The thing to remember is that although the seat backs and headrests are identical, there is a distinct driver's side and passenger's side seat bottom cover. The outside edges on both contain metal shims that are sewn into the sides to feed into the grooves on the outside edge of both seats to hide any evidence of hog rings or tie downs.
I started by removing the back off of the base to make it easier to work on. Slide the back forward and then remove the plastic guards (1 screw each side), and the seatbelt clip
Then remove the retainer clips from each side so you can wiggle the seat back off
Next, I removed the headrest off the seat as I wanted to tackle it first. Slide a slotted screwdriver down and find the tab to release the rest
Next slide the rest out and study how the leather was attached. You will have to cut the leather to get it off as years of shrinkage takes any play out of the old material
The end result should be this:
Starting from the side of the rest, slide onto and then over the top and compress the foam to get it to fit. Then massage the rest to get everything to line up for the stitching and fasten some air staples to secure, following the way you took it apart
Now set aside and get back to the rest of the seat back. Gently pry the plastic guard out from the bottom and then down, as the tabs feed under the leather at the top of the seat
Make note of where the hog rings go for later reference and less wrinkles
Now remove all of the knobs from the seat back
Flip the seat back over and study how the rings are attached as the order to dissaemble is the reverse order to reassemble
Now start pulling hog rings out. Use a twisting motion to cuse the least amount of stress to the bars and foam.
As the covers did not come with any hardware you will need to cut out the oem bars from the oem covers to slide into the new covers.
Installed in the new cover
Now peel the front of the seat back up but take care as there are rings about halfway up
Once you remove them peel the whole front up to get access to the back of it. The bars are buried in the foam to take caution when removing them so they are intact to reattach the new cover onto. DO NOT REMOVE any bars from the foam. They are needed to tighten the new leather onto the contours of the seat. Here is picture showing this
Remove the oem bar from the old cover and feed into new cover
Once you have removed them set aside and tackle the inside of the seat back. Make note of ring positions for reapplying later. Once again, remove all hog rings using a twisting motion.
Then remove the oem back cover
Here is the new one almost ready to go. Remember to remove all of the wire from the old cover and transfer over
Zipper the front and back of the backrest together and feed the front through the hole where the headrest resides. Then work it all on by massaging the foam here and there for a snug fit. You will also need to cut to small holes in the bottom of the cover and slide the tabs through to keep it all tight. Here is the tab:
Then begins the zip tie process...
Keep pulling here and there and applying the zip ties as you go, in the reverse order of dissasmbley. You will finally get to here:
Keep in mind that these covers did not have any of the holes recliner precut so you will have to line it up by eye and do it yourself. The holes are also slightly off fo rthe headrest tubes. Just be patient. Mine has a few wrinkles here and there and I will address them after a bit of wear on the seats. Now onto the seat bottoms. Passenger side first:
Begin by removing the seat back stopper and the latching pin. A Phillips head screwdriver for the stopper and a 8mm socket for the latch pin. The pin remains in place as it is part of the structure of the seat base. You are only removing the pin cover. The other side is identical.
Now take a moment to study and refence where the old hog rings are located. Use this as a basis for reattaching
Flip the seat over so the bottom is exposed and also remove the 4 nuts holding the seat slide on
Don't forget to remove the cable holding the slider wire on
You'll end up here and can then start removing the hog rings. Twisting motion, making note of where they were attached
Remove the hog rings from the seat coils and peel back to reveal where the other flap in stapled into the foam. You can then remove the rest of the metal base and set aside for now. It just pulls free after manipulating the foam a bit.
Once again remove all wire from the old covers for application to the new ones
Now start peeling the old cover off slowly and carefully to reveal where the cover wires attach to the foam imbedded wires. When I say carefull...BE CAREFULL!
Continue twisting to remove all of the hog rings and then remove all of the wire after the cover is off to apply into the new one
Now reassemble by working the new leather onto the old foam and attaching the rings as you go. When done you should have this Note the 2 straps at the top of the picture. They are fed through the foam and attached to the seat coils when the metal base in reapplied. This gives you the tigh leather to foam bond at the back of the base
Now reinsert the metal base and begin the attachment process
Followed by the slider base
Keep in mind that as you are pulling and tugging that there are NO precut holes for anything so stretch, cut and massage into place for best results. Don't try to use your old covers as a template because years of shrinking will have you off ba a margin or two.
Passenger side reassmbled and ready to go. The flash maks the wrinkles look a lot worse then they are
For the driver's side I will concentrate on the differneces as the seat backs are identical. I know the driver's side seat back has wires running through it but they don't impeed cover application
Start by studying where all the wires run and where they feed for ease later. Remove seat belt, cut zip ties and unplug the connectors from their respective harness. Once again take note of where the hog rings are applid for attaching later
Tru to pre plan the auto slide rails prior by positioning the seat slightly back on the rails before you unplug the seat from the car. This will give you socket access to the 2 front bolts and wrench access to the rear 2. Remove the base and then remove the 2 phillips head srews for the seat control cover. Slide the cover out at the bottom and then up. Or, if your seat is facing down like mine, then out and down
This will be exposed. Remove the other 2 phillips head screws to take the controls off and then pull free from the base and set aside. NOTE: one of my screws had it's head filled with contact cement (left one in pic). I presume this was to prevent removal for some reason or other. Replace with like screw when you reattach. I had to use pliers, gripping the screw head and gradually turning to remove.
Now same goes as before. Remove hog rings. Remove metal base. work old leather off. Remove wire from old leather and apply to new ones. Reattach and then reassemble.
Final result. Once again, flash makes the leather look more wrinkled than it really is
I also redid my ebrake boot with the same order. Here are some of those pics:
Old:
New:
Overall rating:
New Covers leather quality 9/10
New Covers padding amount 10/10
New covers accent red stitching 9/10 (1 fray on backside I had to fix)
No pre cut holes 0/10
Value 8/10 (covers were $400 + $30 for boot + $65 for shipping)
Difficulty 8/10
Time spent: 13 hours total for both seats. I did these over a few nights and with frequent breaks. If you find yourself getting frustrated...walk away. Much easier then pulling an imbedded wire rod out of the foam. Would I do this again? Hell! I hope not!
Am I happy with these? For sure! The seats are supper comfortable and feel like a nice recliner. The wrinkles I will work out over time. Hope this article is usefull to others and glad I can contribute back a bit.
Evan
