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  #41  
Old 01-21-2021, 08:51 PM
rambow rambow is offline
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Ok- the moment you've all been waiting for... how to pull that cover right side out.

This is really hard to photograph, but i had my son snap away while i was doing it so hopefully i've captured what is needed to show.

with both hands on a corner- fingers inside on the corner welting... my thumbs are UNDER and pushing right on the edgewire of the spring assembly through the bun.

I push in and pull down. not sure how else to say it. I don't fool around with it in that partiall stretched position for very long... once you get it over the corner, pull the vinyl down so it gets right side out.

Work your way back along that side pulling the bottom of the vinyl downward and to the rear so its all rightside out.
Don't worry about wrinkels or anything at this point.
Rotate the seat and repeat on the other front corner and side until its all pulled rightside out..

Once its done... try not to look at the top at this point- it will look like SH!T... rather like the last pic here.

Flip the seat over
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  #42  
Old 01-22-2021, 12:56 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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With the seat upside down, press down on the frame while pulling up on the attaching sleeve in the center of the front... hobring it- and work outwards from the center to each corner.

as you go around the corner work the vinyl upwards from the top of the seat toward the lower edge (the seat is upside down- you are really working/pulling the vinyl downwards and to the rear).

If you have bad ripples along the welt/seam you may have the seam itself folded multiple directions inside causing the ripple. you may need to get your fingers way up in there to push/pull it so that its facing the same direction (either up or down) along the whole length.

contiue hogringing the sides until you reach the back.

With the seat flipped over, you can work the vinyl with your hands- push it to create a ripple and push it towards the edge of the bun until the ripple goes over. Then repeat.

take care not to pull the cover too hard in one spot- instead push the entire panels leading to the spot you want to pull... that will help to stretch the vinyl w/o causing a weak point that can rip.

In this cushion the LH side (facing you) had a lot of issues (as seen in that first shot) here in this last one its nearly worked out.

Some heat from a steamer should help it to relax and further flatten out.
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  #43  
Old 01-22-2021, 01:36 AM
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For some reason when I looked at this pic, the phrase 'The Dude abides' kept going through my head.


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  #44  
Old 01-22-2021, 01:20 PM
rambow rambow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Reid View Post
For some reason when I looked at this pic, the phrase 'The Dude abides' kept going through my head.
nailed it!

  #45  
Old 01-22-2021, 01:33 PM
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Forgot to include a couple pics of the rear flap-
I was able to save the original cardboard separator for the rear, so i put it back in. If yours is rotten, you can just use a basic peice of cardboard on the underside- it protects the rear flap from the springs on the rear/bottom.

With the rear flap on top of the frame horns you pull these side flaps down and forward TIGHT then hog ring it to the rod inside the lower cover sleeve..

I was not real happy with the LH corner on the bucket so i got out my steamer... its nothing special- literally a $100 Clothing steamer that my wife borrowed from her mom 15 years ago that i stole out of the closet...

I used it to heat up the vinyl on that front corner and bolster... using a towel to wipe up the moisture as it collects on the surface... steam is much safer than a heat gun which can very quickly ruin a cover if left in one spot too long- i have never damaged a cover using my steamer. Anyway- after a few minutes i used my hands to work the vinyl away from the wrinkles. Just the action of pushing the vinyl around relaxes it and most of the ripples disappear.

Onto the upper cushion!
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  #46  
Old 01-22-2021, 02:15 PM
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This an amazingly detailed and informative thread!

Mostly, I have learned that I have neither the patience or expertise to do my own seats....Some tasks are best left to the folks with experience, especially considering the cost of the covers!

James Q

  #47  
Old 01-22-2021, 04:15 PM
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I am doing my back seats now ..... and ... I'm thinking when the bucket covers come in I might just take them and my installation kit and foam cushions to a local shop that is supposed to be excellent and see what they charge for installation.

