Racing Beat Seat Upholstry Kit
 

I'm thinking of going this route for my 1st gen seats. Their not beat up 2 bad, so the cushion should be OK and I am thinking of ordering these

Hi-Back RX-7 Seat Cover - Custom Colors for 79-83 RX-7 - All Models - Racing Beat


Anyone have any experience with these they could share?

Hard to go wrong with a Racing Beat anything. The only thing I don't like is they only come in Vinyl and Cloth.

yeah, I know...waiting on samples. just curious if the vinyl will match the OEM headliner and rest of interior as that is all in very good shape......

I hear they are incredibly tedious to install. Most people buy the kit and take it to an upholstery shop.

The best I can find, match very well, but not exactly OEM.. Nice stuff.. Difficult but not impossible to install, take your time..

I wouldn't say difficult, more like tedious. I did this on my Fiat and Mustang and process was similar for both.

Take notes where you removed hog rings so you know where to crimp new ones one while installing. Ask you local upholstery shop where to get the right kind of hog ring tool so you don't get the kind for chain link fences. With the correct tool, R&R of the covers could be done in a couple of hours.

For those that have done this kind of repair, how did you rehab old and torn foam in the seats? Is it simply a matter of buying seat-grade foam and gluing in new pieces to replace what has deteriorated?

That's kind of how we did it. We formed a layer of replacement foam around the old pieces to maintain shape, then glues burlap underneath to protect that foam from the metal seat frame.

If you're talking about the left seat bolster on the drivers seat that usually gets the most wear, a trick is to go to a wrecking yard find identical seast and salvage that same left bolster from a passenger seat.

Oh, that's a good idea. :D I'll have to go spelunking this spring and see if I can suss one out. Thanks for the tip. :icon_tup:

thanks for the heads up. I know where a few are laying in a scrap yard down the street. I'll hit em up this weekend.

The samples from RB beat came in. The colors looks to be a fairly close match to OEM. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

If you can, please take some pictures of the process. I'll be tackling this soon enough and some guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I bought a leather kit from a company in Texas. When I get around to it I'll do that. But don't wait for me. If you take your time and take notes pulling off the old covers you will see that it really isn't all that complicated.