Installation

LeatherSeats.com Leather Interior Installation Guide

Welcome to the LeatherSeats.com auto upholstery, leather interior kit install guide. We first need to discuss the tools you will need to install your leather interior. In addition to standard mechanics tools (wrenches, ratchets, extensions, sockets, screwdrivers, etc.), you will need the following:

Above: Can of Spray Adhesive, Bag of Hog-Rings, and Hog-Ring Pliers loaded with a hog-ring. Below: Rubber Squeegee used for door panels.

• Hog-Rings
• Hog-ring Pliers
• Hog-ring Cutters/Tin Snips
• Basic Tool Set (sockets, ratchets, screwdrivers, etc.)
• Scissors

Here are some items that you may need depending on the product application.

• 3M Upholstery Glue
• Heat Gun (hair dryer will work in most cases)
• Leather Cleaner (soap and water will work in most cases)
• Rubber Hand Squeegee (only used for door panels, but any other stuffing tool could be substituted)

Note: Installation generally takes an experienced installer about four hours for an average two row sedan, so remain patient and focused! The first step to install your new leather interior is to remove your seats from the vehicle. This is what we will discuss in the next section.

Seat Removal from Vehicle

Front Seats: Most seats are fairly easy to remove from your car. Take enough time to look at your seat and determine how they are to be removed. Be careful, most of the damage done to a car's seats and interior is due to the installer's carelessness when removing the interior. On most vehicles, four (4) bolts hold each of the front seats in. Simply remove the bolts, and tip the seat backwards to check for electrical connections. Almost every seat will have some wiring harnesses on the bottom connecting to the floor of the vehicle. Unplug the connectors, and then remove the seat from the vehicle. Make sure to save all bolts, screws, and other parts for reassembly.

Back Seats: On most vehicles, the back seat requires that you remove the cushion (bottom section) first. There are a few different methods that vehicle manufacturers use to attach the cushion. On most vehicles there are two (2) bolts or clips that hold the front of the cushion to the floor. You can find these two bolts or clips at the edge of where the factory seat meets the carpet. Unbolt or unclip the front of the cushion, and slide the cushion from the vehicle. Once the cushion is removed, the bolts for removing the seat back are visible. There are usually four (4) bolts that hold the bottom of the seat back to the floor of the vehicle. If your vehicle has a folding armrest, there are sometimes additional bolts behind the armrest as well. After all the bolts are removed, slide the seat back upwards and remove it from the vehicle. Make sure to save all bolts, screws, and other parts for reassembly. The next step is to remove the factory leather interior or cloth interior.

Leather/Cloth Removal and Leather Seat Installation

Here is a hog ring that holds the cloth/leather on the seat by closing around the metal rod in the seat foam and the metal rod in the cloth seat cover. Note: The metal rods are known as listing wires.

Note: Before we begin this section, please remember that the removal of the factory cover is the reverse of installation so keep good mental notes on how everything disassembles so you will how to reassemble it. Also note that this guide is written with the front seats first, but we recommend that you read this first and then start with the rear bench. The rear bench is MUCH easier and will get you through the basic learning curve of upholstery.

Front Seat Cushion (Bottom): For almost all applications, the first step is to remove all of the plastic trim pieces from the seats. Most vehicles have Phillips head screws or plastic push-pins that hold the plastic trim pieces to the seat. Make sure you mark which screws go where, as the screws are normally different lengths. After all the trim pieces are removed, flip the seat upside down, so the bottom of the cushion is facing you. There are normally four (4) bolts that hold the seat cushion pan to the seat frame. Remove those bolts and remove the seat cushion pan from the seat. On some seats you cannot remove the seat pan and you will need to just have to work with the seat pan still attached. There are either J-hooks (plastic channels that clip onto the frame of the seat) or hog-rings that hold the edge of the factory cloth/leather to the seat cushion pan. Remove these, and fold the factory cloth/leather up towards the center of the seat, revealing the center insert seam lines. The inserts use either hog-rings or Velcro to attach the covers to the foam core. If hog-rings are used, snip them and remove the cover. If Velcro is used, simply pull on the cover to separate it from the foam, being careful that the Velcro strip in the foam core doesn't rip away from the foam. If applicable, you may need to transfer the listing wires (metal rods) from the factory cover to your new LeatherSeats.com leather interior. The installation of your LeatherSeats.com leather seat kit is the reverse of removal. Start with hog-ringing the inserts, and then move to the edges. After you have recovered the foam core and seat pan, set it aside and start on the backrest.