  #48  
Old 01-23-2021, 02:25 AM
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I kept my rears and dyed them to match the new covers and door/quarter panels. The front buckets I recovered. It is not easy...and I mean physically easy! My fingers were weak and my palms sore from squeezing the hog-ring pliers by the time I finished those two bucket seats. I would do it again though.
By the way, I only covered the seats and added my own 'homemade' foam to puff them up. Nothing near what rambow is doing here.
This thread should be a 'sticky'!


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  #49  
Old 01-23-2021, 05:17 AM
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AMEN.

  #50  
Old 01-25-2021, 02:28 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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So start the upper cushion by finding the centerlines of the frame and marking them on the bun. Because the cover wraps around you want to mark it on the backside and the front side...

This step is EXTREMELY important for upper cushions so don't skip it.
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  #51  
Old 01-25-2021, 02:37 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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Next, measure and cut your cover listing rods, using the channels in the bun as a guide.

Make your reference marks where you plan to hogring the cover through the bun (on both sides), then use your box knife (with a fresh sharp blade) to cut the slits, and make sure you can grab the spring side paper covered listing rod under the burlap.

Pull your cover inside out, then lay it out over the bun.

Take a look at the sides- See those little reference snips, just like on your original cover. They help you to ID top to bottom placement of the cover. Arrange it so those marks are just above and just below the metal tabs in the side of the frame.

Take a look at the top- it also has a little reference snip ID'ing the centerline of the center pattern.
Line it up with your reference mark at the top of the bun.

The bottom of this cover did not have the reference snip in the center- So i just measureed and marked it... Line it up at the bottom of the bun.

The cover is now in position
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  #52  
Old 01-25-2021, 02:44 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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With the cover positioned... carefully fold up the sides and tuck the listing sleeves down into the channels in the bun and make the reference marks on the cover sleeves. Carefully rotate the cushion w/o moving the cover and do the same on the other side.

On these upper cushions i decided to make 5 reference marks and hogring positions.
The reason for that is we need to leave the bottom few inches loose to allow the cover to pull up at the bottom while we are stretching it.

So attach the top 3 hogrings on each side, but leave the bottom two off.

Flip the cushion over.
Take a zip tie to the top side hole in the frame and attach it to a spring- Then compress it down as far as it will go.
Repeat on the other side of the top.

Doing this makes things MUCH easier when pulling the cover up and over and right side out on the top of the cushion.
We will cut & remove this later once the cover is right side out.
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  #53  
Old 01-25-2021, 02:58 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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I cut strips of cotton felt batting and laid them over the bolsters like we did for the lower cushion, tucking a few inches into the bun channel. I cut another strip (Shorter) and laid it between the other two at the top so there would be no noticeable lack of material under the cover there.

I then tucked a piece of thin plastic sheet (painters drop cloth plastic) under the top edge of the cover and trimmed in so it just drapes over the top and sides.
This will help the cover to slide easier.

I appologize for lack of better pics for this step- my assistant was not cooperating so i had to take the pics after...anyway.

Starting with one side, using both hands with fingers inside the cover and thumbs outside pushing on the top corner of the edgewire I pullted the cover over the corner and rightside out.

KEEP AN EYE ON THE TOP OF THE SIDE SLIT.
There usually is a reinforcement here (PUI doesn't), but that is the weakest point in this procedure as the cover wants to open up there.

If you have a second person who can keep that peice held together while you are doing this that would help.

** The cover is going to look like absolute crap at this point.
** ITS OK.
Try not to look at it.

Once the first corner is rightside out, go to the other corner and do the same thing, using both hands to pull & push it over the corner and right side out.
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  #54  
Old 01-25-2021, 03:02 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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Pull the cover downward so that the channel reference marks line (the best they can, they may not perfectly line up after all the man handling)

hogring down the last two marks on your cover listing rods (on both sides.)

make sure the welt seam is pulled outward, pull the bolster vinyl outward and down and over the lower corners of the buns.

The cover is starting to look less crappy now.
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  #55  
Old 01-25-2021, 03:09 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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Flip the cushion over, and flip open the back flap.

Cut and remove the 2 zip ties you put in earlier.

Use some gentle pressure to help push the front of the cushion out a bit. It may not go much so don't force it...

Pull the top flap down. Locate the centerline of the top cover (if there is no reference mark on the cover, just count the pleats...

