How to re-upholster your seats., 56k Warning! Options

[WannabeGT4]

Who wants a how-to for re-upholstering your seats.

This post has been edited by WannabeGT4: Aug 8, 2005 - 3:48 PM

[elvasoshexai]

me!

[slipgun]

Hell yeah

[presure2]

wannabe, if you can do it, that would be awesome. take some good pics, and write out some nice detailed instructions, too!!

[WannabeGT4]

You'll all be surprised at how easy it is. I'll just be recovering it with leather but I will give instructions for the ones who want to lay down new fabric.

[AMCMoe]

I'd definately like one. Is the drivers side that much different than the passenger side?
My drivers seat looks something a dog got after.

[WannabeGT4]

Not different enough to make a difference in the how-to.

[Celica_Kid95st]

Def. MEE!! Thanks man. -john

[presure2]

awesome. like i said, take lots of pics, write out some good instructions, and ill be sure to get commer to either put it with the how to's, or have it sticky'd here.

[Kadett]

Manny why do you keep calling Coomer, commer???

On Topic:

That would be very nice. Headrest included???

[Valo666]

yesh please..lol

[WannabeGT4]

awesome. like i said, take lots of pics, write out some good instructions, and ill be sure to get commer to either put it with the how to's, or have it sticky'd here.
[right][snapback]321159[/snapback][/right]

No problem. I'm working on it today. I've already taken about 30 pictures and have it all put back together.

Manny why do you keep calling Coomer, commer???

On Topic:

That would be very nice. Headrest included???
[right][snapback]321165[/snapback][/right]

The headrest is very simple but I'll go ahead and take some pictures of it anyway.




I hope to be done writing the how-to in a few hours.

This post has been edited by WannabeGT4: Aug 6, 2005 - 12:40 PM

[presure2]

Manny why do you keep calling Coomer, commer???

cause im too lazy to type 2 o's ...
naa..j/k im just a burnout who forgets how to spell from time to time

[WannabeGT4]

Any suggestions for a batch resize of about 71 pictures?

[DmVinny]

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best/jpg-resize-free.html

[WannabeGT4]

Thanks. I figured it out with photoshop though.

[WannabeGT4]

By popular demand:

1. Remove seat.
4 bolts




1 electrical connector


2. Remove tilt lever.
1 clip




3. Remove molding from frame.
1 screw each side



4. Seperate seat back from bottom.
2 bolts each side


5. Remove headrest.


6. Remove leather/fabric from foam.
multiple upholstery clips.







leave plastics for headrest. Fabric/leather will fit around them.


This post has been edited by WannabeGT4: Dec 16, 2008 - 4:01 PM

[WannabeGT4]

7. Create new covering.
The process of creating new covers is actually quite simple but very time consuming.
Use seam-ripper to seperate fabric pieces.



Use seperated pieces as a template to create new pieces.
Sew new pieces together using original hardware/padding to form the new covering.

8. Apply new covering.
Heavy duty zip ties can be substituted for upholstery clips.






8. Repeat process for seat bottom.


10. Reassemble and install seat.

Requested pics of headrest:








This post has been edited by WannabeGT4: Dec 16, 2008 - 4:02 PM

[WannabeGT4]

Notes:
Foam from leather seats and fabric seats are slightly different. The bottom portion of foam on the fabric seats is about 1 inch shorter and does not have this flap:




Also, the foam "shoulders" of the fabric seats is a bit shorter and do not protrude out as far as the foam on the leather seats.


This post has been edited by WannabeGT4: Dec 16, 2008 - 4:02 PM

[dustin15brown]

How well would a vinyl type cover go? Like if you parted some of it in Carbon Fiber

[WannabeGT4]

How well would a vinyl type cover go? Like if you parted some of it in Carbon Fiber
[right][snapback]321377[/snapback][/right]

Well vinyl will work just fine but it won't last as long or be as comfortable as leather.

[AMCMoe]

Awesome how-to. Does leather require any special sewing machine or anything?

[WannabeGT4]

Awesome how-to.    Does leather require any special sewing machine or anything?
[right][snapback]321919[/snapback][/right]

You'll probably need a strong needle and a decent machine but nothing too fancy.

[presure2]

great work, man!!!!
ill leave this open for a few days, and sticky it,(you can still post here) so that it wont get lost, and coomer can decide if he wants to move it to the how to section.
again, awesome work man!

[Valo666]

how long did this take u?..hours wise give or take?

[Supersprynt]

Can you post some more info on the actual removing of the levers & bulster adjuster, thats what snagged me up.

And also removing the bottom portion, the clips on the bottom, did you cut? Or is there a trick to it?

