AP5 Chrysler Valiant (1963-1964).
This has been one of our most enjoyable projects for a customer who had this car as his first car when moving to Australia from New Zealand.
It has also been one of the most involved projects because of the astronomical amount of seat rebuilding and hand bending of seat springs. It has all been so worthwhile not just because we got paid for our work, but it is truly a cherished experience when we get to contribute to restoring history and improving things meant for human comfort. This is not about building and presenting a museum piece, it is about making the car how the customer remembers his very personal experience of moving countries. We’re proud of being part of that reconnection.
I decided to create this post years after doing this project, because I think the Australian Production 5 deserves the spotlight.
The customer initially came to us telling us about being back stabbed by his seat. Fixing the broken seat spring is a no-brainer. Naturally, he wants comfortable seats overall. Not just pretty seats.
Time to do some discovery.
So even merely opening the backing boards reveals the driver back rest has lost some of its padding despite the previous retrim staying intact. The snapped and mangled up springs destroyed the padding. Even without broken springs, this padding is not the poly foam we are used to today. The AP5 padding is old, mouldy, and completely flattened.
Seat padding would need to be re-constructed using modern materials. Dunlop foam is a logical choice. To satisfy request, we added extra side bolsters to front and rear back rest foam, and added extra listing pockets to the seat skins. This customisation allows the skins to be installed snug around the extra foam bolsters, hence the more sculpted look compared to factory standard AP5/AP6 seats.
Upon completion, we couldn’t be more happy. The AP5 is just beaming with life.