What are you guys paying to have seats re-covered?
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Local shop cannot get a kit, but they will only charge $400 labor for installing a kit on the front seats, center armrest, second-row seats, and the door armrests. SWEET! They can also rebuild the bolsters on the seats if I need it, too, so I am not going to buy new cushions.......... 
HERE I COME, SHANE!
HERE I COME, SHANE!
Local shop cannot get a kit, but they will only charge $400 labor for installing a kit on the front seats, center armrest, second-row seats, and the door armrests. SWEET! They can also rebuild the bolsters on the seats if I need it, too, so I am not going to buy new cushions..........
$400 is sold fair charge,
Also to be clear I will not do 100% leather.
- Leather continues to shrink over the first several months after tanning and the faux leather vinyl allows for proper fit and alignment of the seat cover.
- The seats need to have stretch and be able to move with you getting in a out of the vehicle.
- From the factory only the seat faces, head rests, arm rest and console are leather as I replicate this as it's the correct way for a reason.
- Main reason that everyone uses 100% leather is that they cannot obtain or match the faux leather vinyl to the hides as it's not an automotive grade hide, but a furniture grade.
- Automotive grade hides are drum dyed so color fully penetrates the hide.
Here's a few pics of a hide showing grain detail and color, this is the buckskin I use in the 60-62 series.
Shane
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X2 for the $400 labor charge. The stealer will charge that much just for a brake job for changing pads & resurface the rotors. BTW, I chose the 100% leather not because they can't match the color. It's my choice cause I hate faux leather. It had been 5 months and the leather works are free of cracks or wrinkle. I would do it again if I need to for my other cars.
I paid $500 to have my drivers seat reupholstered and the front passenger and center console touched up at a auto interiors place here in Austin. They did a great job and the new leather matches the rest perfectly. I also had some minor dents from the PO pulled at the same time for $100 more. They did it one day
Or........
You might try the Macgyver approach.
I had the 96 leather seats. I hated them at best. They were too hard for my skinny ass anyway.
I just couldn't see myself spending several hundred to recover some seats that I hated.
So I went the other way.
I went to the salvage yard with a tape measure. I found a pair of ideal seats in a Lexus sport sedan. I bought them for $75 for the pair. They were in perfect condition. The color was right and they looked great. I bought them.
I took them home to my personal fab shop. I welded up a set of mounts and fitted the Lexus seats into my 80. Then I laid all four seats upside down on a table. I cut the wires from under the LC seats, and grafted the wires into the Lexus seats. I bolted the seats in place and plugged them in. They are great.
I love them. They work perfectly. They are far more comfortable and more supportive than the original LC seats ever were. They are nearly perfect.
At the same time that I was doing this, I also grafted a pair of Camry seats into my business partners' Montero. They also fit perfectly.
If you can find some front seats that you like, they are pretty much interchangeable. It is not that hard! I have owned a lot of Japanese cars and trucks. I have mostly replaced the front seats at will. If you don't like the seats, just get some new ones. It's not that hard.
You might try the Macgyver approach.
I had the 96 leather seats. I hated them at best. They were too hard for my skinny ass anyway.
I just couldn't see myself spending several hundred to recover some seats that I hated.
So I went the other way.
I went to the salvage yard with a tape measure. I found a pair of ideal seats in a Lexus sport sedan. I bought them for $75 for the pair. They were in perfect condition. The color was right and they looked great. I bought them.
I took them home to my personal fab shop. I welded up a set of mounts and fitted the Lexus seats into my 80. Then I laid all four seats upside down on a table. I cut the wires from under the LC seats, and grafted the wires into the Lexus seats. I bolted the seats in place and plugged them in. They are great.
I love them. They work perfectly. They are far more comfortable and more supportive than the original LC seats ever were. They are nearly perfect.
At the same time that I was doing this, I also grafted a pair of Camry seats into my business partners' Montero. They also fit perfectly.
If you can find some front seats that you like, they are pretty much interchangeable. It is not that hard! I have owned a lot of Japanese cars and trucks. I have mostly replaced the front seats at will. If you don't like the seats, just get some new ones. It's not that hard.
BTW
Does anybody want a pair of 96 grey leather LC front seats? I have them in my shed. You can have them for free. If you want them, they are yours.
Does anybody want a pair of 96 grey leather LC front seats? I have them in my shed. You can have them for free. If you want them, they are yours.
Do you have some pics of your Lexus seats installed?
I'd love them....I want new office chairs.....But they must be impossible to ship...
