MTFCA Forum

So I now have this 1914 Runabout project. What I'm guessing is the original upholstery (seat cushion, backrest, door and kick panels) are still in place after nearly 110 years. The material is very dry and brittle and some seams are pulling apart. I'm fairly certain that if I sat in it, the seams would split wide open. Is there anything that can be done to save it at this point? Should I remove it no matter what to inspect the wood hidden beneath? Should I just rip everything out and figure on replacing with new?
Any advice would be welcomed.

Dont rip anything out just yet. If the upholstery is intact it is likely the wood underneath is sound, maybe. Not a lot of load on the seat back upholstery, so perhaps some leather conditioner there. The seat bottom Is probably going to fall apart from sitting on it. The seat bottom upholstery could be saved by taking the front seat cushion and springs out for safe keeping and using a reproduction seat spring and installing a new seat bottom upholstery for driving. Dont assume anything is unusable just because its over 100 years old, leave what you can alone, you will never have original upholstery again.

And please post some pictures.

Ripping it out won't save it. I might use it until it becomes too bad. An any case, take a lot of pictures of the details so new upholstery can be put in as the original. We lose track of those valuable details until it's too late. This is a good place to share the pictures as many of us haven't seen that many originals.
Rich

post pictures

you may be surprised what some preservative and cleaning may do

I'll see about posting some photos in a day or two. The material seems very dry and brittle. Just pressing my hand against it makes it pop and crackle. I think it is just so dry rotted. Replacing the seat bottom and trying to save the seat back is a good idea though I think. Door and kick panels are intact but dry and curling up on the corners.
thanks for the responses.

I have a 14 with original upolstery and asked this very question about 5 years ago. I tried 1 suggestion on the front seat, a different on the back seat. I'm convinced NOTHING will soften or restore original leatherette.
I'd use it till it's totally destroyed, then decided your best approach.

I'd remove and store the original seats/springs kick panels, etc and replace them with new ones.

New material will stand up to use. The old parts, if original, are worth keeping intact.

Photos of the interior. The door and kick panels are actually pretty decent and very savable I think. The seat back is also fairly pliable and not too brittle. The seat back material has pulled away from the body at the very top but just a small bit. The seat cushion is the worst. Like I described above, very dry and brittle with a few holes already showing.

More pics.

Your seat backs and kick panels are not factory original. They've been replaced. The binding on the kick panels is not correct. The seat backs should have buttons. The end of the armrests should be leather.

One of your cushions is sitting backwards. If the seat back were properly stuffed so the profile was correct, the cushion would probably fit better. If your cushions are leather, they most likely are from an earlier car. I believe that all 1914s had leatherette (artificial leather), not real leather.

You can clean all of the above with a bucket of soap and water. I like to use Murphy's oil soap on leatherette upholstery and kick panels.

Erik is correct, that has been replaced probably many years ago it looks like.