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Old Nov 13, 2019 | 07:48 AM
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Unhappy Seat Upholstery

I have a 1995 R2 that I'm hitting the refresh button on and one of the things that needs to be addressed is the seats. To be honest, the passenger side is pretty much ok but the driver's seat has a small tear in the bolster. I'd really like to get this fixed but I'm finding the prices to reupholster to be nothing short of insane. To the point that I've even considered just getting new/different seats. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place? How much should redoing an R2 seat with the alcantara be? Is there a good place that people on here typically go to?
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Old Nov 13, 2019 | 08:21 AM
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I went with new seats and haven't looked back. Consider it to be one of the best upgrades I've done. The stock leather seats might as well be milk crates for all the lateral support they give when you really drive the car. Save ~20 lbs per seat going fixed back as well.
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Old Nov 13, 2019 | 09:17 AM
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I had mine reupholstered with synthetic red leather. Basically dropped off my tan seats and my local auto upholstery shop did the rest. I did get a discount because he was a family of a friend..$800 for 2 seats. Black plastics were ordered new from Ray Crowe.

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Old Nov 13, 2019 | 11:43 AM
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Originally Posted by alexdimen
I went with new seats and haven't looked back.
Pray tell what new seats fit an FD. Most i'm aware of require some modification or are expensive imports (i.e. Bride)
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Old Nov 13, 2019 | 11:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Billy7
I had mine reupholstered with synthetic red leather. Basically dropped off my tan seats and my local auto upholstery shop did the rest. I did get a discount because he was a family of a friend..$800 for 2 seats. Black plastics were ordered new from Ray Crowe.
Wow, those look stellar. If I could find something even CLOSE to that price I'd do it. What I'm seeing is closer to $1000 per seat.

Also, which plastics are you talking about that you were able to get new?
Originally Posted by TomU
Pray tell what new seats fit an FD. Most i'm aware of require some modification or are expensive imports (i.e. Bride)
This is in line with my understanding too.
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 06:41 AM
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Originally Posted by ItalynStylion
Wow, those look stellar. If I could find something even CLOSE to that price I'd do it. What I'm seeing is closer to $1000 per seat.

Also, which plastics are you talking about that you were able to get new?
Thanks, the plastics I bought new were the seat belt straps and all the side trim on the seats (seat adjustment ***** and L shaped covers) along with the 4 seat rail covers (2 each side).
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 08:43 AM
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Shop around to some different local upholstery shops. Also, it's worth looking into non-leather materials as well. My old FC I had seats that were recovered in top grade vinyl. The seats looked amazing, were SUPER grippy, and held up wonderfully for years.

There are also do-it-yourself upholstery kits that have pre-sewn "skins" and you just put them on with hog rings and hog ring pliers. I've done it before on some FC seats back in the day, wasn't too hard and they turned out great.

Aftermarket seats are nice but most of them are more appropriate to a track car. Finding seats that will fit properly can be a real chore, and finding seats that fit that actually fit YOU as well is also very difficult. I wanted some RZ seats for AGES for my car and I finally got to sit in a car with those seats and found out I didn't fit them and they weren't comfortable for me. Then again I'm 6'6" so I'm not who those seats were designed for.

Dale
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by DaleClark
Shop around to some different local upholstery shops. Also, it's worth looking into non-leather materials as well. My old FC I had seats that were recovered in top grade vinyl. The seats looked amazing, were SUPER grippy, and held up wonderfully for years.

There are also do-it-yourself upholstery kits that have pre-sewn "skins" and you just put them on with hog rings and hog ring pliers. I've done it before on some FC seats back in the day, wasn't too hard and they turned out great.

Aftermarket seats are nice but most of them are more appropriate to a track car. Finding seats that will fit properly can be a real chore, and finding seats that fit that actually fit YOU as well is also very difficult. I wanted some RZ seats for AGES for my car and I finally got to sit in a car with those seats and found out I didn't fit them and they weren't comfortable for me. Then again I'm 6'6" so I'm not who those seats were designed for.

