Replacing C4 Seat Covers

Ok, was tired of the dull/worn appearance of my seats. Tried the
conditioners/cleaners but still wasn’t happy. The seats aren’t that bad
(you’ll see) but I was tired of sitting on dull rock-hard seats. Time
for replacements.
I decided to go with the Leather-Like covers from
The Last Detail … http://www.tld-corvette.com
They were $300 bucks.
Since the originals were only good for about 5 years of “regular”
use
(she’s no trailer queen) I figured I’d end up replacing the new ones in
the same amount of time. So I went cheap.
This little “tutorial”
will basically cover the removal of the seat-back cover. The bottom seat
cushion is pretty self explanatory with no tricks.
My first time
ever doing upholstery, so I’m sure other’s will have tips/tricks to make
them fit fantasically. Here we go:
This first shot is the position
of the lower cushion retaining clip. Just pull it forward and push
down.

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Now just lift the
lower cushion out..

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Next, unzip the
back of the upper seat and peel it forward. Go ahead and remove the latch
release cover.
At the bottom back of the seat you will see two clips.
These are spring retaining clips for the cushion..DO NOT CUT THESE! Grab
some pliers, pull out and turn to release. You don’t have to do this but
it makes it easier to stuff the seat into new covering.

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Now this pic
shows the top of the two vertical rods that hold the sides of the front
center section of the cover (pic only shows one side). On the horizontal
bar there are 3 hog-rings. Clip ’em off. Now you can weasel the cover
over the headrest if you like.

Now you just push the tops of the two retaining rods down enough
to clear the frame. This next pic shows a front shot that should
explain.

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Alright, we’re
working from top to bottom.
Next step is to remove the single middle
retaining rod. It has angled ends…turn the ends away from the back of
the seat and push the rod sideways to free it from the frame.

This pic shows it from the front
after you’ve released it.

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Now we’re down
to the bottom of the two vertical rods we released earlier. These just
have an angled end that fits into a couple of rings tied to the frame.
Just slide ’em out.

Now
you can pull the seat cover completely off.
Reuse the two vertical
rods, the main horizontal rod..and DON’T FORGET the small wire rod
located at the base of the headrest!! You need this to fasten your hog
rings.
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Assembling
the new seat cover:
First put all your rods in the new seat
cover.
Second step is to use the hog-ring pliers and rings to
secure the small wire rod to the frame.
Third is to basically
reverse the other steps we used to get the cover off.
The lower
cushion is pretty straight forward.
When you put the new cover on just
remember to work from the center out. Replace hog rings in every spot you
clip one out.
Here’s some extra pics with
comments…..
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Ok,
here’s a side by side shot of old and new. The old cover isn’t in bad
shape, just typical GM tired.

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Here’s a shot of
the new seat-back.
The shinyness and flash usage makes the fit look a
bit sloppy. This is before I started “working out” some of the less than
perfect spots. With a little seat time it should smooth right out.

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Here’s a pic of
the whole seat. Like I said before, you can “work” out the
imperfections.
I wriggled around for a couple minutes in this seat
after I took the picture and its shape improved. Overall, I’m pretty
happy.
They’ll look a lot better in natural light, too.

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Anyway, I know
this should be in the Tech Tips section, but I figure it’ll get more
traffic here.
I also hope it goes to show how easy seat cover
replacement really is.
It was my first time, didn’t take long, and
with a little work these seats will look
fantastic.
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Note: I didn’t notice
this until packing away my original seat covers but part of the fitment
woes is that the replacement covers do not have the thin foam inner liner
like the originals.
I’m gonna check out an upholtery shop to see
if they have this material and will attach it to the insides of the new
covers. This should fill out and tighten up the slightly loose
fit.