Recovering the seats
 

As I mentioned in another thread, I bought a set of replacement leather seat covers from Lseat.com. I chose black leather w/ black stitching, perforated inset, embossed Porsche logo, pattern A. Except for the embossed logo, they're identical to the factory stock covers. The price with the options I selected: a couple bucks shy of $500, including $30 shipping. The workmanship looks very good.

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I wrestled the seats out of the car today. They're heavy as hell, but I managed to get them out and loaded into my Isuzu. The passenger seat's leather wasn't too bad, but the driver's seat had been patched with black tape. In the photo a set of new covers is draped over the passenger seat. The other set's in the plastic bag.

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Tomorrow I'm taking them to an auto upholstery shop. I'm sure I could install the new covers myself — many folks do — but I figure a pro can do it in a tenth the time it would take me. Besides, installation requires hog rings and I'm a vegetarian. ** rimshot **

Tonight I vacuumed the flotsam and jetsam that had collected under the seats over the years. The carpet cleaned up well. Plus, I found 76 cents in change!

More to come...

To which my son, a millennial, would respond, "What's 'change'?" (follow-up **rimshot**)

I look forward to seeing the final product!

I too will be waiting to see the final product. So far I've found about $17 in change in my car, it's slowly paying for itself. At this rate it will be paid off in about 1,000 years, assuming I keep finding change.

Hit a bit of a snag at the auto upholstery shop. A $550 snag. I had figured their estimate would come in at $250 - $300. I was prepared to pay $300, tops. But $550 is larceny. I'm going to get estimates from other auto upholstery shops in the area. Meanwhile some friends are urging me to put on the new covers myself. "You can do this," they say. And they're right. I could do it, although it would take me ten times as long as a a professional upholsterer. The longer you live, the more you realize that time is a precious commodity.

To be continued...

Yeah, the real cost is $250, which is the amount above what you were willing to pay. The older I get, the more it is worth it. Just MHO

Bruce, forgive me, but I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Care to enlighten me?

You were willing to pay $300 so the cost is $250 (550-300) The way I look at these things, is it worth the extra $250 above what I already mentally agreed to or is that just too much more. A way to justify spending more money in my head. Does that make sense?

That's just too much more, but I appreciate the explanation.

LoneWolf, most of the times, labor is more expensive than the parts itself..

Please don't take me wrong, but in my case I would prefer paying a professional to get a good result.. as I have seen several DYI upholstery jobs that just don't look right, like sagging lines etc., sometimes the upholster will have to replace the foam as well to get the OEM look.

The way I see it, once you pay the $500 labor, after a few months you will forget about the money but every time you get on your car you will be glad you did it. :-) In the other hand if you DYI and does not come pretty tight (or with crooked seems), you will regret not paying a pro for the job.

I can handle many mechanical repairs, but I know that I don't have the experience, knowledge (or the tools) to do a professional upholstery or a good paint job, in those cases I rather to pay someone to get it done right the first time, the last thing you want is to ruin your new leather covers..

PS: I admire that you are a hands on person that is not afraid to get your hands dirty to do your own repairs, hats off to you :-)
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Over the past 20 years, I've had upholstery work done on several occasions. I've noticed a steady increase in cost and a decline in the number of upholstery shops in my area. I think the cost increase is linked to both overall inflation and the fact that people are keeping their cars longer.

I recently had a "sticker shock" experience similar to Lone Wolf's. The headliner in my Mercedes started to sag and the two shops I visited quoted around $1600 to replace it. This was in the middle of the pandemic, and the shops were backed up with work. I decided to DIY the project. https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w203/787955-w203-headliner-removal.html

I concluded that upholstery work is something that a person with average DIY skills can do. However, I don't think my first attempt provided the level of craftsmanship that I would expect from a professional. I also had time available due to the pandemic. If I was taking time from other activities, it may have made more sense to let the shop complete the work.

I think Gilles makes some good points especially regarding the possibility that some foam repair may be needed on the seats. I don't think $500 is an unreasonable price for top-quality work. But I don't want to discourage Lone Wolf. If she takes her time, she should be able to achieve good results and she will learn a new skill. Good luck to her.

