This is a project I want to get started on ASAP and I need to know a few things.

How hard it it to reupholster the seats in a TR?
Is it simple enough to reupholster the carpet or would I be better off buying the pre-molded carpet for around $300?
Can anyone offer advice or tips for reupholstering the carpet/seats/parcel shelf/roof/door panel bit?

Thanks.

Seats to reupholster would cost a fair swag. Might be better off $ wise finding a new set of seat covers or finding a set of decent seats off a TR/TS from the wreckers.

Brand new carpet at $300 is a lot of cash. Same deal with finding a wreckers that you can take the carpet from.

Inner door cards are also easy to find at wreckers, easy to remove with a screw driver.

My suggesting this is that you can get cheap spares etc.. and do what you like to them and still have your original ones as back up.

I redid my roof lining in black vinyl. Looked great for about a week an then i got over it. Search is your friend on here as there are heaps of members who have modified and altered their interior. Ive heard good things about dye products for recolouring fabric upholstery. Also respraying pillars id suggest using a matt finish as opposed to shiny gloss as the glossy stuff does not seem to like the heat and expanding and contracting plastic pillar sections causes cracking to appear quicker, easier with gloss paint.

Heres some pics. new seat covers, aftermarket steering wheel, a dash of white paint on bits. Easy peasy. I upholtered the middle console box in the same fabric as the seats from an old set of covers my father had.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=483&attachmentid=43166

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=483&attachmentid=43167

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=483&attachmentid=43171

Hope it helps

Seats to reupholster would cost a fair swag. Might be better off $ wise finding a new set of seat covers or finding a set of decent seats off a TR/TS from the wreckers.

Brand new carpet at $300 is a lot of cash. Same deal with finding a wreckers that you can take the carpet from.

Inner door cards are also easy to find at wreckers, easy to remove with a screw driver.

My suggesting this is that you can get cheap spares etc.. and do what you like to them and still have your original ones as back up.

I redid my roof lining in black vinyl. Looked great for about a week an then i got over it. Search is your friend on here as there are heaps of members who have modified and altered their interior. Ive heard good things about dye products for recolouring fabric upholstery. Also respraying pillars id suggest using a matt finish as opposed to shiny gloss as the glossy stuff does not seem to like the heat and expanding and contracting plastic pillar sections causes cracking to appear quicker, easier with gloss paint.

Heres some pics. new seat covers, aftermarket steering wheel, a dash of white paint on bits. Easy peasy. I upholtered the middle console box in the same fabric as the seats from an old set of covers my father had.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=483&attachmentid=43166

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=483&attachmentid=43167

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=483&attachmentid=43171

Hope it helps

That white paint looks awesome, what kind of paint did you use? Any primers or anything?

I want the interior to match. I was thinking blue or red, but now I'm thinking black and white. Maybe white vinyl for the roof lining, have you had any problems with the vinyl? Maybe dying the seats black and white, but I don't really like the fabric on the seats anyway, I'll see how hard it is for me to strip the fabric and re-sew it, but it might be too hard.

How hard it it to reupholster the seats in a TR?


Not that hard. I've done 2 complete seat retrims. Take the seats out and undo all of the hog rings - pliers and a screwdriver will do. Take the skins off, and the foam. Check the seat metal work for soundness, get some rewelding done if there are suspect welds.

Dismantle the skins into individual panels (lot of unpicking of stitches), and number them on the back with some sort of system to remind you where they came from. Any pockets with long wires in them need to be noted, they pull the seat material tight to the base, and need to be copied.

Find a local supplier of materials, and design the new covers on paper. Two tone, with not too much contrast between them, works best - like dark and a lighter gray. Lay out panels of the same colour to estimate how much you need. Allow extra for door cards etc when you purchase the materials.
Use the original panels to mark out the new material.

Start sewing the base or back of the new cover. A domestic machine works well, use the strongest thread you can find and a few spare needles.
As you progress do trial fits and you will see how it is going. When happy, go back and triple stitch all the joints, before you start on the sides. Good idea to trim extra material to about 1 cm from the stitching.

You get the idea, hopefully. You will also find out why the pros charge a lot for this job, it takes a lot of time. My first job cost me $100 (about 15 years ago) in materials and took 40 - 60 hours to do.


As to colours, remember you will live in that car for a while, and a high contrast interior will soon grate on your nerves. Few new cars come with black.white or red/blue interiors, for that reason. Understated elegance, is my motto, nothing nicer that subtle tones inside a car, that doesn't slap you in the face every time you look at it, or turn away prospective buyers when you come to sell the car.

Just my opinion though, feel free to ignore me. Others do. lol

sprayed the seats a dark colour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5GcKy0rv50
several other interior diys in youtube

That white paint looks awesome, what kind of paint did you use? Any primers or anything?

I want the interior to match. I was thinking blue or red, but now I'm thinking black and white. Maybe white vinyl for the roof lining, have you had any problems with the vinyl? Maybe dying the seats black and white, but I don't really like the fabric on the seats anyway, I'll see how hard it is for me to strip the fabric and re-sew it, but it might be too hard.

White paint used was just autocolour white. I removed the existing glued fabric off the door trims and then sanded back to smooth finish. Primer up with a flex type primer (same one i used for ny bumper bar) and then painted over it with the autocolour.

Main thing is simply to apply light coats one by one. Reducing the possible paint run factor.

Just a note white vinyl will be difficult to apply to the roof lining. You need really strong glue adhesive to bond the cardboard moulding of the roof lining to the vlinyl. I actually regret doing it vinyl as it was fun for a week but the effort gone into doing it was not worth it. Id say recolour your existing roof lining fabric instead seems much easier.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=483&attachmentid=43633

Also if you want a bit of colour then just grab some LED bulbs from jaycar or ebay,
Cheap and easy way to put some colour in the foot wells.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/album.php?albumid=398&attachmentid=42287

if your gonna go through the hassle buy a set of 3rd gen seats and recover them sooooooo much more comfort you wont regret it