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OEM Seat Cover Replacement How-To DIY
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After changing my mind on the interior theme in my car, I purchased another set of covers to replace the ones that have been on my car for less than 2 years. I'd grown tired of the gray in the centers. The covers I purchased from the same source as the other set, a seller on Ebay. This is not meant to be a review of this brand or anything of the sort. This is meant to help people replace their own seat covers, no matter where you purchase them, the process is the same or very close.
I prefer to use Imgur over photobucket so sorry if that bugs you for any reason. Old style: Attachment 756461 Here are my old custom seatbelt guides made from nylon web straps and sewn-on snaps: Attachment 756462 Attachment 756463 I will be making new custom seatbelt guides because my original guides are red. New material is black perforated center section with red stitching: Attachment 756464 Begin by removing the seat from the car. Remove front bolt covers, two 14mm head bolts, slide seat forward, remove THREE 14mm bolts at rear of seat. Slide seat back half way, fold seat all the way forward, and CAREFULLY lift it out of the car. Take it inside to your air conditioned upholstery shop(living room). Remove recline handle (one phillips screw) and then 2 screws for the side bezel. Attachment 756465 The rear of the bezel has a tab that lifts off the seat spring. Attachment 756466 Attachment 756467 Remove two 14mm bolts on the recline lever side of the seat: Attachment 756468 On the other hinge remove the lower two 12mm bolts: Attachment 756469 The back and bottom of the seats will come apart now: Attachment 756470 Get to the underside of the bottom of the seat. Slide the rails forward and remove the two 12mm bolts. Attachment 756471 Slide the rails rearward to remove the two 12mm bolts in front: Attachment 756472 |
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Unhook the link for the slide mechanism and remove both rails:
Attachment 756449 Attachment 756450 Attachment 756451 Now you're ready to start removing the cover. take a look at how the cover is fastened around the edges of the fiberglass seat pan. Remove the push pins carefully so you can re-use them. Use needlenose pliers to open up the hogrings and remove them or you can just snip them with wire cutters: Attachment 756452 Attachment 756453 Attachment 756454 Attachment 756455 Cut the straps that are tied through the holes in the bottom of the pan: Attachment 756456 Starting at the rear, one corner at a time, fold up the cover to an inside-out position: Attachment 756457 Do the same at the front, the cover is very tight here: Attachment 756458 Attachment 756459 |
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Once you've lifted the cover all the way around, the cover and the center foam will come out of the seat pan: Attachment 756437 Attachment 756438 Look at how the cover is attached to the center foam on the sides. Remove the hog rings on both sides: Attachment 756439 Attachment 756440 Attachment 756441 Put the seat right side up. The remaining hogrings are down inside the channels in the foam of the top of the cushion: Attachment 756442 Attachment 756443 Remove the hogrings one row at a time: Attachment 756443 Attachment 756445 Front row: Attachment 756446 Done: Attachment 756447 Attachment 756448 |
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I'll take a moment to talk about the listing rods you will need to make. The OEM covers I believe have some plastic strips sewn into the seats that the hogrings attach to. The aftermarket covers have fabric sleeves called listings sewn into the attachment points. These sleeves must have something rigid inserted in them that helps distribute the load/tension from the hogring attachment points. I found that thick wire clothes hangers make good listing rods. Cut each one to length to fit each listing, and I like to have a loop bent into each end so it cannot come out of the listing: Attachment 756426 Attachment 756427 Attachment 756428 Insert three rods into the center listings: Attachment 756429 Make sure the cover is centered over the foam with the corners turned inside out. Starting in the center channel, attach the cover to the frame inside the seat foam using hogrings: Attachment 756430 Attachment 756431 Attachment 756432 Attachment 756433 Repeat procedure for all three top channels. Insert rods into listings in side of cover: Attachment 756434 Pull the front of the cover over the cushion: Attachment 756435 After you have hogringed both sides to the center foam, you need to attach new straps of some sort to the side listings where they were attached before. You can use whatever sturdy material you have handy. It will need to be pulled pretty tight though. I used some strips of vinyl material I had lying around. You could use some boot laces if they are long enough. Cut a small slit in the side listing and thread them through: Attachment 756436 |
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Set the cover and the center foam back into the seat pan, and thread the straps through the holes in the pan:
Attachment 756416 Attachment 756417 Attachment 756418 Starting at the front bolsters, fold the covers over one side at a time: Attachment 756419 Massage/ beat the cover into place: Attachment 756420 Fold over the rear corners: Attachment 756421 Repeat the seat cover whooping till the cover sits nice and centered and even. Flip it over and assess the bottom attachments: Attachment 756422 Pull the straps tight and tie them. Stretch the cover tight and slit some small holes for the push pins to go through. Keep checking the top of the seat to make sure you are not introducing any tension wrinkles: Attachment 756423 Ignore the pink wire in this pic it was only temporary. Hogring the edges into place, folding any loose material back under itself: Attachment 756424 Here is how I attached the front edge because this cover was made differently than the last one (ignore the seat rails) Attachment 756425 |
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You're just about done with the seat bottom so well move onto the seat back. Remove one 10mm bolt on the side of the hinge and keep track of the spacer that comes out. The hinge that has the recline mechanism stays attached to the seat so leave it alone Attachment 756406 Remove three hogrings at the bottom of the seat: Attachment 756407 Remove two hogrings on the back that hold down this flap: Attachment 756408 This will loosen the bottom of the center cushion, lift it up and there will be two more hidden hogrings in there: Attachment 756409 Lift the cushion up and you can see the rest of the hogrings to be removed: Attachment 756410 Attachment 756411 Set aside the center cushion. Remove these hogrings holding on the main cover: Attachment 756412 Undo the zipper and remove the upper hogrings: Attachment 756413 Remove the hogrings at both sides of the center spring section: Attachment 756414 Carefully unfold the seat cover from the foam and frame: Attachment 756415 |
