'71 Cuda Seats

[Claudia]

I am getting ready to refinish my front bucket seats.

Any help or pointers would be appreciated!   

[CudaMoparRay]

I am getting ready to refinish my front bucket seats.

Any help or pointers would be appreciated!   

I used Legendary upholstery for both my '71 front bench seat and rear seat.
Installed it myself and was extremely pleased with the professional result.

[1 Wild R/T]

How's your foam? New foam is always a good idea...  Slip plastic garbage bags over the foam, it helps when installing the covers... Once the covers are in place you cn tear out the garbage bags.....  A warm sunny day helps make the vinyl easier to work with....  A half dozen little 1" C clamps instead of hog rings allows you to adjust the cover before you install the hog rings..... 

[realn96]

totally agree with you on the plastic bags. Helps out a lot!

[realn96]

https://youtu.be/4the6ueeIW8

[Claudia]

I have new foam, new covers and new seat backs.

[440WB]

buy an extra bag of rings - never hurts to have extra.

In the hot sun is best having a friend to help is easier to pull, tug and stretch.

try to set a couple of rings at the hardest to get areas first.
Its ok if you don't like it at first - you can keep going around - to come back and cut
out the ones you don't like to re-do them. A pair of side cutters will cut them with needle nose pliers
to work them out.

if you can, try to get ring into the thicker seam part, and not to close to the edge ( it could tear )
I did a set of seats once by putting each piece into the dryer for a couple mins first.
also hair dryer can keep them soft.

upholstery work takes time with patience = payoff when done.

hope you master it!

[culp71]

yes, a lot of extra hog rings for sure,
be sure to layer with burlap, paper coated listing wire and use muslin to anchor foam to seat frame
don't forget the 2 inch felt edging for bottom.
Legendary Auto Interiors have an awesome upholstery kit that gives you it all!
just did my 71 front seat upholstery last weekend turn out perfect. a lot of time but worth it.
also might want to have some extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch foam around to make sure seats will be firm and have that "full" look /wrinkle free.
Legendary has some very useful videos too, to prep the foam, and actually do them start to finish very helpful.
I have done a lot of upholstery in older cars and trucks but these 71 are sure something special and require unique steps.

[culp71]

on a quick side note Claudia are your seats originals?
if so could you tell me what is the type fastener for the back rest latch plate for the front seats?
and how the similar shaped, "spacer" is installed, this go under or over the upholstery?
1 or two? and is the latch plate pictured to be silver or painted a different color?

[anlauto]

Two 1/4-20 bolts with a 7/16 head and 1/2 washer....about 1" -1 1/4" long.
That bracket and the similar shaped washer both sit on top of the vinyl.
In your picture you have the right bracket sitting on the left seat frame.
They are usually a dark black/brownish colour, like the hood latch.

[tparker]

I did my seats last winter in the house. over all they were fairly easy to do by following the videos from legendary interiors. After one set, you'll be an expert. Really the only hard part was doing part of the bottom seat. It was physically tough to get the seat cover to stretch enough. Patience really pays off. I used sheet metal vise grips (Vise grips with a long wide mouth welded to it) to grab part of the cover and used the frame as a fulcrum to stretch the cover. It's tricky doing that with one hand and then hog ringing it with the other. I was a bit nervous about it ripping, but was fine. Probably best done when its warms.

I used the 3M upholstery glue and it was messy. I got a lot of over spray which dried really hard. The regular 3M glue may have been better or using more care. The overspray on the out side dried very hard and you can kinda tell when the cover was put on. You can feintly see some of the seams lines because of the hardness of the glue. It's not bad, but if you know its there you will see it. So my advice would to be careful with the glue.

As for the seat brackets, mine are unpainted and I believe are a normal gray metal color. Mine are corroded at the moment but I'll be cleaning them off today so I can finally install the seats, hopefully this weekend or next.

[Claudia]

on a quick side note Claudia are your seats originals?
if so could you tell me what is the type fastener for the back rest latch plate for the front seats?
and how the similar shaped, "spacer" is installed, this go under or over the upholstery?
1 or two? and is the latch plate pictured to be silver or painted a different color?

Unfortunately, I do not currently have any answers to your questions as I have not stated to tear into my seats yet but I am sure that someone here can advise! 

[tparker]

Small update. my seat brackets were indeed painted, but the paint was almost completely gone. It was black.

[WCC]

Here's a pic of mine.

[tparker]

@WCC (or anyone else) Do you have a pic on the other side? I've forgotten the details for the seat stop on the other side. The only pics on the net are blurry and far away.

Also, does anyone know if there is a spring for the seat release for '70 challenger? Mine is not with the hardware I have, but it doesn't sit right and feels like it should have a spring up underneath

Thanks
Tom