How to hog-tie cattle...

Great day here at the Reggie's Motorworks Ranch. Stephanie, our resident photographer, got handy with the lens and snapped some photos of our soon-to-be-parted 2002, alongside the Baur. Truthfully it's not a ranch at all, but when working with old cowhide, we like to use our imagination.

We are quite smitten with the finished product, so we are going to share exactly how we got it to this point. As stated before, we diluted the dye quite a bit. So it took a couple coats. We let the dye do it's thing; our own way of branding our cattle, if you will. Now it is time for reassembly.





Our passenger seat turned out very well, no assembly required. The driver's seat on the other hand, will be our guinea pig for today's writeup, as we are piecing it together from several different seats.





Here is a summary of what exactly it is we are doing:

• Remove upholstery from passenger seat frame
• Install heating elements to center section of seats
• Piece together driver seat from dyed seat parts
• Install on to working driver seat frame

If you've not spent a lot of time doing reupholstery, it might seem a bit intimidating to start. Really all you need is the proper tools, and a mite of determination. We stopped by the local Tractor Supply to pick up some hog rings, and the proper pliers to manipulate them. We're getting closer and closer to our ranchhand dreams every day...

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here... first comes disassembly. We have to remove the bolsters from each seat frame. For this we simply cut the hog rings in the back, like before. Pull the leather off of the foam, and the foam slides off the frame. Then we transfer it to the other frame. If you have a choice of donor seat parts, you'll want to choose the best foam. We put a little spray adhesive on the frame, under the foam to keep it snug.

Time to slide on that dyed hide. This is going to take a little extra care, since we are switching frames. We will be cutting holes in the leather for each of the seat controls, keeping in mind that the bolster will be tightened once attached to the frame. To attach the leather to the frame, we slide the outside to the prongs on the frame, then bend them down. We used a hammer for this part. Now might be a good time to take out some frustration... but not too much. Don't want to damage the recently replenished leather!

Finally, we saddle up and play with some hog-rings. It's really quite simple. Everything should be in order, based on the previous disassembly. We pull the leather down and slip the rings through the holes, making sure they are around the metal bar inside the leather, then around the seat frame. Then we take our special hog-ring pliers to close them tight.

With all the bolsters in their correct place, we need to install the seat bottom. However, before that is done we need to install the working heating element. We start by removing the staples on the side of the seat, opening a sort of envelope in the seats. Then slide the heating elements in, paying close attention to the wiring so they are not damaged. We tested them by hooking them up to a battery, and they work wonderfully. Now we are a go for resealing and installation. We reattach the leather around the seat bottom using staples or hog-rings to keep it taught.

We are ready for the final bit of assembly. Sport seats have a convenient adjustable thigh bolster for under your legs. This needs to be put back on track, located on the bottom of the seat. Get the hog rings out, and attach the leather to the frame. Get the hammer out, there are more prongs that need fixed. Finally we begin assembling the frame and mechanisms, attach the seat back and cables, and we're good to go!

Now we dust off our boots, and take a gander at what we have accomplished...
(click them... they get bigger!)

BEFORE

AFTER

We're going to clean up, do some detail work - including some touch up (oops) - and install these cardinals. We'll be back.

All photos courtesy of Stewart Imagery