Re: Where to purchase seat covers

by Wallyuph Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:43 pm

[quote="clanceman427"]Wally, the seat wire is Woking out great! Why wouldn't those seat cover companies supply such a crucial item? Here are a few photos:

Because they don't want that wire poking a whole in the vinyl covers in shipping. Plus back in the day no did there own Upholstery cover installs. They took them to the local shop and they had the stake wire and hog rings.

by Wallyuph Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:46 pm

clanceman427 wrote:Quick question:..when attaching the edge of the vinyl seat cover where it meets the metal edge of the seat back frame, do you just take the vinyl to the edge, like in the first photo, or do you wrap the vinyl around the metal edge like in the 2nd photo? Just trying to imagine the best way to get the trim piece to cover the vinyl and the plastic seat back edge with the metal frame.edge in the middle. Its different now since the new trim is not sewed to the seat cover like factory. Which way did you guys do it?

When in doubt wrap as much as possible. Are you talking about where the pinch welt goes on the back its self. They used to have little metal clips that held the vinyl cover in place until you put the pinch welt on over the clip and vinyl.

by clanceman427 Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:54 pm

Oh I think I understand. So during assembly, wrap the vinyl around the metal edge of the seat core, clip the vinyl with the metal clips, and then the pinch welt snaps over the already-clipped vinyl, and over the edge of the plastic seat back?

by Wallyuph Thu Jul 28, 2016 4:12 pm

clanceman427 wrote:Oh I think I understand. So during assembly, wrap the vinyl around the metal edge of the seat core, clip the vinyl with the metal clips, and then the pinch welt snaps over the already-clipped vinyl, and over the edge of the plastic seat back?

Correct but no one makes the little clips any more. You have to save the old ones and they like to stick inside old pinch welt.

You can use some spray glue on the inside edge to help hold cover on then put on pinch welt.

by clanceman427 Thu Jul 28, 2016 8:39 pm

Thanks Wally. I do have to extract all those clips from my old covers. Thanks I have a plan now! Much appreciated.

by Wallyuph Fri Jul 29, 2016 10:43 am

clanceman427 wrote:Thanks Wally. I do have to extract all those clips from my old covers. Thanks I have a plan now! Much appreciated.

You got lucky that your car still had them on. They are impossible to find.

by clanceman427 Fri Jul 29, 2016 2:21 pm

Yep, some are stuck to the metal, the rest are stuck in the original pinch welts of the old cover.

by clanceman427 Sun Aug 07, 2016 3:10 pm

2 quick questions: when you added the extra foam on the seat back, did you also add it to the seat bottom as well? Was wondering that before I hog ring the bottom.

Also, did you guys hog ring the bottom back horizontal where the seat bottom and back meet? My factory covers were not hog ringed originally across there, but should I now to try and tidy up that area and pull the seat back insert wrinkles out? The area in question is where my fingers are pointing in the picture. Thanks

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Imag1524

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Imag1524

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Sun Aug 07, 2016 11:10 pm

I only added foam to the top of the seat as they were sewn with more material than the factory covers. The first place you use hog rings is where your hand is located. That centers the seat cover properly. I did the bottom first then worked my way up to the top making sure all the slack/wrinkles was taken out as I went along.

by clanceman427 Mon Aug 08, 2016 6:38 am

Oh wow. See I started at hog ringing across the very top after first looping the headrest of the cover over the frame. Then down both sides of the seat back from the top, and then stopped where I took that photo. Obviously I didn't successfully get all the horizontal wrinkles out, despite using tons of steam. I'm gonna stop, remove my hog rings and redo it your way. When you got to the top, I guess your last set of hog rings that you installed were across the top at the headrest with the headrest material folded and then you looped the material over the headrest frame?

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Mon Aug 08, 2016 7:11 am

Yes, that's correct. The top of the cover should be inside out until you are ready to to work that part over the top of the metal seat frame. Just be very careful at that point when you turn it right side out not to tear it. Use a lot of steam here to get the vinyl very pliable and you should be good.

