tommyeflight89

iTrader: (4)

Figured I would post a thread on this, I have read about it on the forums before but wanted to highlight it for the guys that still have their OEM seat covers/upholstery in good condition.

My seats from my 82 FB GS 'high back' vinyl seats were in perfect shape when I bought the car. 60k miles....

Over a few years the drivers seat developed tears where the butt part meets the bolster part of the upholstery.

I also would notice tiny bits of seat foam under the seats while vacuuming.

Our foam seat bottoms are actually a composite in the sense that there is two different densities of foam molded into one piece. There are rectangular pieces of denser foam embedded in the side of each bolster.

Over time this denser foam in mine completely disappeared. On the drivers side it was 100% missing. As that goes, the seat looses support and you then start tearing up your vinyl/leather seams.

1. Remove your seats from the car. Also a good time to clean your carpets.
2. Remove the front and the back. One side is a cir-clip and the other is 4 allen bolts to remove the recline mechanism/brace.
3. Remove your sliders (and now is a good time to refinish them and use white lithium grease to lube their rollers).
4. Remove around half of the hog rings from your seat base so you can gently peel back your cover. Alternatively you can remove the entire cover from the base.
5. Clean out the remnants of the dense foam reinforcement.
6. On my drivers side I also reinforced the whole bolster with gorilla tape bonded with spray adhesive (this joint is stronger than the foam).
7. Cut new foam reinforcement to shape, achieving a tight fit. Bond in place and trim excess flush with a razor or a rasp.
8. I repaired my torn OEM covers by bonding the seam back together and reinforcing it. We will see if it holds up.
9. 
   This is where 100% of the foam bolster reinforcement ends up.
   
   Drivers side. This is how it came out of the car...
   
   Cut to size. Size it so that the new foam rests on the metal base frame.
   
   Gorilla tape with spray adhesive.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Yep, the foam deteriorates over time and exposure to sun. I did a writeup that covered this and installing RB upholstery kit.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...y-kit-1071159/

tommyeflight89

iTrader: (4)

Yes your write up on the RB kit prompted me to pull mine apart!

I actually planned to replace them with the RB kit but I am happy enough with the repairs for now.

I will go for the RB kit eventually but will try to keep OEM look as long as possible.

Fixing the foam before they tear, and adding canvas to the base like you did, may help keep OEM seats for longer.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear someone read the thread. The OEM vinyl just doesn't hold up well after 40 years of use and abuse.

RB makes the seat covers with the inserts for FBs that really look OEM. Very worth it.

They don't have the right insert for the 79/80 seats that exactly matched so I just went with the same vinyl all over.

Benjamin4456

Count me as another for reading that thread tg. Great job on the write up, now I know where to look when I finally fix up mine.

A while back I had been looking at seat cover options and noticed the lack of SA insert options as well. Turns out that for a little extra cash you can select the insert and bolster/headrest/seat back yourself to achieve the original SA materials. You could even go tweed if that's your thing - I believe some SA's came with pretty crazy seat options? I've seen a couple 79's with some awesome seats.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Thanks. In my defense they didn't have the exact weave that my OEM inserts have, so I went solid vinyl for now.