mean you have to wash your hands after handling!
Here is something that was pointed out to me as I thought it was my eyesight!
The strips are not the same width either on the base or the back. PLus I did specify 4 not five wide
with extra thin thin strips either side! I asked for them to make it look as close as possible to the
original mk1 neon seat
Where as the original seat cover covered up the raw unfinished adges on the custom cover Elite foam
did not!
And there is no fixing rod holders from the front round the corners and down the sides!!
And now for the front of the cushion base. When I called to the upholster by chance to see how things
were progressing they had put the strips/thin panels right down to the edge and the piping following
where there is a seam now. Of course this is not how it was in the photo I had showed them and most
definitely not how I had requested it to be done! They said that they could sort this problem out by the
time I would come to collect them.
Better photo, please note how the seams on the front panel don't match up to the seams above the
piping making it look worse! And the creases in the corners to go over the foam look even worse then
the photos of underneath imagine if it had been attached to the frame!
My mother us thinking that they sewed the panels before they looked at the fabric dimensions or the
original seat cover they dismantled to get the cutting pattern!
So I have waited many more weeks than I should have being a very patient person, I have compromised
on the colours but the build quality which I had seen in the companies other work I have seen is most
definitely not there in the covers for my seat!
And I think that as mother is coming down with me to the upholsters, with the untouched passenger seat
to show how bad theirs truely was along with photos. And my mother will not be holding any punches
Mind you I have no idea what it will do to my reputation at the car club meets as the guy who runs the
upholstery firm is a regular there and has done some of the cars that show!
