Horse hair seats
 

Hey guys, Im looking for a friend, to find someone to replace the horse hair in his 1910 T .
Thanks

Re: Horse hair seats
 

Look up some stables, manes and tails get trimmed quite often.

Re: Horse hair seats
 

Check with your State's stock show. I know from experience nearly every competitor trims and grooms their steed before a show. I bet someone would have a barrel full of horsehair for cheap. Also check with a rodeo bucking stock company. They keep their stock for years, and may have access to horse hair.

Re: Horse hair seats
 

thanks for your input guys, my friend is 82 and looking for someone who can do this for him ..
Is there anyone he can send his seats to ?

Re: Horse hair seats
 

Looking at the photo, does look like needs restuffing.

If that is the original upholstery or even very old replacement leather, even if you could find someone, I would think this is a specialized service, it might get very costly being a conserve job not replace. The old upholstery would have to come off and be restuffed then reinstalled. All that stretching of old or dried out leather, really in my OP would not end well. I suggest posting this question on the AACA or HCCA sites, they would be more in tune with this kind of work or even try Model T Ford Club of America.

Re: Horse hair seats
 

I would suggest looking for a shop that specializes in antique furniture. Those guys typically are better at conserving original fabrics than automotive restorers who are more likely to want to replace it completely. A good antique furniture restorer typically has professional experience with leather conservation and will know exactly how remove, re-stuff and re-install the existing 111 year old leather. They might even know a way of re-stuffing the leather without removing it completely.

Re: Horse hair seats
 

I agree with GZ; I was a trimmer in an auto upholstery shop as a teen, and even back then leather was VERY pricey. I recall a Caddi W/ leather seats got a puncture in a pleat from an ink pen. When the boss gave the dealer the bill he explained "hell I dont have this much $$ in the whole CAR!!!" Auto upholstery work is rip it out, trace it on new material, stitch it up, then put it back on. Period. A furniture restorer is the way to go, IMHO.