Would Mine be the Only LeMans with Tartan?

With all this time NOT working on the LeMans, my mind is free to wander. Where did it go today? The Land of Tartan. The train of thought actually started, strangely enough, with thoughts of my next project – a track-worthy Corvair. Back in the day, Corvairs were referred to as the poor man’s Porsche, so why not incorporate some Porsche details into my modern day recreation of a period race car. Here are some interiors from Porsche. Then it hit me. Why not put some tartan in the LeMans’ interior?

Let me digress here and inform you, gentle reader, that I’ve tried my hand at trimming (the fancy way of saying upholstering). In fact, I bought a heavy-duty sewing machine. I’ve successfully sewn seat covers replacing rotted panels before. With YouTube’s help, I’m confident I could put together some acceptable seat covers for the LeMans.

As I wrote a few months back, I can’t find replacement front bench seat covers in parchment Morrokide. Making my own seat covers means I can go back to my front bench seat plan, which really has been my hope for many years. Coincidentally, during last weekend’s extraction of the LeMans from the garage, I finally decided to get rid of the front bench seat frame I’d been trying to get rid of, so now it’s lying out in the rain. Now, I may AGAIN decide to keep it. Argh!

The good thing about going with bench seats is that they do not require the expense of seat buns. Instead, you use some inexpensive padding between the springs and the upholstery. Also, it’s easier to hog-ring bench seat covers than it is buckets. Bucket seats require inboard hog-ringing to follow the contour of the bun and bolsters – been there, not fun.

So, I’ve got the sewing machine and a good source for the padding; all I need is material. To best go with the Pomegranate paint color and the parchment vinyl, I will be consulting with my artistic wife. I’m leaning towards this black, gray, and red plaid that was found on the first gen VW GTIs or one of the other Tartans I found online with the same colors. It’s still available by-the-yard from a number of online sources. Since stock parchment Morrokide (vinyl) is still the other material, SMS is THE source that’ll sell it to me by-the-yard. In searching their website FAQs, I found they’ll even be able to tell me how much I’ll need. I’ll be using some cheap vinyl and cloth to verify my patterns and sharpen my sewing skills. I’ll wait until Joanne’s has a sale.



Then there’s the question of the frames. The rear bottom and back are in good, solid shape, but the front sections need some help. I can buy some more zig-zag wires online and weld up any of the frame pieces that have rotted away. Then a good coat of Rusty Metal Primer followed by a top coat of whatever Rustoleum is lying around will be all that’s needed to get another fifty years of seating service out of the frames.

With the tartan inserts in the seats, I also want to do something with the door cards. Here’s a stock LeMans panel with an insert of tartan. I haven’t found the instructional that’ll teach me how to integrate cloth into a complete panel, but I’m sure that someone somewhere has created and posted a video or a how-to.