Here are a few more pictures of the hog-rings being snipped. The tin snips shown in the picture will do the job, but there are several different types of metal snips out there that can be used.

Front Seat Backrests (Top): First, remove the headrest and set it aside. On most vehicles, holding down the release button, and pulling the headrest up will remove the headrest. After the headrest is removed, flip the seat upside down again. If your seat has soft cloth/vinyl backs, you will see J-hooks, hog-rings, or a zipper holding the factory covers together. Undo the J-hooks, snip the hog-rings, or unzip the cover and start to roll the cover up. There will be hog-rings or Velcro holding the insert seam lines to the foam. Remove the hog-rings as you roll the cover up over the seat. If your seat has a hard back, there will be a series of screws along the bottom that hold the bottom of the hard back to the seat. Unscrew these, and then pull open the hard back slightly to determine if the hardback needs to be slid up or down to be removed. Slide the back the appropriate way, and remove it. Now, you should be able to see the attachment points holding the factory seat cover to the frame. Undo these attachments, and pull the cover up and over the foam seat back core. The cover should be loose, so if it feels like it is caught on something, you probably missed an attachment somewhere. When you get to the headrest posts, simply work the covers around the posts one at a time until the covers are removed. You may need to trim the factory covers slightly, making it easier to slip the top of the headrest post through the hole in the cover. The installation of your LeatherSeats.com leather seat covers is the reverse of removal. Start with the cover inside out, and align the seams with the edges of the foam. Start to roll the cover down, and attach the hog-rings as you come to them. After you reach the bottom, close the zipper, or reattach your hardback. Reinstall the recovered seat cushion and pan assembly and reattach your plastic hardware. You will need to cut holes for the headrest posts as well as any levers/switches that are now covered by the new leather interior kit. To do this, simply cut small slits in the leather seat and work the leather around the headrest posts and any levers/switches that need to be exposed. Tuck the excess leather underneath the headrest posts/levers/switches.

Headrests: The headrests are easy! This is your "break time" in the installation. The bottoms of the headrests are connected with J-hooks. Simply unhook these and roll the headrest cover back to reveal the foam. To install the LeatherSeats.com leather headrests, start with it inside out, and line up the seams to the edges of the foam. Then roll the cover down, and connect the J-hooks. If you have difficulty rolling the covers over the foam, you can slide the factory foam headrest in a plastic garbage bag, and then put a "shop vac" or regular vacuum cleaner nozzle inside the bag against the foam. Turn on the vacuum and you will compress the foam, making it MUCH easier to cover the headrest. Slide the headrest into the re-upholstered seat, and you're finished with the front leather seats!

Backseat Cushion (Bottom): The backseat on most vehicles is very easy. Unlike the front buckets, normally the only hardware to remove is the center armrest and a few clips that hold the lever tore lease the seat back. The cushion is the easier of the two sections in the backseat. Start with the cushion upside down, and work your way around the cushion sniping hog-rings or unhooking the j-hooks. After you have removed all the attachments around the perimeter of the cushion, fold the cover up over the foam of the cushion to reveal the inserts. Snip the hog-rings for the inserts, and remove the cover. Installation is the reverse of removal. It is best to start with your LeatherSeats.com leather seat cover inside out and hog-ring the inserts first. When you get to the edges, simply fold the cover over the foam. Then, hog-ring the perimeter of the cushion where the factory attachment points are and you're finished!

