Recover seats myself?

robbz28 · Nov 8, 2010

I have a 67 coupe with standard interior. Anyone out there recovered their seats theirselves? If so, would you recommend it? I am split on whether or not I should try. I plan on buying a good seat cover kit and new foam/burlap, all the things to do the cover with. I have just read that sometime people rip them trying to get them over the frames, and other horror stories. Is this one of those things that needs to be left to a professional? Thoughts?

Az Pete · Nov 8, 2010

Anyone can do it....just take your time and don't try to make the material go where it was not designed to go. Get good hog ring pliers and think about how you want to go about it.

robbz28 · Nov 8, 2010

Well i have thought that i can try it myself, and if i get in a bind, then i can take it to a professional. I am going to attempt a headliner myself, mainly because I can find nobody that will do it for me, lol. Though I have never done this interior stuff before, I am pretty handy with these types of jobs, I feel that I can probably get it done.

eleanor_350 · Nov 8, 2010

You can do the seats yourself. It is time consuming but very doable by even a novice. A local upholstery shop wanted to charge me an insane amount of money to install the covers so I tried it myself. I think I used this article as a guide
Upholstery Tech - CJ Pony Parts, Inc.
I'm sure there are other guides on the net as well. Check the archives on the mustang magazine websites. I took my time making sure everything was straight and lined up. I don't see how they could have come out any better by the upholstery shop. They look great. I will tell you that your hands will hurt for several days from gripping and pulling so much.

I did my headliner myself with the help of a friend who had done it before. It came out OK but it still has some wrinkles that I never could get out. If I had it do over again I might have spent the money to have the headliner proffesionally installed.

robbz28 · Nov 8, 2010

Well im going to have my glass out anyway and i live in the sticks, so to haul it an hour to the nearest upholstry shop and get it installed, then i would have to have a glass shop nearby that could put my glass in for me so the wind wouldnt wreck the new headliner on the way home....I can settle for OK, as long as i know i have it stretched to the max when its put in, it should be ok.

mtaqua · Nov 8, 2010

one of the easiest things I've done on the car, but only did the back seats. Good hog ring pliers and patience; headliner will hopefully be done after Christmas.

CarFreakGT · Nov 8, 2010

I've heard that it helps to leave the upholstery out in the sun for a while to make it more pliable. Don't know how big of a difference it makes, as I've never done it myself. And, as we're in mid-November, I don't know how warm it's going to be where you are. Good luck whatever you decide.

robbz28 · Nov 8, 2010

Oh we usually only have a couple weeks of freezing weather and thats deep in January...but I have one thing to combat that, Heated Shop

mtaqua · Nov 8, 2010

i used the drier on real low heat

NasaGT · Nov 9, 2010

mtaqua said:
i used the drier on real low heat

+1. This works well.

Pony66 · Nov 9, 2010

You can do it. Heat is your best friend.
You can use plastic zip ties to help get the hog rings started. Its hard to push through the foam and ring to the seat frame. Loop the zip tie through the upholstery, foam and frame. Zip it tight then hog ring it.
The back seat is a piece of cake. You will probably want to add a couple inches of foam to the back seat especially at the top.
Dont worry to much about wrinkles. Put the seats in the sun and or use a blow drier to work out the wrinkles.
Oh and use some silicone spray on the foam. It makes the upholstery slide over much easier.

robbz28 · Nov 9, 2010

I really appreciate all the tips, I made the commitment today and bought all the interior goodies, hopefully they will be in and I can get started on it this weekend. Really hope to get the headliner and glass back in this weekend. Then the seats the following, got to space out my work or ill find i have a weekend to do actual work, and who wants that!?

67rcks · Nov 10, 2010

IMO the most difficult is to recondition those tiny steel springs in front seats because 90% of them will be rusted through.
Then, more than new foam and seat cover you need the canopy textile - during last 40 years it is slowly becoming a dust. I reconditioned OE seat covers with help of a solution that gave me in an upholstery shop. Ford-made covers are well made compared to repro.

robbz28 · Nov 10, 2010

Well i am using those TMI covers, they are supposed to be the best repops today. And my springs arent too bad, but i am going to recondition whatever needs it. I picked up some dense burlap from the fabric store to put beneath my foam (10 bucks a yard from the restoration catalogs, 2 bucks a yard @ Hobby Lobby) I'm really excited, all I will have left to do after I finish this is the paint. At least I can drive it legally (and comfortably) from my home to my shop in the meantime.

chris66dad · Nov 10, 2010

Agree with doing it yourself.
Take your time and dont rush. I used my old foam and found the covers fit a little loose. Solved this by gluing 1/2 inch foam from a fabric shop on the edges.
Warming the covers is a good idea to get them to soften up
Pictures of my install: Seats

robbz28 · Nov 10, 2010

chris66dad- Very nice results! Im pumped now, tracked my order, it should all be in tomorrow, a plethora of interior goodies from the underlay to the dome light, dash pad to the package tray. Going to enlist the help of my bro-in-law this weekend to help me on the headliner. It will be payback when he has me help him restore his 68 camaro.

RXTbone · Nov 10, 2010

After reading through this thread - I'll throw in something that wasn't mentioned. Seat covering is fairly straight forward and easy (it can be almost hilarious to see some of the hog-ringing that came from the factory) - one note of experience - the difference between a cheap pair of hog ring pliers, and a REAL set of hog ring pliers. Some of the kits supply cheap narrow pliers. I had to buy them seperately, but man o' man, the thicker handles and overall weight of a good plier makes the job a lot easier... Good luck!

robbz28 · Nov 10, 2010

RXTbone said:
After reading through this thread - I'll throw in something that wasn't mentioned. Seat covering is fairly straight forward and easy (it can be almost hilarious to see some of the hog-ringing that came from the factory) - one note of experience - the difference between a cheap pair of hog ring pliers, and a REAL set of hog ring pliers. Some of the kits supply cheap narrow pliers. I had to buy them seperately, but man o' man, the thicker handles and overall weight of a good plier makes the job a lot easier... Good luck!

One step ahead of you, while i was spending all this money on the parts i figured what was another 15 bucks for a good pair of pliers! Plus I'll need them when I work on my bro-in-laws car.

robbz28 · Nov 14, 2010

Just wanted to give an update, its not seat covers, but I did hang my own headliner this weekend and I just wanted to say I'm glad its over with! It wasn't too bad tho, and it turned out pretty good, needs a couple of good sunny days to help with some of the wrinkles, but all in all i am very pleased with the results. have never done this before OR installed glass, and did both. Anyway thats all I have to report.

mtaqua · Nov 15, 2010

did you do the head liner then the glass? I am getting close to this, wanted to do the headliner, and wait a bit on the glass (so I can have access to the dash and package tray areas with the glass out to take care of a few things).

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