Mine lined up perfectly with the mark i had made, same with the bottom flap.

Its important that the top and bottom flaps are "close" to fitting. If one is simply not going to stretch to close its gap, and one is too long- your cover position is off and as much as you won't want to, you will need to go back and do it again and adjust it.

In this case- both flaps were a bit short, which is perfect- it means with some compression and stretching they will both reach.

Re-install your metal "wave" rods you saved from your original covers in the the upper and lower sleeves... if you didn't save them, you can use a coat hanger wire, or other stiff metal rod (1/8" steel rod from a HW store also works great)

Hogring the upper sleeve in position on the frame.
Put your hogrings to one side of each opening, leaving room for when you hogring the lower flap.

Don't pull the lower flap up yet.
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  #56  
Old 01-25-2021, 03:17 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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Install the metal rods into the two side sleeves on each side of the cover.

When i took off the original covers- i made marks on the side metal tabs of the frame where the screws went in for the side chrome trim- I now marked the new cover in the same place... Once the rods are hogringed together the mark will be the only way to help figure out where those holes are.

Starting at the top pull the two sides together and hogring them.
Pull the welting seam on the back corner out and to the front as you pull that seam down to eliminate wrinkles/waves along that edge.

once the hogrings are all in, use your finger to "flip" the triangle so that the flat side is facing out.

Now you can pull that bottom flap up into position, starting in the center and hogring it in place.

The outter most hogring positions are just a single hole, not enough room for 2 hogrings- so i cut the earlier hogring off that was holding ONLY the top flap on, and put in new ones that hold both the top and bottom flap in that position.
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  #57  
Old 01-25-2021, 03:27 AM
rambow rambow is offline
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Now flip the cushion over and take a peek.
The first pic below is what this looks like at this point... I've done ZERO massaging to the cushion at this point- just the act of pulling and closing up the sides, and stretching the top and bottom flaps into position has tightened and smoothed the front.

At this point i got out my steamer- I ran it over each bolster where the ripples were for maybe 5-10 mins, drying up the condensation with a towel as I went.

I did not do any actual massaging here- literally all I did was to rub and wiping up the water from the steam... and when i was done it looked like the 2nd pic.

Imagine how much better it will be after a few hours parked in the sun in a hot car. A few heat cycles and the vinyl and foam will have relaxed fully.

I know how hard it is to not get discouraged earlier on when it looks like garbage- but you have to see it through.
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  #58  
Old 01-25-2021, 03:36 AM
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And that is that....

** note The top cushion is only "sitting" on the lower, its not mounted to the hinge pins yet.
I realize the pattern doesn't match... I'll match the cushions when I complete the other two peices.
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Last edited by rambow; 01-25-2021 at 03:50 AM.
  #59  
Old 01-25-2021, 03:47 AM
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The whole point of this thread was to try and show how this can be done by anyone if they know the right steps.

The upholstery for these cars was installed on an assembly line (yes, GM's Trim shop's also used assembly lines).
One guy standing there doing the same part of this puzzle over and over and over again. Then the next guy doing his part, and the next until they were done.

There is no magic here- but there is a process behind each step, and I've tried to show at least my interpretation of how its done.

There are dozens of ways to skin these particular cats- and I am always learning new tricks from others too.

So if you are a person who enjoys being able to say they have done EVERYTHING to restore their own car... GIVE THIS A TRY- YOU CAN DO IT.

Anyway- I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have...
If anyone is looking for any of the supplies used in this build (new springs, custom wire bending, installation kit materials) Feel free to PM me.

Cheers!
Ben


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  #60  
Old 01-25-2021, 03:30 PM
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Looks like I'll definitely be doing my front seats myself. Just got a quote from the local upholstery shop. With me supplying covers, the good foam cushions and an installation kit ... they want $680-850.00 !! That with the seat frames out of the vehicle, cleaned and ready to go. They said it takes 8-10 hours.

After reading this thread, watching a bunch of videos, including the ones from Legendary ... looks like a couple hours per seat even for a newbie.

Am I that far off base??

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