Picked up some old seats on e-bay. Fixed the welds, tracks, cleaned them up nice. Bought new foams and covers, but have never done upholstery work before.

Does anyone have some kind of "users guide" for dummies before I attempt this and tear up my new covers? There is probably a simple process for this, but the whole hog ring thing is scaring me...lol.

-shoe

The hog rings ain't too bad, but the hot trick for where the center sections go thru the foam is to use zip ties! That way you can get em all attached loose, then do around the edges, then pull the zip ties tight, and poof, perfect seats!

Yep, I used ties on my 68 and my truck, beats messing with those hog rings !!!

I bought new foam spings and covers last year. After half way thru the first seat with bleeding fingers and blisters, I brought all the seats to the upostery shop.

We've got one of those hog ring tools that attach to the compressor, but I think I like the zip ties better. Can we get a bit deeper explanation please? Not sure about the around the edge part in the center. Do I use zip ties instead of rings?

Here's the posts from when I did my seats, was a first for me too. First post is back seat, second is front. There are others as well with really good info, but these were the easiest for my to find.
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=68740
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=77520

JimM is a genius!! I have replaced the covers on, our sons 68 firebird, our 67 camaro and just finished doing the buckets in our 68 chevelle, and I too HATED doing the center with hog rings, I have done some upholstery on furniture over the years so I ended up using strong upholstery button waxed twine and a long needle to full down and tie the center. Really brutal on the hands. ZIP TIES are now going to be my new favorite! I have voluntered to help a friend do his camaro seat covers but wasn't looking forward to tying the center down. Now I can do it without getting bloody fingers. I also like the other suggestion of leaving them loose then hog ringing the edge then reajusting the center by tightening the zip ties. Just another great reason to read TC everyday!

Another thought for the newbie upholsterer, do ONE seat at a time then you have the other one to see how it goes boack together. And the worst part of the whole deal is ripping off the old seat covers, and removing the mice nests!
I always replace the burlap, get it at Walmart, and I run a 12 or 14 gauge wire through the bottom edge of the seat cover to hook the hog rings to. Getting the seat covers nice and warm before you pull them on is another trick.I hold them in front of our kerosen space heater for maybe 2 minutes. It really is nice to have an extra person when you hog ring around the edge. I flip the seat face down on the floor on an old bedspread and then kneel on the springs backs to hold it down then streatch and hubby will hog ring it down. Try and keep the hog rings in the hem of the seat so you don't get a hole in the one layer of vinyl. I would zip tie the foam down too. The best foam seat I think are made by American cushion I bought those for our 59 corvette nice and dense and heavy, the worst ones were the last seat I bought and that was for our chevelle and I dont know the manufacturer but they were crap they were really soft and ripped them getting them out of the box.
Annette

Read this tip on D&R classics site:

Classic Car Restoration Tech Tips
When applying seat covers, place a plastic garbage bag around the seat cushion(s). Slide the seat cover over the garbage bag. The garbage bag helps the seat cover slide and conform to the cushions. Once the seat cover is applied, the plastic bag will help the cover "break in" or conform to the cushion due to body heat, warm weather, and by just overall use of the seat. Final note, the garbage bag can remain under the cover and will not cause discomfort or damage.

Disclaimer:

D & R is not responsible for any results from our technical tips. Perform the technical tips at your own risk.

JimM is a genius!!
Thanks Annette, but no credit is due here.

I did NOT think of using zip ties, not by any means. It's been a subject here on and off for years, I can't even recall who first suggested them.

I can tell you they flat worked tho.

Also, leaving the center ties loose was a HUGE help, and I may take credit for that one. When I did the first bun, I pulled em tight, and found it impossible to stretch the seat cover over the bottom of the frame. I sniped em all of, and put em back and left em loose, and that made all the difference. Was kindsa cool pulling em tight and watching the center of the seat get sucked right dsown to where it should be, too!

I have a new pair of bucket seat covers in my garage waiting to be installed but I've been kinda scared to attempt it. I've heard of the garbage bag trick but my question is: should this be used if already using the burlap? In other words, can you put the burlap on and then the garbage bag and then the seat cover? Maybe this will ensure a more snug fit? A lot of the newly installed seat covers I've seen lately have wrinkles on them as if the are made too big.

The burlap goes under the foam, to protect it from the wire springs.

I didn't use the garbage bag. My seats had some sort of thin cloth padding between the old foam and the seat covers I took off. I reused this stuff. The new foam is very sticky, I'd think something between the foam and the cover would be a great help getting them together.

So far so good, used the zip tie idea for seat bottom number 1. I suppose the same thing goes for the upper half, though I haven't taken the old one apart yet. It isn't perfect, but it looks pretty darn good. I did hog ring the "flap" and secured the back area, but only used 6 total. 8 zip ties pulled the middle tight, but I wish I would have used more to give it a cleaner even look.

When finished I will put the 68 Corvette seats up for sale, though UPS quoted me $600 for shipping. Better call them live for that one.

Thanks everyone, more work ahead.

yesterday i installed almost all the deluxe seat covers on my 67 and i used the zip tie trick to put a nice shape to the seats after covers were installed.
this works well . the toughest part was getting the folded ties threw the burlap. the bucket seat backs are mirerable( no room to work at the top).
the seat bottoms are a breeze. i had my son stand on a 1x4 cut to width on seat frame to compress foam while i put the strip into channel.
getting the white accents to line up is not exactly a treat either.
i have one seat back to go and im not sure i can do it till my fingers heal up a bit
this was my first experence with installing complete interior and the tips i picked up here are invaluable

i will post some pics when i get a chance

Since the weather isn't cooperating here, I may try this inside. Question though, I saw some comments about having an extra set of hands. I currently have 1 good arm and the other at about 50-60% usage. Will I be able to do this myself or am I going to sit in front of the TV until someone gets home? Can ya tell I'm bored?

you'll be able to get the center section zip toed no problem. I used an awl to poke the holes, and went up from the bottom fist, thru the cover, than back down, making sure to be on the other side of the rod.

Actually getting the plastic to clip on around the outside may be a beech. I turn the seat upside down and stood on it, then bent over and worked the plastic into the groove, not sure it could be done one handed, you might fall over.

Amusing visual....
How long are the zip ties you guys are using? I am going to get some today, after PT. I've seen them from 3-4" to 18" long....

The ones I used were about 10" long and very heavy duty. I also put a second locking part on each one so they never slip.

Cool. I'll give it a shot....and let you know if I landed on my backside or not...