Corvair Forum

Good info. Ive always left ot hanging with The top up. After its fixed i will give removing it a try.

I read your question and think it's better to ask the upholsterer to handle this.They have experience and know what to do.If it's a Clarks part, they might be able to get it or make something similar.Maybe ask the upholsterer if they have such parts in stock or can quickly purchase them.It's always better to have a new part than a patched one. :)

I agree Konrad. Id rather have new. When i get back home in a week or so i will ask him. Thanks for your opinion.

I did try to look online for this bead part but didnt have much luck. The Upholstery guy would be better at replacing this part than I ad I bet the wifes sewing machine couldnt handle it

Here is a pic of the beed that is ripped. I was able to pull/slide the top cover out of the channel without too much difficulty. Wish I'd have known this earlier. IO will be talking to the Upolstery guy tomorrow and wqill see what he says.

Another things I've wondered about is this thick padding under the rear seat. It looks to be a thick Felt/wool blanket of some kind. It goes up into the area where the pump for thew top is and goes all the way under the bottom bench seat.
Is this a factory blanket to help with noise? Or was it added latter? I know its got a bit of smell so I was thinking of replacing it with something. Opinions???

Sound deadener and rust multiplier

That sound deadener "Blanket" is NOT Factory!

Ok. Thanks for letting me know. Rust Multiplier. Good one.

On the LM (65-69) cars there was a pad behind the rear upper seat on convertibles, but NEVER under the seat which is a notorious place for water to gather. AFAIK no pads were used on EM convertibles. As other said --- a good way to cause rust if it gets wet. Throw it out.

Convertibles tops have a number of controlled leaks when it rains, or when you wash them

If a convertible gets a good soaking - ALWAYS pull out the rear lower seat to check for water.

I think i will through it out. It smells and being in a Vert I cant imagine it help much with engine noise.
Thanks for the comments.

I took the seats to the upholstery shop. Made a good deal. He said he can find the beed and replace it for the cost of material. He will rebuild the front seats, paint the metal parts that show, dye any plastic parts, recover headrests bucket seats and rear bench seat. Also recover the side panels in the rear to match the seats.

3 to 4 weeks as he is a busy guy. I will post pics when its done. Thanks for all the comments and opinions.

Update...
The wife found some new material/batting to put behind the rear seat so i replaced the old smelly stuff with new thicker stuff. Maybe this stuff will cut down on some sound or heat. It wasnt very spendy so why not. I did make it so it doesnt lay on the bottom but just the back so if any water does get in the material wont be sucking up water from a puddle. Hopefully anyway.

The plastic part of the top cover that slides into the groove on the back of the rear seat wasnt an easy thing to find. I contacted a few local places and got with the guy doing my Upholstery and wasnt having much luck. So I called Clarks.

They said they dont normally sell this part separately but happen to have a couple extras. So they agreed to sell it to me for 20 bucks. No telling on what the shipping is going to be but at least I know I will get a correct part and at a decent price. The Upholstery guy said he would replace it at no charge as its a simple thing to fo compared to my seats.

He told me 4 weeks on the work so hoping I get some home time to play with the car and get my new seats put back in in a couple weeks. The Spring-Honey-Do list is getting long as usual so it may need to wait. But its all coming together now.

Finally got the job done. I couldnt find a blue color in leather that worked, luckily the wife is good with colors as Im color blind. So I went with a quality vinyl. I had the front buckets, rear bench, both side covers in the rear that hide the top mechanisms and the beed part of my top cover/boot all replaced/recovered. I also had to find replacement foam for the drivers seat bottom as it was torn too badly to repair well.

A couple pics. The wife was out helping do some cleanup. Im happy with the outcome. Next year will be paint! I have a few questions about getting ready for paint. New thread.

Couple sideways pics. Bummer. I must have had the phone turned.

Another ...

Looks great! Congratulations on the progress.