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Bucket10

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Bucket10

by clanceman427 Mon Aug 08, 2016 8:39 am

Thank you SO MUCH for the help and the picture! I really appreciate it!

by clanceman427 Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:03 am

Man am I glad you posted that info about starting where my hand was in that photo! I did some more digging tonight and it turns out my original covers did in fact have a listing that went across that horizontal area between the seat bottom and the seat back. The listing had torn cleanly off the seat cover and I missed it. the listing was still hog-ringed to the frame down deep in there.

question: for anyone who's used the reproduction foam for our swivel buckets, does the foam come with the embedded wires that the seat covers get hog-ringed to? I noticed tonight that I could completely remove the factory seat upright foam from my metal seat frame (it was slightly rusted to the metal core but I was able to free it). those metal wires that my original seat cover was hog-ringed to was actually wires inside the foam. That's why I'm curious if the aftermarket foam has the wire.

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:42 am

Yes, the aftermarket seat foams have the wires embedded in them.

by clanceman427 Sat Nov 12, 2016 6:53 pm

Thanks, that is good news. I going to need to order new foams for my driver seat when I get to that side.

by 1973 454 MONTE Tue Nov 22, 2016 7:54 pm

my originals..
Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Img_0210

my extra set recovered
Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Img_2010

in correct 1973 cloth material,that cost 1200 just by itself.... affraid

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:43 pm

Wow, very nice! Did an upholstery shop make those from scratch and install them? Or were they a kit you special ordered?

by Hs1973 Thu Nov 24, 2016 1:12 pm

Wery Nice. Those swivels are the worst seats i ever tried to recover. I have done alot of seats, but my swivels where a Challenge to get done right. But i Found that new foam does alot for the fit and looks. Also they feel better to sit in. Even If the old foam looks ok i Found that it was still not able to fill the new covers. Also i added alot more hogrings here and there than original,but i dont Think that is a problem. Also i left the covers out in the Sun a couple of hours before install. That helped alot, making it lot more pliable and easier to stretch. I had alot of the original metal klips for the pinch Veld moulding but i Got luckey and Found a bunch of similar klips, i belive it is for mopar headliner they look different but could be used to hold the covers to the metal frame. The steel wire inside the covers was all rusty and i replaced it with galvanised fence wire from the hardware store. Worked fine.

Still it took alot of time and patience to get the covers to sit right. Also i bought mine from opgi and the sides of the covers had a plastic moulding stitched on them, there was no Way they could have been used as is. So i had to Cut the stitches and remove the plastic. I also had to reuse the original vinyl pinch moulding, i had to take them of the old covers and trim them to fit i belive it looks good, and no one can tell the difference. But i dont know If it was ment to be done this Way. Hope you get your covers on. Good luck.

by 1973montec Thu Nov 24, 2016 1:20 pm

g3chevy wrote:Wow, very nice! Did an upholstery shop make those from scratch and install them? Or were they a kit you special ordered?

a friend of ours owns a upholstry shop. he made them from scratch

by clanceman427 Tue Apr 25, 2017 10:31 pm

Hs1973 wrote: i Got luckey and Found a bunch of similar klips, i belive it is for mopar headliner they look different but could be used to hold the covers to the metal frame.

Thanks so much for this tip! I found them on Ebay and bought a bunch. I WAS able to extract all the 29 original metal clips from my seat, but some are really hard to get over the thickness of the metal edge PLUS 2 thicknesses of the seat cover. I looked for the PUI clips that they show on their installation video but couldn't find them.

I hear you about needing some more fill, I used (again) that floating floor padding I had to "fill out" the seat bottom bolsters a little better. I'm still plugging away at the recover project.

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Imag2019

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Imag2019

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Imag2020

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Imag2018

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 Imag2017

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:28 pm

Looking good!!!

by Hawk03 Wed Apr 26, 2017 12:12 pm

That is coming along nicely! Do you have a link to the clips you purchased?

by clanceman427 Wed Apr 26, 2017 2:04 pm

Thanks guys! Hawk03, I should have the clips in a few days and I'll report back here on how they worked out and provide the link.

by pila Wed Apr 26, 2017 10:40 pm

WOW !! Covering those seats looks like a project I can do without !!! Very Happy

I did the bench seats in the Elco & the Malibu, without too much agony !

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 P1011088_zpsx0yrs22m

This one is for the Elco, which is identical to the front bench in the Malibu...

Where to purchase seat covers - Page 4 P1011322_zpsekti5tsu

The wrinkles came out somewhat with a hair dryer etc...

by crice63 Fri Apr 28, 2017 12:51 am

Bill--that's not a 75 seat belt! What have you done? This looks much more user-friendly than the stock shoulder strap.

by Sponsored content