Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Ever since I got my 67.5 one of the things bothering me has been the headrests
Not sure what the PO was thinking or what actually happened but as you can see he did a beautiful job of butchering the frames ( dont mind the painting I was doing some color testing on the vinyl).





I looked at buying replacement units but I thought the asking prices were way too high ( I no longer think that ) so decided to try and restore my originals and make an extra set while we're at it to offset some of the costs if possible.

Well I'm here to tell you that one it's not easy and two metal work is expensive ,

this is where we are after about 17-20hrs of work and we're not even close to be done yet , there's probably another 7-10hrs of work and then I need to paint them and work on the upholstery. My metal guy works at 60$/h which is reasonable but even if he only charges me 25h that still $1500 plus part just in metal work.






I'm really happy with the work so far but will definitely have to sell my original set once restored to make back some of the cost. they could probably have been made cheaper but I wanted as close to original as possible

Wow! Great work...I like how the bendable tabs for the vinyl covers are even there. Looks like your old pair were modified to put the headrest closer to the seat (I have one set modified that way). Is he metal working the cover plates for you as well? Congrats on the attention to detail.

v/r
Buddy

Good job Jacques! Keeping them alive is a good thing.

Similar to you, before I acquired mine, and having only seen them once in person, I kinda figured they were a very simple piece... but... when I got to refinishing mine, and as you're documenting here... they really are deceptively stout and complex.

As Buddy said, you're attention to detail is strong and I'm sure they're going to turn out great!

Do you have photos of how they looked installed?

pm

I have a guy redoing my seats and headrests as we speak. He has been working on them for quite some time. A true artist cannot be rushed. No wonder it's taking him longer than he first thought. At least no major metal fabrication needed. I bought the seat and headrests kit from Datsunparts.com wich helps immensely.

TobyMan wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 7:59 am I have a guy redoing my seats and headrests as we speak. He has been working on them for quite some time. A true artist cannot be rushed. No wonder it's taking him longer than he first thought. At least no major metal fabrication needed. I bought the seat and headrests kit from Datsunparts.com wich helps immensely.

Yup I've been working on my seats also but doing them myself, I did one last yeart hen took a break havent gotten back to it yet in months

Pjackb wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 11:09 pm

Before







After

Nicely done!

some progress is being made, waiting on the foam to come in to finalize project

They look great, Jacques!

What did you paint them with, looks sessy.

iloveredmeat wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 1:02 pm They look great, Jacques!

What did you paint them with, looks sessy.

I wanted to try different finishes so I used 2 different types of paints I did one pair with VHT silver cast caliper paint and clear and the other with Rustoleum dull aluminum enamel and 2K clear .
in both cases they were sand blasted received 2 coats of high quality primer , 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear.
I'm really happy with the results especially the dull aluminum , I will let them cure out for a week or so and give a polish to the metal with Meguiars 305 to seal the finish

The clear looks like it made a big difference!

Looking forward to seeing the final.

Good on ya,
pm

First restored one completed
quite happy with the results






https://imgur.com/xKtoVet

That looks outstanding Jacques

Wonderful job!

Dean

Beautiful!

I think that will be my next project. I have Dean's kit, is that what you used? Was it straightforward? Those headrests are actually more 'complex' than I thought they would be before taking mine all apart. Did you put anything like padding under the 'upside-down tombstone' cover vinyl?

Great job as always!

pm

Very nice indeed!