Two months ago I reached the point of my '12 Torpedo restoration that required upholstery. 1912 upholstery is generally not available in a kit and finding someone to do leather, diamond tufted upholstery in horsehair is even more rare. I did inquire of one professional upholstery shop to do the job and was told "I don't do it, don't know how and I don't want to learn! Go find some old guy!" I guess I qualified for the old guy part even thought I did think I was that old.
I did my research, both of book, questioning others and by trial and error. I have done several upholstery kit installations but never worked with leather or horse hair. Both are great to work with. I have finished the seat and here is the results of my efforts and patience.

Absolutely Beautiful.

Good work Jack. Now I know who to call when my 15 touring kit comes in.

That is a really good job. Post some more restoration photos.

I am impressed with your work. This was not easy. You show that can do spirit that we all need more of. Great job!

More pictures of the upholstery project.

Boy, is that ever First Class !
Nice Job.
Congratulations on your patience and perseverance !

Jack,
Nice work. Did you take any progress pictures while doing your upholstery work? If so I am sure I am not the only one who would like to see them.

Also where did you obtain your leather? It looks much better than a lot of what I am seeing nowadays.

Alan

Jack,

It looks great! Yes, any “how to photos” would be great. It would also make a great article for the club magazine and/or Bruce's "Model T Comprehensive Encyclopedia."

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off

I'm gonna learn how to do that soon. I've already done some playing around with it. One thing I've been disappointed in lately, is the number of guys who are not using the shiney black material, or the plain steel black upholstery buttons. Obviously you did your homework. Congratulations.

Jack - I agree, it really looks great! It would be nice to see some in process pictures too. BTW, will you be bringing it to the OCF this year?

Thanks, Keith

Would ther be any differences between this 1912 upolstery and the 1911 upolstery in a 1911 torpedo roadster?

Thanks

Herb

Fantastic job!

I would drive the car to every upholstery shop that didn't want to do it and show them! Then tell them the fellow that did it didn't charge for labor just to see their face.

Here is a couple of "How To" pictures. Bear in mind I had NO road map to follow, this was uncharted waters for me. I had only a goal to reach, how to get there was a mystery.
This upholstery was put toghether from parts it was not a kit in any form. Finding the parts was a bit of a chanenge. The leather was the easiest--Ebay. 3-4 oz about 1/16th thick, any heavier it won't fold. The correct buttons came about from some guidence from Larry Smith. He set me onto a supplier in L.A. It seems that the trend today is to use covered buttons, that is not correct for 1912 or any Model T. They did not do covered buttons in Model T's. Horsehair suppliers are nearly non exixtent today. I was lucky to find a dealer who had hair that consisted of 100% mains & tail hair. No hog hair. Hog hair is very stiff and often mixed with horse hair. Horse hair used for stuffing is cleaned, steamed and curled. It is soft and springy. Nice to work with.
To do anything correctly you have to do the research. I collected a lot of 1912 upholstery pictures that showed the details of how the final product was supposed to be. I also had some examples of seat upholstery from the era, two unknown vehicle seats from early autos that were diamond tufted. These had different patterns. I did obtain an original 1911 Torpedo upholstery set that was saved when the donor vehicle was reupholstered. These examples served to show "how to" it was done in the early years. All examples varied. I decided there was no stead fast method of doing the leather upholstery. The end result looked the same, but the route to get there varied.
Herb to answer your question about 1911 and 1912 upholstery--they are very similiar but different in the back cushion because the hip sections of the body are different lengths. (left and right sides of the seat). Doors are also different lengths.
I drew up a set of plans for the back cushion. (actually drew 4 til I got it right) The spacing of the pleats in the leather covering are wider to allow for "plump" when stuffed. The backing burlap is marked to show the desired spacing of the pleats. This picture shows the backside of the seat back. The red lines are the desired location of the buttons.
I did make some consessions to modern products by using a layer of rubberized hair. I used a "sandwich" in making the uphholstery backrest. Firt the covering of leather, horse hair stuffing, a layer on dacron quilt batting, 3/4 rubberized hair and the final burlap. The rubberized hair was used to give form. The dacron was used to allow the loose horse to slide when being stuffed. Nothing will slide across the ruibberized hair.
In order to get the hair into the pleats a tube is first inserted into the pleat. I used a paper towell roll center for the tube and a short 3/4' dowell for a ram to get hair up into the pleat. The process: insert the tub as far as it will go, stuff with a small amount of hair. Retract the tube an inch or so, more hair stuffing. Repeat the proceedure until the pleat is stuffed to desired firmness. Almost all stuffing is between the bottom row of buttons and the top button. Very little is below the bottom row. The seat cushion is a sewn pattern and is placed over a layer of stuffing. The diamonds are not stuffed individually. The buttons go through the leather, through the stuffing and backing burlap. When all are inplace it is then placed over the spring and tacked into place. I am a firm believer in using tacks. No staples. Tacks hold, staples do sometimes. Model T were not stapled together. (Maybe bailing wire at times.) The seat cushion is a totally different ball game.
This should give all an idea of the process of reupholstering an early Model T. Good luck to all who try. Many thanks to all who contributed to my research.

Flawless work, Jack. You da man.

Bob

"A talented amateur beats a highly paid professional every time."

I don't know who originally said that, but this is one more proof that it's true. Years ago, my Dad was restoring a 1932 Pierce Arrow. He told me that whenever he saw a particularly nice paint job at a meet he would make a point of asking who the painter was. Almost invariably the car owner would say, "I did it in my garage". When asked if the owner was a professional painter, the answer was typically no, this is the first car I've ever painted.

Dick Fischer

Jack you mentioned the seat leather was tacked. Did you use a flat board on the bottom or just wrap the leather over the edge of the springs?

Richard: On the seat cushion I made a frame to support the spring and give me something to tack the leather. I had the spring made by Snyder's and due to the reverse bend in the back of the seat they could not use the type of spring frame which has the channel into which the fabric is placed and then clamped. On the outer edge of the wood frame I cut a rabbit 1/8" x 3/4". This rabbit relieves any pressure on the leather and gives a place for tacks. I will never hog ring leather or vynil to the springs as it will eventually tear. Difficult to see is the routed rabbit that goes all around the frame.

Wow, you have accomplished what very few people even think of doing. Really excellent work.

Jack-
It looks great!. Thanks for the tube tip on stuffing horsehair.

: ^ )

Keith

Nice Jack - you might end up with a second "calling" !