oh now you tell me after I just ordered replacement seat covers - hahaha!

 

When I took mine in to be put on some guy who was really into getting cars refurbed was there and said the car would look great with black carpet. It actually made as much of a difference as the new covers. (also got them from tops on line). I had the same colors as you to start.

BTW, don't get any crazy ideas of doing the headliner yourself, I did and it was a son-of-a-b to complete

 

I bet that color combo would look great. Do you have a pic of that? I'd love to see it. I was wondering if the headliner can be removed and washed? It seems like it could be detached buy I really have not taken a good look at it yet.

 

I still, to this day, haven't been able to re-clip the back to the flap of the seatback. I just can't get it to stretch enough to 'roll' and get it into that j-clip. I attempt it every time I clean the interior, and every time, I give up after 10 minutes. I will certainly try the hair drier the next time I give it a go. I just need another 5 millimeters or so to get it closed!

 

Bring it to me and I'll do it for you in less than 15 seconds. Having gorilla-sized hands is a disadvantage for 99% of the repair work I have to do on our vehicles. But this is one job where my monster hands give me a definite advantage compared to the normal guy....

I see your signature says "RIP Super V8". What happened?

 

Question: how many men does it take to secure a j clip?
Answer: none, it takes two girls, hehe :-)

Just kidding, I was able to secure the J clip only once my 17 year old daughter helped. On the driver's seat, the two of us did it ( one stretching while one clipping), on the passenger seat, it took three of us to do it. One to hold the center section down after getting the clip in while one person on each side to secure the outside clips or else the center part would unattached when trying to secure the outside clips. I think you have to have the seat removed in order to fit all those hands. The more hands, the more stretch you can get or hold in order to secure it. In attempting to use a blowdryer, my quest was to reduce the wrinkles. The blow dryer was absolutely no help at all and I do not see where it would help in securing the J clip. I see on your previous post that you used a heat gun for the wrinkles, while I was warned against doing so, how did that work out for you? I'm happy with the outcome of my driver's seat recover, but my passenger seat recover seems to have a bit more wrinkles in the top portion of the seat. Is it worth getting/renting a heat gun? What about damage to the material as previously suggested by another member?

P.S. The gender of the hands are irrelevant ;-)!

 

Sadly, it was totaled by insurance company when I swerved to avoid the end of a construction barrier and caught my right front wheel on it. It tore the wheel and hub from the control arms and pushed it into the firewall and shock tower. It twisted/buckled the body along the roof...just too much damage to make the repairs cost effective. Thanks for asking.

 

So sorry to hear Matt, hope everyone was ok.

 

chris, I used a heat gun on my passenger seat and was able to remove almost all the wrinkles. I bought it at Harbor Freight fo less than $20 if I remember correctly.

It was also essential to getting the seat back rib tucked in on my 97, which is different from your car.

 

Good to know and for $20 worth a shot. I really feel the passenger seat just looks unprofessional with too many wrinkles on y job. BTW, recovering the arm rest was a bi*&^.

 

You will want to practice with the heat gun, these push alot more heat than a hair drier. Good news is they have several settings, start on low with low heat and bump the heat as you go.. High on high and it'll burn a hole through the fabric !

 

We added a thin layer of new foam to the seat before installing new covers, also added black piping to tie in the original black interior.
Mine came from tops on line and he did the stitching in black also but wouldn't do the piping in black. Made no sense to me. He was making them anyway, why not just use the black instead of the white piping! Even offered to pay more. Also wanted the center inserts in black and a no!!
Overall I love the finished look. I even used fabric spray paint and painted my headliner black. Was a pain but totally transformed the interior.

 

One thing many upholstery pros do that I haven't seen mentioned here is to use a fabric steamer to swell the foam back to original shape. I don't know how long this lasts, but it made a big difference in my passenger seat.

This weekend I plan on doing the drivers seat, but not anxious to start on the center console after seeing chris' comment. I think the heat gun will help on that job.

 

The center console is not as difficult as you may believe. I think the key is to use the right material for the fresh padding underneath the leather top. I chose a relatively thin and flexible foam sheet made for packaging applications and just kept adding layers of foam until I felt I had enough padding for a tight yet comfortable fit. Using a good strong upholstery glue is also crucial. I opted to re-use the factory leather console top (after a thorough cleaning) rather than replacing it. My wife remains happy with the look and feel, now more than three years later....