DIY seat cover

[Nitis]

Seems like seat upholstry prices are now higher than I feel like paying so I am considering buying a kit from classic since they are 20% off right now

It sure seems straight forward but is it something one guy can do on his own with little to no experience?

Any kits to stay away from?

[super72bb]

You will be able to take care of this with little issues providing the seat and foam are in reasonable shape. I re-covered a 72 bench seat with a factory replacement cover I purchased. It was super straightforward!

Where you may run into issues is if your seat springs are broken or the foam is beyond a proper state of repair.

Hope this helps.

[Grumpy old man]

Buy the cover and the cheap installation kit with hog rings and pliers , I have plenty of seat springs available and you can repair any damaged foam easily so there is NO NEED to buy expensive seat foam ! Pm me if you need any help I've built interiors for 35 + years don't pay crazy prices when you don't need too !http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hog-Ring-Pli...7a55a1&vxp=mtr

[Nitis]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was just going to buy a set of hog ring pliers at ace hardware or off eBay like you say no sense paying a premium.

Any recommendations on a cover? I don't want 100% vinyl too hot. Only options I'm finding are vinyl and velour and vinyl houndstooth. I like the houndstooth but not the price.

[Grumpy old man]

Hounds tooth material is expensive as are scroll stamped vinyls , I can tell you the prices are only going higher and the only cheap seats are those from china or tiawan , I used to be able to buy all the materials and build a standard truck seat for $200.00 it cost that much and more now just for materials not including labor . You can thank the EPA for the increases ,have you checked with your local auto/marine upholstery shop ? You may be surprised ,Also look thru some of the truck magazines any good shop can build you what you want just from a picture .

[Nitis]

Not really any shops close by me that won't leave my ri tied up for too long. My friend just had the seat in his toyota done and it was almost $300 for very basic setup so I figured I may as well do it myself. And hopefully my foam and springs will be fine

[Grumpy old man]

Post a picture of your current seat , if the passenger side is in decent shape you can cut your current cover in half and send me the good half I can use it to pattern you a new seat in any design you want and by using the old cover it will fit correctly with no problems installing it .

[michael bustamante]

Grumpy you make seat covers? Im interested but i dont like my seat cover color at all so i woildnt want the same color

[Husker]

A member here sells covers, Truckseats is the user name.
Ron

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by michael bustamante

Grumpy you make seat covers? Im interested but i dont like my seat cover color at all so i woildnt want the same color

Yes , I can build anything you want ,Any color, any material ,any design, I've been building interiors for 35+ years and have the accounts to buy the same materials from the same suppliers as others ,I have a complete upholstery shop and still build truck and muscle car interiors for friends .I'm also setting up to offer complete hardware kits for all the '67-72 trucks and have most chrome hardware in stock already . Here are a set of '71 El camino SS seats I rebuilt for a friend

http://http://

[calvin78612]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Yes , I can build anything you want ,Any color, any material ,any design, I've been building interiors for 35+ years and have the accounts to buy the same materials from the same suppliers as others ,I have a complete upholstery shop and still build truck and muscle car interiors for friends .I'm also setting up to offer complete hardware kits for all the '67-72 trucks and have most chrome hardware in stock already .

That's great to know grumpy.my wife is going to be taking a upholstery class soon,can't wait.

[Husker]

Grumpy also does seat covers. Good to know.
Ron

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by calvin78612

That's great to know grumpy.my wife is going to be taking a upholstery class soon,can't wait.

Good! the upholstery trade needs more people ,Go into any town and find 50 mechanic shops 25 auto body shops and rarely more than 1 upholstery shop thats worth going to . good for her make sure she learns more than just drapes or furniture .

[jocko]

Nitis, I've done two on my own fairly recently - and these were my first ones. First one (the green custom cloth one) turned out great, no issues. I used the original foam as it was in good condition. Second one I did was a little more frustrating - and the main reason was because I bought replacement foam. It made the seat cover look so weird that I took it all apart and re-used the original, slightly worn out foam (on the seat back - I DID use the new seat bottom foam, it fit very well actually). That made it look 100% better. So, my lesson learned was to use the original foam or have it made by a shop - no aftermarket seat foam. The aftermarket covers (I bought both from Tim at Truckseats - and he gets materials from SMS auto) were very high quality. If you like to do things yourself, you'll probably enjoy doing this, it's not very hard - make sure to get quality hog ring pliers and quality hog rings, I think it's worth it. Have seen some very chincy generic ones out there. I used Eastwood hog ring pliers and rings. And buy lots of extra rings, you'll probably need them. If you just want it "done" then you're probably better paying a pro to do it. Just because it's done by a pro doesn't mean the prices will be outrageous - I just had some GREAT repair work done on my 2001 pickup by a local shop and they did a great job for a reasonable price. All depends how you want to approach it and how much you think you'll enjoy the work. Here are my results, they aren't perfect, but I'm pleased with them. The few wrinkles on the edge of the green custom cloth driver's side worked themselves out in short order - that pic was taken right after install. Good luck on your project.

