Seat Covers

How have people fared with aftermarket seat covers? These
would be for my 1991 Civic LX. Its driver's seat cover is a
just a bit threadbare at this point.

Any thoughts on those pictured at the link below?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SEAT-COVER-COVERS-HONDA-CIVIC-1985-2005-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33702QQihZ014QQitemZ330038744041QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

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.

-jeff

 

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.

-jeff

 

<snip eBay link>


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.

 

<snip eBay link>


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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.