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Mar 31, 2019 12:17:53 GMT
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Time had come to replace the cloth front seats, for some reason Toyota put leatherette/plastic rear seats in all mkIV's, the higher spec models got leather fronts, and lower spec models were fitted with cloth fronts.
I looked on Ebay and found a seller called ridiescom they looked good value for the price, you could choose from, non leather, genuine leather, or full grain nappa leather.
i went for genuine leather,
The next day i got an email.
Thank you for your purchase. Would you be interested in upgrading from genuine leather to full-grain nappa leather? Nappa leather is the best quality leather in the market for these types of items.
Instead of $150.00 for the upgrade, we can offer you that just for extra $100.00.
Please let us know if you are interested
so if any of you were going to buy the top leather, you be better off ordering the middle one, then take them up on there offer and save the extra.
The cover set arrived very quickly, but I then had to pay import duty on them.
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Last Edit: Apr 3, 2019 8:41:37 GMT by shagracer
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Mar 31, 2019 12:27:11 GMT
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Stock Toyota Rear  Stock Toyota Front  After market Leather covers  |
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Last Edit: Mar 31, 2019 19:00:00 GMT by shagracer
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Mar 31, 2019 12:39:30 GMT
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Thought I would start on the head rests, as that would be the easy bit!!  Pressed that little button in, pressed it forward, backwards, pressed it up, down, pulled on it, but no the rest would not slide up. Turns out Toyota thought it would be fun to add it, but have it do absolutely nothing at all.   There's two hidden slides on the shoulder of the seat backs that you have to squeeze in then push the rests up and off. The seats were held in by just four bolts per seat. To split the backs from the base and frame was again four bolts, two each side then slide up and off. The base was a bolt in each corner (4 bolts) and lift away from frame/runners. |
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Last Edit: Mar 31, 2019 18:35:02 GMT by shagracer
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Mar 31, 2019 18:34:12 GMT
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I wondered if I could simply slip the cover over what was already there, it soon came apparent that the cover was made to a tight tolerance, the old cover needed to come off. Started by removing that dummy button, then gently priesing the plastic clips away with two flat head screwdrivers, no real way of doing this as I don't think they were made to be removed and refitted.  Then had to cut along a seem and pull the cloth apart, some areas were free from the foam, but the seams were stuck, by sliding a finger or two in and pushing along the seams managed to free the cloth away from the foam, a few bits of the foam did tear but doing it slowly and firmly kept the damage to a minimum. It was then just a case of pulling the new cover on, and massaging the leather down and around untill the zip was close enough to be zipped up.  |
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Last Edit: Apr 2, 2019 6:41:28 GMT by shagracer
Please don't throw litter, take it home.
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Luckily the backs have two zips running from the floor up, once these have been open you can just unpeel the back and sides, you then have to find the 17, yes 17 hog ring clips that hold the covers to the seats.   By pushing down the moulded foam you can get a screwdriver into the clips and open them up, then spin them off the two metal rods, which there are five of, well 10, as 5 are in the covers one running through each blue sleeve.   And 5 rods imbedded in the moulded foam, which stay there DON'T pull these out.  whilst trial fitting the new back cover, I notice that there were no pre made holes in the shoulders, to allow the head rest to pass back into the seats, now these were sold for the pre facelift model as the facelift has an all in one seat, and this set came with the head rest covers, time to send an email to ridiescomthis was my message. Received my order, very fast delivery, leather looks very good and well made, but although the set came with headrest covers, the seat back top edges don't have holes made into the leather, for the headrests to re enter the seat backs?
please advise.and their reply No matter where you buy seat covers from, they do not come with holes for controls and headrests. That is part of installation.
I don't know if that's the case or not, but looks like i'm on my own from here on in. MORE TO COME..... |
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Last Edit: Apr 3, 2019 7:07:23 GMT by shagracer
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Apr 19, 2019 16:56:37 GMT
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I just want a normal seat cover to to fit my Mercedes W124 to stop the wear on the side bolsters .I have had three pairs now off ebay sellers only to find they are to small and sent them back for a refund. Any one know a place that sells large sports seat covers . The seat is in the picture  |
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Apr 19, 2019 18:07:02 GMT
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I'll be very interested to see the end result here. I've often looked at expensively re-trimmed classics and thought they looked like the proverbial dog's dinner so it'll be fascinating to see what an 'off the peg' solution looks like.
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Sorry, but due to a bad back, I haven't been up to much, I did get the seat all done and back in the car, but I didnt take the right pictures to show just how hard it was to get the covers to fit. I will come back and show you how, when I do the other seat, but for now here's a few pictures with the new covers on.   Thanks to MkX for letting me know someone is following this task |
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Please don't throw litter, take it home.
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Jul 12, 2019 14:05:01 GMT
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Ok I'm back, seats all done and fitted. back to the how to.... Pull new cover up and into position, you will have to work out which way to start because they will only go on one way. The new covers have black sleeves which the rods go through, the old covers were blue  With the cover Pulled up to the first inbeded rod in the foam and a rod in the first sleeve, get the two as close as you can, which isn't easy, now I took a cunning approach to this problem, and used strong cable ties, instead of hog rings because I couldn't get the bits anywhere close enough,and you need about four hands. Make a hole in the black sleeve just behind the rod then thread the tie through and down around the foam rod, join the cable tie up and pull a bit, do same either side and pull, take it a bit at a time helping and wriggling the cover up  Untill you have the two rods as close together as you can, then pull cover up to next inbeded rod and repeat.  I used ties on all other rods that hold the bottom of the cover down and under the seat.    |
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Last Edit: Jul 12, 2019 14:27:40 GMT by shagracer
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Leather seat coversfr€$h&m1nt¥
@freshandminty
Club Retro Rides Member 99
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Jul 12, 2019 14:18:04 GMT
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Aren't they jacket hooks rather than inoperative buttons?  |
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Jul 12, 2019 14:19:13 GMT
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This should be a picture of getting the two rods together, you want them right up tight, a bit more than when I took this picture.  It's a hard job, buy so worth the effort |
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Last Edit: Jul 12, 2019 14:24:17 GMT by shagracer
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,348
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Jul 12, 2019 14:32:03 GMT
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I did something similar with my daily A3 and i can sympathise, although i didn't have to contend with hog rings, the modern alternative of a plastic strip and clips was equally as painful.
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus - Mercedes W212 E250
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Jul 12, 2019 15:13:42 GMT
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That looks pretty good to me, not 100% but I don't think anyone would give them a second glance and think they weren't original to the car. They're certainly a big improvement on the original tired cloth seats.
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Jul 16, 2019 15:01:45 GMT
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Since I did my back in, from work/and doing these seats on the floor, my wife nagged me to try some pain relief, as even when my back is good there is always a grumbling pain, I moan at her for putting everyday items in low cupboards, making me bend down. Now I've heard other people swear by this stuff, and I have always thought "boll**ks". But I tried it hopping it would have no effect, but I have got to say, I feel better, it's not a cure for mending a bad back, but for everyday pain it's great, and I think it has helped me not having so many "black" days. As I said I didnt think it would, but here I am singing its priase.  |
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Last Edit: Jul 16, 2019 15:04:25 GMT by shagracer
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Kron
Part of things
Posts: 260 
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Jul 16, 2019 17:40:12 GMT
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I am/Was equally sceptical, however my dog (GSD) has dysplasia in his hips and from legs.
I've been giving him a small dose once a day for 3 months now and whilst it's clearly not a cure for a physical disability he no longer cries every night after a short walk.
It clearly has it's benefits and I have yet to see any side effects.
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