MaxDaemon

I decided that for ROI, I'd take a chance on spending $180 on a set of Iggee seat covers instead of $400 to $1300 for "the real thing".

Initially on receiving the covers, I was a bit disappointed. I had apparently not read closely enough and thought the covers were to replace the existing leather, however these are true "seat covers" and just fit over the existing material.

So, keep in mind if you're buying these, they are seat covers, not seat skin replacements.

That aside, they are very well made and the material feels good.

Here is the driver seat before I started:




And the seat covers out of the box:






Let's get down to it!

First off, although the video that Iggee suggests shows installing the seat covers in the car - I wanted to do some additional maintenance and also make sure the car was clean under the seats. There was massive water leakage when I bought the car, and the carpet was soaked in both wells under the seat. I decided to pull the seats out for installation.

This is what I found:




The springs and all the attendant hardware were very rusty, and several of the wire supports were rusted through and broken. In the interests of time and finances, I just put new wire of more or less the same kind in where the missing wires were, then I wire brushed it all down, cleaned and vacuumed it and hit it with a couple coats of ant-rust flat black paint. Nothing up to DT86 standards, but this is a simple daily driver.




Next post please ..

MaxDaemon

So, with the prep done, I started installing the covers. I found a VERY good video on removing the seat cushions here. It occurs to me I should have posted that higher in this thread. Anyhow, here it is:


From the seat back, note the clips that hold in the seat cushion. This will be important later!




Here's a closeup of one of the clips:




Now, since Iggee expects you to simply pull the new seat cover on over top of the whole seat back, they don't take into account that some of us who LIKE the original look don't want that obvious after-market look. So, I decided to pull the cover over top of the cushion and then find a way to put put the cushion back into the existing back and retain the factory look. Here's the back cushion with Iggee installed:




Since I'm going to put the seat cover back into the plastic base, I decided to get a little radical. I located the existing metal rods that interface with the clips (remember the close up from above):




And then I slit all the way though the Iggee covers to the cushion below. On the bottom ones, I didn't cut a hole, and my reinstallation would have been much easier if I'd cut a hole an inch or so in size instead of a simple slit. Here's the finished slits, it shows only the top, but there are slits at top and bottom:




At the bottom, I wound up with some extra fabric, since Iggee thought I'd be putting the cover over the seat back instead of under it. I gathered the extra material and, using Iggee's velcro fastening system I wound up with some wrinkled areas to give a smooth appearance on the front. Since it's under the seat back, it's invisible:




Now. simply reverse the process shown in the video to reinstall the seat cushions. Well, ok. Maybe it's not quite that simple. On the top headrest area, it goes back into the seatback very easily, however on the bottom we have that extra material to deal with. Here's were I believe if I had cut some fair sized holes in the material, it would have made it much easier. It took about 5-10 minutes to get the first side of the bottom part of the back cushion in, but a good hour to get the second side back in. BUT in the end, it went in fine and although the air was blue with swearing, the final result was good.




Note that I hardly mentioned the seat bottom. It was very simple to put the cover on and after tying all of Iggee's elastic straps very tightly, it fit very well.

All in all, I'm very happy with my $180 investment.

..now I just have to get up the nerve to tackle the passenger seat!

MaxDaemon

In case anyone but me cares:

JD Shredds

Hey, nice job. I like how you chose to install it to look more factory style than just throwing over the entire seat. Good job on cleaning it up underneath the seat too.

I'm impressed with how it looks installed. Not sure if I would go with those over the factory-style synthetics, but its certainly a nice, affordable option to have good looking seats.

Love the DT86 shout out already so early in the process. He's going to haunt us, isn't he? The ghost of DT86... always hovering over your shoulder.

"Max, don't dare do what I think you're about to do!"
"But.. I was just gonna..."
"MAX!"
""

MaxDaemon

It's a matter of priorities. With tires, brake booster, brake pads and weatherstripping, the pool of money is getting pretty small. However, if I was putting replacement seats in my '94, I'd probably have to find a way to put in the "real thing".

I think though, all in all, Fiona (aka "The Red Corvette) will be happy with her new look.

65ISWEAR

Looks pretty good! Nice job

DinoBob

Do the seams in the top and bottom cushions have rods or bows that anchor them to the cushion and frame?

JackDidley

Ditto.

FAUEE

Did you remove the original seat cover? That looks really good, especially given the price on these. Good work!

VikingTrad3r

max from the photos you provided this looks almost too good to be true at this price point.

would you be able to post some more pics of the detailed appearance up close and how it fits in around the edges?

nicely done! how does it feel to sit in?
slippery? sticky? static?

MaxDaemon

Not a thing - well, beyond the elastic ties. I think I'll take it apart again in a few years and see how it looks. I can't see how they can remain elastic for too long. I have them stretched about to maximum though, and figure the elastic will go away but the cloth will hold. And there's nothing at all in the middle, just friction, gravity and good tailoring, I guess.

MaxDaemon

The old tattered, worn out leathers are still under there, but it's amazing how well they tailored the fit to take that into account. I figured there'd be some bagging or sagging, but it came out really clean.

I have yet to do the other seat, I'll take pics of the passenger seat bottom to show the ties and how "unsupported" it is.

MaxDaemon

It sits amazingly well, and it even feels and "sounds" like leather. It's a little tight, but that's probably the extra thickness of pad and the leather underneath. After sitting in it for awhile, I'm sure it will relax just like anything else.

And yes - looks and feels too good to be $180. Heck, for that price and the fact nothing is damaged underneath, I could pull those back off in a couple three years and put new leather seat skins in.

JD Shredds

I would say this definitely puts iggee covers on my list of possibilities if/when seats need addressing.

Actually, you figure they would fit over the factory cloth seats just the same? Probably a nice way to pick up the look in one of those, assuming fit and finish matches.

MaxDaemon

You can order any fabric or color you want. They custom fit each seat on a per customer basis. They even had me send a photo of the seat to make sure that my choosing "type 3" on their order form was actually correct.

Obviously I'm sold on the product. And assuming I only travel 2000 miles or less per year in this car, even if they wind up being "cheap" they should last a long time.

You could buy plaid, JD. Yes, plaid.

..or camo.

Dt86

Well done. That looks great! Glad you cleaned up the seat frame it looks much better. Im sure you are glad too. Now, did you wipe that dirt out of the seatback and lube the cable? Lol. Seriously though, that came out real nice! And nice write up as well. With the expense of new seats this is a great alternative.

JD Shredds

Do they have pre-determined color choices, or can they actually match an original color? And lol @ plaid and camo. plz no...

I'm hearing sirens as Officer DT pulls into the thread, ticketing Max with a cleanliness violation.

MaxDaemon

No, but the have a lot of colors. You should take a look - do your own evaluation ..

Dt86

Lol just a friendly observation. Most companies will send you samples so you can see the color and feel the material. With saddle seats I'd have to see how close the color is. Having five or six different shades of the same color in a car hurts my eyes and brain. You guys with black and grey interiors got it made. Not so much for me.

JD Shredds

Yeah, I hear ya. Greys and blacks all go together, but the beige and saddles don't. Reminds me of one I was looking at. Had a nice saddle interior, but they had replaced the seats with the later model beige, and it just irked me to look at the darker door panels against the light beige seats. Get it right if you're gonna spend the dough to restore it!