• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Installing Legendary Uphostery

Jc cooper

Second gear fun!
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
3:24 PM
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
Messages
700
Reaction score
403
Location
Houston tx
Any input on installing 67 hardtop gtx seat foams and frt and rear covers from Legendary except have a shop do it
 
Yes reviewed those but nothing like first hands on info , thanks for the response
 
Yes reviewed those but nothing like first hands on info , thanks for the response
Yes, they make it look so easy. They do cover most everything, but it can't be done like the 15 minute videos. The stretching and pulling will be very tiresome for someone that doesn't do this everyday. As best I remember Legendary has classes at places like the Mopar Nationals.
 
Yes experience shows as you watch those guys work on the seats , but not afraid to give it a go, and I live in Tx problemly will not be at the nationals so here we go,!
 
I purchased my foam from legendary, and my covers from another company. Watched the youtube vids, and went at it. I covered the seat back foam with plastic kitchen size trash bags, and the covers slid on easy. I also taped plastic over the front edge of the seat bottoms. I ended up buying 3 different pairs of hog ring pliers and several sizes of hog rings. To help with the seat springs from wearing through the layer of burlap, and to help distribute weight, i first hog ring secured a piece of carpet to the springs. The front seats are much easier than the back. Though they both turned out fine. If your stitching lines on thr top & bottom don't line up, its just a matter of taking some hog rings out, and reringing them.

20170708_223856.jpg 20170703_152535.jpg 20170711_195600.jpg
 
On the GTX front bucket seats, your have some contour wires that need to be installed that make the western scroll a little deeper than the rest of the seat. They are the last thing out when disassembling and the first thing in when assembling the covers. Take care as to where the hog rings are on these when taking them apart.
 
The legendary site has tutorial If they have your seats on video. Good professional grade hog ring plires and a bag of 1/2” rings.
Good Luck
 
I did the seats on my 64 Fury, front bench and rear.
Watched the videos, useless and inaccurate, or best described as unrealistic.

I carefully removed everything, taking many pictures as I went. Make sure it is clear what angle, side, etc when taking pics.

Original foam was formed, not a big squared off piece, there was metal wire in places, they give you the cardboard stuff for everything. Also, my backseat had cotton at the base of the back between the springs and the burlap.

Just carefully noting the way it was done originally made it very easy. My first attempt was based off the videos and instructions and was a giant fail.

To get the covers stretched enough to get the hog rings on, I initially flipped the seats over and got on top to compress the springs enough. Later, I took a few large plastic clamps, one end under the table, one end on the bottom of the seat, seat flipped over. I put a nice clean piece of wood from one side to the next under the clamps.

With it clamped, very little pulling and stretching.

Front seat back, I just turned it inside out and put it on. Clamped it the same as the bottoms to get a little more room to make a tight fit. Of course, I protected the new covers when clamping.

I bought both the straight hog pliers and 45, and I think I used the 45 twice, but nice to have. Pliers and rings from Summit.
 
Plywood across sawhorses makes good work space. Seat wrestling and hog ringing an art do not squeeze rings to tight just enough to close. Finding and attaching to wire in seat foam is tricky.
That’s why hog rings come in big bags you will take back out more than you end up using lol
 
I did mine on a cuda. the guys have told you right so no need in going back over it. It's intimidating to start with and the first bucket took a while as I was being overly cautious but by the time I got to the bench I was feeling good about it. You can do it, just take your time
 
Hey thanks for heads up on the install, most Uphostery shops don’t have a clue about this install and a ready to cut covers,for they are sure they won’t fit , not my concerns!
 
FWIW, As a first timer I took a LOT of pictures for reference how the folds are made and where the hog rings go. I also did a lot of de-burring on the frames. Maybe they didn't need it but it made me feel better about stretching vinyl over the corners and edges. Mark your centers on the materials and frames. Watch how things are lining up for you. You don't want seams mismatching when you assemble the backs onto the seats.
I was able to work in 75° weather with sunlight on the seat backs which helped. The bottoms were not as tough IMO.
(Disclaimer........ :eek: not Legendary covers)
upload_2020-1-24_8-54-51.png

upload_2020-1-24_8-55-59.png

upload_2020-1-24_8-57-14.png


upload_2020-1-24_8-58-46.png


upload_2020-1-24_9-0-13.png
 
Yes forgot temp needs to be warm and lay materials out in sun preferably not on a snow drift. lol
 
Everyone so far gave great advice. The one thing I've learned after doing my seats was try to keep the material warmed before installing. Its much easier to work with especially when installing over new front bucket foam. I did mine in the spring and had everything laid out in the sun and just installed each piece as needed. I watched an old video of assembly line workers and they used what looked like a hose with steam to easily stretch and position the cover before hog ringing it.
 
When you go from hog ringing to the smaller guage springs, to the larger guage frame wire that they connect to, you will find it necessary to use larger hog rings, and different pliers.
 
The covers tend to fit very tight when using new seat foam.

Best advice I can give is cool the seats and foam and heat the covers right before installing.

This way the foam will shrink ever so slightly, and the cover will expand the same.
The little extra will hopefully make the difference so the cover wont tear when going on.
 
Nobody has mentioned that a extra pair of hands is always helpful with a job like this, and makes it go easier. Trust me, your hands will get a workout and be sore for a few days afterwards. Good Luck
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top