124JOE wrote:at the seat factory that was in town they would put a bag over the foam and vacume out the air so the cover slides right over,its a very thin plastic bag

That makes sense, and yesterday on a "How It's Made" TV show a furniture factory (high end Italian by the way) used a machine with two arms that compressed the sides of the foam and the guy slid the leather over it and lifted it off.

So you could use some twine or nylon ties (joined together) in a similar fashion to get the covers over the foam, clip the string then massage it around to get everything in place.

Come to think of it the plastic bag idea could work good. Like what you bring back from the cleaners. No friction sliding on the covers and you could leave it on or rip it out in pieces.

To GN78:

I know your post was in April, but I wanted to add my 2 cents. I am currently in the process of installing a set of factory upholstery covers from carupholsteryguys.com, $239 I believe. I bought the set back in December but didn't get to the interior restoration until a few days ago.

The covers are too big and require cutting and pasting to install right. Specifically, the bottom seam with the plastic strip that folds into the bottom seat frame is 3 inches too long. I rechecked the product number and it is the right one for my 1980 Spider FI. However, It's too late to return the merchandise.

The local shop (and one of the best custom trim shops in the business, in north Texas) wanted $500 just to install the covers. This is after I already stripped the seats, hammered out dents, welded the cracks, welded in new support bars (gangsta seats), painted the framed, and glued up the foam pieces. Upon showing the shop the project, they immediately pointed out the covers would need altering. $500 to install was out of my budget.

I am taking pictures of the undertaking and will post them in a few days. In a nutshell, I cut a 1.5" section from the bottom plastic strip, one at each corner of the front and sewed a dart 2.5" long. Then I closed the strip up using a 6" piece of the plastic strip from the old seat cover. Also added 1" of Nufoam padding over the bottom foam cushion. I only did the bottom of one seat so far. It is a LOT of work . But I am pleased with the results , ok, some puckers and bumps, and it laid out pretty smooth on the top surfaces.

My complements to Foster for his outstanding interior work and ideas on his Spider's interior. His bungee cord idea worked way better than those difficult hog rings.

I would be interested in the prices you get to have it done local. I purchased the World Upholstery set and installed it myself. I was impressed with how good it came out. I did check U-tube for hints and one of then was the plastic bag and vacuum. This was most helpful with the head rests.
Good luck

Yes, I am going to try the plastic bag/vacuum trick on the seat back covers.

Thanks for the update. I ended up taking my seats to a shop. They charged 650 for both front seats. They recovered in Black Sierra Vinyl, welded up the seat pans and built up the foam padding. I felt I got a great deal. I really wanted to do it myself but it was over my head.

Try Autoberry. Very reasonable prices fit well and you can get just the fronts if you want.

Thanks, Rick

Update for anyone installing the upholstery set from http://www.carupholsteryguys.com

Yes, plastic bag (from Walmart fruit department) slipped over the headrest, and a shop vac hose over the one post, will suck the foam down to a very small size. Then slip the headrest cover over the foam. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TacASA5WJvg

However, the problem was that the opening of the headrest covers was too small. I had to rip the seams to open it up before slipping then on. And then re-sew them. Also the material at the bottom that gets tucked into the groves was too BIG. That had to be cut down too.

I am guessing that the company modeled the upholstery set using brand new “puffed” up foam cushions for the seat bottom, backs and headrests. And this is probably true of sets from other vendors.

Now I know why local trim shop wanted to charge $500 to install the covers.