I am replacing the seat foam and I am at the point of needing to hog ring things back together . Problem - - - no one in town has them . If I order them , it will be next week before I get them .
I seem to remember reading where someone used zip ties instead .
Has anyone on here done this ? If so how long ago and have you had any problems with them breaking ?

 

i used zip ties without issues.

 

Do a search using "seat foam repair with zip ties" and you should come up with some hits. Either way will work.

 

I did mine with zip ties years ago. Still looks and is tip top.

 

Good man. And fellow zip-tie ninja!

 

Zip ties can be a short term fix. Long term they become worn or brittle.

Metal hog rings will not do either. Otherwise the factory would use them.

Yes it could take a while and depending on the climate you are in.

 

I used zip ties and they work great. Just try to get good ones.

@Prop Joe gave me a link to some aviation grade ones. You could also use stainless steel ties is you’re hyper-worried, lol.

 

I have used metal ties with great results. Harbor Freight carries them.

 

Either will do fine.

 

I'd make a $10,000 bet the zip ties under my seat holding the seat skin on will easily out last the durability of the seat skin itself before the zip ties became brittle.

 

Tractor Supply has them in various sizes! I used them on the front buckets on my 1972 442 and they worked great! Better than the hog rings that Legendary sends with their seat covers IMO!

 

Maybe they will and then again maybe they won't.

If the Pull Ties were the way to go the factory would save a lot of money with them. Yet they still use the hog rings. Not my opinion just what they are using,.

It is fine to use them to pull things tight but most upholstery lines will still tell you to hog ring them.

Also the size and weight of the drive can matter. We do have some fat Asses out there that are hard on even the metal frames let alone plastic straps.

Hog rings are on Amazon an they can deliver in a day if not found local,. So no excuse for not doing it right. Too often the short cuts taken add up to cars just not as good as those done right. That is why some folks have better resale. Just saying.

 

I mostly agree with your sentiment, but not entirely. The factory should have saved the money on the cost of putting hog rings on the low quality seat skin they opted to use. Instead they choose to use zip ties and plastic in areas where heat is definitely detrimental to the integrity of zip ties like under the hood.

I'm 6'3 and 270 lbs at this time (one of the fat asses lol!) but historically mostly about 245lbs. My seat integrity is still tip top after about 10yrs and 40k miles post zip tie usage on the seats.

I've had this C5 for 25 years since new. It's got 139k on the odometer at this time. So it's no garage queen and it's likely to be in my garage when I die. I've not taken any other "short cuts" if you will with this car. Heck, the engine is fully forged to handle the FI. Which, if ever there was a worrying short cut it's when guys half *** their mod builds. Zip tied seat skins is literally the last thing on any potential buyers list. And it wouldn't break a deal for 99.999% of buyers.

None the less, I cannot for the life me think of a time me or anyone else on this forum (or anywhere else) removed the seats from a car before they executed a purchase. I'd there are thousands of C5's out in the wild with zip tied seat skins. Not a one of them lowered the buying price or stopped a buyer from closing the deal.

Some DIY car repairs are a worry for sure. This isn't one of them.

 

The bottom line what is stronger steel or plastic? What does the factory use in nearly all seat applications? With the cost and ease of getting the proper part is it worth it?

There is no argument here. You are plastic I am steel. Just two different takes. You have your opinion I have mine. Let people decide for themselves.

 

From what I've experienced from recovering the front bucket seats on my 442, I'd trust the metal hog rings longer than the plastic zip ties. Plastic becomes brittle after 10 years or more from my experience. The hog rings should survive forever unless they are in a wet environment and rust becomes a factor. But then, if moisture is an issue, you have bigger problems than seat cover attachment. And the hog rings from TSC that I mentioned above are what appears to be cadmium plated to thwart rust.

 

Thanks everyone for the input . I went with zipties . Freigurger and Finnegan would be proud of me ! I had some that were about 5/16 wide .
When it came time to tie the cord around the bottom of the seat , I found that doing that is very aggravating , can't get a good pull and hold it in place to tie the knot . ZIPTIES to the rescue . Put a loop on each end of the string insert ziptie and that sucker is tight .