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DIY Seat Upholstery & Repair

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18K views 63 replies 18 participants last post by  keith460  
#1 ·
Been wanting to do this awhile, acquiring a set of OEM seats in decent, workable, condition to recover in OEM like material. I say like material, only because I have not received what I ordered on eBay yet.
I have never done any upholstery work before except maybe repair my leather couch frame that broke years ago. This will be a learning experience as we go.

My goal is to strip off the old material on the seats I have and reupholster with new black denim material with the pattern that Jeep used in 1984. Only modifications from original is the added Fold & Tumble seat I acquired from a early YJ model (1987-90) that is the same latching system of those from the Jeep CJ of 1985-86 model year. Was contemplating using a fixed bench seat like I had but, my Repli-Tub already has the front hinge brackets setup on the floor. I just need to acquire the correct latching brackets for the sides that are attached to the wheelhouses.

I have three front seats and two rear seats to work with. Two CJ front seats I bought from Craigslist a couple of years ago for $40.00 and the rear YJ fold & tumble from Craigslist also for $40.00 with a YJ front seat thrown in with the deal. Plus, another fixed rear seat that forum member EricRThompson gave me for free. I thank him for that. Might turn that one into a garage couch/seat raised off the ground some as it is in excellent condition.

My seat candidates:
 

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#3 ·
I did this a while back using the reman Laredo sets that used to be on eBay from cjLaredo. I added a few layers of foam to the exit side of each seat to bolster them up a bit, while also swapping D for P while I was at it. It was a little more involved than I expected - the hog rings often took quite a bit of effort to get off (used an angle grinder for most of them), and then to get everything to seat correctly, but the end result was 100% worth it.

Before:
Image


After:
Image
 
#5 ·
#6 ·
I have also ordered some seat covers and plan on installing when the come (late Feb early Mar). My hog rings came off pretty easy with an pair of wire cutters.
Walkerhound, did you have to use a steamer to get the results you have, they look great by the way, or did they fit that way naturally?
 
#12 ·
Walkerhound, did you have to use a steamer to get the results you have, they look great by the way, or did they fit that way naturally?
No steamer, but it may have been a good idea. I probably could've fit more foam under there. If it ever starts to look saggy, I'll redo them that way.

Like anything you get to look that nice, you tend to protect them - so I've got them all (even the rear) under bestop nutmeg covers.
 
#7 ·
I've done a few interiors in cars in the past and they are tricky at first, but once you get the hang of them, it's not too hard. I'm no good at sewing, but my mother is!

Turkey cutters work great for cutting and shaping the foam. You can buy the foam online, or even craft stores like Michael's sell it.

I have 3 hog ring tools, you can borrow them Keith, text me.

My wife bought me heated seat inserts for my Jeep for Christmas. Just got em in this weekend. Now I just need to get the turd running to test em out in the snow! They were a little pricey, but think they'll be worth it! You might want to consider a set if you're ripping the seats apart. https://www.quadratec.com/products/24222_9001.htm
 
#14 ·
#11 ·
I bought an older model Singer 626, it has a floating foot. Bought it from a guy on ebay who lived not too far away in Galveston. He completely rebuilt it good as new. Older guy had multiple sewing machine shops in the Houston/Galveston area. These are very sturdy machines that can do some heavy material, steel gears and all. I also purchased some marine grade vinyl and made seats for my boat, not the prettiest but I was getting better with each one. Cutting the foam was a pain getting it to shape just right, you really do need the right tools and I was too cheap to buy them :) . I did a lot of research before settling on this machine, it does just what I want and the price wasn't too bad, think it was around $250, been a long time. Just be aware, not all 626 machines are steel gears, but if you can find one, it will serve your purpose.

As for the tricks to sewing....Utube, tons of folks out there can show the ins and outs and there is a lot to learn but I did enjoy it....enough that I still have the machine.
 
#13 ·
Here's the link to ones I bought off of eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/JEEP-CJ-19...RY-KIT-FRONT-FIXED-REAR-FOLDING-SEATS/182026504808?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

Strange purchase, you had to buy but not pay for them so they could invoice you for the additional 80 bucks for the denim material. Could not find a way to do that since eBay has you locked in for the initial purchase amount once you are committed to buying through PayPal. Had to write a note to the seller and they made another invoice for the additional charge.
They are out of Anaheim, CA and saw a couple of others with ridiculous shipping charges from Anaheim also. Probably the same company hoping to get someone suckered in for the inflated shipping costs.

