Replacing Pirelli Webbing under front seats

[Billy Smalls]

Hi Again All

The webbing under the front seats is either sagging a fair bit or broken. Located the straps for sale http://www.supaprice.co.uk/p/result....webbing+straps but has anyone done this before? is it easy? anyone know the lengths?

is removing the seats an easy job? any little springs waiting to fly out or nuts dropping into the chassis voids???

I wish the Haynes manual had alot more on body, interior and trim

Cheers

[arcturus]

Removing seats "easy peasy" Front seats held by one nut and screw which adjusts seat at front and one either side at rear of seat. No nead to remove seat though. Just lift seat squab off by unfastening buttons on flaps at front and rear.

[Billy Smalls]

Thanks for that. To get the webbing itself is easy, will I have to cut it to length and fit the end V shaped clips? And is it obvious where these ‘slot in’ / ‘bolt in’

Cheers

[Moosejaw]

I did it on my Amazon when I first got it, I'm assuming the 140s are similar.
As Arcturus says getting the seats out is easy enough but they're heavier than they look and I found getting them back in again was a bit of a faff, lining up the bolts with the holes.

Before, showing how badly the original webbing had deteriorated. The seat had a piece of wood resting in the frame to stop you from virtually sitting on the floor!



Get yourself about 4m of webbing per seat to be on the safe side and get the little plastic tabs and new clips too. (Or make them) I was told the correct way was to do it in one continuous length rather than doing each piece side-to-side.




Clip the first end over the hook in the seat and pull the webbing REALLY tight (You won't break it) across the frame, back and forth as shown. How good a job you do depends on how tight you manage to get the webbing after each loop. An extra pair of hands to keep the tension while you loop the webbing through the guides would probably be useful, but I managed without.



Finally cut the webbing to size and fit the last clip, keeping it all as tight as you possibly can.


The difference after I'd done that was amazing. Ideally I'd have done the backrest too but I wasn't confident of taking the cover off.

[Billy Smalls]

Hi Moosejaw

Thanks for your post on this. I bought 6m of 50mm Pirelli webbing off Woolies Trim, together with 2 packs of their ‘staples and plates’ – The original webbing used cup rivets, which I liked the idea of, but couldn’t find a decent fabric riveter on the net, and didn’t want to spend too much anyway. I did consider blind (pop / snap) rivets with large washers but thought I’d try the staple & plate idea and I’m glad I did as I actually think the tension is spread better.

I did note that the original webbing was basically two ‘N’ shapes across the 4 positions. However, in the end I went with 4 separate straps, as I’m not that heavy and I did the 4 in an hour from scratch in the warmth of my lounge floor!! Ha ha. I also envisaged trying to keep it all taught, whilst clips were teetering in their holes and figured I wouldn’t have a solid base to hammer the staples shut. If it doesn’t work, then in 5/10 years I’ll do it again – all the materials came to £30. The only thing I can imagine is that the foam of the squab with indent a bit more, at these points I have to get things in perspective – I’m not re-upholstering a vintage Ferrari!!!

Of course 4 of the 8 clips are slightly offset to cope with the diagonals, but using them straight is fine. You know the fairytale ‘Princess & The Pea’ – well, I’d need her to find a difference in the comfort of the seat!!!

I got the accuracy by getting a long piece of 38 x 100mm timber drill 2 holes a clips distance apart at one end of the timber and measure 490mm and drill 2 holes at the other end, then inserting the clips into these pairs of holes – ie. A mock-up. It worked perfectly and gave me a good solid surface to work off, especially getting the tension right and lightly hammering the staples shut.

As you say, the seat may as well be brand new for the feel it gives compared to how it was. But it is testament to Volvo’s quality that even with snapped, sagged and perished straps the seats were still pretty comfortable!!!

Woolies are great by the way…..I’m sure they’re well known on this forum.

Cheers
Will

[Derek UK]

It really is best if you do it in one piece so that you have the diagonals. These stop the problem of individual ones moving apart, make the support more like a diaphragm and also self adjust a bit to suit the shape of your rear end.

It's also easier to do the job with one length!

[sillen963]

You can also try to get a seat from a 1972 model (1971?) that has springs instead of rubber,that makes the seat abit firmer but a lot better according to me
On one of the cars i owned they had replaced the rubber with a cut out in playwood (maybe different name in english?) that made the seat A LOT firmer lol but it worked

Erik in Sweden

[DJS]

Another thing you can use, is seatbelt webbing.

It again makes the cushion firmer, but in my opinion, more comfortable.

[Billy Smalls]

I think time will tell with this one. I just did 4 separate straps per seat but in hindsight I can see the better way of doing it would have been to do a continuous length....oh well, i reckon it will be fine for several years!!

thanks for all your advice people, even if i didn't listen !!!!

Cheers

[Walrus3]

In 1973 both the 140 and the 164 went to a system of a wire frame held by a bunch of coil tension springs which is JUST as comfortable and not subject to stretch, sagging, rot or smelling bad in hot weather. I have these in my oldtimers and they work GREAT! Fit in the same holes as the webbing clips.