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Anybody have any advise for installing leather headrest covers on a 69? Did one seat last night, I think I need to steam it to get rid of the wrinkles.
I searched for videos on the headrests and not too much out there.
Not the headrest but I seem to remember pulling the stays in the seat back tight against the springs. It's been a long time so maybe I am wrong but that's what I remember.
Stays are located at the cross-seams, if I remember correctly; so I don't think that's the solution for the wrinkles. Someone having more experience with leather will know if steam is the right process to use. I wouldn't do that without some good tutorial on doing so. Have you Googled YouTube videos for removing wrinkles from leather?
As far as the headrests are concerned: If you are having difficulty getting them assembled, you might consider putting some very thin plastic wrap over the interior part. It will reduce the friction considerably and allow easier assembly. [Use something very flexible; not something like Press'n'seal, which is stiffer and might make crinkling noise when headrest is used.]
The factory used similar thin plastic film for installation purposes, as well.
2025 C3 ('68-'73) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
A wrinkled head rest will match the wrinkled seats perfectly, I wouldn't worry about it !
If you purchased the seat covers from AL Knoch their customer service is top notch & can assist you. If you want perfection, I would consider paying them to do it.
Just my .02
Al Knoch has the OEM tooling to make the 69 headrests. That's what he told me when I was one of the first customers to order a set of headrests made from his newly purchased tooling. Look absolutely beautiful. I installed them on my 68 Convertible. Had to buy a set of 69 seatback frames for the headrests to fit into. The 68 seat back frames only came from the factory, modified for the headrests, if you ordered that option.
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At the time, talking to Al Knoch, he wanted me to supply a set of donor headrests. I bought a junky pair from eBay. What was needed was the metal "stalk" and metal innards for my headrests to be molded around. The external metal parts were rechromed by Knoch. Don't know if you have to supply a. donor set today.
Al Knoch has the OEM tooling to make the 69 headrests. That's what he told me when I was one of the first customers to order a set of headrests made from his newly purchased tooling. Look absolutely beautiful. I installed them on my 68 Convertible. Had to buy a set of 69 seatback frames for the headrests to fit into. The 68 seat back frames only came from the factory, modified for the headrests, if you ordered that option.
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At the time, talking to Al Knoch, he wanted me to supply a set of donor headrests. I bought a junky pair from eBay. What was needed was the metal "stalk" and metal innards for my headrests to be molded around. The external metal parts were rechromed by Knoch. Don't know if you have to supply a. donor set today.
I stripped my 69 headrests to the metal frame and had Al Knoch replace the fabric/foam via the molding process. The results are 100% spot-on original - no seams, no wrinkles.
According to the NCRS manual all headrests were Vinyl covered for both Standard and Leather Interior. I have seen leather covers people put on their headrests, but they all had seams where the cover was stitched together.
I have done several sets of seats for 69’s but not leather and never had the wrinkle problem, especially when using new foam as I see you have. Leather might be another animal altogether so my advice might be crap.
The only thing I’m seeing but I don’t think it’s the problem is on the upper cover. The picture you show doesn’t show hog rings attached to the center horizontal corrugated wire. The extra pressure from that wire might give a little more tension? Or maybe not. Also I see you didn’t cut the slits to hook on the back seat panel. That might be tricky to do with the cover completely attached.
The leather covers appear to be installed correctly. Apparently, they need to be steamed to get the wrinkles out (per some YouTube videos I conjured up).
69 Headrest Advise
