Getting ready to re-cover the lumbar-style GTA seats w/ telescoping headrest in my vert with Hampton Vinyl from Hawk's. I can either re-cover them myself and not include the original plastic "accordion" trim or have a pro shop do them and pay about $100 to have them put on the covers and sew on the plastic trim. I can do this myself without putting the trim back on, but I don't want them to look unfinished w/o it. Has anybody re-covered these seats before? Got pix?

 

I thought the "accordian" pieces hide the mechanical parts that make the side bolsters move in and out? I'm interested in seeing your before and after pics, my seats need recovering too.

 

Nah. I actually found this pic (on Hawk's site after I thought to look there ... duh) and this is what they look like w/o. I don't know if I like it or not. I'd appreciate other opinions.

 

Most of that crappy accordian is covered bt the seat belt.The hamptons have the leather/vynl go all the way past the seatback plastic.I think its even long enough so that you can leave a little slack.This is so the lumbar doesnt stretch it when you inflate the bladder.I bought the damn cover myself some 4 years ago & still havent installed them, but that's how i remember them.I think itll look much cleaner without it.Besides they crack & tear after so many years & there isnt much to see behind that accordian piece.In the 3rd gen seats there is a hard rubber cover behind that accordian.This keeps the accordian from catching on anything when its moving.That piece is not included in te 4th gen seats.Because GM cheapend the seat by removing the flapper(3rd gen) that articulated when the bladder was inflated & just put the bladder inside the seat foam.Thats why i swapped the upper seat frame on my 4th gen seats with a 3rd gen upper seat frame.Anyway if you look at my seat you can barely see that accordian.I never even notice it, unless i look at it.

 

I was actually thinking about leather for my car because it originally came with leather. But, the price is $825. How would you describe the Hampton Vinyl that is sold by Hawks? Would you say the color is a good match also? Thanks

 

The look is great & so is the color.They even feel like leather..almost.They just dont have the smell!They smell like nore like vinyl.Cant comment on fit since Ive never installed mine.

 

My covers look AWESOME out of the box and have a softer feel than leather (the extra-thick backing doesn't hurt). They match nearly perfectly and, while I can't vouch for fit yet, the pics I have seen look nice.

An interior guy here in my town (that might put the covers on for me if I elect to do the side pieces) said that he recommends the vinyl over the leather. He said that today's leathers are cheap and weak unless you really pay a premium. He even covers $100k hot rod seats in vinyl. I can see what he's saying about the cheapness of today's leather just looking at the driver's seat on my 2006 Yukon XL. It's already cracking on the edges! And it has 14k on it!

Please keep the opinions coming about the plastic accordion pieces!!

 

I think I'm going to keep my "accordian" pieces. The upholstery shop quoted me $100 per seat to put the kit on, but I think I can do my back seats myself. I'm going back with cloth though, since my interior is red.

 

That seems steep. That's 2 hrs. per seat @ $50/hr. (going rate around here at upholstery shops). My guy told me he could do the entire car in 2 hrs ... accordion pieces and all!

Well, I have my final answer ... I took a good look at my accordion pieces today, and they look fine with the current stock leather in its current condition, but they are going to look like a$$ against that nice new vinyl ... so they are officially staying off. I'll post pics when done!

 

So, you think the vinyl is really good? I am at the point I want to order the new covers and I really want someones opinion who has actually seen the vinyl. Like I said, the new leather is twice the price and now I am actually getting scared that the leather is like you said not as strong as the old leathers. I like the idea of having the car the way it came with the leather. The only thing is my car is a convertible and will the vinyl get hotter? Heh?

 

Its not that hard to recover the seats.Ive done three sets of the GTA seats.All were in my car at certain points.I took all of the covers off to dye them.The first set was brown, 2nd was grey & 3rd(current) was graphite froma 96 T/A.I dyed all of them black, of course!Then re-installed the covers.The hardest part is removing the hog rings, but you get new ones with the hamptons.So you could just cut the old ones.When i took mine off i had to re-use them.So i pried them open & close them afterwards.I used needle nose pliers for this.Thats for the buckets mostly.The rear seat back used a zipper or a plastic retainer along the bottom.The Rr seats cushions are part hog ring & part glued on.Still not that hard though.

Ive seen the vinyl.As i said it look excellent.From a few feet away you cant tell.Unless your an expert.The feel is excellent as well.The smell is what gives it away though.My leather seat have held up really well & Ive had them since 97.The only areas i see that are showing there age is the top of the back seat & the bolsters on the buckets.The rest is cherry still.Thats the only reason my hamptons are still in the box & going on 6-7 years now.

 

What do you do about the headrests? Do you recover them also? If you leave them on, do they match up with the vinyl?

 

The hampton comes with a new cover for the headrest.Its a complete kit, covers,hog rings,hog ring pliers,instructions.This is when i bought mine back some 6+ years.Hopefully they havent omitted any of the smaller items.

 

Actually nearly every new car today with leather interior also has vinyl. The leather is "only where the body touches", which basically means the top of the seat. The seatbacks are matched vinyl. In my Chevy minivan only the captains chairs are leather, and the third row seat is vinyl. Honestly, I wouldn't know the difference hadn't my owners manual said so. Vinyl today is nothing like it was back in the 70's.