Napa Le Mans update

[napa 1]

A little update on my HLM project. Nearing completion on the interior. My sewing skills are not what they could be, especially with leather, so I'm nervous about starting on the seats, but got the carpeting cut and bound ( found beautiful scarlet wool carpet from England) and the rest of the interior made using surviving pieces as templates and schematic drawings of the door bolsters etc. The seat frames cleaned up nicely. Strapped and the backing attached - they're beginning to look like I could sit in them and take her for a spin......if only the engine was in.

oops don't know why the image is turned flipped...

 

[Harrington Jan]

Looks great, good luck with the rest

 

[bernd_st]

Lovely job so far ! Hope the seat upholstery parts I sent you as patterns will arrive soon. Looking forward to see you finishing this project. Just get the engine in after it´s overhaul and hey presto...

 

[napa 1]

Thanks. Thanks Bernd for the loan of the seat pattern, you too Bob. Couldn't do this without the help of fellow HLM enthusiasts.

 

[GlennB]

HLM Seat Webbing

My HLM has individual webs on the seats instead of the "M" design the way you have chosen. Also please check your messages later as I am about to send you a PM. Regards, GlennB

 

[napa 1]

True Glenn. Mine did too. But some of the clips to hold the straps to the frame were toast, and one of my frames was a repro with no holes to mount the clips, so I improvised following a pattern that Scott used on his microcells seats. Hopefully it will work just as well.

 

[GlennB]

HLM Co-incidence

And I just realised our cars are consecutive in the HLM registry!! Very cool, have you got a recent photo? Regards GlennB

 

[napa 1]

That IS cool. They rode the "assembly line" together. Sorry no pics, you'll have to come and see it in person next week. ( I'll post one later today).

 

[GlennB]

Seat webbing

Back to the topic, I used industrial food-grade conveyor belting which I'm told should last another 50 years. GlennB

 

[napa 1]

That looks like it should hold. I believe the material I used, which the auto upholstery shop recommended, is similar to seat belt webbing. Gives a more firm support to the foam seat cushion, and holds up well over time. The old rubbery straps they used originally give out over time.