[Nitis]

How much were the highlander covers

[slowcpe]

I've got a question on foam and hopefully this falls in-line with this thread:

I picked up a set of buddy buckets and, to me, the foam doesn't look half bad and the seats are very comfortable. The problem is they stink to high heaven!!! Anyway to get that stench out so I don't have to spend $500 on new foam?

[BLT gmc]

In regards to the stinky foam, I would bag the up with a 1/2 pound Air Sponge from Delta. It is an odor absobant material and is great. Available at ACE hardware online, ebay, manufacturer direct on the internet. Good luck, Bruce

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by slowcpe

I've got a question on foam and hopefully this falls in-line with this thread:

I picked up a set of buddy buckets and, to me, the foam doesn't look half bad and the seats are very comfortable. The problem is they stink to high heaven!!! Anyway to get that stench out so I don't have to spend $500 on new foam?

Wash them down with Lysol cleaner thoroughly ,then hang in the sun to dry the cleaner along with the ultraviolet rays will make them smell like daisies again , Also if your foam has become squashed for lack of a better word you can use steam to bring them back to their original shape NO HEAT just steam .will fluff the foam back to almost new condition .provided it's not torn or missing .

[jocko]

Originally Posted by Nitis

How much were the highlander covers

nobody sells a finished highlander cover WITH the scroll work on the vinyl.. I worked directly with Tim and SMS to build one - it was approx $600 total (materials, sew up, delivery, etc). Tim is a great help in this area. It is significantly more than a stock custom cloth seat because it's not on someone's shelf waiting to be shipped. It took me about 7 months because it was sort of a ground-breaking process. It would be a lot quicker now, SMS is primed to do it and Tim helps herd the process along and stitch it up.

[Nitis]

Do you know if there's one on the shelf without scroll that would be less money? Highlander plaid that is?

I'm good with houndstooth too I want to be period correct but don't need to be perfect

[slowcpe]

Thanks for the tips, I'll probably be trying that this weekend.

Here are my seats. I'm assuming if I can get the smell out the foam is salvageable? Again they feel quite comfy. Anything need to be done to the foam if I go with houndstooth?

[jocko]

Originally Posted by Nitis

Do you know if there's one on the shelf without scroll that would be less money? Highlander plaid that is?

I'm good with houndstooth too I want to be period correct but don't need to be perfect

I "THINK" there is one available, but not 100% certain. Recommend pm Tim, member "Truckseats" to find out for sure.

[Wicked Wayz customs]

I buy my custom fit seat cover kits from raybuck the one I just got for my son was 139 came with hog rings and pliers

[joeydurango]

Got my houndstooth cover from GMCPauls. Hog rings and pliers from the hardware store. No experience with upholstery but did the whole thing alone in a few hours - the hardest part was getting the bench out of and into the cab without scratching any paint!

Did have to fix a few broken springs... but short of any new ones, it was tie wire to the rescue!

[Ulf]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Buy the cover and the cheap installation kit with hog rings and pliers , I have plenty of seat springs available and you can repair any damaged foam easily so there is NO NEED to buy expensive seat foam ! Pm me if you need any help I've built interiors for 35 + years don't pay crazy prices when you don't need too !http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hog-Ring-Pli...7a55a1&vxp=mtr

I´m in the process of restoring a 73 - 80 bench seat. Sandblasted the frame. The foam is in bad condition. Managed to 35 - 40 density foam to restore the original foam. The backrest is in so bad condition that I consider fabricating a new one.
I have two broken springs on the sides that connect the frame with the upper springs. I started to sand blast the slides but theres a rivet that stops me from pulling the slides apart. Considered using citric acid bath to get rid of the rust.
If I was living in the US I would search the junk yards for good parts but here in Sweden u have to fabricate things instead of importing to keep the cost down. Any suggestions?