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So, I found what I believe to be an amazing deal on Katzkin seat covers for my car that I couldn't pass up. I plan to eventually turn this into a DIY, but for now it is a question thread. I have no idea what I am doing. My Dad owned a furniture manufacturing company, The Rose Hill, for 20 years, so he has a little more knowledge then me. He ran the company not built furniture so he is just about as clueless as I am. Does anyone here have any experience with car upholstery? I have been browsing some other forums and from what I have read it is hard but not impossible. Im just looking for some tips. I hope to have the covers in by Friday and knock it out this week end. Thanks

**UPDATE**
I am now a LX-L

So, all seating surface have been installed. The only thing that I lack is to install the center arm rest, door panel inserts, and to get the last rear bolster made/installed. As far as quality, I couldn't be happier. My covers were the premium quality so they have leather in the front and back. If you get the standard you only have leather in the front. According to my research, all Accords with OEM leather have all vinyl in the back. Meaning the only leather that you actually get is the inserts in the front. The install is not bad at all. It is very simple but difficult, disregard the paradox. You only need basic tools. I used a 3/8 and 1/2 inch ratchet, various sockets, needle nose pliers, and a good utility knife. As far as materials you need the kit, spray adhesive and glue gun for panels, and about 100 zip ties. I bought the 4" small zip ties but it would have been much better if they were longer. I get more technical with the DIY when I make it. I still want to try to make the back seat look better but I was able to make the cup holder look better today .I have spent about ten hours thus far and in vision myself spending 2-5 more hours. In my opinion, the $500 +/- that you will spend having a pro is not worth it. On to the pictures. The flash really drains the color and they are not two tone. I'm guessing leather and vinyl react differently to the camera flash. I think the some of the wrinkles will flatten out because they were folded in the box. I think some of the edges will smooth out as well.
Driver Seat
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7497.jpg)
Side View
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7499.jpg)
Back Seat Notice the cloth bolster lol
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7505.jpg)
Both
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7508.jpg)
Passenger
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7479.jpg)

did you buy the silver leather kit on ebay for like $200? ...i was looking at that

If you really are "clueless" i would recommend having this professionally done...don't forget, there are side airbags in those seats

I'm clueless as in I have never done it. My Dad can upholster a couch, so I am hoping there are some common principles. I have done a bit of research and it doesnt seem that bad. It's meticulous and patience is a must. I have read that instead of using hog rings again, use zip ties. As for the professional install. I called the only Katzkin dealer around me and they said they wont do it unless they order the kit. I want to use a reputable shop and figured they were a pretty good judge. So I figured as little as I paid, it's worth a try. It was going to be $1250 + 7.25% tax out the door. I did not but they grey kit. I bought a sandstone one from south_dallas_auto_parts. It shipped today, so we will see. I watched a DIY video for a F-150 and it seemed really easy.

i saw that one too lol

Ya it doesn't sound to hard, i guess i'm just a little cautious with anything that has to do with an airbag. You don't necessarily have to go through a katzskin dealer to get it installed, most reputable shops have installed katzskin kits...just saying, best of luck on the install...and if you do it all on your own, take LOTS of pictures and make a diy please :)

Luckily, in this case, I don't have side air bags. So that will not be a concern. I will make sure to take plenty of pictures and turn it into a DIY, if all goes well. They should be here tomorrow.

Don't forget to grease up your seats before you slip the leather on.  I prefer to use lard, but you can also use schmaltz.

Lard is good lube to slide the covers on. Another good one is astro glide but everyone has their preferences.


Wait a minute. What were we talking about again?

^^No comment.


Good luck Bill, can't want to see the DIY!

Z.....

Do I really need to lube the seats?

Yeah.  Use lots of asstroglide!!

(http://cert.lexsi.com/weblog/images/astroglide_tr.gif)

Make sure it's the two pack. One bottle for the start of the install and another bottle to use as a leather condition.

Yes Bill. Astroglide is the way to go. If you can't find it, KY is a good alternative.

Ok, so the covers came in today. They are great! I swear they are softer than Lexus leather. I have the passenger back on and it looks pretty good. Everything is tight and looks good. It's not all that difficult, you just need to have patience. Also, I dont really see a need for a DIY. I still took pictures though. We will see. I am about to finish up the passenger side then I will report back with pictures.

The passenger seat is installed!!! I think it looks great. It is not perfect, but I didnt expect it to be. I think I am going to have to get a pro to do the head rests so the cloth is still on that in the pictures. The bottom portion is much easier than the back. This really isnt that bad. I spent about 2 hours on it, which isnt bad. It would be around 500 to get a pro to do it but I would much rather save that money. The camera kind of drains the color of the seats. They are darker then what they appear in the picture.
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7479.jpg)
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7480.jpg)

I think it looks really good... Keep up the good work

Looks awesome man. Your going to freeze your bum off on those leather seats though!

Thanks guys. Im hoping to get the back seat done today. Hopefully Saturday I can get the driver seat and the rest of the trim.

