Anyone tried re-covering their seats?

[IronMonkeyL255]

I am going to be doing this soon, and was wondering if anyone else has....

My main complaint is with the lower portion of the seat. The back seems nice and supportive, but the bottom is almost flat. I was going to re-do the vinyl portions of the seat and bolster up the sides some more.

Also, looking at my seat, I noticed that one panel of vinyl was already replaced, as it was a lighter color and used white thread.


When I do get around to it, I will take plenty of pics and maybe even do a write-up.

[dscoobydoo]

Well, I have the all cloth seats. But yes, the bottoms are flat. Right now I am having the whole car ( fronts and backs) re-done. It will be the same layout with the same fabric colors, and more padding. But short of re-designing the seats, there is little you can do to make them more comfy. ( as they were designed for a wide US ass LMAO)

[IronMonkeyL255]

I've been practicing my stitching and reading up on the most recent techniques.

It would basically be re-designing the seats, yes. I was figuring that replacing the worn-out outer edges of the factory polyfoam and adding some more high-density foam should help. Then I can use an electric carving knife to shape the foam. I will keep the factory velour, and replace the vinyl. That way, it will be a bit less work.

I will also likely try to stiffen the springs (at least the outer edge ones) a bit by adding some foam around them.


I also noticed that another panel of the factory vinyl was replaced. The problem was they didn't replace the metal rod listing on the front of the cover. They just ran the hog rings straight through the vinyl with no support.

[IronMonkeyL255]

Here's a few pics of my practice seams.

French seam:


Flat-fell seam (like is used on my seats):

[dscoobydoo]

Hmm, I guess if you go the the more rigid foam and add thigh bolsters and side bolsters it would be better. As long as you have the materials and the equipment, I would do it. But then that would change the pattern for the material.

[IronMonkeyL255]

Yeah.

I was planning on keeping the part that attached to the fabric the same shape, but changing up the other side to accomodate the bolsters.

[LaureltheQueen]

easier just to get wrx seats.

[dscoobydoo]

But what fun would that be? I have always loved the feeling from doing it yourself !!!

[skid542]

I'd say this is a feasible project, though a project it will be. I'm also done with a 4 season tent I've been making and it certianly turned out to be a lot more time and effort than I thought, but worth it. Let us know how it goes for you.

BTW, am I the only one who feels that our seats are comfortable? I'm 6'5" and have a decent frame but a small ass but still think our seats fit me about perfect.

[LaureltheQueen]

the L seats are very comfortable. The turbo seats are insanely hard. The wrx seats provide significantly better bolstering that's rigid enough to actually hold you around high speed corners. I eventually plan to recover my rear seat and door cards with wrx fabric

[All_talk]

The turbo seats are quite firm, but I find them pretty comfortable. True they dont have much bolster but I dont feel loose in them, then again I'm 6'2" @ 250lb... does that make me a "wide ass American"?

Are there any WRX (or L) seats that would match well with the stock turbo carpet and doors? My '91 SS is real rough on the inside which is the number one reason I might use it for a engine swap donor, but if I could find some replacment front seats (maybe rear too) it just might be a fixer.

Laurel, are your turbo wagon fronts the same as my '91 SS? If they are in nice shape I might buy them off you when you make the swap to WRX seats.

Gary

Edit: corrected the spelling of Laurel's name... nothing could bring swifter retribution from the spelling nazi.

[tris91ricer]

She's already swapped and the seats are gone, IIRC.
I put TurboII RX7 seats in my car.. can't beat the bolsters on those, and boyyy, are they comfy!!
There was some custom fab involved, of course, and they're not 'beautiful', but they're not too bad, overall...

[LaureltheQueen]

The turbo seats went into my L wagon to replace the wrx seats that I took out of there. One of the L seats currently resides in our rec room for GT4 play, and the other got tossed as it was thoroughly trashed from 200k+ of use.

If your turbo interior is grey(as many of the 91s' are), then L seats will fit quite well. The only thing they lack is the height adjustment, but me, being 5'8" had no problem with that, and would prefer those to the turbo seats any day(i believe the same design, just different fabric). My turbo came with the black interior, as I believe the rest of the turbos(not having the leather inserts) did. It's a pretty unattractive fabric in the black turbo interior. I wouldn't suggest it.

[IronMonkeyL255]

Mine came with this wonderful dark gray/light gray interior......