1965 New Seat Upholstery Time - Clarks

[Brtele]

I've finally decided it's time to tackle the seat upholstery.  My seams have been busting everywhere and I'm going to order a set of black vinyl - standard from Clarks.  I've never recovered seats before, but I'm going to get it a shot and learn a new task.  Hoping to have a refreshed interior soon!

[dr914]

recovering the Riv seats is not that easy if you want to make it look right.  We have seen so so many BUTCH jobs, and all of them make the interior look so so bad

[TexRiv_63]

Clark's quality is great, you won't be disappointed. I used their stuff on my 63 many years ago. Tip - if you are going to try it yourself buy professional quality tools for the hog ring installation. I did not do this and permanently damaged my right thumb. You may also want to hire an upholstery professional to install the kit - I had to wind up doing that and the work was top notch for reasonable cost.

[telriv]

Just  a caution.

Make sure the shop you pick uses the proper listing wire & NOT COAT HANGERS!!!!

 

Tom T.

[60FlatTop]

I have a shop near me that will let me bring material, either stitched or by the yard and for full bench seats like my '60 Electra they charge about $500 per full cushion. They do nice work. Especially if you look at some of the home brew jobs at shows and cruise nights. I would check on something like that when it is the big, forever job with the best material.

 

She has been pretty good about some of my own jobs when I removed upholstery and asked her to do a repair. I promised her that she would never be mentioned after I put it back on.

 

With the values of first gen Rivieras heading the way they are the economy of DYI might not be the best move.

[RIVNIK]

Trust me, unless you are exceptionally talented & self confidant, NOT a good time to learn a new art, especially one that benefits from years of experience & tricks of the trade. I gave up & took mine to a local professional.  $675 to clean up, repair & paint springs & install Clark's on two front seats. money well spent!

[Brtele]

Damn, when this many people on a diy forum say don’t do it…. I’m guessing I’m not going to do it, lol. 

[60FlatTop]

Reminds me of a time when a friend went to a national marque headquarters for an involved service seminar. When he returned I asked how the presentation went.

 

He replied "Not so good. I still think I can do it myself."

[Frank DuVal]

Well, I'll give information on Clarks' Upholstery, but from the Corvair side of the bucket seat isle. You need strong hands! You will be pulling and stretching up inside that seat back. The back may seem simple, just pull it on, but there is a lot going on inside there that you have to do. Then you have to stretch it to join the ends at the bottom. The bottom of the seats and the rear seats are not enclosed, so they are easier. I did not say easy!😉

 

A fellow Corvair guy in Virginia was an upholsterer and he said the seat backs were hard on hands. But he still jumped in and helped me and the seat owner get the covers on during a Corvair meet. A mini Tech Session. That was about 10 years ago. A helper is great, like in this example, as one needs hand strength or two hands.

 

As stated above, get all the internal parts you may need. I thought (please confirm!) I just saw Clarks does not have the cloth covered wiggly (listing?) wire. I may have these terms confused, as some wiggly wire is bare, or maybe it was once covered and now bare when I removed it.😮

 

 

[Riviera63]

I just picked up my front seats from the upholstery shop. He did mention that even though the seat covers are presewn/complete they are challenge to install and get to fit correctly because of the stiffness of the vinyl.

 

Bill

[XframeFX]

On 3/14/2024 at 12:19 PM, TexRiv_63 said:

You may also want to hire an upholstery professional to install the kit - I had to wind up doing that and the work was top notch for reasonable cost.

Ditto.

Although re-skinning with Clarks Leather was also a 3X for my Riviera. On the 3rd attempt, I attacked the power seat adjuster cleaning out old grease before installing the seat with front U-Brackets switched in reverse position to gain an extra inch rear-ward.

The reason the leather skin had to be removed, I broke a spring contorting my frame under the steering column to re-install the Brake Power booster. I had to pay for the re-repair of course, no warranty.

When 1st installed, my upholsterer tore a strip off me complaining what crap off-shore seat skins I provided him. Seat bottom too big at the front and too small over the horn at the rear. He kept picking up the old seat skin showing the quality the new ones did not have. Regardless, it all turned out good, LOL.

[RivNut]

2 hours ago, Brtele said:

Damn, when this many people on a diy forum say don’t do it…. I’m guessing I’m not going to do it, lol. 

Sometimes I think, especially based on the BMW X3 forum, DIY means Destroy It Yourself. 
“Cheap work isn’t good and good work isn’t cheap”

[60FlatTop]

I have used US Auto Seatcover, an Ebay seller in Texas for my trucks and a late model Cadillac I have. I am fine with installing the new style with the U-channel attaching and replacement buns. I have done some of the old hog ring covers and would hesitate to do a job on something valuable with the old style methods.

The first one I did was a Tahoe and I had a tough time pulling it into place. I through that one into my pickup and drove to a local upholsterer with the cover half on. He surprised me with the brute force he put on the seat, crimped in a few hog rings and was done. His demonstration made me more confident and the ones I have done since were easier when I grunted when I pulled.

 

Hesitate is a keyword here. I do not always follow my own advise. SMS has some fabric I need at about $150 a yard. my estimate is 8-10 yards to do one of my cars. Would I venture purchasing 4 yards to see how I could do? Sure. I ain't smart enough not to. For a few hundred bucks I will know for sure. Although I do lean toward just handing it to the person I know can do it well.

 

This is a good time to note that the foam or padding fails before the upholstery in many instances. The foam fails and the upholstery creases, traps dirt, and wears faster. On my cloth interior '05 Chevy pickup I saw the creasing start and put in a new bun. That was at least two years ago and no signs of further wear.