Fixing up a bent leather (vinyl) seat.. - Interior Tech - Tech Section

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Some of you may already know that the seats in my Ranger aren't in the greatest condition. The bolsters are all in good condition, but the seat cover on the drivers side is split, possibly from the PO carrying a knife there as it hasn't worn through, just cut.

Anyway, that's not the only problem, there are numerous cigarette burn holes around the place and the best offer i had was replacing the bolster material at a cost of $100 - the material wouldn't match either.

I saw a 2006 Ranger had just come into the pick n pull a week+ ago, hoping it still had seats, i made it there today, i was expect they'd be the new 2004+material and bucket seats (i have the 60/40 split)
They turned out to be leather, and still a 60/40 split, they were both there and didn't look bad, i couldn't believe it - until i realised the wreck the truck had been in, had caused the frame to bend forward at the top of the drivers seat.

The truck was a mess, but the seats just needed cleaning, i figured i could take the covers off these and put them on mine - found out they were running a special this weekend, and all seats were $15 each!!!
Unbolted them both and took them as is. Vacuumed the glass off after i got them home, but still found glass slithers in my fingers :(

That's quite the bend at the top there.

Fair bit of cleaning to do, but i have experience cleaning leather off, this will come up nicely.

Cover pull off the drivers seat back, i managed to screw up the only 3 hog clips it used :( I'll have to come up with some later.

That last shot shows the frame bend from the back, i don't think this will take too much work to straighten out, if it's easy to remove the seat back from the base, that would be best to get this done.
Right now they're all sitting in my garage, they're sweating out the water they're taken on since this truck was wreck, probably in the last 2 to 3 weeks at most.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 06:43 am

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Mike69

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Maxx, IIRC it is a bolt on each side bottom the holds the seat back to the bottom. If you need any of the hog rings any upholstery shop "should" have them or if you let me know how many you need I have a bunch left over from a previous time I needed them, I could throw some in an envelope & mail them to you.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 12:43 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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I'll try and get a pic of the mess i made with the hog rings (i buzzed them off) and it melted the plastic bar in the seat cover :( - i'll have to get inventive for reattaching it.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 04:03 pm

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mhoward
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I didn't think they used hog rings in them anymore. Mine have the plastic panels that are sewn to the upholstery and hook on the seat frame.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 04:49 pm

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JAMMAN

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I had to google hog rings

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 07:39 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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There are only 3 rings on the entire seat, the just hold the leather tight to the base of the head rest portion.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 08:10 pm

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Kealel
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I want to point out, you keep saying leather seats, these seats are actually vinyl, the only leather seats were in some FX4+ trucks and were black.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 08:19 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Fair call, i assumed, they look pretty close, pleather? :P

Good job i haven't gotten round to putting leather conditioner on them :)

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 09:07 pm

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Kealel
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MaDMaXX wrote: Fair call, i assumed, they look pretty close, pleather? :P

Good job i haven't gotten round to putting leather conditioner on them :)It's a very common mistake, I've had to correct people in the seat upholstery business who stated they liked my leather seats.
They are pretty close to leather seats, but after seeing true leather Ranger seats, they are nowhere near as plush and nice! A lot more durable though.
Wanted to make sure you knew before you went on to condition them as the only thing that could add is a leather smell (which wouldn't really be bad)

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 09:13 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Yeah, i did wonder (if only briefly) why they'd put leather in a utility truck - but i was more surprised it didn't have the cloth bucket seats, so the bench was a big surprise to me.

When i get the wheel, it'll get leather treated, but i'll probably just use 303 on the seats now - just gotta get a move on with repairing it, i wasted the day back at the junk yard, helping my brother get seats for his F150.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 09:29 pm

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Kealel
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MaDMaXX wrote: Yeah, i did wonder (if only briefly) why they'd put leather in a utility truck - but i was more surprised it didn't have the cloth bucket seats, so the bench was a big surprise to me.

When i get the wheel, it'll get leather treated, but i'll probably just use 303 on the seats now - just gotta get a move on with repairing it, i wasted the day back at the junk yard, helping my brother get seats for his F150.Believe it or not, these seats are actually the cheapest option they had!
I'm surprised how slow shipping is going... But treating it would be a good idea, as it is real leather. ðŸ˜œ
Another thought just now: my junkyard has some seats that are shredded but the seat frames are straight. If you need I can pull one for you.

