FlyingV5150

What is the best way to repair small cracks starting to form in the vinyl on bucket seats? The front passengers side has maybe 4-5, around 1 inch cracks forming and i want to try and repair them before they get any worse. Would something like gorilla glue work, or are there kits that can be bought to fix them?

Gary M

I've used that for wood repairs and it EXPANDS as it dries. It foams up. Keep looking.

Allan R

The sad part is that when vinyl starts cracking it's a sign that the entire surface is nearing the end of its useful lifespan. The best solution is to replace the seat covers completely. One source of covers that constantly gets high reviews / praise is Legendary Interiors. PUI also makes covers and there's about a 50/50 reaction to quality. Your 72 CS originally had naugahyde (reinforced vinyl with cloth weave) covers.

Can't tell from your profile picture if you have A51 Strato bucket seats, or A65 Split bench with armrest. Don't worry about the picture - it's for design purposes and doesn't show the real color. I don't know why though

FlyingV5150

Actually my mistake, i have full bench seats, no armrests. Drivers side and backseat are ok, dont know why its only happening on the passengers side. DSC_0006_zpse52d3e76.jpg

Allan R

Your interior seating is not original. That's the interior from a 72 Cutlass S (sports). The seat type there is referred to as A52 Split bench seat. Your door panels are correct though.

RAMBOW

There are vinyl cleaner and conditioner products that soak into the vinyl to restore the oils that have dried away- and soften it back up to help prevent further cracking- but its not going to "repair" existing cracks.

Google "vinyl conditioner" and you will find many products. It may take some experimentation to find a good one. For clarification we are NOT talking about vinyl "shine" products here and definitely NOT anything by armorall (alchohol based which further dries out vinyl). I recently bought a Blue Magic Vinyl/leather conditioner w/ a separate vinyl/leather cleaner- and was blown away. I put it on the vinyl seat in my '53 chevy truck that had sat in the oregon sun for 13 years and was fairly stiff. After 2 applications of the cleaner, and two applications of the conditioner- the vinyl is soft and pliable again- i would not have believed it. I've tried it on a few other fairly brittle vinyl samples that I've got laying around from other products and it has worked great on each.


There are tools available that melt plastic over the vinyl crack to repair it- however I wouldn't do it on anything except black, it always looks terrible. If it were me I would likely take some heavy duty white thread and a rounded needle and stitch over the crack & past it 1/2 or so on each side (After conditioning) to support it and keep the crack from expanding.

You can breath some life into old vinyl with the right conditioners and stuff- but once it starts cracking and ripping, there isn't much you can do short of replacing it all.

joe_padavano

What Allan said. Once you have cracks, it's too late. A new cover is the only solution.

jag1886

I see everyone here is saying replace them, I would call a vinyl repair place first. I had a couple of holes that a mouse had chewed in my seat and they repaired them and it looks great. Vinyl repairs work well but you need to keep the interior well treated with vinyl dressing to slow down the drying of the original interior.

joe_padavano

Everyone is saying "replace them" because we have experience. A mouse hole in a low-stress area is not the same as a crack. The cracks appear because that is a HIGH STRESS area. Any patch or glue will not be as strong as the parent material, which is already cracking from the stress. Any repairs will be short-lived at best. If you have a rarely-driven museum piece, a repair might last a while. If your butt is in the seat frequently, not so much.

oldcutlass

Talk to some of the dealers used car mgrs. in your area. They have guys that come onto the lots and repair auto interiors. They can repair cracked dashes, vinyl seating, etc. Sometimes it can be repaired.

Allan R

Fixing just the holes won't solve the problem. The repaired area might be just fine, but the integrity of the material around the repair will become the next problem area...

I'm really curious about the Blue Magic Vinyl/leather conditioner Ben described. It may work really well, but the other thing to consider is the foam under the seat covers may be deteriorated too much to be really effective too. There's more to this than just the surface of the seat.

RAMBOW

If the foam/cotton underneath was shot- it wouldn't survive long with any kind of use and the cover would self destruct.

If the cover itself is still in that good of shape, and NOT ripped/cracked in many places other than the one mentioned- then its likely that it can have its life extended with careful use of conditioners and light use. The key is keeping the existing cracks from spreading, so something has to be done to arrest that- otherwise no matter how soft it gets, it will keep ripping.

If you want to be able to use it without worry- then new covers are the right answer.

If keeping it original is important- then clean it and condition the heck out of it, and don't let anyone sit on the spot thats cracked.

jag1886

Why are you so nasty!! I have experience also, I always hate when people express opinions as facts.
Repairs may last along time depending on how the OP's car is used.

FlyingV5150

I honestly try and be as gentle to the interior as possible. Actually I rarely have passengers in the car so I don't know how it started. I definitely want to try and save it and not replace the whole seat due mainly to my budget right now. I'll have to look around in my area and see what kind of options are available, and then start using the kind of conditioners Rambow was talking about.

Allan R

Just wondering out loud, maybe to distribute weight better on a seat cover with age concerns, what about using a cool cushion?

FlyingV5150

I really like that cushion, where could I get something like that?

Allan R

You can probably find it at most auto parts stores, I found it on the web. Here's the link
http://www.farmandfleet.com/products...t-cushion.html

oldcutlass

JC Whitney used to sell that kind of stuff.

Gary M

When a mouse chews a hole in a seat the seat is NOT worn out. That is not opinion. It is a chewed hole in a seat! That is not an opinion. when a seat cracks it is due to AGE. Replace what is lost. don't live in the past!