Yeah, I agree that Gilles made some good points — dammit! I've been mulling it over since he posted them. I'm sure I could install the covers myself, and I'm such a fussbudget about such things, the end result would be close to professional. But it would take me ten times as long as a pro, maybe longer. It all comes down to one question: How much is my time worth? As I said in my first post, the longer you live, the more you realize that time is a precious commodity. I had figured on repainting the center console and armrests satin black while the auto upholstery shop did the seats. Before I break into a rendition of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I Seen," I need to bear in mind that this is definitely a first-world problem, no?

i did seats in a Jeep a while back. Trust me its worth 550 for 2 seats. Hog rings suck

Thanks, Gilles. I have my brothers to thank for that. I was always hanging around the garage and they'd rope me into giving them a hand.

Last year I had my console, arm rests, and a couple small parts sand blasted and found the plastic under the gray, badly scratched covering was a matte black. I liked that color and had it clear coated. Total cost to me was $350. I have had it for one driving season and am very satisfied with the results. Looking forward to seeing photos of your new interior.
Larry (the Bald Eagle)

I put my own lseat leather on. It is a lot of work and your hands will be sore. I also have more time than money. I would also hate to pay to have them installed and they not turn out well. Mine had a few sags but hot sun and steam helped smooth it out.

I'm leaning toward taking a crack at it. I have a sturdy 6-foot-long folding table, which I think would be perfect for working on the seats, and I have access to hog rings and hog ring pliers. Furthermore, I have a helper with strong hands who volunteered. It's like it was meant to be.

Whatever you decide I wish you they don't end up like the old lady from Florida skin and hopefully nice tight and young

Post pictures

Use a steamer on you foam to help fluff it back out. This is a good time to add some foam to seat bottom and lumbar. You can use thin plastic, like what dry cleaned clothes' or painters plastic drop cloth under the seat back leather to help it slide into place. The hardest part is the front of the seat bottom. It just takes a lot of hand strength. The electrical switch on the side is easy to break. I know this from experience. I read a post somewhere that a guy used zip ties instead of hog rings. I wound not. Hog rings are the easy part.

During my Miata ownership period, I found a great deal on a set of Katzskin leather seat covers. (The seller bought the covers but sold the car before installing them.) I considered installing the covers myself. I read several posts in which owners used zip ties instead of hog rings to install them. On the Miata, some of the zip ties would rub on metal which eventually sawed through them. I don't know whether this would occur on a Boxster, but I think wiebuschk is likely correct with his guidance on this issue.

I think it is also wise to expect that some of the foam in your driver's seat will need to be enhanced. Someone has been sitting in that seat for almost 25 years and some wear and tear is inevitable. Passenger seats are not occupied all the time, so that may not need any work.

When the auto upholstery guy looked at the seats to give me an estimate he said the foam in the driver's seat seemed pretty good. That's unusual, he said. I guess I caught a break there. I'm researching — watching YouTube videos and reading articles and forum posts by folks who've put them on — before I dive in. I intend to take lots of photos during the process.

You certainly are approaching the job in the right way by researching as much as possible before jumping in. Your brothers taught you well.

I'm stymied at square one. I'm trying to remove the hinge cover so I can disassemble the seat at the hinge. The cover just clips on — except for one part that extends under the side of the seat and is fastened with a large plastic screw through the outermost hole:

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Problem is, you can't get at the plastic screw easily. In fact, the only way you can even see it is to pry up the bottom edge of the seat with something. Has anyone run into this problem right out of the gate? I'm being super-cautious, because I don't want to break the hinge cover. It lists for $75!

Porsche design meeting:
"How can we prevent owners from doing their own repairs and maintenance?
"I've got if! We'll make things so inaccessible they can't get to them."
"Brilliant!"

I thought I had posted this yesterday... must have lost it somewhere. Here is my installation thread.

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/81934-reupholstering-boxster-seats-lseat-kit.html

I used zip ties... when working alone they allow you to connect the pieces loose and pull them tight.

I don't remember having a problem there... does the plastic cap pop off the metal bracket?