HOUSTON, TX
JUNE 2014
I just had a set of Shane's (METRIC TLC) leather seats installed in my 2000 Lexus LX 470. I bought the seats about a year ago but just got around to having them installed. I purchased them in a group buy for $1,200. Shane's kit included 3 rows of seats, all 8 headrests, the center console in the middle row of seats (built into the seat), the armrests on the front seats and the front console. Shane also shipped additional leather for the door inserts, but my doors look great and that would have increased the installation cost. Also, I custom ordered perforated leather for the inserts in the front seats as I hope to have ventilation fans installed in the front seats soon.
In addition to installing the leather skins from Shane, the installer also replaced seat cushions as needed and cleaned up the original pockets on the back of the front seats. The install was done in one day (took all day). The cost was $700 but normally would have been at least $750. (I was quoted $600 over the phone due to misunderstanding in the number of rows of seats to be recovered.) I used "Stitches Auto Tops and Upholstery" at 1308 Texas Hwy 6, Houston, TX 77077. I picked Stitches based on outstanding reviews on Angie's List. The final product looks and feels awesome. New seat foam makes a big difference in a 15 year-old vehicle with 200,000 miles on it.
Great seat covers from METRIC TLC. Great install by Stitches Auto Tops and Upholstery.
JUNE 2014
I just had a set of Shane's (METRIC TLC) leather seats installed in my 2000 Lexus LX 470. I bought the seats about a year ago but just got around to having them installed. I purchased them in a group buy for $1,200. Shane's kit included 3 rows of seats, all 8 headrests, the center console in the middle row of seats (built into the seat), the armrests on the front seats and the front console. Shane also shipped additional leather for the door inserts, but my doors look great and that would have increased the installation cost. Also, I custom ordered perforated leather for the inserts in the front seats as I hope to have ventilation fans installed in the front seats soon.
In addition to installing the leather skins from Shane, the installer also replaced seat cushions as needed and cleaned up the original pockets on the back of the front seats. The install was done in one day (took all day). The cost was $700 but normally would have been at least $750. (I was quoted $600 over the phone due to misunderstanding in the number of rows of seats to be recovered.) I used "Stitches Auto Tops and Upholstery" at 1308 Texas Hwy 6, Houston, TX 77077. I picked Stitches based on outstanding reviews on Angie's List. The final product looks and feels awesome. New seat foam makes a big difference in a 15 year-old vehicle with 200,000 miles on it.
Great seat covers from METRIC TLC. Great install by Stitches Auto Tops and Upholstery.
I just recovered my front seats. I didn't use Shane's Leather but I would have if I could. I did a little write-up for Rising Sun Club:
http://www.risingsun4x4club.org/forum2/showthread.php?t=21374.
The most interesting thing to me was that in my 1997 80, the seats aren't all leather, they are vinyl and leather. Shane's stuff is awesome but living in Colorado, I was told that vinyl (which looks like leather but doesn't smell like it) lasts longer because you really have to treat the leather.
The vinyl redo on the seats was $230 each seat, I was told if I brought Shane's it would be $200 for labor. I verified that the Vinyl costs are only about $15 per yard, and you need 2 yards.
I live in Colorado and drove to Lakewood to have them done.
Had the rear seats dyed - they were cracked and they look much better now.
From :
To:
Does not smell as good as Leather but feels better. I DID NOT replace the cushion even with the big tear, they put another have inch layer of foam on top.
In checking with other people, $200 per seat in Colorado for labor was about right.
http://www.risingsun4x4club.org/forum2/showthread.php?t=21374.
The most interesting thing to me was that in my 1997 80, the seats aren't all leather, they are vinyl and leather. Shane's stuff is awesome but living in Colorado, I was told that vinyl (which looks like leather but doesn't smell like it) lasts longer because you really have to treat the leather.
The vinyl redo on the seats was $230 each seat, I was told if I brought Shane's it would be $200 for labor. I verified that the Vinyl costs are only about $15 per yard, and you need 2 yards.
I live in Colorado and drove to Lakewood to have them done.
Had the rear seats dyed - they were cracked and they look much better now.
From :
To:
Does not smell as good as Leather but feels better. I DID NOT replace the cushion even with the big tear, they put another have inch layer of foam on top.
In checking with other people, $200 per seat in Colorado for labor was about right.
Very interesting thread.
Does anybody sell JUST the drivers seat leather kit? That's my only torn stitching and the rest of the seats look pretty good. Unfortunately I would preferably need a two tone 40th kit, but I might be able to live with one mismatched seat.
Does anybody sell JUST the drivers seat leather kit? That's my only torn stitching and the rest of the seats look pretty good. Unfortunately I would preferably need a two tone 40th kit, but I might be able to live with one mismatched seat.
