sebastian0

We recently bought a 1993 GS 300 for my wife to use as a commuter car. We're going to run the hell out of it for a while and save up to get her probably a G35 next year. Anyway, this Lexus runs great, but the interior is in rough shape. I've been taking on projects one at a time. I'm not going to spend $1200 to have the leather re-done on a car that cost a little over twice that total, but the hard, torn-up seat wasn't cutting it either. So I devised a plan to take care of that problem with the following priorities: 1) comfort 2) price 1,497) looks.

It turned out to be maybe the most comfortable auto seat I've ever been in, and it was dirt cheap. It looks...well...like the $20 Wal-Mart seat cover that's used.

I took some photos, so following is a write up if you're interested in seeing how I did it, doing it yourself, or just skimming the photos to get the idea.

sebastian0

As you can see from the attached "before" picture, the alleged leather seat bottom was in really rough shape. The plan was to cut that old leather and beat-up foam out of there to get a nice even working surface, then to pad it until it is recliner-cozy. What it took:

-Seat cover - went with a faux leather (vinyl, probably) cover from Wal-Mart for $20. Has a nice thickness to it to keep from bunching up, color matches alright, and seems like it will be pretty durable. What I'm trying to say is that it was really cheap.
-Elmer's "Craft Bond" glue - got some in a spray can to adhere the seat padding down...don't want that stuff shifting around and bunching up.
-utility knife - if you're not too lazy to look for your fresh sharp blades, then you'll have an easier time cutting stuff than I did...
-padding: I used pre-cut seat pads, plus some rolled-up quilt fill, then some soft cluster stuffing (optional, depending on how soft you want to make it). Got it all in the Wal-Mart crafts section. Nothing says ghetto refurbishing like Wal-Mart. You'll see all what I used in the DiY if you're as lost as I was when it comes to crafts.
-Sam Adams boston lager
-work light (optional) - i really need to start doing this stuff during the day.

Before photo:

sebastian0

I cut the old leather on the seat bottom clean out. Not like it was helping anything. If it was in better shape, I would have left it. But if it was in better shape, I wouldn't be doing this project. Just cut right along the seams with a utility knife and it shouldn't be too hard to get loose. There are some straps that go down to the seat frame to keep the leather in place (apparently), so you have to cut those too. There is a seam tucked along the back, so lean the seat back all the way down and pull on the leather a bit so you can get to it. Then I tore out the remnants of the foam that was left (You can see it on the floor. It's green. I hope it came that color)

You're left with a nice clean cut out of the middle. I left the side leather in because there's no good reason to go through the trouble of tearing it out. The white thing left is the seat heater element, which either doesn't work or doesn't work very well on this car. Seemed like more of a pain to remove it than anything, so I left it.

Looks like the guy who owned the car before had a dirty asscrack. Actually he said his wife drove it mostly. Glad I didn't meet her.

sebastian0

Aiight, it's time to get this thing padded. I had bought a four-pack of some pre-cut seat pads at Wal-Mart, so I broke those out. Lean the seat back down so you can see what you're working with. I set it on the seat, then cut it to size. I cut the pad so that it would set between the seams that we cut through earlier. Otherwise it would curve up from the contour of the seat. You could measure and then make one cut, or you can just set it there and then cut each side separately, which I did because I didn't want to have measurement error. Whatever works. If that doesn't make sense, cool. It's not important. This foam stuff likes to tear, but don't get too picky because you're not going to notice unless you really screw it up.

I also cut two circular notches out along the back so that the corners wouldn't get caught under the seat back and make it hard to bring the back up (the padding on the back kind of juts out there).

sebastian0

You'll notice from the previous picture that we have a problem because the seat pad isn't long enough to cover the entire seat bottom. If you can buy this stuff in a roll, maybe do that so you can cut it to size and be done with it. But I had to find a ghetto solution. At least I had three more seat pads to make it happen.

I took one of those other pads, cut it to the same width as the one already on the seat (you'll worry about length in a minute), then tucked one end down in the leather on the front of the seat that we cut into earlier (see pic). Tuck it down in there nice and good, make sure it's smooth (has to be cut to the proper width), and make sure that it's even (the same amount has to be tucked in all the way across). Then I curved the pad over the front of the seat and back to where the other pad ends. Cut there so they butt up against each other.

The front piece will want to uncurl open, but that's cool. We'll lay the smack down on that one in a minute and make it cooperate.

sebastian0

This stuff is your friend (see pic). Read the directions and it's pretty simple. It's flammable, so if you have a seat heater that works, well...I doubt it's going to be a problem. But don't sue me.

I sprayed the back portion of the seat bottom and got the pad glued down (you want to put the pad on it right after you spray, the bond is weakened a lot if you wait more than 15 seconds). Then I sprayed the front of the seat and along the underside of the front pad and got that pressed down. I put a 2X4 on it to hold it in place since it still wanted to uncurl.

sebastian0

Next up is the seat back, I broke out the rolled poly fiber fill. It's not really plush, but I don't want the seat back sticking out two inches, so I think this stuff is a good fit. I did fold it in half for a little more padding, though.

Roll it out and cut it to double the length that you need for the seat back plus maybe 1 1/2", which will give you an extra 3/4 inch after you fold it in half to tuck down into the crease by the seat bottom. I didn't cut it for width, so it overlaps the curled edges of the seat back, which is fine since the padding isn't too thick.