This post has been edited by Supersprynt: Aug 9, 2005 - 4:49 PM

[WannabeGT4]

The bolster adjustment is held on with the same style clip as the tilt adjustment. Remove that clip by expanding it with a screwdriver and then pull the lever/knob straight off.



Are you refering to the upholstery clips holding the cover on the frame or something else? If it's just the upholstery clips yeah just cut them and you can replace them with zip-ties.

This post has been edited by WannabeGT4: Dec 16, 2008 - 4:03 PM

[WannabeGT4]

how long did this take u?..hours wise give or take?
[right][snapback]322305[/snapback][/right]

All I did was transfer the leather cover from one seat to another, So from begining to end including taking pictures only about 45min. If you were to do all the seam ripping, pattern making, cutting, resewing, you would be looking at 5 to 8 hours depending on your skill and speed.

[Supersprynt]

Yeah I just started taking mine off. Another tough area is the removing of the bolt for the bottom of the seat that hides behind the seat belt buckle. There are 2 metal edges which prevent it from getting out of the way. What I did was push one of these metal clips down and then it was easy. How did you do it?

Also, what exactly did you transfer? I'm looking to transfer my leather seats' leather to the fabric foam. However I'm having second thoughts because the leather seats do look better (shoulder foams). But my leather seats have metal sticking out the back and a lil uncomfortable.

[WannabeGT4]

Yeah I just started taking mine off. Another tough area is the removing of the  bolt for the bottom of the seat that hides behind the seat belt buckle. There are 2 metal edges which prevent it from getting out of the way. What I did was push one of these metal clips down and then it was easy. How did you do it?
[right][snapback]322385[/snapback][/right]

Same way as you. Or you could just remove the nut holding the buckle to the seat frame.
This is what you're talking about right?:

Also, what exactly did you transfer? I'm looking to transfer my leather seats' leather to the fabric foam. However I'm having second thoughts because the leather seats do look better (shoulder foams). But my leather seats have metal sticking out the back and a lil uncomfortable.
[right][snapback]322385[/snapback][/right]

Same thing you're planning. Leather cover to fabric foam. It's not a huge difference and you can't even tell unless you push the shoulders in. If it bothers you, you can fill the shoulders with polyfill, the stuff in pillows and sub boxes, or you can shape some more High density foam to make up the difference. Also since the bottom portion of foam on the leather seat is about an inch longer you'll probably have a bit of slack left in the covering that you may want to sew up. I pesonally just stuffed it in between the seat back and bottom... seems to work good for me and you can't even tell it's there. The only reason I used the foam from a fabric style seat is because the previous owner stripped all the threads on the seat back for the leather style. If the only reason you're switching to fabric style is because of the metal poking out of the back I'd try and fix that and continue to use the leather style foam.

This post has been edited by WannabeGT4: Aug 9, 2005 - 5:49 PM

[Supersprynt]

I tried to get that nut off and I couldnt, and that was with a breaker bar.

My fabric seats were very comfortable, these arent so what I may end up swapping them, and cutting the shoulder pieces off the leather seats and putting them into the shoulders when they're on the fabric seats.

[dustin15brown]

so where can u get cf leather

[Lovo]

sorry to bring this back, but this would be a great place on inquiring about finding good fabric for our seats...

what do you guys think?

[illneversellmyce...]

x2 on lovo said

[njccmd2002]

any idea on where to find the foams?

[Lovo]

and... bump before this goes into the dark again

[BloodyStupidDave...]

any idea on where to find the foams?

Yup, part numbers would be good.

[njccmd2002]

i quoted the foam prices on toyota world. its like 900 for the foams for the front seats only.

This is ridiculous. Its like there is nothing out there to repair our 6gc. expensive OEM, expensive aftermarkets and knockoffs. Nothing decent. not many choices either....

[Iceman22]

Hello WannabeGT4.
My friend and I have ordered leather covers to our 6G celicas (T20) from ebay. We will receive it shortly and we would appreciate if you could upload the pictures so they work again on your post.
Can you please do that for us? Thanks.

This post has been edited by Iceman22: Dec 16, 2008 - 3:40 PM

[WannabeGT4]

What the hell. I haven't changed anything at photobucket. I'll see what I can do to get them fixed.

[WannabeGT4]

Done. Photobucket decided to stop forwarding requests from their www sub-domain to their img sub-domain.

[Iceman22]

Thanks. We ordered leather covers for Celica ST205, but we only have the normal T20, I hope it will still fit without problems. Do somebody know something about this?

[Akirad1]

does anyone know a part number for the retaining clip on the lever, or how to get one

[trdproven]

interested in the armest covers, what would it take to get a black w. red stitch version? Material looks like the really thick one with texture, is there a material that matches the oem closer?