Any advise on installing new seat covers?

[Jocigar]

Hi all,

After a few month of waiting my seat covers kit arrived from legendary.   

Its a full kit, foam cloth hog rings etc.   1970 cuda in white

I watched the legendary youtube videos some time back... any hands on advise from those of you that have done this before?

Which frame section would you start with ? 

Thank You !!

[tparker]

Oh, I did this a few years ago. It was hard work but was kinda fun. First make sure you have all the parts and tools. The fabric can get VERY tight and you need to really tug on it to get the hog rings in place. I used a set of wide mouth vise grips or something similer to disperse the tension to prevent tearing when pulling the vinyl around the frame. It may have been a different tool, but you get the idea.

Make sure it is warm cause you will need to stretch the vinyl. I didn't really use any heat gun or anything. I did put them by the heater for a bit to get them pliable when I started.

I mostly used the legendary video and followed that fairly closely. I also saw this old article and if you click the "show all photos" and go in around 15 videos in you will see them lining the burlap with wire. THis is how mine was when I tore it down. I found some welding wire at home depot and I added it. I think that was the only deviation from the Legendary Videos.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-9904-how-to-install-front-and-rear-seats/?galleryimageid=356219

The other thing is, I ran out of hog rings. I was short about 10 or so. I went down to a local car custom upholstery shop and they gave me a handful or sold them for a couple bucks, I can't remember.

Go slow, take your time. Measure and go slow. Test fit. Work inside out. Basically follow the vids.

Oh, and another thing, be careful with the spray glue you use. I used the super strong glue and it dries hard. When I followed the directions for the headrest part, I got extra glue on the outside which was not smooth and it dried all hard and snotty. You can feel it through the vinyl. So make sure you use more appropriate glue or make sure you remove any imperfections before putting the covers on.

[tparker]

Here are some pics

[njsteve]

Remove the covers from the boxes and lay them flat for about a week in a warm room (Store the covers away from cats. *see my later note).
This is so the vinyl can stretch out and de-wrinkle. Remember, the warmer the vinyl is, the easier it is to stretch and the more forgiving it is if you have to cut the hogrings and readjust the position.

Start with the back seat upper cushion. That's the easiest one to start with, then the rear seat bottom. Use a lot of the cotton layers; like five or more layers for the upper back frame. The package they sent has enough raw cotton to do two or three back seats.

NOTE: there is a specific driver's side and passenger side upper front seat cover. The difference is in where the hole is cut underneath, and stitched for the latch mechanism to engage with the bracket from the seat bottom. I lucked out and installed my on the correct seat frames by accident. I would have been really pissed if I had to pull them all apart again to swap sides. Leave one front seat intact while you do the other, just for reference. Take a lot of photos while you disassemble, especially of where the various hogrings are attached to the frames.

Follow the Year One videos. I set up a laptop on a nightstand in front of my work area and I'd follow along with the Year One video and pause it during various stages, then rewind and watch again as I went along.

Buy at least 1000 3/4" galvanized hogrings and a good quality hogring pliers and a good pair of cutting pliers to cut/remove the rings. You will probably waste a hundred or so hogrings during the process. I got mine from Amazon for around $16 per bag of 500.

Buy some 3M general adhesive cleaner #08987 if you are using any type of headliner or spray contact adhesive. It works like magic and doesn't stain upholstery like other types of solvent.

Make sure your hands are surgically clean. I was doing a white interior for my car and had to make sure I did no other car work that day, beforehand. You do a lot of tugging and pulling and if you have any grease or dirt under your nails or in your finger prints, it will transfer permanently into the material.

Cover your floor with clean cardboard and work on that. I recently did my white cuda interior down in the basement that way. 

https://forum.e-bodies.org/your-restoration-project-roseville-moparts/10/shes-finally-purple-again-fc7-70-shaker-cuda340/17307/135

Do one cushion a day. There is a lot of gripping and pulling and you will really feel it in your hands and forearms the next day. Also, trim your fingernails a day before. One nick from a sharp nail and the you will really be angry at yourself.

Oh, and if you have cats, cover your new seat covers with cardboard when you step away. The last thing you need are the felines kneeding your new vinyl with their needle claws. I caught my evil mega-cat approaching my seat covers as I was walking out. HELL NO, Mr. Kitty.

