Hey all,
I've decided to take care of my ripped seat skins this winter. It looks like I have a couple different options, but I'm looking having trouble finding some good pictures.
I don't track the car, and find the stock seats to be quite comfortable, so I've decided to go with some form of repair, rather than replace. The options I've gathered:
1) The passenger side seat is basically new, only a few panels on the drivers seat really need replaced. So I could replace the busted panels with custom work from an upholstery shop with matching leather. The quote I got from my local shop was ~$700, which seems pretty high for just a few panels, but I don't have a ton of options to shop around.
2) Replace both seat skins with aftermarket kit. This seems to be the more economical route, and what I was initially leaning towards, but my concern with the samples I've received (from LeatherSeats.com and Ridies.com) is that the leather has super-deep grain on it that seems more suitable for a truck than a sports car. Additionally, all the pictures I've seen online of seats that came out "really great" seem pretty loose and not as well-fitting as the stock covers. Maybe this can be fixed by a more careful installation?

My question is: does anybody have any of these aftermarket kits? (I think there is one from RX7.com, too.) How do you like them? How have they held up? Can you post some pictures, preferably of some of close-up areas like stitching and the leather grain? I'm leaning towards the Ridies Nappa Leather, as it is the softest and has a nice shallow grain on it that I feel matches the OEM intent best.

Thanks in advance!

 

I'd replace both so they match.

I can speak to the quality of the rx7.com seat skins, and the ridies seat skins. They are both quality products and comfortable. The only reason I don't have the ridies seat skins in my 7 anymore is because a shop gashed the driver's side badly.

However! If you have tan seats go with the rx7.com ones. Ari has the only tan seat skins that very closely match the OEM tan color that I could find. Ridies has several shades of tan but none of them are exact matches.

 

I'm going to have to tackle this job on my FD too, so I'm interested is hearing reviews of what the current market has to offer.

FWIW, about 15 years ago (2005~2006), I purchased a set of leather seat skins from Leatherseats.com, and installed them myself. The DIY installation wasn't too hard, and they came out great - no issues with them being too loose/tight or ill fitting, and the leather quality & grain has held up well. Everyone that sees them thinks they are new OEM seats.

I'll have to get tan samples from RX7.com, as I may end up keeping mine tan - good to hear theirs match OEM tan well, as I haven't seen anyone else that does.

 

I had mine installed by a shop both times, but the labor charge was pretty low and I don't think its a tough job (but the first time with the ridies I did also have the seat foam replaced which was nice)

I don't have a picture of the rx7.com covers against the OEM carpet (nobody makes an aftermarket carpet that matches the original that I could find) but it does match the tan trim pieces very well. The closest Ridies had was a lighter tan that I still think looks good, but its not the OEM shade for sure.

These are the Ridies covers and you can see how they are lighter than the oem trim tan. I will snap some pictures of the rx7.com tans when I have a chance, which is much closer to the OEM color. Ridies does offer other tan shades, so definitely get samples if you're evaluating them for a tan interior.

 

Thanks for the pictures, that is super helpful!

Originally I was thinking of doing a full tan-to-black conversion, but now I'm not so sure - might end up with a partial tan conversion (i.e., keep seats & carpet tan). When I had the seat belts re-webbed & restored, I went with black webbing. Then I started refinishing all the tan plastics except for the headliner, seat & floor plastic bits with the black SEM paint, and it's looking good and holding up well.

So now I've got worn tan seats that need restoration, all restored black plastics except for a clean tan headliner and a clean tan carpet. Odd thing is this color combo is starting to grow on me; I always liked the tan seats, and the contrast between the lighter tan headliner & carpet and black plastics everywhere else seems to make the interior feel like it has more headroom and less claustrophobic. Pure optical illusion, but it seems to work. Here's some before & after pictures of the restored plastic parts.


Door panels, before

Door panels, after

Refinished bins, installed

 

The parts look good. That's a good refinish.

I stuck with tan just because its a novelty to me. All of my other cars have black interiors so its just nice to have something a bit different. Black is definitely the more beaten path for these cars. I think it looks nice with the montego blue paint.

 

Here's the pictures of the samples I received on top of my OEM passenger seat (which is in pretty good shape). In pulling the seats over to the lit corner of the workshop and really looking at the samples when I took the picture, I feel the Ridies Nappa leather matches the OEM look pretty well. It does feel much softer than the OEM leather, which has a hard plastic-y feel to it (kind of like all 90s leather interiors).

Ridies Black samples L-Nappa leather R- Genuine leather

Leather seats.com black samples L-Standard leather R-Ecstasy leather

 

And here's the current status of my driver's seat. And there is a wear spot on the bolster, too.


SpinngDorito, when you replaced the foam, was that something the upholstery shop did? I'm wondering if it's something I can do myself, since I'm getting quotes of $500-$700/seat just for installation!
Also, do you remember which Ridies leather you ended up going with?

 

I can't recall which leather I went with. I got them 3 or 4 years ago and I'm honestly not sure at that point if they offered multiple grains/qualities of leather. I still have the damaged covers in a box somewhere, so I'll see if they are tagged/labelled with any information next time I have a chance. I think it was similar to your sample.

As far as the foam, I had the shop do it. They said they redid it all with memory foam, but obviously I can't confirm/inspect it with the skins on. Definitely a noticeable difference in comfort to me though.

I imagine you could absolutely do it yourself if you are patient enough to carve/layer/shape the foam yourself. I know I have seen generic DIY kits around for that purpose before.

$400 per seat just to install the skins sounds absurd if you are just bringing them the seats with the skins (ie removing the seats yourself from your car). ~$400-$600 to do both would be closer to what I remember paying on installation. I'd call around some more upholstery shops.

 

I just did mine with RX7.com (Ari). I have that odd black with Tan seats and carpets (everything else black). I went with black....... I can send you more pics if you want. I would be careful with other companies unless you know someone who actually used them... of course that's why your here, just wanted to reiterate.





I opted to not put the seatbelt straps as I never use them.