The door cards and console armrest also have matching fabric, which evidence shows was completed by an upholstery shop. Since I wanted to restore the factory look and I needed to replace the seat foam, I ordered molded seat foams and seat covers from Motorsport Auto.
The kit was complete, including the necessary hog rings and a set of hog ring pliers. The instructions were adequate, but light in detail. I did pick up a roll of 1/2" foam and some 3M spray adhesive as I had read that this would be necessary for the seat back.
I started by removing the seat (of course) from the car, then the seat back and finally the seat hardware. The back of my pickup made an excellent workbench!
I then proceeded to remove the seat cover from the seat back by bending the tangs at the bottom of the seat upward until they were straight. I could then roll the seat cover off the seat back until I got to the headrest.
At this point I used fencing pliers to cut the hog rings securing the head rest to the seat back. This allowed me to remove the cover entirely.
I then moved to the seat bottom, cutting the hog rings and removing the cover. All my springs looked good, so no repair to the base was necessary.
Previously the seat used carpet padding under the foam, but I chose to use actual carpet. I had some indoor/outdoor carpet I once used to cover a speaker box, so I cut out a rectangle and folded it over itself to make a base for the foam.
On top of that, I used a square of the 1/2" foam, although I'm not really sure why to be honest.
I then placed the new foam on the seat and wrapped the cover around it. I fastened the leading edge of the cover to the two tangs on the front of the base and prepared the first hog ring. Note the zip ties in the center of the seat; these were secured to a metal rod and a flap used to create a little shape in the seat. I had to pull on the zip ties in order to hog ring the metal rod and flap to the springs; I learned this trick from a post on recovering seats on a 240z.
I then secured the sides and back with the hog rings as well.
The lower portion of the seat was now covered. If only the back were as easy.
After hammering out a dent in the seat back, I cut a rectangle of the 1/2" foam and used the 3M spray adhesive to attach it to the back.
Once dry, I then trimmed the foam to match the shape of the seat back.
One thing I noticed on the old cushions was that the headrest was covered in thin plastic, presumably to allow the cover to slip over the headrest easier. I used household cling wrap for the same purpose here, then slipped the cover over the seat back.
Securing the headrest to the seat back via the hog rings was tricky, but persistence paid off. I ended up pushing down on the foam with the pliers while trying to crimp the rings. It took a while. Once the hog rings were in place I was able to "roll" the seat cover down the seat back.
At this point I goofed. I didn't have the center pleat lined up with the center tang. This didn't become apparent until I finished the job and the seat pleats didn't perfectly line up with the seat back pleats. It isn't too obvious if your not looking for it and I decided it was riskier to correct it, but if you're going through this yourself check alignment at this point. I won't repeat this mistake on the driver's seat.
I found that trying to stretch the seat cover to reach the tangs was virtually impossible. In the instructions there was mention of using a hair dryer or the sun to warm the vinyl and make it easier to work with. I found that a hair dryer wasn't enough so I left the seats in full sun for 15 minutes. This made a world of difference and I was able to stretch the vinyl into place. I first pulled the front of the cover into place, then the back. Once the back was in place I used a hammer to bend the tangs towards the front of the seat.
The puckers at the bottom of the seat back won't be visible when the seat is installed, but I could use some glue to flatten them if need be.
I took the time to repaint the seat hinges, using some satin black Krylon spray paint which matched very well with the original finish. I also used brake cleaner on the seat slides and mechanism, then re-greased those units using a spray lithium grease.
Once the paint was dry, I reassembled the seat. It's now ready for re-installation into the car once I'm done replacing the weatherstripping on the passenger side.
The driver's side seat will hopefully turn out as well.
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