DIY Re-upholstery Front Sport Seats kit 85-89

[DRACO A5OG]

Well Fellas, another contribution to our great community 2013:

Kit:

Full Assembled Leather Quality Grade Perforated Inserts with Vinyl Piping from a local company ( PM me if you want the vendor's info )



Our Host offers kits from World Upholstery, should be the same but I can not verify.

Tools (see above, after removing it from the car)

Most important are:
Rubberized gloves
Harden Tipped Wire Cutter ( not to cut but to pry & twist those darn hog rings )
Hog Ring Plyers
Clothes Steamer
Outward Cling Stapler for the upper insert pad
Plastic shopping bag ( it really does work )

Supplies:
Adhesive Spray
Polished Steel Hog Rings to resist Rust
Stainless Steel Staples
Mineral spirits for clean up

Option: Seat Heater Pads, I used '84 center console face place to install the switches.

Time needed:
3-4 hours per seat.

[DRACO A5OG]

Day 1:

First separate the top from the bottom, sorry there is no other way to get the skins off/on.

You must raise the seat before removing it from the car.




Mark the seat release ( back seat access cable) before removing




Remove Seat Rails


Becareful of the white plastic guides they are very brittle, ask me how I know $5.00 to replace a set.

[DRACO A5OG]

LOL, AUDI Part number

Note orientation of everything, I took photos to remind me

This is a thin wire tensioner to stretch the bottom portion tight.


You do not need to remove the height adjuster, just pull out of the way


HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN VERIFY IF THE POS OR INSTALLER TO A SHORT CUT, THE 2ND SPIKE FROM THE LEFT WAS NOT USED SO OVER TIME IT CAUSE THE LEATHER TO SLIP AROUND AND EVENTUALLY RIP THE HOLD DOWN STRAPS DUE TO USE.

Note the 3" cardboard tab, remove and staple it on to new skins

[DRACO A5OG]

This section covers all the re-used components such as wires and cardboard pieces







Just glue those areas that tore, No worries, once hogged ringed down it will not get worse, on when the seat's fabric rips where the hog rings are held give, then the foams start to tear due to wear and tear.

Autoberry, placed stronger plastic reinforced wires, straps for the hog rings to bite in to, NICE.

[DRACO A5OG]

I placed extra hog rings to firm up the seats, the new leather shoud do the same but over time it will sag IMHO. Mine will never sag again.


Ready for steam to puff it back up

They will swell another 3-5MM's, in areas that compressed. Remove bad batting and replace. Funny the tops had a wool like batting, very nice stuff. I had synthetic but did a better job of coverage, just glue on the bolsters, not the insert area, if you select perforated, you want the seat to breathe, glue it will not.

Top dismantle:



Passenger side had OEm batting to conceal hog rings and metal deviations, my driver side did not have it, freakin POS installer short cutted there, I just used batting, perfect no bumps





You MUST stick screw drive inside the channel to remove the handle, if you pull from the outside you will break it, ask me how I know.

[DRACO A5OG]

Top inserts are the only ones that need the OUTWARD CLING STAPLES, PITA, the trick here is to hold the staple gun's head down on the leather and foam then staple, if you do not the staple will not penatrate and form the outward shape. I also used glue on the edges only for extra measure.


Ready for Steam:

Prep for install, basically in reverse order, take photos for orientation of the hog rings


Bottom need batting(matting) original was missing, POS installer cut allot of corners, oh the joy:

[DRACO A5OG]

With Heat Pads


Start with the inserts first using hog rings center to outward, always check position, don't want to start over again :P


Pull over the corners as you compress the foam, work it in as straight as possible, don't worry about the wrinkles, that is what the steamer is for


and wait for it....................................the shopping bag trick:


Seat Heater Switches:

[DRACO A5OG]

[DRACO A5OG]

See the bumps at the bottom, this is drive side without batting, I have since placed batting, no more bumps

[DRACO A5OG]

Oh yeah, under $800 shipped :P

Knowing no short cuts were taken on installation and New Leather Smell, PRICELESS

[911euro]

wow thank you so much. I have been looking for such details to recover my seats.

[DRACO A5OG]

If you need an assist, pm me with pics and i will do my best to help

[DRACO A5OG]

Okay, finished editing, please forgive typos and grammar, enjoy

[brighton911]

For sure, I'll be writing this one down in my book for future reference. Thanks for the outstanding job documenting this project. Really nice end result!

[88911coupe]

I need to keep track of this...stunning details.

[SilberUrS6]

Draco - super-great work. It will be nice to see how it holds up.

About how long did it take you?

[Smoove1010]

Very generous of you to go to the time and trouble to photograph, document, and share this while in the middle of the project. Great job on the thread and the seats. Thank you. This is now on my list of my favorite subscribed how-to threads.

GK

[dshepp806]

DRACO: for sure, big thanks for your time and effort in sharing (as always). I'm restoring my 89's interior (ALL of it) and have opted to let Heritage handle the task (I chickened out on auditioning for the upholsterer role)...BUT it's gonna cost 1 arm and 2 legs to go this chosen route.

Thanks, again, for all of your great contributions to our Group!

BEST!

Doyle

[DRACO A5OG]

Originally Posted by SilberUrS6

Draco - super-great work. It will be nice to see how it holds up.

About how long did it take you?

About 4-5 hours, I wanted to take it slow and triple check everything to be sure it won't be a Sharpe Style install, like one of our other brothers

Doyle, make sure they remove the rail to use all the spikes on the frame, POS installer skipped one spike that contributed to the skins getting loose, have them send you a pic of the rails removed to be sure since you are paying an arm and a leg.

It was actually fun for me and always a pleasure to payback the Brotherhood for all the assists on my issues.

J

[Winter]

SOLID!

Very nice work and excellent write up.