Volvo 850 Leather Seat Upholstery

Baptiste1106 · Post by **Baptiste1106** » 23 Oct 2014, 20:28

I think i may have found a spot to get our seats back to life. Check it out, tell me what you think

http://elwoodindustries.com/id70.html

Post by **rspi** » 24 Oct 2014, 01:15

He has been around a while and does great work from what I have read.

Post by **dosbricks** » 24 Oct 2014, 09:24

$500 per seat turnkey job was the quote I got about eight years ago from an upholstery shop, which would probably not have had as good a fitment as these, since this fellow appears to specialize in Volvo. I ended up getting a set of real nice OE skins off ebay for $380 for the front set and they are still hanging in there--surface cracks but no rips or splits yet.

Tip: The easiest (only way) to install the seat back skin is to turn it inside out and work it down. If you wear nylons, you will know the technique.

Post by **rmmagow** » 24 Oct 2014, 10:58

A little plastic sheeting between the cover and the foam helps a lot using the above technique, gives you a little wiggle room to adjust the cover. I had to stop wearing nylons when my mom caught me

skloon · Post by **skloon** » 24 Oct 2014, 12:49

Good hints I used passenger side covers to swap on mine I think my car is made up out of about about twenty or more cars

Post by **E Showell** » 27 Oct 2014, 07:39

I've used Bob's (Elwood Industries) seat covers on two different cars now. One I had an upholstery shop install for $125 and the other I did myself. If you have a place to work, the self-install is doable, but tedious. It is about as difficult as an oil change -- really -- just takes longer. The problem I had was getting the hog rings correct. Where they clamp to steel rods inserted in the seat covers I had no problem pinching the hog rings around the steel and corresponding anchor points in the seat, but on the vertical stiffeners in the seat back which are like a heavy duty soda straw, I could never get the hog rings to clamp both the stiffener and the anchor point on the seat. As a result, my seats are put together with a combination of electrical zip ties and hog rings where I could get the hog rings to function.

The Elwood Industries covers are not inexpensive -- and they aren't cheap either. They are well made one at a time to order. Bob takes great pride in his work and produces a quality product. If you search my poster name, you'll find a thread probably about two years old by now, that will give you a before and after on the Elwood Industries' covers in black on my silver sand metallic '98 V70. (Matt might even have saved it in the repair database, I don't recall).

It is an excellent option if you plan to keep the car for a long time, but if you do both front seats on an older vehicle, you've probably doubled the value of the car. . . Just sayin'

If you go the Elwood Industries route, get Bob to include a set of hog ring pliers and some hog rings (a small extra charge comparable to what you'd pay to get the same pliers from say, Eastwood). They are getting harder to find and you might as well get everything in a turnkey kit.

Also, getting the headrest to release on some seats can be a real b*tch. Two other tips: be very careful of the plastic housing that holds the seat adjustment switches on power seats. It is very easy to snap the rearmost plastic clip that holds the housing to the seat. Also, getting the lumbar adjuster on and off can be tricky. I needed a pry bar to release mine and a rubber mallet to reseat it. Bob's instructions are correct, but a little force is required both ways. Finally, the underseat electrical connectors can be a real pain in the ass to release (and make sure the battery is disconnected when you do so otherwise you may trigger an airbag code), but you'd have to get them whether you did a self-install or were delivering a seat to an upholstery shop.

A nice pair of wire cutters makes the job of removing the existing hog rings a snap.

Don't forget the seat-belt release tab (the subject of a separate post by me on the forum). You do not have to unbolt the T-25 seat-belt anchoring bolt, just press the small tab on the anchor with a screwdriver and the belt pulls free.

It isn't that tough a job, really. If you've done an ignition tune-up an a pre-'99 car, you can do seat covers, no sweat. Work slowly and carefully, follow Bob's instructions and post if you run into trouble, or have a problem.

One more thing. Bob's seat covers are incredibly comfortable.

Post by **rspi** » 27 Oct 2014, 08:55

E Showell wrote:It is about as difficult as an oil change -- really -- just takes longer.

LOL, Really???

I was a little disappointed with Bob. I wanted to make a T-5R owners manual pouch and asked Bob where I could get the fake suade and he would not tell me.

Post by **E Showell** » 27 Oct 2014, 09:52

Really -- oil change may be understating it a bit, but it is certainly no more difficult than a complete ignition tune-up on a pre-99 car -- Rotor, cap, plugs, plug wires.

Did you ask Bob if he would make the pouch for you next time he was doing some T-5R seats?

I can understand a manufacturer not wanting to reveal his suppliers. He probably spent a fair bit of time researching options.