A little background- I have been doing seats as my hobby business for the last 10 years, basically its my way to fund the classic car hobby for myself.
Due to my own interests I primarily focus on GM A-body and F-body seats, but I've also done fords and Mopars,trucks and everything in between from the 50's to the 70's. I don't have any interest in doing any newer stuff- and since its my hobby I don't feel bad turning away projects that don't interest me.
I am not a custom upholstery shop- I don't make covers (not yet anyway, working on learning it) but rather I specialize in installing the pre-made reproduction covers, and repairing the underlying spring assemblies that are unique to these seats, and key to them feeling right when done.
Anyway, enough about me... lets talk tools before we start.
#1 most important tool is my camera. I take photos of EVERYTHING as i tear stuff down, because you never know what you may need when putting them back together. I've gotten lazy doing this as I've done many a-body buckets i don't really need them anymore, but anytime i get a new seat I'm unfamiliar with, i wind up with hundreds of pics... photos are a free resource as long as you remember to take them as you go.
The #2 most used tool- 8" Bolt cutters like these:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-8-in...tters/50069713
I use these to cut off hog rings and twist them off. If you try and use side cutters or dykes it will shock the hell out of your hand every time you cut one. These cut nice and easy with no shock. And the head is still small enough to get into every place needed and you can grab the hog ring and twist it off if possible saving you further.
And #3... a sharp box knife. I have one where i can change blades quickly, and i change em often so its always sharp.
In my writeup, i'm being careful with these covers because i wanted to save it so i can use it as a template to make new covers from scratch (a different project) but most of the time, i will use my box knife to cut them apart to make life easier.
This is ESPECIALLY important when the old covers are gross and brittle, because they don't often come off in one piece... so better to slice and dice.
Anyway enough of that here we go- I usually start with detailed pics of the outside showing the corners, special tucks, where seams fall, etc. etc.
Use a pair of pliers to twist the chrome button caps over the hinge pin to remove them.
I'm rarely successful trying to save them by prying them off.. in this case the side trim was too nice to risk denting by prying on them...
Pull each hinge arm off the pin and separate the cushions.
pay close attention to where the screws were in the sides of the upper cushion- mark their location and take a pic showing where they are in relation to the sleeve channel. This will help with positioning the new cover later.
On this kind of seat i also pay attention to the rear flap on the lower cushion and how far forward the sides were pulled. On this seat they were already loose.