Tan/Suede seats in VR FD?
 

Hey guys...I'm currently looking into getting new seat covers from leatherseats.com and am thinking of getting tan leather seats with their suede inserts, probably black suede. I have a 93 FD, and I'm thinking that it would match pretty nicely since the door panels are tan with black handles...kinda mirros the effect.

What do you guys think? I did some searches and haven't seen any pictures of that combination althought I did see the black seats with tan inserts, which were also pretty sharp.

All opinions are welcome!

I was going to go tan leather with alacantara inserts in tan...but I cant find anyone who has worked with alacantara before. Should look cool. :bigthumb: Seems to me in the "leather seats thread" there are pics of a guy who did black leather with black suede inserts.

Alright, I went ahead and ordered the tan leather w/ black suede inserts seat covers from leatherseats.com, and it should be here in a couple days. I'll take some before and after pictures to give y'all an idea of how they look.

FYI I also got the "Flat Smooth Inserts" option for $35, which basically gives...well...a flatter, smoother look in the seats instead of the luxury soft crumpled look. All in, the seat covers cost me $579 + $100 (suede inserts) + $35 (Flat option) + $19 (hog ring and pliers) + $26.45 (shipping) = $759.45. A bit pricey, I know.

I'll keep you guys posted!

:eek: Holy good god thats expensive! I hope it looks awesome, we better see pics.

Yes, please make sure to post pics.:cool:

Well I finally received the seats yesterday and started installing them for kicks. I finished the driver's side bottm part, and it looks pretty good. The color's not quite the same as stock, but it's pretty close.

Installation is kind of a bitch. Removing the hogrings really kills the hands, and I installed the wrong seat bottom cover the first time, which really hurt the progress.

Nonetheless, I should be done installing them sometime next week (not gonna be home this weekend), but I'll be sure to post pix when I get one seat done at least.

Finally finished the driver's side. Here are some pix comparing my old stock tan seat with the newly covered one. The material is definitely not the same as you can see from the pix, but overall I'm quite pleased with it:

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/SeatComp1.jpg

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/SeatComp4.jpg

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/SeatComp2.jpg

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/SeatComp3.jpg

Excluding your little error, about how long would you say it took you? I'm really liking the look of the seat (looks comfy), and I think I will be going with an all tan version myself.

Well...it's pretty tough on the hands because I was using small needle nose pliers to remove the old hogrings, and after doing about 50 or so, my hands start to hurt a bit. If you order from them, get their installation kit that includes hogring pliers and a bag of hogrings for putting the covers on. I don't know how you could install the hogrings without them.

I'd say, excluding any setbacks, you should set a full day to do both seats. I'll keep track of the time when I do the passenger seats and get back to you on that.

Okay just got done with the passenger seat. Excluding the process of taking out or or putting the seats into the car, it took me exactly three hours to take the seat apart and put it all back together, but this was knowing pretty much exactly what I was doing this time around. Use regular size pliers to remove the hogrings instead of needle nose...the extra leverage helps.

I'll post pix when the seats go in.

Okay, then it sounds as if it will take the better half of a day from start to finish to do this. Looking forward to seeing the in car pics.:cool:

Seats installed:

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/Seat5.JPG

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/Seat6.JPG

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/Seat7.JPG

http://www.allenhah.com/Temp/Seat8.JPG

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the seats. They're quality replacements for the stock seat leathers, but given the price and labor involved, I would only recommend this if your current seats are unbearable to look at.

Where'd the seatbelt guides go? :confused:

All gone! The ones I had on my old seats were broken anyway, so I've gotten used to not having them. I suppose it would be nice to get them though. Any suggestions?

Great question. I currently use them, and it would be hell for my special passenger to the left without them.

The seats look excellent in the car allenhah. I'm going to take a look at the seatbelt guides later to see how they are placed, and if they can possibly be transfered.

Yeah, they do help to keep the seatbelt off of your neck, if you're short.

I noticed my pass. side guidestrap is pretty relaxed and doesn't stay clipped on. Please let me know how you get these things apart :)

Its also good for getting a hand on your seatbelt quickly depending on seating position. While I have no problem with height, she is around 5'1'', so you can imagine why the guides are more useful.

Are you trying to unlatch the guidstrap, or remove the piece as a whole from the side of the seat?

Whoops, I didn't mean YOU were short. I meant if someone is short, in genereal. Don't you just love tiny women? :D :yum:

I can unlatch the strap OK. The problem is the strap doesn't have any tension on it and doesn't keep it attached at the top. It just falls out of the latch. My driver's side is fine, and I noticed the strap has some "spring tension" on it to keep it in place when fastened.