They come with "onetime use" Hog Ring pliers so I know that means Chinese junk that will break on the very first ones. My wife got me a set from Amazon for Christmas this year and they included about a 200 hog rings to. Will see how well they work.... made in China also.
 
#18 ·
Just got a shipping update from UPS, looks like the Black Denim material should be at the house on Friday the 15th. Hope so, but the wife has other plans for me this weekend, like continue painting the inside of the house. She doesn't know how important Jeep time is during the winter months when I need to get it ready for Springtime. Her answer is: "The seats in it now are fine, why do you have to change things?"

Because that is what we do!
 
#19 ·
The new seat material arrived today. Doesn't look to bad and is the right shade of OEM Denim Black. I can see the rear Fold&Tumble seat is going to be an easy install of the material but, I want to take it apart and see if I can't powder coat some of the frame work or side latches first. It will be the first seat to get the new covers.

Here's some pictures as I took them out of the box.
 

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#20 ·
Looks good Keith,
I didn't think the material would look that good in pics but they do. Hope it turns out as good as it looks from here.

I hope to someday find some nutmeg covers. I know, good luck right! Found a new roll pad cover and bikini top in nutmeg from a guy I know still in the original factory box. Having trouble finding sun visors though that are great shape.



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#21 ·
Looks good Keith,
I didn't think the material would look that good in pics but they do. Hope it turns out as good as it looks from here.

I hope to someday find some nutmeg covers. I know, good luck right! Found a new roll pad cover and bikini top in nutmeg from a guy I know still in the original factory box. Having trouble finding sun visors though that are great shape.

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I'm pretty sure the link Keith has above has nutmeg as an option. I'm also fairly certain that other forum members have ordered swatches of nutmeg material and were pretty impressed.
 
#24 ·
Kieth I'm hoping you are able to achieve good results. I'm thinking of ordering the leather seat covers from Lseat. I would like to retain the Laredo stripes, but don't want to pay the price of the Laredo Cover set on eBay.....I may tackle this. I was actually thinking of adding seat heat if I was that far into the project. I know I'm going to have to bolster the driver seat bottom foam, but I may do that and just swap driver and passenger. Either way, I look forward to your progress.

Shawn

https://www.lseat.com/products/1976-1986-jeep-cj7-custom-real-leather-seat-covers-front.html
 
#25 ·
Haven’t done anything pertaining to the seats just yet. Been busy with interior house painting at the moment and away on a business trip in Chicago this weekend.
I did see some differences in the stitching near the top of the front seats compared to the OEM seats and the replacement materials stitching. I’ll post photos next time I’m in the basement working on them.
Will probably do the rear seat first as it looks to be easy with the zip on replacement upholstery.


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#27 ·
planning on adding seat heaters before sewing them up?
Nope, definitely not. That would be unnecessary for me since I never drive it in the winter and I like it just the way it is, a basic and simple vehicle with no frills attached. Just having the factory clock and tachometer in a CJ is a luxury.
 
#28 ·
Not hijacking your thread Keith. I got the covers I ordered on Amazon installed (by an upholsterer) and they are made pretty well, but lack some details as far as factory covers. I tried to get as close to honey as I could. They told me to order tan with brown stripe. There tan is WAY to dark. I'll run with them this year and maybe try your source next year.
 

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#30 ·
Yours looks to be a better copy of OEM seats than what I received from the eBay seller. The ones I purchased lack some of the details of OEM seating that I took pictures of.
Who was the vendors for your seats?
 

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#35 ·
Had a chance to work on the seats yesterday and got into the rear fold & tumble seat that I got from a 1990 Jeep YJ. Same foam cushion as my original rear seat as far as I can tell and the install went good. Lots of tugging and pushing to get the material aligned properly but working on a way to make it easier for the bottom upholstery to go on, like tape over the Velcro hooks that hold the material until the upholstery is in place first.

Here's some pics.

First was to remove all the hardware and bag and tag it. Will probably sandblast and powder coat what I can in semi-gloss black.
 

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#36 ·
Some pictures of taking the rear upholstery off and painting some of the brackets
 

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