I have a 1987 Monte Carlo LS all original. End of last year the vinyl on the side of the seat started to finally rip. The foam has lost its supportiveness. What is the best way to fix these issues? I want to be able to do this myself if possible. The car may be a 10 foot car but it is original paint and interior, other than the vinyl top that had to be replaced.
Best way to fix old seat?
- Thread starter tkruger
- Start date
- Status
You need some skills and specialized tools to do the job correctly. Hog ring pliers and an industrial sewing machine to name a few. New foam and matching vinyl can be purchased. I recommend taking it to a professional for the best results. You don’t want it to end up looking like a kindergarten project gone bad. 🤪
IMO I would just get new upholstery for your seats since you have torn vinyl and your foam is worn chances are the rest of the material is not far behind.
You can get new seat buns also for it and do the job yourself, just take your time and take pictures and make notes if needed on the disassembly so you can get it back together. without issues.
Many upholstery kits also come with hog ring pliers and new hog rings.
You can get new seat buns also for it and do the job yourself, just take your time and take pictures and make notes if needed on the disassembly so you can get it back together. without issues.
Many upholstery kits also come with hog ring pliers and new hog rings.
Best way would be to hire a pro to do it. But depends on what you mean by best. I reupholstered the seats in a Chevelle with bucket seats many years ago and they came out okay. It can be a DIY job. I might try it on a '87 if it was buckets but when I considered it on my 84 w/bench it looked too complicated for me to do it.
As others have hinted at, you've really got a handful of questions to ask yourself:
1) budget
2) whats good enough quality of a result?
3) what type material do you want?
To do it right you need foam and at least some material.
It's also possible a spring broke or piece of internal frame came loose and that's where the support went. See broken springs in the frame all the time on 70s/80s c10 bench seats all the time during a rebuild. Sometimes it's rust, sometimes they just crack then finally break.
A shop may get pricey, and then your repair window expands if they need to repair/replace a broken spring/frame issue.
Also, replacement fabrics WILL sun fade and no longer match the rear seat, or, another seat. So if your goal is to redo 1/2 of the front only, be aware it may not match well at all within a couple years. Perfect example is replacement GN seat covers where the black slowly oranges, but becomes stark if only one piece was redone. For some reason the aftermarket can't come up with anything interior that lasts the way the oem stuff did.
Now, fabric is less forgiving then vinyl. If you put a full-vinyl cover on, and there's a slight, and I mean SLIGHT amount of looseness or pulling in a corner, once it's in the sun some it will tighten up and that self corrects to a degree. Fabric isn't forgiving like that to the DIY crowd. If the foam isn't springy enough, and the fabric has a loose spot, it's probably staying that way. If you're OK with that it's one thing. If you're OCD and know it'll bug you... well, better that a shop with warranty does the work.
Recovering buckets is different than bench. On a bench the seat backs and armrest have a zipper to aid removal with a bottom piece relying on hog rings to be taut. Buckets you need to tug harder and get tight all the way down. Then there's the plastic backed models that don't use fabric over the bucket seatback. Taking apart the pieces isn't bad on either. But starting with a cover sewn to proper dimensions is very important on all.
Final piece of advice I can think of? If going DIY, replace all the foam along with the pre-sewn cover. When they make up the covers it's usually based on a proper condition unbent/unbroken frame, with THEIR foam cover at full size and springiness.
If you re-use factory foam you risk it being worn/compacted somewhat, or, differing in size from what the new foam would be. You then run the risk of the new cover fitting loose somewhere. If time isn't a factor, you can try installing on original foam and see if it seems loose in spots before putting on rings. Then, if it does, ordering new foam in a second order at risk of having to wait for it to arrive, then swapping foam and reinstalling.
1) budget
2) whats good enough quality of a result?
3) what type material do you want?
To do it right you need foam and at least some material.
It's also possible a spring broke or piece of internal frame came loose and that's where the support went. See broken springs in the frame all the time on 70s/80s c10 bench seats all the time during a rebuild. Sometimes it's rust, sometimes they just crack then finally break.
A shop may get pricey, and then your repair window expands if they need to repair/replace a broken spring/frame issue.
Also, replacement fabrics WILL sun fade and no longer match the rear seat, or, another seat. So if your goal is to redo 1/2 of the front only, be aware it may not match well at all within a couple years. Perfect example is replacement GN seat covers where the black slowly oranges, but becomes stark if only one piece was redone. For some reason the aftermarket can't come up with anything interior that lasts the way the oem stuff did.
Now, fabric is less forgiving then vinyl. If you put a full-vinyl cover on, and there's a slight, and I mean SLIGHT amount of looseness or pulling in a corner, once it's in the sun some it will tighten up and that self corrects to a degree. Fabric isn't forgiving like that to the DIY crowd. If the foam isn't springy enough, and the fabric has a loose spot, it's probably staying that way. If you're OK with that it's one thing. If you're OCD and know it'll bug you... well, better that a shop with warranty does the work.
Recovering buckets is different than bench. On a bench the seat backs and armrest have a zipper to aid removal with a bottom piece relying on hog rings to be taut. Buckets you need to tug harder and get tight all the way down. Then there's the plastic backed models that don't use fabric over the bucket seatback. Taking apart the pieces isn't bad on either. But starting with a cover sewn to proper dimensions is very important on all.
Final piece of advice I can think of? If going DIY, replace all the foam along with the pre-sewn cover. When they make up the covers it's usually based on a proper condition unbent/unbroken frame, with THEIR foam cover at full size and springiness.
If you re-use factory foam you risk it being worn/compacted somewhat, or, differing in size from what the new foam would be. You then run the risk of the new cover fitting loose somewhere. If time isn't a factor, you can try installing on original foam and see if it seems loose in spots before putting on rings. Then, if it does, ordering new foam in a second order at risk of having to wait for it to arrive, then swapping foam and reinstalling.
Last edited:
Sounds like I may be getting in deeper than I thought. I might just have to live with it for the season and make it a winter project. There are a few other repairs on that list that I do not want to loose drive time for. I am working on a 41 Chevy at the same time hoping to get it on the road this year, it's eating hobby time. This winter I am going to be working on its interior. Perhaps doing them all at once I can get better at this.
Heat is your friend when it comes to interior work. Start in the middle, then work your way out.
Even doesn't matter if it's new or old vinyl. Years back I grabbed up a set of dark maple head rest out of a '81 Malibu 4 door to replace my torn up one in the Monte & one was misshapen from a bumper that was tossed in the car (plus it was the summer with all the windows closed.) Put some heat to it, streeched it a little on a good bare head rest a few times to get it back into the correct shape. Looks great & no one would ever be able to tell how bad it was.
- Status
Similar threads