Dale
I'm 5'10 and the stock seats fit me PERFECTLY. Thus, I'd like to keep the original R2 seats in the alcantara. I loved them in my R1 and now this car too. Problem is, I remember the perfect condition of my R1 seats when I had that car and I want that in this car too lol. Guess. I'll have to shop around and see if I can find a better place to have them redone.
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 10:31 AM
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Originally Posted by TomU
Pray tell what new seats fit an FD. Most i'm aware of require some modification or are expensive imports (i.e. Bride)
Recaro profi SPG. Had to trim a tiny bit of fiberglass on the outer shoulder, which took like 20 minutes with a file. Didn't even hit unless pulling RH G's or closing the door. Garagestar adjustable mounts got me pretty much on the floor.

I'm gonna try to ditch my stock passenger seat for a Momo Daytona XL halo seat this winter because I have a spare from the lemons car. Autocross passengers fly all over the place in the stock leather seat and threaten to bust up my interior plastics from their flailing.

If you get tired of spending your energy keeping yourself behind the wheel and want to focus on driving the car, there is this list: https://www.rx7club.com/interior-ext...nt-fit-789715/

Last edited by alexdimen; Nov 14, 2019 at 10:39 AM.
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by alexdimen
Autocross passengers fly all over the place in the stock leather seat and threaten to bust up my interior plastics from their flailing.
Sounds like you need to ditch the plastics

Seriously, the stock seat suck when you track it, but for general street duty there's not much out there IRT replacements
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 02:50 PM
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Can't ditch the plastics if I want to play by SCCA Solo rules...

I don't know what people consider street duty seats. But for the price of a single used Recaro you can get a brand new pair of FIA certified Momo Starts or Super Cups, which are similar to the Recaro Pole Position.
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 04:11 PM
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Originally Posted by ItalynStylion
I'm 5'10 and the stock seats fit me PERFECTLY. Thus, I'd like to keep the original R2 seats in the alcantara. I loved them in my R1 and now this car too. Problem is, I remember the perfect condition of my R1 seats when I had that car and I want that in this car too lol. Guess. I'll have to shop around and see if I can find a better place to have them redone.
There's also a lot of tricks to clean those seats, I think S2000's had similar seats and they have a number of tricks on cleaning. A good clean may at least get them more lively.

The rip in the fabric could be fixed at an upholstery shop, they may be able to fix just that problem rather than re-doing the whole seat.

I got a good deal on some JDM R1-type suede seats a while back, that's what I have in my car. Funny thing is the US passenger (Japan driver) seat is MINT. The driver's seat got cleaned with something weird or something, the fabric is kind of "crunchy". They look good, though.

Dale
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Old Nov 14, 2019 | 10:28 PM
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I've been looking to do the same with my R1 seats. I got a quote during the summer from Ridies for replacement covers in Alcantara. I think they said like 700 buck for the pair. I had to email them for the quote through. I just haven't gotten around to ordering them yet. Might check them out, I don't know much about them though.
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Old Nov 15, 2019 | 03:37 AM
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I managed to find a like-new 'R' model driver's seat bottom for my car off the forum. And the upholstery shop did a really nice job matching the OEM Alcantara when replacing just the driver's bolster. I R & R'd the seats myself and it was about $150 out the door with like-new everything.
Originally Posted by alexdimen
...If you get tired of spending your energy keeping yourself behind the wheel and want to focus on driving the car....
M2 Harness bar and a harness with stock 'R' seats did a pretty good job of keeping me focused in a recent track and autocross event. But then I'm only 5'8"

Last edited by Sgtblue; Nov 15, 2019 at 03:41 AM.
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Old Nov 18, 2019 | 04:17 PM
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This thread is relevant to me as I just picked up an FD, and it's tan leather seats can use some TLC... There's another vendor on the forum that makes FD leather seat skins, see thread here: https://www.rx7club.com/vendor-class...x-7-a-1133079/

Looks like they are new to the market, and not too many product reviews from other FD owners yet. But the price is reasonable, and for what it's worth, the DIY leather reskin job isn't all that difficult. Done it on my FC years ago and they still look brand new.
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Old Nov 20, 2019 | 09:50 AM
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Rx7.com has top grain leather seats covers. I have no experience with that though, that being said top grain its way better that genuine leather.
You can get genuine leather for $350 last some time depends on the use and you can do it your self. I did mine and they look great and they don't feel like plastic either. This is the only pic I have right now, this are the $350 ones, not the $650 from rx7.com.
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Old Nov 27, 2019 | 12:05 PM
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I reupholstered a pair of seats in my Miata with no prior experience. It was easy, just be patient
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