OK, so it's 1:30 am and I just finished the first seat. This definitely takes 1 day per seat the first time around.
This kit is really impressive. I paid $665 with perforated inserts shipped to Toronto. It is genuine leather that is ~2x as thick as the stock covers. The backing is that rough leather/semi suede, wheras the backing on the stock covers is a white canvas.
To start off, I used 2 pliers and heavy tin snips to cut all of the old hog rings. I searched around for a week to try and find hog rings/pliers around Toronto but didnt have any luck.
So I bought some thin 40lb high quality zip ties and used them instead. I cant imagine how much harder it would have been to maneuver the hog rings/pliers to reattach the covers.
So, what I started out with:
Not bad, but it's pretty stiff/dry and worn.
Comparing the leather texture on the stock vs interior innovations. Also thickness and leather quality.
The backing isn't that white canvas material. It feels much higher quality.
This is the cover installed on the bottom section. With zip ties, you can push the zip tie between the threads on the plastic rails that the hog rings should attach to. This way you don't break the stitching and you don't have to poke any extra holes with a punch. I figured this out after using a leather punch for ~1/2 the holes.
SO, one of the shortcomings of this kit is the headrest. The leatherseats headrest is supposedly so tight that you need to vac bag the foam. This one was very easy to get on... So much so that there are a few light wrinkles on the sides, pictured here. I'm not sure if I would prefer the ease of installation that this offers, vs the tightness that the leatherseats supposedly offers.
When recovering the headrest, make sure you clip the 2 channels as they were, stock. You don't just put the plastic strip in the plastic channel, you have to fold the strip over the leather like a hook, then push that into the channel. This picture is what it looks like when you don't do it correctly....
Another odd thing, is that this channel clip didn't really pull the leather any tighter. After putting the clip in the channel, there's still a lot of slack above it in the leather. Not sure if the leatherseats kit is like this as well, but it might have something to do with the reclining function of the seat...
Here's the back/headrest in place, with the side bolsters roughed out.
Mission accomplished:
When I took my stock leather off, these three clips were broken and the cover was just hanging free. On this kit, the 3 clips arn't cut out of the plastic channel. If you want to use them, you have to cut them yourself.
Instead, I cut 6 holes and ran zip ties through. If the ties break, I can just re-zip them instead of dealing with a broken plastic clip... also it made tensioning it easier.
DONE! (with the passenger side)
The only downsides I noticed:
The headrest could be considered a little loose.
1 or 2 plastic channels were too wide, and had to be cut down. Also, 2 of the cloth sleeves that hold the metal rods into the cushion crevices were too long, and had to be trimmed.
The 2 areas on the front of the lower bolster that are screwed down don't have any plastic backing to support the leather after it's screwed.
But yeah... OVERALL I would recommend this kit. After an entire day of working with the tight leather cover, my hands are numb and a little cut up. Getting the plastic channels all seated down is the most time consuming part.
For $665 it looks amazing.