Here I am holding it so you can see what it is. I think this photo looks vaguely sexual. In the background you can see how the seat pads butt up against each other near the front of the seat bottom.

sebastian0

You can see how it's folded over in the above pic. I sprayed some glue in the middle there and pressed it together so that it wouldn't come apart.

Tuck the end down into the crease where the seat bottom meets the back. You don't want a lot to tuck down, just because you don't want extra padding everywhere. You don't want to compromise the functionality of the seat or make the motor work too hard to move things around, which extra padding where it shouldn't be could do. You also want to leave that space open in case you get a seat cover that requires you to run a strap through there.

Anyway, get that all tucked down and straightened out, then glue it to the seat back, making sure to press it down real good. Note that it probably makes sense to put the folded edge up top as a precaution against it coming undone. Should look like the below pic when you're done.

On another note, you see that the front pad on the seat bottom has since decided to obey and stick to the seat nicely, so I removed that oppressive 2X4 that was holding it down and also let it start playing the PS3 again.

Oh yeah, you'll also notice that it sticks out a little further than the front edge of the stock seat did. If you're over 4'9" tall, you should appreciate that.

sebastian0

Now I decided that I wanted to make sure that the seat bottom was smooth and even, so I decided to cut more of the rolled batting and use it to put over the seat pads. This would help prevent them from moving around in the future and also prevent having the seam between the pads come loose, catching it when getting in or out of the car, etc.

So I cut a length off, then tucked it down in front (but I didn't put the lotion on the skin). I didn't tuck it in where I tucked the seat pad earlier. Instead, I went down a little further and tucked it in to the plastic trim around the seat bottom (see photo). It will all get covered up by the seat cover anyway. I tucked it in nice and evenly, then cut the sheet so that it would cover just the seat bottom with a little extra to tuck in back.

Make sure you glue it down to the seat pads that are underneath it before you tuck the back in. That's what's going to keep it all from shifting around on each other.

sebastian0

All tucked in and ready to go. It's pretty comfortable compared to most new stock seats at this point. You could stop here and just put the cover on, but now is one of those times in your life when you have to make an important decision. Do you call it a day, or do you man up and make a seat so comfortable that you could fall asleep on the interstate and kill yourself and others? Obviously, the choice is clear. Turn to page 74 if you choose to stop, turn to page 142 if you choose fiery death. Or just go on to the next post. There is no page 74.

Photo: ready to go if you're not using loose stuffing, continue if you want it softer

sebastian0

So now you have a seat that is about as ghetto as Nelly, but you're aiming for C-Bo. So you do what real men do: use teddy bear stuffing.

sebastian0

I sprayed some adhesive on the bottom seat pad, just like half of it. Remember that you have limited time to get the stuff on, so don't spray the whole seat...do sections. So I get a section sprayed down with adhesive and then I just pile this stuff all over it and try to push it down so that it will stick. Just pile it on--you can remove it later to leave what you want.

Do that section by section until you get it all done. Then gently take away the excess to leave the stuff that's actually stuck on. It won't stick on really well, so don't go brushing it all off. The good news is that this stuff is easy to get to, so it would be easy to take off the cover in the future if it shifts around. But it has a natural affinity for sticking to the pad beneath it, plus with the adhesive, then with the cover over it I think it will be fine unless you really pile it on there. If you want a lot of stuffing, I'd say glue some down, remove the excess, then spray that after it sets for an hour or so and then glue more down to that.

I'll admit that I went pretty easy on the stuffing. Don't want it to be too plush. Can always add more later.

In the pic you can see that I am gluing one section in particular (the top half of the seat back), but I've already taken the excess of the bottom half of the seat back. That gives you an idea of how I did it.

sebastian0

Work on that until you get the fluffy stuff the way you like it. If you want more in some places than others, do what you do. It's your car. I put more on the seat bottom and little on the seat back. Some people might not want to put any on the upper portion of the seat back, depending on their posture. Whatever works for you. You can always sit on it and test it while you're doing it. The stuffing doesn't really stick to you too bad. If you fart while you're sitting on the seat, by the time the fart smell goes away, that will be enough time to have gotten up and wiped the stuffing off your clothing. That time varies by person.

Anyway, here is what works for me, all ready to go. Just put a seat cover on it and you're done! I'm not sure if you'd want to use a crappy cloth or thin polyester cover, though, since it would be more likely to bunch up. A crappy vinyl cover would be better, or anything else with a little weight and that stays smooth would work great.

If you do it all properly, the padding will be pretty damned sturdy. You shouldn't have to worry about it shifting loose. Still, I'd be careful getting in and out of the car for a day or two to let the adhesive set up. Also, I'd probably pass on this project if you can't keep your garage around 55+ degrees during it, otherwise the adhesive might not cooperate.

sebastian0

Not great looking, but crazy comfortable, better looking than a torn nasty old seat, and all it cost was $20 for the seat cover, $6 for the spray can adhesive, and maybe $15 for all the padding, of which I have enough remaining to do several more seats (or re-stuff some furniture around the house). You have to sit in this thing to believe it.

I might be on the lookout for a nicer seat cover in the <$70 range, but I'm not too worried about it.

Next up is fixing that hideous-looking flaking off wood trim.

tC_demon

wow

Looks better than b4