Headrests

As I have previously posted, I ordered a complete interior kit for Alice.  One particular challenge (or challenges, as it were) are the headrests.  Today, I feel I'm winning the battle.

The headrests on the MGB come in a few different varieties.  Mine are the 'D'-shaped headrests.  These are made of an expanding foam covered in soft vinyl.  However, after so many years neither the vinyl nor the foam are quite so soft.

The first job was to remove the old vinyl.  I had hoped to save the foam - and I did!

The old vinyl was hard as a rock.  The foam was sort of squishy, but pretty beefy.  It's the same stuff as what you make seat cushions out of.

The interior kit from Prestige included new headrest covers.  However, it didn't come with any instructions on how to install them (the rest of the kit is very well documented.)  When I inquired, I was advised that the old foam would not compress enough to fit into the new headrest covers, and it would be best to buy new foams.

Nevertheless, I gave it a go after reading a bunch of posts about how this might be doable.  I didn't get very far - and I ended up putting a small tear in one of the new covers.  I stopped before it become a visible issue, but at that point I threw in the towel and searched for headrest foams.

And didn't find any.

I could find the headrests, recovered - but not in the color I needed.  I did eventually find a set in the UK from Mirror Trim... but they have stopped shipping internationally.

I despaired - until I remembered I had friends in the UK!  My friend Tom offered to receive them from Mirror Trim and re-send them to me via international post.  But... the shipping was as much as the foams.  (Welcome to the new reality, I suppose).  I then heard the batch I was ordering from had problems, and was rejected.  Sigh.

But then things went my way - the new batch came in ahead of schedule, and shipping was only a couple of weeks instead of the 6 weeks I was quoted.  They arrived today, and I wasted no time in test-fitting them.

The new foams are very squishy.  I was able to compress them down to 1/4 size by hand.  They fit inside the covers with only a little effort, which is how it should be and exactly as I was advised would be the case.  I test-fit one, and am quite pleased with the result.

Isn't that a pretty color?  And they are soft, like new headrests.

I fit the other one, and they are now both sorting themselves out to get rid of wrinkles and such.  I'll have to remove the old foams from the headrest posts, then glue them into the new foams, before they're complete.  But this is the big win I was looking for that will really make the interior look sharp.