Did you make sure to use plenty of lube to slide those covers on?

Yeah, I used an entire bottle of astrolglide for that seat? Is that normal or is my seat to big for the cover?

That's just funny on so many different levels...

Well Bill, if you used an entire bottle, the problem is in your technique. I think you need some practice as this seems to be your first time.

I guess it is my technique. Being a newbie I figured the more slippery it was the easier it would be to get in there. After that entire bottle it was still a bitch to get in there. At one point when I had gotten the cushion in the cover I thought I had messed up and put it in the wrong one, driver cover instead of passenger cover, and I couldnt get the damn thing out. Eventually I got it though. I just got finshed with the rear bench. On to the back!

Well, the back seat is done. Im not near as pleased with it as I was with the front seat. I'm pretty sure I can fiddle with it and make it look good but it's just too damn cold. I have had the garage door open so all the heat has escaped and it will take it a while to warm back up so Im done for the night and I'm going off to party for the night. I plan to do the front seat tomorrow and mess with the back to hopefully make it look better.

Another update. I got the head rests on and they look very nice. I have messed with the back seat a little bit and it looks better. The garage has warmed up so I should be getting started here pretty soon. As I posted in the shoutbox, I received two passenger bolsters so at the moment I have a cloth and leather bolster. Hopefully, Katzkin will take care of me in that regard. I'll post pics when I get done for the day.

how did you do the headrests? are they like slip covers? because i thought the regular headsets are sewn on (i may be wrong...)

I did not take off the cloth ones. The leather ones have this neat little clip things that just gives you a nice seam underneath. They were hard to get on there because they are so tight. Once they are on you are able to adjust them to line up the seams, then you are good to go. This really is simple to do, you just have to be able to maneuver your hands in tight places and have some common sense.

Bill, that looks good man...you should do the black carpets on the floor...it looks sweeeeet

I have been wanting black carpet but since I have a sedan all my accent plastic is dark brown opposed to black like the coupe. I think black, tan, and brown are too many colors. So my only option in my opinion would be to swap the brown pieces with black. I priced it and it was going to be very expensive.

Something else cool, My car has that coveted new car smell again :).

I might be able to do something for you there...if all goes well with my back and the recovery/physical therapy I am going to take a stab at a side job...that is, once I find a main job!  More to come as I heal...

Any photos of the complete installation?

Not yet. I intended to mess with the back seat yesterday but got side tracked. They should be up tonight.

That looks pretty good man  

Update! Check op.

Are you gonna leave the arm rest in the suede material or you're planning on changing that too?

gotta do the armrest!

Yeah. I'm doing the arm rest and door panels. I bought the adhesive today but ran out of time. Those pieces were included in the kit.

in one of your pics, I see black on the top of the door panel, I thought you said yours were tan???

That's dark brown, the color of the upper dash.

hard to tell from the pics, must be the lighting, sorry

black and tan is hot though!

I agree. I love it in the new coupes. I'm just running out of time. I will be in college in 8 months and I doubt my $500 per month allowance will cover spending money and mods. I think I'll get the paint fixed and be done with it.

You and me both, lol. If I fall through with getting a v6 dual exhaust on my car, that'll probably be the last major thing for awhile.

What's the difference between Katzkin and Honda OEM leather?

I think the katzkin is better quality leather, similiar to Lexus semi analine leather, and there is leather in the back.

Fuck. I started on the door panel and drilled a hole in the damn thing, four actually. The leather is hard to work with when covering the fabric and it is going to be just about impossible to make it look good. I am thinking about just leaving the door panels in the fake suede velour looking stuff. I did get the armrest done and I think that looks great. I am proud of myself on that note.

lol at least u got the armrest done...dnt worry the first time i did my door panels i drilled straight through it

Did you fix it, replace it, or leave it? I'm thinking about just leaving it. I'll watch ebay for one, looks like you can get them for about 60 shipped. All they have are the black ones in the right rear now though.

I left it, it really didnt matter to me since it was only on my drivers side panel...but you drilled through all 4 panels?

No, four in one panel. They aren't just real noticable.

From reading through this the bottom section of the front seats is pretty easy to do? I'm going to have to find a black bottom seat cusion mine has a couple of tears in it :(

The bottom section of the front is the easiest thing to do. All you need are some needle nose pliers and zip ties to recover it.  If you have any questions, just let me know.

Only issue is finding one Honda want's almost $260

That's more than I paid for my entire set. Honestly, if it were me, I would watch eBay and buy a complete Katzkin kit for two reasons. One being if all you other leather is as old as the car then it may not match very well. The other is the quality of the leather is far superior in my opinion. So, you could have the potential to upgrade for cheaper than the replacement. I got lucky and my kit was the premium so my back seats are leather too. Even if it's not premium, Honda only has leather in the front too.

I'd never spend the time to install the whole kit just not possiable for me to spend 5 - 10 hours on any project that isn't work related. This is also the reason that I don't have a retro. I will keep my eye open though maybe I can scoop up the kit and have a shop do the install.