[1 Wild R/T]

Plastic trash bags... Install the foam then cover the foam with trash bags, then pull the cover over the trash bag... It will slide over without binding on the foam like it's velcro... Once the cover is in place tear the plastic bag out & finish the install....

[R/T's 4 R/P]

If you are using new foam for the seats...
1. Glue the 2 pieces of the backrest together. #92 spray adhesive. With 40 grit sandpaper sand the surfaces that you will glue. They will stick better. After the glue sets(I would wait a day) then sand the joint where the 2 cushions meet, so that joint won't show through the cover.
2. Also in the kits you should receive some white muslin. Cut sections and glue that to the back and lower sides of the seat, and the bottom and back of the backrest. These allow you to pre-attach the cushions to the frame.
3. Are you using original burlap? Is the 'shoddy pad' (this is the stuff that is also used as insulation under the dash, it looks like chopped up rags and lint...because that's what it is) wrapped over the seat wire perimeter under the foam cushion? If not, you need to add something there.  Lots of people ignore this and the wire will eventually cut/wear through the foam.
4. I have found the lower corners of the backrest just get in the way and stick out from the cover. Be prepared to cut that off or tuck it in.

Do you have the original hold down wires? These slide into the loops in the seams that get drawn into the foam.

Positioning, fore and aft of the seat cover is key. Don't forget the foam compresses. You may be positioning it further back than you initially might think is right.

Depending on your circumstances ..I have placed the cover in the dryer for a minute on medium heat. It should be inside out. Don't have the pull down wires in the cover. A warm cover will upholster tons easier. But once you pull it out you need to work fast.

For the backrest, top perpendicular piece first. (Dryer?) Pull the cover down a bit before hog-ringing the sides. Your greatest chance to rip the cover will be when you wrap the cover around the back. There is a lot of stress at the top and center.. If the cover is warm, this helps a lot. Interlock the plastic hems.

Lots of massaging. Hopefully you have strong hands.

E Body seat frames are notorious for not giving an exact alignment of seat and backrest, or horizontal backrest seams. If this is a concern for you, you may want to pre assemble the seat frames with foam only and mark lines with a sharpie. Then use those lines as a guide.

[Jocigar]

Thanks for all the help guys... lot of good advise!

Turns out the only sent the install kits, not the actual covers but it gives me something to start on.. the kits look really complete, down to hold down wires and hog rings and plier.   I do have a pair of  visegrips with similar duckbill on them.. good idea to temporarily hold covers in place.   

I didn't know that year one also had videos? will look for them.

I'm sure I will be referring back to this thread as I go along 

[njsteve]

 Sorry, I misspoke. I meant the Legendary videos.
Buy extra hogrings! There were not nearly enough in the installation kit.
I ordered my seat covers in July and got them in December.

[Jocigar]

Started on back seat.  Looking at 69 charger video since they don’t have one for ebody back seats.  I must have hit rewind 50 times and I’m just done with burlap. Lol
Question how many layers of Cotton do I use ?   They gave me two big rolls but I think it’s only used on back rest section ?    They say 3-5 layers.   Thanks !

[Jocigar]

Also just Realized that I didn't use this roll and it's not in the video.   Hope I didn't miss a step ?

[DeathProofCuda]

Legendary has videos on doing e-body seats.

Here is one for 70 Challenger buckets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4the6ueeIW8

It shows how to use the roll of felt material.

They also have other videos on prepping e-body seat foam and other year e-body seats.

[70Barracuda]

Its not hard, if you have access to a steamer its a big help

[Jocigar]

Making decent but slow progress. 

Wondering how many cotton layers y'all used on back seat top.

Also, noticed my lower bucket covers don't have listing wire insert .., Is that normal for 70 cuda ?

[DeathProofCuda]

The grey material in your photo is the listing wire channel.  My Legendary covers were sewn with one continuous channel, instead of three individual channels, which how my original covers were sewn (one for the front wire and two sides).  I cut two slits in mine near the corner where the front wire transitions to the sides.

Mine were 70 Cuda.  Probably not the best pics, but they are all I have at the moment.

[Jocigar]

Thanks for the help and photos.   

I will have another look tonight, mine are also continuous... the only thing is that I expected the grey material to have more of a flap so that it reaches through the foam to the seat frame listing wire.     It does not seem possible with zero slack that the cover will fit through, and stretch over the foam? 

BTW, When cutting the foam, should you cut all the way around the crease? doesn't seem right to cut a big U-shape that almost entirely separates the seat foam into two sections.