Backseat Backrest (Top): If applicable, remove the center armrest from the backrest. A few bolts on the backside of the foam normally hold it on. Remember to note how the hardware fits together. Some vehicles have a certain order in which washers, bearings, shims, etc. go together to make the armrest fold. After the armrest is removed, remove the factory cloth/leather from the armrest. It is very similar to the headrests, and often easier then the headrests. There should be J-hooks or a zipper on the back of the armrest. Un-hook them and slide the cover off. To install the LeatherSeats.com armrest cover, simply start with the cover inside out, line up the seams at the tip of the armrest, and roll the cover over. Hook the new J-hooks together, and set it aside. Now, remove the cover on the backrest. Around the perimeter of the backside of the seat, there are hog-rings that attach the factory cover to the foam. Snip the hog-rings and then roll the cover off the foam to reveal the insert hog-rings. Snip these hog-rings and the cover should fall off of the foam. If applicable, swap the factory listing wires to your LeatherSeats.com leather seat cover. Installation is the reverse of removal. Start with the cover inside out, and hog-ring the inserts first. Then roll the cover over the corners and hog-ring the perimeter in the factory locations. Re-install the armrest, and you're finished!

The final step is to put everything back into the car. It is generally easier to install the rear seat first. Be careful when installing the front seats that you don't scrape any plastic or the door panels with the bottom of the seat, as the seat rails are sharp and will damage any plastic or vinyl they come in contact with. After the seats are re-installed, it is a good idea to condition the leather and massage any wrinkles that are in the leather. After sitting in the sun for a few days, the new leather interior will actually form itself to the foam, creating a wrinkle free install. To keep your leather looking new, we suggest using Mother's Leather Conditioner and Mother's Leather Cleaner every other week. This will keep any chemicals off the topcoat of the leather and keep all the moisture locked into the leather for soft and supple leather year after year.

Door Panel Inserts: This is without a doubt the most difficult part of any install. The door panels we send are normally vinyl pieces that match to the leather kit you ordered. The first step is to remove the whole door panel from the door. Every vehicle's door panels are attached differently so you might want to look on the web for more information concerning your specific application. You can also give us a call, and we might be able to help on some of the models we are familiar with. Once you have the door panels take them to your clean work area to begin the installation. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND leaving the factory cloth ON THE DOOR PANEL. It will make the installation go much easier and will make the finished product look much more professional. There are some cases where the factory cloth will have to be removed because there isn't enough room to tuck the new door insert, but it is pretty rare so always keep the cloth on the insert section to start.

Lay the door panel on a flat table and find the correct door insert. Lay the LeatherSeats.com door insert over the cloth insert and line it up. Take your stuffing tool and begin to push the insert down in to the crevice all the way around the cloth insert. This will give you an idea of how much of the leather insert needs to be trimmed off. Trim the new insert slowly and conservatively so you do not end up cutting the insert too short. Now that the insert is trimmed, do a final dry stuffing of its edges to see if they fold down into the crevice neatly and that the edge disappears. Having finished the trimming of the insert, tape off the edges of the door panel so as to minimize the mess that will be made when applying the glue. Shake the spray-can of spray adhesive and apply a coat of glue to both the bottom of the insert and to the top of the cloth insert. Let it tack (dry) up for about 4 minutes and apply a second coat in an opposite spray pattern if needed. If you do use a second coat then let it tack up for about 8 minutes.

At this point you are ready to install the door inserts. Be sure to place the insert squarely on the cloth insert so as to minimized wrinkling. Quickly begin to stuff the edges of the leather insert into the crevice so that no edges show. Finally let the insert dry for at least 2 hours before installing the door panels in the car as to avoid fumes. While waiting for the insert to dry remove the tape used to minimize over-spray and begin to clean the vinyl insert and door panel vinyl/plastics with leather cleaner and a clean rag.