I bought new foam and covers for my bucket seats. I was wondering were the crevices in the foam are, am I supposed to cut a slit in it or just poke through it with pliers?

Quality foams already have the slits molded in them. The ones I bought a few years back, American Cushion, I think, had them.

I don't think I would cut them. You might go all the way thru. Ask me how I know. Turned out Ok in the end though.

Recovering the buckets is a real chore. Did the rear seat first. Only took a couple of hours. Took me weeks to do the front buckets. There are some tricks. Hope I never have to do it again.

The foams have the crevices molded in them but they dont go all the way through the foam and I didnt know if I was supposed to cut them through or what?

Also the original burlap on the seats has metal wires weaved through it should I do this to the new burlap? Keep the orignal burlap and place new over it?
Also how do the foams attach to the springs? It looks like on the seats I have the burlap is attached and a cotton padding and cloth over the burlap is hog ringed and glued to the foam is that how its supposed to go?

Danny,

Good. It sounds like you have the right foams. No. IMO you don't want to cut through. I can tell you that the foams rip easily and by the time your done they'll be all the way through. LOL. You want to hog ring through the foam to the back side of the seat cover. there is a bead sewn, that is where you attach. You need to get it lined up and fold back the edge to expose your attachment point. Hard to describe. Did you see how they were put together when you took the old ones off? This is how you need to put it back together.

There is a sticky at the top of the section on recovering 70 seats. Alot of good info here. The plastic trick works great.

My seats were good enough that I left the cotton and burlap in place. Never took it off. Removing the wires is a decision you will have to make depending on condition of yours. Maybe someone else can chime in.

To answer you last question: yes.

For me the challenge was get the covers on and ringed before my hands cramped up. You really need a second pair of hands. Try to get someone to help. Like I said in my last post...It's a real chore.

There are a lot of good posts here on recovering seats. I did a few write-ups awhile back after doing my '70 buckets and rear and Olle has some good input for everyone as well.

To answer a couple of your questions:

Also the original burlap on the seats has metal wires weaved through it should I do this to the new burlap? Keep the orignal burlap and place new over it?

If your burlap is in good shape, you can do this. Mine was toast, so I took some heavy fabric for backing drapery and put it over the springs first. The main thing is, you want some protection so that the springs don't chew up the seat buns...

Also how do the foams attach to the springs? It looks like on the seats I have the burlap is attached and a cotton padding and cloth over the burlap is hog ringed and glued to the foam is that how its supposed to go?

I didn't actually "attach" the foam. It is held in place by the seat cover pulled tight over it. That being said, I DID use some spray adhesive to help hold things while I was working it and I also took an extra 1" thick foam pad and laid it over the seat foam so that it built it up more. I had heard that some seat covers have a tendancy to be loose and I didn't want this to occur. My covers turned out very nice and tight. A good hint if you use this extra foam is to cut it so that it folds over the front of the seat about 2" - it hides any blend lines and turns out nicer than having the edge of the extra padding on the top surface.

If you run in to problems putting the covers on, turn them inside out and also leave them in the sun to warm. Your fingertips will suffer no matter what, but this definitely helps! Then, wrap the foams in a big plastic hefty bag - the plastic helps everything slide easier. When it's all on, you cna either leave it or tear it out - I left mine as a protection in case anything ever spilled on the seat, it wouldn't soak into the foam...

As far as the hog rings, take note of where your current ones are located. Also, my new covers did not have any wire to ring against, so I took old heavy wire coat hangers and put the wire around the perimeter so that the rings had something to pull against and don't tear the seat covers.

Also the original burlap on the seats has metal wires weaved through it should I do this to the new burlap? Keep the orignal burlap and place new over it?

If your burlap is in good shape, you can do this. Mine was toast, so I took some heavy fabric for backing drapery and put it over the springs first. The main thing is, you want some protection so that the springs don't chew up the seat buns...


