Mike Mascelli writes:
I have to admit that sometimes being the only Skinny Italian Upholsterer in
Groop feels a bit like being the Maytag repairman, so I don't send in that
many new thread ideas. And while I do a great deal of repair and
restoration of furniture, I also dabble on the dark side... yes, I do
antique cars.
And so it was that a weird cosmic convergence of coincidence brought me in front of a really unusual project. Let me step back a moment and say that since that first foray into minimally intrusive upholstery with Don, on that giant couch, I have been intrigued with the possibilities of what can be done using modern materials in creative ways to solve real life upholstery problems. Now leap forward to a pretty routine request to do some seats for a 66 Chevy II Nova (the squarish one), which was not that interesting. The fellow wanted a "cutout" in the middle of the seat to accommodate a special 4 speed shifter, so that kinda got my attention.
"Why the magic gearbox?", I asked innocently. Turns out the car is a full blown, nationally ranked stock drag racer. OK... more interesting.
And it seems that in the inhabitants of this incredibly complex world of drag racing, are truly obsessed, and NOT so much with speed. The sport is so intensely regulated, and the competition so intensely close that any minuscule advantage one car can muster is often the difference. So, they are obsessed with WEIGHT. Now I am interested.
So, I said, "How much does that heavy-metal stock seat weigh ?". "85 ugly pounds", was the reply. "Suppose I could make it less than half of that?" I answered. "We would pay you whatever you asked". Now I am in.
What you will see in the photos is a completely scratch built aluminum seat frame made to replace the stock seat and be not only lighter, but structurally sound enough for the rigors of 10 seconds of pure acceleration, and that only on the drivers's side ! It incorporates aluminum tubing, plywood, lots of rivets, several grades of foam, and the upper body of one lonely lawn chair that I hope Kathy will not notice is missing from the shed. It was a real challenge to constantly review every single decision based on the weight, and I had no idea that the damn vinyl covers weighed a full five pounds !!
My fellow bandsaw brothers will appreciate the "metal" arm brackets which show on either side, which are actually made of maple primed and painted to match the hammered finish of the original metal. In most minimally intrusive work I like to say that I am sewing the girl into the dress, but in this case, I was re-shaping the girl to fit the dress !!
All in all it was a lot of fun, and the owners were thrilled.
Thanks for looking.
Mike M
(oh yeah, the finished seat weighs 39.6 pounds)
And so it was that a weird cosmic convergence of coincidence brought me in front of a really unusual project. Let me step back a moment and say that since that first foray into minimally intrusive upholstery with Don, on that giant couch, I have been intrigued with the possibilities of what can be done using modern materials in creative ways to solve real life upholstery problems. Now leap forward to a pretty routine request to do some seats for a 66 Chevy II Nova (the squarish one), which was not that interesting. The fellow wanted a "cutout" in the middle of the seat to accommodate a special 4 speed shifter, so that kinda got my attention.
"Why the magic gearbox?", I asked innocently. Turns out the car is a full blown, nationally ranked stock drag racer. OK... more interesting.
And it seems that in the inhabitants of this incredibly complex world of drag racing, are truly obsessed, and NOT so much with speed. The sport is so intensely regulated, and the competition so intensely close that any minuscule advantage one car can muster is often the difference. So, they are obsessed with WEIGHT. Now I am interested.
So, I said, "How much does that heavy-metal stock seat weigh ?". "85 ugly pounds", was the reply. "Suppose I could make it less than half of that?" I answered. "We would pay you whatever you asked". Now I am in.
What you will see in the photos is a completely scratch built aluminum seat frame made to replace the stock seat and be not only lighter, but structurally sound enough for the rigors of 10 seconds of pure acceleration, and that only on the drivers's side ! It incorporates aluminum tubing, plywood, lots of rivets, several grades of foam, and the upper body of one lonely lawn chair that I hope Kathy will not notice is missing from the shed. It was a real challenge to constantly review every single decision based on the weight, and I had no idea that the damn vinyl covers weighed a full five pounds !!
My fellow bandsaw brothers will appreciate the "metal" arm brackets which show on either side, which are actually made of maple primed and painted to match the hammered finish of the original metal. In most minimally intrusive work I like to say that I am sewing the girl into the dress, but in this case, I was re-shaping the girl to fit the dress !!
All in all it was a lot of fun, and the owners were thrilled.
Thanks for looking.
Mike M
(oh yeah, the finished seat weighs 39.6 pounds)
