Seat Covers

those look very nice. i think they'll last long. i haven't had to use any seat covers yet but if i did i'd want a set of those.

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"Elle" wrote in news:mHPXg.13339$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Those *look* OK, but I've found the most important thing (besides durability of the cloth), is the fixing method, which is not visible here. Too many aftermarket seat covers I've tried cannot be fixed in place well, and tend to slide, bunch and pull up over time.

These you show appear to be cloth all over, which is preferable to the Pennzoil ones that have just a layer of light, smooth cloth on the non-seating surfaces.

Do yours have a layer of foam rubber on the underside? I find that helps tremendously in keeping the cover from shifting and bunching.

Many of the seat covers I've tried are too small to fit properly over the substantial side bolsters Honda tends to put on their seats. Once you sit in the seat and press the cover into the back, either the bolsters get squeezed, or the new cover tears.

My driver's seat has had a cover on almost since Day 1. The cloth (and bolsters) are unworn, but are distorted from where the too-tight seat cover has compressed the foam on the bolsters.

Thanks for the input, Jeff and Tegger. The overwhelming majority of the feedback on the Ebayer's seat covers is positive. But I was still bothered by the many posts saying, for the most part, the fit was poor. Some report tearing, as Tegger experienced with other seat cover makes, too. At least the Ebayer apparently is very good about issuing refunds (though I am not sure that includes the back and forth shipping charges).

Sometime in the next few months I am going to try to get the old seat cover off and look for the things Tegger mentions.

I am also weighing that, given I think the life of the car is "about another five years," it does not need anything too elegant. I do like that people are always complimenting how clean the inside of my car is. Kudos to Honda for using what I think is pretty tough upholstery, at least on the 1991 Civic LX model (a velour-ish fabric). Gosh knows I have fumbled enough soft drinks etc. while driving. Going at the spill with fabric cleaner, water, or similar within a day or so has been near 100% effective.

"TeGGeR®" wrote

I landed at my favorite U-Pull-It salvage yard today and came across the exact same 91 Civic as my own. The driver's seat looked in good repair; had "only" 110k miles on it; and cost only $10 (love those bargain prices!). I sat on it and it felt pretty firm. I figured I could not go wrong. Four bolts and one quick-disconnect electrical connector later, it's mine.

Here at home I will disassemble it entirely; wash the seat cover in the washing machine (cold temp, gentle cycle, mild detergent of some kind, I reckon); and compare the salvage seat's springiness to that in my Civic's. Then I'll rebuild my old one as needed.

At the yard I also went looking for junked CRX's with decent bodies. Doh, that won't work. Several CRX's were there but they were stripped or pretty banged up. I reckon 99% of these cars end up in the yard because of a collision. The yard will be great for a lot of replacement CRX parts, though.

Update on refurbishing the driver's seat in my 91 Civic:

The $10 seat I bought at the salvage yard came apart (sans service manual instructions) okay. Like Tegger notes, the seat covers are on tight. I only took off the bottom one. Around two dozen clips affix it to the seat pad. The clips are a little annoying to undo. I used 8-inch needle nose pliers, mostly to get them off.

Compressing the foam of the seat pad facilitates removing the seat cover; it was not too difficult to get it off. I never felt like anything was going to tear.

The seat cover is an extravagant bit of upholstery, with its padding and fancy, very secure stitching. I imagine it is probably worth what the OEM dealers charge, all things considered.

I put the salvage seat cover into the washing machine, warm/cold with about 1/4 cup of powder detergent, super gentle cycle, long wash. It was very dirty, from the looks of the wash water, but after an extra rinse, the water was coming out clear. The vinyl used in the seat cover discolored a bit. "Armour All" fixed this right up.

I took apart the original seat that came with my 91 Civic. This being the second time I'd taken one apart, it was much easier. Washed its seat cover, too. It did not clean up quite as nice as the 110k miles salvage one did--perspiration smears still show a bit. Still, it's now a serviceable spare.

I wwitched the thick foam pads on which one sits, since the salvage one seemed to have more bounce left in it. I put the newly washed and dried salvage seat cover in, skipping the top set of clips (as an experiment, since they are particularly annoying to remove and install). All told it looks really nice! It feels better too, though I may spend the $40 or so at the online OEM Honda parts sites for a new pad within a year or so, now that I can get the seat apart pretty quickly at this point.

So to all of you driving old Hondas whose engines will not quit, but various accessories are looking a bit worse for the wear: Take a day or two to take apart each seat, and launder your seat covers. You'll have that new car feeling. :-)

"Elle" wrote in news:DYijh.3150 $ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

There is a British car magazine I buy called "Practical Classics".

From a series of articles in the last couple of issues of PC, I discovered an interesting tip on recovering seat cushion foam:

1) Wrap the seat foam in Saran Wrap. 2) Spray Saran with furniture polish (such as Pledge) 3) Slip fabric cover on. 4) Reach up inside and tear off the Saran.

Apparently this is one of those "trade secrets" used in the auto upholstery industry. It makes installation of the fabric far easier than any other method.

This is one of the things I'm planning for next summer. My driver's seat is pretty flat after 280,000 miles. I was going to get a passenger seat from a wreck, and transfer the foam to my own driver's seat frame and fabric. In my car, the foam is identical in both driver and passenger seats.

Thanks for the update, Elle.

"Tegger" wrote

Sounds good. I imagine this may be key if one buys brand new foam (= what I and some car parts sites also call the "pad") for one's older Honda. Either the foam pads I had were well worn, or else they're not the high end stuff which I imagine does not compress as easily when removing and installing the cover.

Ya, not so on my 91 Civic LX. But it's overall a pretty easy job for a big improvement in appearance, so I am pleased.

Welcome.