DIY seat reupholster

Finding a good set of seats now is really tricky and even the best ones on eBay aren't that great. Looked into having them professionally reupholstered which is around £1350 plus fabric and then happened across an episode of Flipping Bangers where they gave it a go themselves.

Jumping ahead a bit here as the seats are for a future project but as Mum is a dab hand on the sewing machine and we're in lockdown she's up for the challenge of picking them apart and reupholstering them with fabric from Heritage.

The GTI seat covers are all very tired and ripped and the vinyl is pretty rough too. By chance I picked up a set GL seats from a four door for £20 a few weeks ago. I was going to use them as rough seats whilst finishing off my Campaign. On closer inspection the vinyl is almost perfect so I'll now reuse that as it's exactly the same. Another bonus was the discovery that the frames which are in fantastic condition are exactly the same as the 3 door cars minus the tilt cables.

Dismantling them was a pretty disgusting job so I'd advise wearing a face mask.



As you can see from the photos the covers are held to the frames by a series of spikes that need to be straightened and some hog rings. I cut the hog rings as I'll replace them when they're reassembled. 

Removing the plastic trim covers took me a moment to work out but they work on the same principle as the clips that hold the grill on. You need to carefully push the pin out from the inside to release the jaws, then carefully remove, there are three pins in total. 



The adjustment knob came off reasonably easily but the headrest guides were really fiddly. I ended up putting a socket around the arrow headed expanding bits and then used a large pair of needle nose pliers to pull from the top. 

 

Need to hide this lot in the loft now before the missus gets home as there's a blanket ban on car parts living in the house! 

Great post, I've got my drivers seat to tackle! my neighbour is a seamstress so I'm hoping she can sort out my bolster repair once I've got the seat apart.
Was there a post you followed to figure out how to get them apart, or did you just reverse engineer it?

paceman said

Great post, I've got my drivers seat to tackle! my neighbour is a seamstress so I'm hoping she can sort out my bolster repair once I've got the seat apart.
Was there a post you followed to figure out how to get them apart, or did you just reverse engineer it?

 Hi, really glad it was of some use. I just reverse engineered it, pretty straightforward. Tools used below.

- Philips screwdriver 
- Flathead screwdriver to ease the tabs
- Needle nose pliers to flatten the spear tabs and release the material
- The heaviest duty set of snips you can get your hands on to cut the hog rings as these will be replaced
- small flathead screwdriver to push out the clip hold the headrest in
- 10mm (?) long socket on an extension bar to put around the arrow head prongs holding the headrest guide in.

For the Plastic feeds on the head rest, the easiest way I have found to remove them is to use a 1/4 drive 13mm deep well socket and a 12 inch extension.  After you have your seat cover loose on the rear and scooted up you can barely see the fingers of the things and well over the years I have pried, squeezed and whatever to remove them with no damage to the fingers…sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't

But if you take the 13mm Deep Well and a extension, you can engage the socket on all 4 fingers, and the socket will compress them equally, then a small tap on the extension and they nicely pop up past the frame with no damage. and are easily removed from the cover allowing you to get it off.

good luck with the seats bud….
If you're looking for material head to www.werk34.de  they've got most material.. the seat bases/foams/bolsters are available to if you need to source those on various sites..
 If you're looking for frames, give Raja Rahim a shout on FBk.
Any new bits try Hairyarse on here or his web address www.Classic-VW.co.uk  - Mark Carter.

Deandubya said

good luck with the seats bud….
If you're looking for material head to www.werk34.de  they've got most material.. the seat bases/foams/bolsters are available to if you need to source those on various sites..
 If you're looking for frames, give Raja Rahim a shout on FBk.
Any new bits try Hairyarse on here or his web address www.Classic-VW.co.uk  - Mark Carter.

Nope that's not me!! lol  

Mark Carter is funk-star on here  

Deandubya said

good luck with the seats bud….
If you're looking for material head to www.werk34.de  they've got most material.. the seat bases/foams/bolsters are available to if you need to source those on various sites..
 If you're looking for frames, give Raja Rahim a shout on FBk.
Any new bits try Hairyarse on here or his web address www.Classic-VW.co.uk  - Mark Carter.

 Thanks a million the the werk link, I remember seeing them ages ago but couldn't remember the name. 

Hairyarse said

Deandubya said

good luck with the seats bud….
If you're looking for material head to www.werk34.de  they've got most material.. the seat bases/foams/bolsters are available to if you need to source those on various sites..
 If you're looking for frames, give Raja Rahim a shout on FBk.
Any new bits try Hairyarse on here or his web address www.Classic-VW.co.uk  - Mark Carter.

Nope that's not me!! lol  

Mark Carter is funk-star on here  

 hehe

Bezugsstoff Original Pirelli GTI fabric ordered from werk34. Really pleased with it as it's very slightly different from the usual fabric as it has a thin blue line running down it and will be a subtle change. 

 sorry Andy… my Owners Club usage had faltered.. i'll blame that… 

Campaigning for Dave said

Bezugsstoff Original Pirelli GTI fabric ordered from werk34. Really pleased with it as it's very slightly different from the usual fabric as it has a thin blue line running down it and will be a subtle change. 

 Oh no, quick disclaimer! The fabric turned up without the blue stripe as advertised. This must have been a marker at the end of the role or similar. Gutted as I really liked that subtle twist. 

Werk34 accepting the return was another story. It ended up being a real battle but they agreed in the end after I bypassed their awful customer services dept and messaged one of the managing directors. Having now read the Google reviews on Werk34 I see that I'm not alone . To their credit though they did agree in the end.