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Posted: Sat Jan 13th, 2018 09:54 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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lol, so i just downgraded my seating?! :( boooooo.

Sorry, re-reading my post, it was a little passive aggressive re the wheel, wasn't what i meant ;)

I think we should be good getting the frame fixed, but many thanks for the offer.

Right now i'm just glad that i should have fixed the problem of seat covers that's plagued me since getting the truck, that cut is a real pain being careful around so i don't make it worse.

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Posted: Sun Jan 14th, 2018 03:42 pm

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Mike69

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JAMMAN wrote: I had to google hog rings
If you ever did upholstery on an older vehicle that is what held it to the seat frame. I did a few seat covers in my 24 years in the automotive business & on 2 of my Mustangs.

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Posted: Sun Jan 14th, 2018 04:05 pm

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Hog rings means you need a set of hog ring pliers. Without them the hog rings are a PIA to install. Or use zip ties.

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Posted: Sun Jan 14th, 2018 05:49 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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It's gonna be zip ties as I screwed the rings and part of the plastic bar.

Kicking myself for that, but as its such a minor use of the rings, I'm not too bothered.

Going to try and unbolt the back today.

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Posted: Sun Jan 14th, 2018 07:31 pm

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JAMMAN

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So I'm 57 years old, been married 3 times, program for 5 axis machines, lived as far south as SC and as far north as the northern LP of Michigan and I'm the only person in the world that had no idea what a hog ring was?

Wonder what else I've missed

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Posted: Sun Jan 14th, 2018 08:45 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Missed?

57 years of seat, um, stuff, i guess :) I had a load in a Prelude seat set i did about 10 years ago.

Anyway, i honestly can't see how to 'easily' remove the back on this seat, i'll put some new pics up later.

I have, however, discovered 2 things.

1) They're wet, drying, but i want to air them a lot more than they're getting, it concerns me how slowly they are drying.

2) The drivers seatbelt has a pre tensioner, no idea if it was activated or not.

3) I know i said 2 things, but i forgot the second one and still can't remember what will now be the third.

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Posted: Sun Jan 14th, 2018 09:23 pm

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JAMMAN

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1. A big fan? ALSO how cold is it in Oregon? Bring them in the house where it is warm?

Be patient grasshopper, they cannot hold water forever.

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Posted: Sun Jan 14th, 2018 11:32 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Fan isn't a bad idea, I don't know if I want them in the house though, we don't really have a suitable place for them.

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Posted: Mon Jan 15th, 2018 02:17 am

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buggman

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check with troy stevenson (i think that's his last name) he's on most of the forums & on facebook, he does great upholstery work, he might be able to help you out.

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Posted: Mon Jan 15th, 2018 08:07 am

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Kealel
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Since you mentioned the seat buckles, I am going to add on.
DO NOT USE THE ONES ON THE SEAT
Use the ones from your truck. They'll fit in easy, and I don't believe the 06 buckles would hold the belts anyways. When it comes to safety equipment, you want to use what you know works, instead of what seems to work.
Source: swapped in 2006 seats in my 2003

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Posted: Mon Jan 15th, 2018 01:43 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Ahh ok, thanks :)

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Posted: Mon Jan 15th, 2018 06:10 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Alright, just had the idea of frame swapping the back of the seat.

The shape is different for the foam to match the slight change in the cover, but the frame can't possibly be any different to my current seat.

What i need to know now, is how to unbolt the seat back from the base, if i can easily get that off, i can then pull the one in the truck and swap it straight in.

It would only be the old/current seat-back frame, everything else would be the new seat etc.

Attachment: IMG_20180114_160221.jpg (Downloaded 61 times)

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Posted: Mon Jan 15th, 2018 06:27 pm

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JAMMAN

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Dang I think I'd just beat on it with a sledge a few times what do you have to lose?

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Posted: Mon Jan 15th, 2018 06:30 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Zero work space, unfortunately that background is representative of my garage as a whole :(

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