You can also find burlap at the nurseries, they use this to cover the roots on trees. I guess that the metal wire is there for reinforcement, so if you replace the burlap, you should probably put the wires in it. Sounds kinda tedious to weave in all those wires though, have never tried it.

I have reused burlap on some seats, but on the last one I did ('69 front bench), I used a heavy felt, probably about 1/8" thick. I found this in a local upholstery shop, and it felt really nice and strong so I'm sure it's a good material to use. It was cheap too, paid about $10. As Curt said, it's there to protect the foam, and this felt will probably do a much better job than the burlap. I left the old burlap with the metal wires under this, so my seat bottom is probably pretty bullet proof. :)

I left the wired burlap in place and placed a new sheet of burlap over it, Then I placed the cotton padding on top, about 1/8" thick. Then some cotton batting and the foam. When I went to hog ring the center section (side bolsters) I couldnt get the ring in far enough to grab the wire. I even got some heavy wire and pulled it down as hard as I could and still couldnt get a hog ring to grab it. I ended up making my own V shaped wires and putting them around the seat cover wire and pushing through and twisting them shut around a spring.
The one ive done looks really good with a slight wrinkle on on side bolster.

there you have it!

Ok on to doing the top portion, It looks even more like a pain.
The plastic retainers for the head rests, do I need to cut the foam out in this area and allow the plastic to come through?

Help please, My headrest things are right on the seam, I cant seem to pull the cover down enough to get it behind the seam.

Ok on to doing the top portion, It looks even more like a pain.
The plastic retainers for the head rests, do I need to cut the foam out in this area and allow the plastic to come through?


The metal mounting plates that the plastic attaches to, about 2" in dia.? If yes, you need to cut around these. Make sure you have it set where you need it before you cut. Same with the seat cover, Pull it on, adjust the best you can before you cut

but the seam for the seat covers goes right through were the headrest plates attach

It doesn't sound like you have them pulled down far enough. The seam/bead should be about an 1" in front of the mounting location.

I almost have to see a pic to tell where you're at...I never cut that headrest piece...I cut a small section for the headrest post to go through and use a pic to locate hole etc....you might have the ringed in wrong and it is not allowing you to pull the cover down where it is supposed to be...this is what I am saying about repop foam and covers...they can be very cantankerous sometimes...be careful not to pull any seams apart...

All this said it has been relatively cold in our area the past week or so...when it is cold vinyl has a tendency to 'shrink' up and be unwilling to stretch...normally one uses a steamer to heat the cover up imparting some elasticity to it...the steamer also takes out those slight wrinkles...you almost have to have a steamer to get a baby @ss smooth cover installed...here is what I would do...check to see that your cover is hog ringed in the proper position...once you've done that get some silicone in a spray can and spray the bolsters down....take a hair dryer and heat that vinyl up pretty good...get a holt of frame and cover and pull it hard...an upholsterer trick for you...'walking the cover'...slap that sucker as you are stretching it on...the cover will 'walk' down the foam helping you to get everything where it is supposed to be...

I bet it is not hog ringed in the right position and therefore is causing your problem...keep stroking you'll get it...

Also...the problem you encountered with hog ringing the bottoms in...that is why I always make a 1" slit in the foam channel so I can see the listing that I need to ring too...just my method I'm not saying that it is superior or anything...when you do these things for a living you do what you got to do to make it happen...

Sorry guys...I can put repop covers on a pair of bucket seats in about 2 or 3 hours with little frustration and make them look sweet...HAHAHAHAA...but then again I've only done probably hundreds possibly more then a thousand of seats cover installs...you can do it too...

Well I just went ahead and finished it. Doesnt look great but looks good. Theres no way in hell that I could get 1" between the seam and the head rest plates. If I did the whole thing would look like crap. Ill just take a pic and show ya...

Ill get more better pictures tomorrow. I went ahead and finished the seat, the top seam is against the headrest bracket and I dont think its possible with the covers I have to get and inch or even half an inch out of it.
They look pretty good but the lower seat springs make noise when you sit on it. How can I fix that?