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I can't really do instructions on how I made the new seatbelt guides, but here are a couple pictures. They are made from perforated leather straps that are sewn to the seat and have a magnetic snap at the bottom. I copied the design from the FR-S. Attachment 756391 Attachment 756392 Attachment 756393 Attachment 756394 Attachment 756395 Attachment 756396 Grab the new cover and slip it on over the frame: Attachment 756397 Start with the bolsters inside out and fold them over the bolster wings: Attachment 756398 This is by far the most difficult part and really needs a video to explain more than pictures. It is like trying to put on a jacket that is two sizes too small. Pull and stretch the cover down over the seat frame. You have to tuck the bottom edges over the side of the frame and hogring them on the back: Attachment 756399 The material on the recline side tucks in behind the hinge: Attachment 756400 Transfer listing rods and hogring the inside flaps of the cover to the springs/frame: Attachment 756401 Zip up the zipper and hogring the flap to the frame: Attachment 756402 |
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The rear center cushion cover has hogrings around the perimeter and also down the channels in the center: Attachment 756379 Cutting them works best for removal. It is very similar to what you already did with the center butt cushion. So I don't have many pics of it. Attachment 756380 Attachment 756381 Insert the upper flap of the center cushion into the seat frame and hogring into place: Attachment 756382 Don't forget the hogrings that hold down the middle of the seat to the springs. Fold the flaps togther after installing the listing rods and fasten them together at the bottom of the seat: Attachment 756383 Now the seat covers are officially on, you need to trim some holes here and there for the bolts and trim screws: Attachment 756384 Attachment 756385 Attachment 756386 Re-install the sat rails to the bottom first. Then, attach the hinges and all bolt before tightening everything up. Re-install your side bezel and recline lever. If you have loose spots, wrinkles, or parts that aren't centered up correctly, now is the time to do a final seat massage. By smushing around the cover, you can re-position it over the foam to get it evened out and smooth. Small wrinkles will sometimes go away after the hot sun has shrunk the cover a bit. There are also some tricks you can do with a clothes steamer to take out the wrinkles but I do not have hands on experience doing it. Yes I know I need to change my trim to black! Attachment 756387 Attachment 756388 Attachment 756389 Attachment 756390 |
Looks great! :)
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The first time you did it, about how much time per seat would you say it took. My stock leather is pretty beat, torn between new leather and putting it on myself, or some aftermarket seats
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thanks for the guide.
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This is exactly what I was hoping for :) Thank you so much for showing the forum what's involved, so we can attempt this one ourselves, and save the horrendous upholsterer costs!
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Great guide and write up!
Props for actually having pictures that are in focus! Vince |
Originally Posted by barcode625
(Post 11526838)
The first time you did it, about how much time per seat would you say it took.
I'd say if you haven't done it before, and like to take your time and make it look perfect, it could take anywhere from 3-5 hours per seat. This depends on how many breaks you like to take(when you get frustrated at it, you just have to walk away for awhile). I think I watched 8 episodes of Star Trek DS9 while I was doing the write up. About 6 really lazy hours of working on it, and taking pictures makes it take twice as long ;-) I spent a big chunk of time making the seatbelt guides and sewing them to the seat. |
Holy hell - one heck of a good write up thanks. This needs to make the FAQ - our cars are that age; a lot of us will be replacing the leather.
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you have the ebay link where u got those covers from?
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What did you do with the old seat covers? LOL
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The old seat covers I removed were sold already.
I realized I forgot to show the easiest way to tell the difference from the driver and passenger side covers when you take them out of the packaging. They look very similar. On the seatback cover, look at the hinge area. One side will have a cut-out. This side faces the door panel when installed. This is a drivers side seat back cover. Attachment 507520 The seat bottom cover is harder to see the difference. Look at the two panels in the picture that have pliers pointing at them. One of the panels is wider. This side of the cover faces the door panel, so again the picture is a drivers side cover. Attachment 507521 I believe the small skins for the center back sections may be identical. I don't remember any differences. |
The new covers looks great, good job :icon_tup:.
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any opinions on smooth leather (oem) vs textured covers? less slippery?
solid vs perforated? cooler? less slippery also? quality feel? or just a matter of looks? thanks! I'm thinking about replacing my worn red ones with red covers but the colors don't exactly match, they have 3 reds, one is brighter, one is slightly darker the other is more dark wine looking. |
Thank you Andre!!!! This is an awesome thread! I used it in my seat recovering process, keeping my laptop at my side during the effort.
One seat down, one to go! I would have never attempted it without this thread and all the pictures. Great stuff! This should be a sticky. |
I've left my car sit for the last 5 years with occasional startups and drives around the block. Now I'm driving it again and I'm slowly replacing interior parts, this post,while a few years old, is absolute gold to me as I plan on changing my seat covers. Thank you.
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Great job...! Thanks for posting. |
Thx for the amazing detailed writeup, will attempt this as my seats are worn also.
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Great write, going to give it a go.
One question:Is the time to make the seat belt guides worth it? |
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