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Anyone do the interior yourself on first gen Camaro?

3K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  rs67 
#1 ·
I have started to restore the seats for my 67 Vert and found holes in the seat back for headrests. This is the first time to do this so I don't know are these 69 seat backs, special 67 or8 ones, or did they all come with the holes for a headrest??:nerd:
I got the first seat bottom done and had a few wrinkles. Working on getting the wrinkles out and I looked at a picture of my dream car a $70K 67 RS SS VERT deluxe black interior and guss what SAME WRINKLES! So mine ain't so bad and with the 110 heat outside I'll shape them nice in a couple days. This is my seat bottom and a shot of the other car and interior driver seat has the wrinkles:smile2:
Mike
 

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#2 ·
They all had the hole for headrests. Not too difficult to add them (69 style) now if you want.;) Yep, some heat a massaging should remove most of the wrinkles. I put a damp towel down, then a clothing iron for heat. Makes pretty quick work of it.

The car looks sharp ! :thumbsup: Is that yours or the dream car ?:)
 
#3 ·
Mike, the wrinkles are due to uneven tightness of the hog rings or they are spaced out too much. I like to use nylon tie wraps for that area. I documented this here: https://www.camaros.net/forums/23-i...our-front-bucket-seats-69-standard-shown.html

Putting hog rings in that area is very difficult, so they sometimes skimp on the number of them, resulting in poor looking covers.

What you are trying to do is get the listing cords in the center of the seat cover to be tightened flat against the metal framework. If the cord looks like a sine wave, then you will have wrinkles in the cover :)



 
#4 ·
No that is the dream car, mine needs more work it looks like this. Still have pics drop upside down when i do it?? Why?
Thanks Kevin seat looks great. I noticed the transition from the end of the wire tie down and the edge of the seat is a little hill yours looks good but the hill is at the edge of the front foam edge and the drop off looks funny with the white stripe.
Mike
 

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#5 ·
I have started to restore the seats for my 67 Vert and found holes in the seat back for headrests. This is the first time to do this so I don't know are these 69 seat backs, special 67 or8 ones, or did they all come with the holes for a headrest??:nerd:

I got the first seat bottom done and had a few wrinkles. Working on getting the wrinkles out and I looked at a picture of my dream car a $70K 67 RS SS VERT deluxe black interior and guss what SAME WRINKLES! So mine ain't so bad and with the 110 heat outside I'll shape them nice in a couple days. This is my seat bottom and a shot of the other car and interior driver seat has the wrinkles:smile2:

Mike
I did.. patience and a bit of playing around. Turned out very nice.


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#7 ·
Unless you feel you may've skrimped on hog rings, I'd try heat and massaging first.:) I think you'll be surprised how well it will relax and straighten out. I'm not a fan of zip ties for seats. Have seen too many fail (break) over time….

Does yours have metal seat backs ? All I've seen have 2 hooks at the top as Al mentioned, where yours has 1 in the center.
 
#8 ·
I have started to restore the seats for my 67 Vert and found holes in the seat back for headrests. This is the first time to do this so I don't know are these 69 seat backs, special 67 or8 ones, or did they all come with the holes for a headrest??:nerd:
Your seats look great. I would park the car in the sun for an hour and see what that does or use a heat gun. The 67 and 68 seats had optional headrests, however in January of 69 the headrests were mandatory. I believe all 3 years had the headrest hole, but it sounds like some didn't. Unless you can find a date code, it is hard to tell what year of car the seats are from. I'm not sure that it really matter though. Do you have reason to believe the seats are not original to car?
 
#9 ·
The seats i am redoing came from my other project a 67 rs vert. Seats had steel backs not plastic, and one center bracket. I thought plastic was standard on 67? I see how close you put the hog rings makes a difference on the ripples. I will try heat and do a better job on the next seat.
 
#10 ·
Steel seat backs transitioned to plastic around April 67....CRG Active Research Topics

Upholstery shops use a steamer to work out wrinkles. That's what got me started using a damp towel and iron as I didn't have a steamer. I believe the heat/moisture relaxes the material and shrinks somewhat as it cools. I've did a few sets of seats and has always worked well form me. Just need to make sure the iron doesn't come in direct contact with the vinyl.
 
#14 ·
I did my driver's seat last winter. I had to replace some springs in the back and stiffened the lower cushion also. I had the covers on and off many times. Local upholstery shop warned me not to make it too stiff. In the end, it feels too stiff and I will have to make more final adjustments. Probably get to the passenger seat next winter...then there is the painting the metal seat backs. I work at a snail's pace.

For anybody thinking about doing it themselves, its fun if you like learning curves, you don't save all that much money. There are great videos on Legendary interiors website. I watched them many, many times.
 
#15 ·
DYI is easy and you should save about $300. . . . lots of instruction on youtube. I did my first one 20 years ago and it still looks great, PUI comfort weave. Done a half a dozen or so since. Have some extra foam to fill in here and there. I would not install new covers without new foam as well. Make sure the covers have been in the sun or whatever to keep them warm. Start with the back seat as that is the easiest, then the pass seat and last the drivers seat. after stretching the covers on I set them in the sun before hog ringing them. Can use a heat gun, carefully, or a hair dryer. Keep the hog rings evenly spaced at the same "pressure" while pulling the cover tight. If there is a pinch, do the hog ring over again. Wet towel and heat may help as well. I usually add some extra foam on the sides to give it a more bolster look and feel. Your wife's electric knife works great and 3M spray adhesive on the added foam. The last few have been smooth with no pinch indentions. Good luck and you will have a good feeling DYI.
 
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