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/greenchevelless/02-07-07_0023.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/greenchevelless/02-07-07_0024.jpg

From what I can see...looks good to me. Good work.

take a pic of the top of the seat with the head rest in the up position.

They definately look 100% better then what you used to have!
Might try WD40 for the squeaky springs or perhaps look under the seat and see if you can determine what is rubbing causing the squeak then put a piece of vinyl or something there...

Ok heres the little bit better pics, I used my phones camera so thats why the pics arent so good.
On the seat, I tried and tried and tried to pull it out and get the seam away but no go, This is the best I could and with the head rest down you cant see it anyway.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/greenchevelless/02-07-07_1737.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/greenchevelless/02-07-07_1742.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/greenchevelless/02-07-07_1743.jpg

Dan...undo that rear left corner...and pull it back harder and it should take away those wrinkles on the left side bottom...that is the deal about seat covers you gotta adjust them till they are right...your top/headrest area will be fine...I can make you some matching head rest covers probably cheaper then you can buy them...all we have to do is order a yard of that material...Bill Rose can get it for us too...:cool:

The headrest are green and supposed to match but they are very dirty and VERY hard, Almost like hitting a 2X4 with the back of your head when you floor it...

In that case...SEMS makes some stuff called prep sol or plastic prep or something like that...you can get similar stuff at autozone etc...it will clean those headrests right up...then put some kinda conditioner on them...baby oil...etc...

ok Ill try that. When I heated it up to get some of the wrinkles out it became very soft.

There is a lot more to vinyl then people realize...the material has many qualities...heat causes it to 'loosen' up and such it will stretch in ways you can't imagine...vinyl has a grain to it much like woodgrain kinda...it can be stretched 'with the grain' or 'across the grain'...each way does its own peculiar thing to the vinyl...it is because of these properties that one must be careful when making a set of high quality show car type of seats...you want all your pattern pieces to be cut and sewn together in a certain way etc...there is a lot more to car upholstery than meets the eye...

Looking at your pic that wrinkle on the seat bottom oughtta come out pretty easy I think...

So you think baby oil will soften it up? Ive got a bottle on hand Ill clean it up and give it a try.
Back to the seat, I installed it today, Just bolted the brackets to it and set it in there, Im gonna weld the brackets in tomorrow night. But I sat in it to see how it felt and all, My head hit the roof then when I moved the seat back all the way (needs to go a bit more) I only had about an inch between the top of my head and the roof, I dont even have a headliner installed yet so I hope the seat and foam break in a bit and I wont be so high. I also noticed that this one bucket seat weighs about the same as my single bench seat so both are gonna add alot of weight. So now onto the passengers seat and when I get a cover, the rear seat.

Baby oil on the vinyl is an old school trick...vinyl, just like a leather hide, has oils of various kinds in it...over time and from exposure to heat these materials dry up...that is why some old vinyl seat you find at the salvage has that stiff shrunk up thing about and when you hit it or whatever it cracks...

What a person can do and should do is try to restore some of those oils to the vinyl...products like armorall are silicone based and don't really do the trick...baby oil and lanolin type stuff will however...basically what you do is take a towel and smear a liberal coat of baby oil on the headrest, cover, etc...let it sit overnight...then wipe it off...simple but also messy so pay attention to the application part...if your headrests are already pretty dry you might have to do this a few times to get them back so to speak...

With leather stuff you use mink oil...leather is real bad about drying out and decaying...it is a dead animal...

This old trick works for dashes and the like too...will help to keep a dash from cracking if it is done regularly...2 or 3 times a year...

Ive used neetsfoot (sp?) oil on my leather seats in my supra, worked pretty good but had to do quite a few coats and it made the seats real oily.

I got the brackets installed and its a bit better to where im sitting but I moved the steering wheel forward a bit and that helped a little bit more but I think im gonna have to move the seat tracks on the seat to get it to be moved back a bit for more leg room. It kinda sucks being a big O boy I can barely squeeze my legs from under the seat. I hope it breaks down enough to give me some room