New Leather=Newish Seats
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,898
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From: Metairie, LA near new orleans
New Leather=Newish Seats
I got some new leather seat covers for my car from www.Leatherseats.com . Put them on myself and they came out pretty good for my first time doing it. Its not the best quality in the world but for the money its damn good IMO
! Here what they look like in the car!



! Here what they look like in the car!


BIG TIME! I am turning my '78 RX-7 into a full interior Leathered car. Tan color carpet (the color of your seats). same colour leather seats, black leather door coverings, leather dash and console in black, leather head lining! I must say... WOW you did an amazing job!How long did it take you?
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,898
Likes: 13
From: Metairie, LA near new orleans
BIG TIME! I am turning my '78 RX-7 into a full interior Leathered car. Tan color carpet (the color of your seats). same colour leather seats, black leather door coverings, leather dash and console in black, leather head lining! I must say... WOW you did an amazing job!How long did it take you?
...of course that was because I had to find the time to take the seats out...But really it took I'd say about 6-8 hrs...I did it over a period of time so that's why ...there was a learning curve and after that I flew through it...the drivers side was done last night in about 4hrs from start to finish...The passenger side took the longest as I was learning and I put the wrong bottom on it and had to start all over again...The hog rings are what are a PITA...there are a million of them holding the seat together...Number one thing is get the tool that they sell to crimp the rings together and a set of strong (and easy to squeeze) cutter--to cut the old rings out and a leather punch(you need to make holes)...You can use a set of pliers and twist the rings out but that starts to suck after a while...The other unnerving part was when I had top punch holes in for the belt holders---you kinda get only one chance--measure 20times poke once!...all-in-all it was pretty straight forward just following the old seat cover holes...Just study the old covers while taking them off and you should be ok...Its nice to have a second hand every now and then, but it's not necessary...Another thing I found was under the seat in the carpet was a crap load of trash and stains...So I got the carpet cleaner and got to work on cleaning...So to make a long story short, start with the passenger side and learn from that and measure 20times before cutting....
OK, I'll be the turd in the punchbowl. It looks like it's damn hard to get all the wrinkles out. You did a great job for an amatuer, but it must be very difficult to duplicate the smooth leather of the new stock seats because I saw a webpage selling leather seat covers and their seats looked just like yours. There must be some way to duplicate the look of new seats without the wrinkles. Maybe you have to use new foam too? Or reupholster from separate leather pieces and not use seatcovers? I'd be curious to hear what a professional interior upholsterer would say.
On the other hand I had vinyl and velour seat covers put on my old '80 GS by a "professional" interior guy.
He used a steam gun to "fix" the foam. It plumped it up alright......the seats looked like they had tumors growing inside them.
On the other hand I had vinyl and velour seat covers put on my old '80 GS by a "professional" interior guy.
He used a steam gun to "fix" the foam. It plumped it up alright......the seats looked like they had tumors growing inside them.
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Looks great. i did suede inserts with mine. If you want one with no wrinkles you have to tell them you want the "smooth" option. You also have to use a rubber mallet to stretch/hammer out the wrinkles.
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,898
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From: Metairie, LA near new orleans
The wrinkle problem is in the quality of the stitch work ...I guess its pretty hard to get the leather to stitch together just right...I tried my best to get the leather to stretch, but there is only so much you can stretch and also it will start to affect other areas and form wrinkles...I have noticed that the leather will shrink and stretch itself a little.... so maybe over time it might get better...But I'm happy with the results, as this being my first time doing it...Also I did have one problem where I accidently cut a thread and the seat started to come appart
...Luckily I have someone in the family that can sew!
...Luckily I have someone in the family that can sew!
Last edited by nashman69g; Aug 1, 2005 at 04:53 PM.
I don't know. If you don't want wrinkles, don't get leather seats! Even if they start out with no wrinkles, they will wrinkle over time. It's part of the "look" of leather seats. My factory leather seats in a Pathfinder are wrinkled. I wouldn't worry about wrinkles! They look great!
So are only the "seating surfaces" leather like the stock ones, or did they make the side bolsters and backs leather too? Were your seats originally leather? I wouldn't mind converting my Base seats to leather.
So are only the "seating surfaces" leather like the stock ones, or did they make the side bolsters and backs leather too? Were your seats originally leather? I wouldn't mind converting my Base seats to leather.
MORE pics please I looks nice.!!!

Looks great. i did suede inserts with mine. If you want one with no wrinkles you have to tell them you want the "smooth" option. You also have to use a rubber mallet to stretch/hammer out the wrinkles.
Originally Posted by keynote22

Looks great. i did suede inserts with mine. If you want one with no wrinkles you have to tell them you want the "smooth" option. You also have to use a rubber mallet to stretch/hammer out the wrinkles.
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,898
Likes: 13
From: Metairie, LA near new orleans
Originally Posted by David Beale
So are only the "seating surfaces" leather like the stock ones, or did they make the side bolsters and backs leather too? Were your seats originally leather? I wouldn't mind converting my Base seats to leather.
Fantastic! I had a bunch of upholstery guys do it. They seemed to get rid of most of the wrinkles for me.
NICE WORK!
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...+belt+reusable
NICE WORK!
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...+belt+reusable
I like the way it looks and I know it must have been a pain in the *** but I am curious how much the covers cost. What colors are available? Can you mix and match? I am assuming that they at least have the brown and black options.
WOW, yours look 10x better then the job i did =_=. I got the black leather seats with perforated inserts and the grey piping around it. The side bolsters gave me the most trouble when i did it myself as well.
Nashman, great job! Personally I like the wrinkled look. adds something IMO.
I am going to be doing this soon as my wife hates the seats(covers) that came in my car. Black on Yellow. Going to go to a Grey on Black to match the car I think.. I am in the Slidell area, maybe we could get together and you could give me a lesson...
I'll buy the beer.
I am going to be doing this soon as my wife hates the seats(covers) that came in my car. Black on Yellow. Going to go to a Grey on Black to match the car I think.. I am in the Slidell area, maybe we could get together and you could give me a lesson...
I'll buy the beer.





