turbokev

After seeing some of the results people were getting with the "German Vinyl" kits on eBay that sell for $299 I decided to give it a go... I've never tried anything like this before with upholstery but I figured it can't be crazy hard..

I called the guy first on the phone to ask if I could get a special order set.. I have a sport seat for the drivers side and a regular seat for the passenger side and wanted to know if he'd be able to send the appropriate covers.. He said it was no problem and took down all my information.

My car has a 2 tone dark brown and tan leather interior.. so I decided to change the color of the seats from the real light color to the dark brown.

Kit arrived in 2 weeks flat and everything looked good..

I planned on doing a whole write up on this process since the 'directions' page doesn't seem to work anymore but once I got in to it I forgot to take a bunch of pictures I should have so this is the ultra condensed version that only includes one helpful tip for the first timer

I started with the passenger side.. Here's how it looked:



(note my high tech work space)


So here's the tip.. to get this hinge apart you need to be careful / aware of 2 things.. A: the cable that comes down from the lever on the backrest to lean the seat forward..you'll need to pull that down through and slide that clip off. B: There is a center 'hub cap' type cover that needs to come off to expose the next part you need to remove to get the trim off.




Removing the hubcap thing will reveal this metal retaining disc.. the disc must be rotated counter clockwise to match the tabs in the outer portion of the black seatback adjuster wheel..




Once that is in the correct position the trim can be removed to expose the 2 bolts you need to take off.. The other side of the seat is much easier, just a wide regular screwdriver is needed to undo the hinge..




The kit was a perfect fit for the seat on this side.. I used the included hog rings and took about 3 hours from start to finish to complete this seat. Everything went smoothly and the end results were really good. The vinyl is soft and the stitching is nice and straight. The seat looks 100 times better now and the dark brown color matches my interior really well.





Next comes the sport seat.. that one needs a little foam repair (not much) and appears to be a little more involved to take apart.. will update later.




.

bbourdon

Wow. That actually looks good! I may be considering this coverage option.

GloriaRedStang

Great post. Please do the same for the sport seat. This is very helpful.

DarylJ

Wow...that really does look good. I thought the first pic was the finished product at first, and wasn't surprised (crooked seams, etc). Then I saw the actual finished pic and was very surprised. Great find. Please let us know how they hold up in the car.

turbokev

I finished up the sport seat and installed them before taking more pictures.. the sport seat is actually easier to take apart and very self explanitory..

The sport seat cover didn't fit as perfect as the non sport.. I can';t really blame the manufacturer though as the seat was beat.. foam was worn and damaged in places..

I patched it up as best I could and tried to get the cover smooth but there are some gathers.

In my opinion it was very much worth $319 with shipping and 6 hours of my time.. The seats feel so much better (the original leather was hard like cardboard) and they look great as far as I'm concerned.

Here are pictures of the finished seats in the car..











.

ritzblitz

Looks great man. Nice work.

ilikemy944

Those seats look great, and a really cool color combo too!

Marcquito

Looks great! Now what about the rear seat?

Andy1212

Do you have a link to the seller? I have seen different types.

Keithr726

Great job! Now if only dashes were that simple.

turbokev

See item number 270300894648

His eBay handle is inlandimports

Hid feedback is 100% and I can recommend him based on my experience with him.. He answered his phone, talked to me about the special order and confirmed everythng before shipping.. He estimated 2 weeks to make my covers and I had them in hand 15 days later.

The 'tool' that is included was useless for me, but I did use the hog rings..


They are nice, but obviously the DIY route is not going to look 100% factory.. I am happy with my results, but your standards may be hogher than mine

turbokev

I'm going to remove it.. it never gets put up.. I'm exploring my options there as to whether or not I should use a factory type elimination kit or fab something up myself and carpet it.

bbourdon

Absolutely mint! They look great!

Marcquito

Maybe put some storage bins back there like a cab. I've also seen that factory delete carpet piece. Do you know where to buy it?

harrisonrick

well done!