The coupe has just had its biggest interior upgrade to date!
My seats have needed replacement for a while as the leather was starting to tear and much of the stitching was disintegrating. This was going to be at least a $2,000 project, so it kept going on the back burner. I started to see positive reviews for Lseat about a year ago, so I took a chance and purchased covers for the front and rear seats for a very reasonable, $600.
When I received the covers I was very impressed with the quality of the leather, dye and workmanship. Compared with the original Connolly hides, the leather is not as smooth and the black dye is more matte. Shipping was very quick. I placed my order on Dec 23rd and they arrived on Jan 10th. Also, I had quick email responses to any of my questions. All of the pieces were the right size (with one exception) and in some cases they substituted leather where the originals had vinyl. The exception was that the rear seat bottom cover was too short where it covers the front of the seat assembly. See below for details. Overall Verdict: good company, with a quality product. I highly recommend their work.
From a distance, the seats look like they have good “patina”
Closer inspection reveals some tears
and stitching that was coming apart
Here are all the gory details about the installation process: Front Seat Bottom Cushions
Started work on the front cushions. I had previously replaced the rubber bladders supporting the cushions as the originals were torn.
Carefully removed the covers
Both seat cushions were starting to disintegrate. I would be regularly vacuuming up popcorn size pieces of foam from under the seats.
removed the cushion from the metal base
comparing the underside of the original and new covers
Decided to rebuild the foam cushions. My local Joann’s had a great assortment of high density foam. Also picked up an electric carving knife to cut the foam
Started with a piece of 2″ foam and using the metal base as a guide, cut to shape
Added a 1″ piece that sits inside the base
was worried that the edges of the metal base might start to wear the foam so glued a piece of black canvas to the bottom of the cushion
Glued this new assembly into the base
time to start building up the top end of the cushion
Used the original as a guide and carved out the back
Started to layer on 1″ pieces to make the bolster shape
Took two layers
Taking measurements from the original cushion, started to carve out the angles
Used a small rotary sander with 80 grit paper to round out the edges
new cushion assembles on to base
through this process I would sometimes use some steam to soften up the leather when stretching over cushions. Need to be more careful with leather versus vinyl as the leather will shrink with too much steam
Started by gluing the center of the cover to the low part on the cushion
Stretched the cover on and used the original clips and some gluing to secure the cover
drilled a couple of holes in the frame and used a couple of hog rings to secure the back corners. Same process for the other cushion
Front seat backrest and headrests
Time to start on the front seat backs
first removed the back covers
This is the second one once I knew were the clips were
I broke the board on the first as I didn’t know where the clips were and pulled too hard on the bottom. You won’t have this problem as you can see where to pop them off
Removed the broken pieces from the vinyl cover
drilled out the rivets on the side brackets
used the broken old board as a template for the new one
Cut it to shape and secured the side pieces with small machine screws
used a piece of 1/2″ foam to replace the original
The stock covers for this piece are vinyl, while the new pieces provided are leather. That is a nice upgrade
With some glue, staples and patience, the back panels are recovered
The original trim on this piece is gold. I always wondered about that choice as there is no other gold trim anywhere in the interior. Silver or black would make more sense
I decided on black
This clip is removed to pull out the headrest
The original headrests had lost all of their shape
The reason became pretty clear. The foam had completely disintegrated
Time for more arts and crafts with foam
Since I didn’t have any intact original foam, I use the new headrest covers as my template for the shapes
Some trial and error got me to this shape
Happy with the end result
Time to start removing the cover
Carefully peeling it back
back view with cover off
Front view
Replaced some of the original foam on the side bolsters with new 1/2′ pieces and glued in place
Need to carefully remove trim piece for headrest mount. One or two of the clips will probably break
Cut a hole and attached trim piece to new covers
slid the new cover on and replaced the headrest to help keep things lined up. Also pulled through the material pieces between the gaps in the foam
The side pieces of fabric are glued while the top piece is cut into strips….
…..and tied to the rubber netting
glued and clamped the cover to the side
and used some wooden shims to secure the glued pieces on top
the backrest release handle trim pieces were hard to get off without breaking the plastic pins
found that sheet rock anchors work better than the original pins as they don’t need the locking washer, so glued some on.
A frustrating part was trying to secure the back panels to the seats. The original clips didn’t hold the piece securely.
Found these clips that worked better, but still in the hunt for something that holds more securely. Please send any suggestions my way.
All put back together
Rear seat bottom cushion
On to the the back seat. Starting with the bottom cushion
Carefully peeling off the cover
Original cover removed
This is the backside of the new cover
Need to cut the fabric into strips that get pulled through slits in the cushion and are secured at the back
It took some trial and error (and lots of patience) to try different methods to secure the cover without wrinkles. I found the best way was to start with the center hump middle strips
and then to work outward from there
while checking how things look on the other side
then to pull the cover over the corners and work from the center out for the rest of the fabric strips
My only disappointment with these covers is here. The piece that pulls over the front of the assembly is too short and needs another 3 inches in order to fasten to the rod hidden under the seat.
I needed to use the fasteners on the bottom rod so they are exposed and the seat looks unfinished. In practice, you don’t see them, but if you don’t have black leather, I think they would be obvious.
Rear seat backrest
Last piece is the rear seat backrest
First removed the armrest assembly
Then removed the seat cover
Seat cover removed
Comparison of original and new seat covers
recovered the armrest first
Removed the flap and recovered that piece
Then pulled the new cover over the armrest foam.
Used a little steam here to help stretch the cover and remove wrinkles.
Trimmed some excess
re-used the small nails to secure the cover and trimmed some more
Here is the final product before attaching the other pieces
Next attached the flap that covers the opening between the seats when the armrest is down.
Punched holes through the leather where the hinges mount
and secured the hinges
There is another piece that slides in the back that gets recovered
Just needed to cut through the slits before re-installing
For the backrest cover, I started by gluing the center vinyl parts in the armrest tunnel. Re-using my shims and some clamps / vice grips to secure while the glue dried
The armrest is then bolted back into position and the center piece slides in
The long pieces on the armrest flap feed through the slits and get secured at the back.
I had the cover on and off at least three times trying the best methods to secure with the least wrinkles. Starting with the center vertical fabric strips worked best for me.
after I was happy with the center piece, the cover was pulled over the corners and the horizontal strips were secured working from the center out
Re-installing back into car
Time to put all of the pieces back in the car. I was not careful enough when installing the rear seat backrest and it ripped the fabric from the side trim.
I replaced the headliner and all the side fabric pieces when I first bought the car in ’98, but didn’t remember exactly how big a job it was.
Turned out to be pretty simple to remove this trim piece. Simply removed the interior light, grab handle, a couple of screws and popped out clips to remove.
Removed the two pieces attached to the main board.
I am lucky to have Western Upholstery in Denver as they had exactly the headliner material I needed in stock.
Recovered the board and then attached the other two pieces.
And re-install back in the car. Was very careful when installing the backrest again.
The only issue I found was there was a gap between the rear seat bottom cushion and backrest.
Time to have some more fun with foam. Added a couple of tapered pieces at the back of the bottom cushion and that took care of the gap and gave the bottom cushion a better shape as well
