Any advise on installing new seat covers?

[FE5CUDA]

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.

Yep, all the way around.  After you hog ring the listing cord down and the cover is flipped inside out, if you have a way to warm the covers, they will stretch way easier.  You might heat the same seat bottom several times before you're done.

[DeathProofCuda]

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.

I did not cut the crease all the way around, and my original foams were not cut that way either.  I just cut slits (probably 1.5 to 2 inches long) at each spot where I was going to place a hog ring.  The Legendary videos I watched show the installer make much longer cuts, but those videos weren't available when I first started this process.  I suppose that either way works.

[tparker]

Not sure if the Barracuda seats differ, I would think not. For me, I followed the videos fairly closely. I don't think I deviated much at all. As for the rear seats, I think I followed that same charger video. I also watched a ton of generic seat rebuilding videos.

These arn't E body specifics, but I found watching a bunch of other stuff gets you prepared for doing the work and can give you tips. I couldn't find all the ones I watched but these were some.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9qllpW7yWI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPc50t8AdCw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ6WnRoxL5M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUo_UsTBhTo&list=PLmcBK6SLWd-BAHlK2xtCN2itOW3EYJcLM&index=5

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-9904-how-to-install-front-and-rear-seats/#9904-mopp-01-pl-install-front-and-rear-seats-front-and-rear-seats

[Jocigar]

Thank you all,

I tried to install the upper back cover last night after installing cotton and muslin to the frame. 

I was 1/2" short of being able to flip the vinyl over the last corner.   This is when I started thinking I should use heat as suggested... a blow drier or maybe put the seat in front of fireplace to catch the radiant heat?

I see that heat is used both to stretch and to remove wrinkles?   I have a heat gun but am hesitant the use that since its easy to make a mistake and overheat/blemish.     Thanks again for the continued help.

[headejm]

IMO - keep the heat gun in the toolbox! 

Use the sun or a heating pad like you'd use for a sore back. A steamer is very useful for getting wrinkles out.

[tparker]

Heating is good. The heating gun can be used, just don't hold it in a single spot for any length of time and keep it far away. But if you have other sources, consider them first. Placing it near, but not too close to a fire or heater before work would be good, but again, keep an eye on it. Don't go for quick heat. Mine was a workout It was NOT easy. At times I thought I might tear the cover. That is where the duck bill vice grips came in handy. They helped grab enough material and let me leverage it against the frame a bit. Much of it wasn't bad, just a few places really. Just have patients and understand it will be a bit of work and it should come along.

[Claudia]

IMO - I used everything under the sun and tried all different sorts of methods (most of which have already been mentioned here).  I even ripped one of the seams out of my brand new seat cover trying to pull it tight enough over the frame and foam . . . I just stitched it back together with some black thread and kept on going.  What worked the best for myself was to install the cover as tight as I could get it and just let it sit for a couple of days in place.  After a few days had past, I strategically cut some of the hog rings and pulled the cover even tighter (working in small sections) and re-hog ringed it into it's final place.  Always working from the inside (center of the seat) toward the outside edges.  If you go slow and take your time, it will turn out just fine!

[DeathProofCuda]

Warm sunny days worked best for me, but I didn't have that luxury when I did my last bucket seat back, so used my wife's hair dryer.  It worked OK, but you can only apply heat to a small area instead over the entire cover.  Spring is nearly here, if you aren't in too much of a rush I'd wait for warmer days.  The covers stretch soooo much nicer when the entire thing is warm.

Claudia's suggestion above about letting things sit for a few days, removing a couple of hog rigs, and then pulling the covers tighter is also a good one.  Also the part about working from the center towards the outside edges.  You will be surprised how much farther the covers will move when you continually "massage" the covers over the foam from the center toward the edges.

[Jocigar]

So I let the covers sit on the seats for a few months, ready to hog ring them in place over winter.

Concerns before final stretch:

-empty looking lateral sides on the front seat..  maybe it will stretch over foam and fill in.
-the seam at the top end of the front seat is a bit wavy but I dont think i can fix that just the way it was made
-the seat back upper corners don't look good, not seating well.

@njsteve please tell me about your side panels and seat backs...  original, aftermarket, refinished?   I found and old post referring to SEM Sailcloth white vinyl spray.

thanks

[JH27N0B]

I've done two sets of Challenger front bucket seats and on both I had them sitting in the sun in my living room and also used a hairdryer while messaging small wrinkles and ripples, which may have helped a little.
One time I brought the subject up to an interior shop guy who had a display at a car show, and he said the trick was to park the car out in the sun for a while with the windows up after installing the reupholstered seats.
With the last time I redid seats, I tried that, and sure enough they flattened right out and looked perfect!
Around the same time, a friend of mine had a shop redo his seats in his cuda, and later a buddy of mine remarked how much better my job looked than the seats in the cuda, which still had some ripples in them despite being done professionally.  That made me feel good! 
I must confess though, that at some point later, while sitting in the car  I started getting poked in my posterior, and then found a hog ring I hadn't oriented right was jabbing me, so I had to fix that fubar.  Make sure all your hog rings have the pointy ends down, it only takes one turned around to mess things up a bit!

[DeathProofCuda]

Looks good so far!  I think you'll be surprised how much better they will look after some heat and stretching.  That upper corner area of the seatbacks will probably require a bit of finesse to lay just the way that you want it to, just take your time and be patient with it.  Don't just try to pull on the edges of the covers to get the wrinkles out.  Instead, start where you have a pucker and use your thumbs to push the cover in the direction you want to stretch it, then "roll" that loose material over the corner of the foam.  Hopefully that makes sense.  Good luck with it.

[Jocigar]

Hi all, trying to fully hog ring the covers in place. 

I started with seat bottom last night and already questioning the fit.

Is this what 70 should look like on back side ?  the back lower corners don't overlap.

It doesn't meet my quality mark despite an hour of pulling and stretching, but maybe that is how factory looked ?  thanks

[tparker]

What Covers? I used Legendary and I thought they fit pretty good. It is hard to tell but it looks like the cover isn't super tight. Mine had lots of tension, which would close that gap a bit, but not sure if it would completely fix the overlap.

[Jocigar]

legendary covers, I was pulling and stretching trying to get the material to move to the back, but once you ring the cover to the springs there is not much more you can do since that is the intended anchor point.

The cover is very snug; pull, swipe, roll over edge, hold and repeat until I got to the securing locations.   Not a fun project, dreading doing it again for my 71.     less than perfect bothers me unfortunately.

[DeathProofCuda]

Hi all, trying to fully hog ring the covers in place. 

I started with seat bottom last night and already questioning the fit.

Is this what 70 should look like on back side ?  the back lower corners don't overlap.

It doesn't meet my quality mark despite an hour of pulling and stretching, but maybe that is how factory looked ?  thanks

Although it seems like this would be a nice job for a late fall or winter evening, it is really best done on a sunny 90 degree day so that you can really warm the covers up in the sun.  A hair dryer, or heat gun used carefully, can help, but IMHO those methods pale in comparison to a hot sunny day.  With some heat, you'll be able to stretch that cover further over the edges of the metal frame and be able to pull it together nicer.

Here are some pics of the first seat bottom I ever did.