I don't know if this will give you detail you need, but Matt Ross on youtube did a video on it. If you want to skip to the seat part it starts about 3 minutes in.

Got it! It was just a matter of pushing the pin up from the bottom through the center of the plastic "rivet," which is what Porsche calls the hard-to-get-at hinge cover fastener. Best of all, I managed to remove it without breaking it.

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Also, only the outside hinges are covered; the inside hinges are exposed. That means fewer covers to remove, but I'll have to buy the missing covers if I want the seats "correct." I hate to fork over $150 plus shipping for two pieces of plastic, so I'll check out eBay first.

Are you sure that the sides of the seats that fit against the center console have covers? I thought that because the center console makes it difficult to see the inboard sides of the seats Porsche decided to forego covers on that side. Also, covers might interfere with the seatbelt operation.

When it stops raining, I will check the seats in my car and see whether the inboard sides of the seats have covers.

Good luck with your project.

No, I'm not sure. I just assumed they had covers, but I might be wrong. After all, I've been wrong a time or two in the past. Waiting to hear whether yours has covers.

Work stoppage while waiting for a set of Torx bit sockets (Amazon, $14.99) that are supposed to be delivered today. Seems a Torx bolt at the hinge requires a larger size than the T40 in the set I had. The new set has bit sizes up to T70. That oughta be enough.

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Naturally, I'm using only the best tools. (No double entendre intended.)

Mine do not have covers. One caveat - The seats that are in my car started life in a 996 turbo that the owner converted to a track car.

You may want to check for photos of other seats (e.g. for sale on various websites.) If you don't see any with inboard covers that should verify my observation. I don't see why Porsche would consider inboard covers necessary. I needed to push the seat cushion back to view the area.

The seats have those covers only outside. Attacehd is the seat part pages.

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Thanks, Kevin and my fellow pilot. It makes sense that they didn't have the covers on the inside hinges to begin with. The seats in mine had never been removed. I really had to reef on a 1/2" breaker bar to break the seat bolts loose. The factory must've tightened them to 90 lbs. of torque. Anyway, now I won't have to order a set of inside covers. Best of all, I won't have to install them!

It's not a project unless you have to buy a new tool. I had to buy 13 new tools for my '87 928.

Here's where I'm at now. The driver's seat bottom has been stripped down to the foam. Which is intact, by the way, so I don't need to replace any. Have I mentioned that I'm the slowest mechanic, paint prepper, and upholsterer in the world? I make no apology, I'm sorry.

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I'm revising this post. Please check back.

I used small wire ties instead of hog rings to secure my leather to the seat. Its been two years and all good!

Progress report

I have successfully fumbled my way through installing one of Lseat's covers on the bottom seat cushion, driver's side:

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If I were being paid by the hour I'd already be rich. Lordy, but that leather is (1) thick, (2) stiff, and (3) hard to manipulate. However, I found that a hair dryer, used judiciously, softens it appreciably and makes it a bit more supple. It's looking halfway decent. A little heat/steam should take care of those wrinkles.

But check out the Lseat's edge:

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It's stitched with gray thread. Unfortunately, it's visible; the seat looks like it has a fringe at the bottom. Now have a look at the factory cover. The leather is wrapped around the bottom edge of the seat and the cover's edge is not visible.

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Call me picky, but I don't like the gray fringe. That's one of the ways Lseat's covers differ from the factory covers, besides thicker leather. Another departure is in the thickness of the plastic edging that locks into plastic hooks down in the foam's nooks and crannies. I found the nooks weren't too bad, but the crannies were murder. * rimshot *

Anyway, I'm stuck with the Lseat product. I'm committed. I'll probably dye the fringe black. As for the slightly thicker plastic edging, it works. You just have to reef on it a bit harder.

NOTE: I had intended to revise my previous post, but inserting new photos when editing turned out to be problematic.

I appreciate the tip. I guess some folks have used zip ties instead of hog rings. However, a friend loaned me his hog ring pliers and about 500 hog rings, so I'll probably give them a try, just so I can say I've used hog rings.

I thought the same thing about the edges
That trim actually has to be flipped over, it's
A total pita, especially the corners, if i have a pic I'll send it to you