mike667 wrote:

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Has anyone here upholstered their own car seats and door panels before? How hard is it? or whats your story? Is it worth a try if you are new at it?

And out off curiosity if you did not do it yourself, what's the cost like to get it done (seats, dash, door panels).

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        I have done carpet and door panels and headliner   Ask Todd   He and Connie are the pros..

If you buy molded carpet it is pretty straightforward to install. There will still be some trimming to fit. Hopefully your carpet is still in decent enough shape to use as a template. If you can get pre-sewn seat covers it's not too bad to use. You really need two people. Mine turned out ok, not perfect show condition however. I re-foamed the seats (again using my old foam as a template). Take LOTS of before pics. Everytime I removed something I took a photo. My short term memory sucks and those photos saved my neck! Don't forget to also buy that material that goes over the foam (see what I mean about my memory? I can't remember what it's called and Connie isn't nearby to tell me) to keep the seat cover from sticking to it. Get some decent hog ring pliers (not the Princess Auto "automatic feed" ones!!). The trick is to ensure you really stretch the material over the foam (start with it inside out and wrap it over the foam) Once the seat covers were installed Connie would press down on the foam while I stretched the covers around the seat frame and hog ring them in place. When Connie let off of the foam everything was nice and tight. You want to to it in a warm room-not a cold garage so that the vinyl stretches easier.

That's the short version. It took about 4-5 hours to do the front and back seat- the front bench was the hardest so we did it first to get it over with!
Before:


After (prior to headrest installation)

I'd call the guys at NOS reproductions to see if pre-sewn seat covers are available. If not, you'll have to get them sewn which is pricey (Ask Brad with the sweet 69 Beaumont on here about what that costs-he had to do that with his car). I know you can get the carpet from NOS. The foam basically follows the shape of the seat bottom. As for the armrest- are you talking about the center armrest of the ones on the door panels?

Todd

They are probably available as complete replacements. the vinyl covered portions are just screwed to the armrest "base". Check with NOS. I got the drivers armrest pad for my car from them. I think it was around $40.

Todd

That looks pretty good maybe I will see if I can find a kit for my car

See     I told you, they were pros..

N.O.S.   Komoka  is a friend of this site    check them out

yes  thats   it        Rick

I just bought a complete interior for my 63 Impala SS from NOS. Wanted to get it before the exchange rate gets any worse, plus I had the the advantage of that October discount you arranged Todd. Thanks for that.

Last year when the exchange rate was $1.10, I bought original style seat material for my cars that needed it, as well as a complete set of interior door & side panels for my 63 Ventura, from SMS. Quality of the work product is excellent, but it took 6 months to get them back because SMS had so much work. And of course it wasn't cheap, but I thought they gave good value all the same.

Thanks for the info guys!

No it wasn't SMS, although I did see the website of them. I am trying to find the link I found and you think I could find it...

okay, about NOS reproductions I was talking with Kris,
he said they have no seating upholstery, dash pads or door panels available for my car.
They only have the carpet and headliner