How hard is it to redo the interior seat and carpet if one bought the kit themselves.? I gotta 66 and was just wondering if that is something I should try to tackle myself.

 

It depends, have you ever done any kind of uphosltery work? In my opinion, this is becoming a lost art, and for me personally is not "easy". I ordered a full interior kit for mine, I considered doing it myself for about 5 seconds. I calleda local upholstery shop (1 of about 3 around here), they done both buckets and the rear bench for $200 bucks...well worth it IMO. The carpet and stuff is easy, you should be able to handle that.

 

Never done it myself though when it comes time I will do it myself. I don't see it being that hard to do after reading up on it a bit. Let the material warm up in the sun for a few hours or carefully use a heat gun to make it easier. I've seen shops also use steam for this same thing. Search through the forums and Google a little on the subject and you may find yourself willing to tackle it. Its time consuming mostly from what I've heard. I plan on doing 1 front bucket per afternoon when I start it and leave the rear for last. Good luck!

 

I recently did the carpet in mine and it isnt hard. Just pull everything out, lay it in, and put everything back in place. You'll need to give it time to "break in" too, as it will be stiff when you first receive it and it willnot want to lay flat.

 

Done lots of interiors. Not bad at all. The key is to have a really nice (professional) set of hog ring pliaers. Not the cheapy ones that come in the kit. Front seats...take the top portion off the bottom. Do the back first to get used to it...it is easier than the bottom. Pull the back panel off and with a pair of normal pliars start taking the hog rings off of the outside edge first. Then you will see a wire ring (steel rod in the shape of an upside down horseshoe) that goes all arond the inside of the seat ...infront of the springs. It is actually inside of the cloth upholstrey. The hog rings pull the wire (in the seat upholstry) and that is what makes the nice padded edges on the seat that seperates the inserat section from the 4 inch edges. Once the rings are all off, the material comes right off. Take the wire out of the old material and feed it into the new material loop. Put it back together in the reverse order...using the good hog ring pliers. Do the same to the bottom seat...it is exactly the same process with its own wire ring.

One last thing, set the new material out in the sun for an hour before you install it...that allows it to stretch and when you get it tight, it will not have wrinkles. If you find that there are wrinkles because you have a ring fastned in the wrong place, just take some of the rings off and reposition the material and reattatch. Back seat is a real breeze. You can totally do it and after you do, you will not believe how easy it is. I have had folks come and bring me their cars and I put in an entire new interior (minus headliner) in less than three hours.

Good luck...pm me if you need any help.

One more thing, if the springs are nasty, clean them up real nice, spray them with black rattle can, and then use berlap material to recover them before the foam goes on.

 

Thanks for all the tips. I got a lot of mustang books and will let the hubby read befroe trying to tackle the job. I don't want MY car messed up lol. It will be awhile beofre it get warm enough here in Iowa to do it though. That gives us time to do a little exterior work like floor pans, gas tanl, body work, etc.

 

I personnaly would take them (seats) to local shop. Very inexpensive and they will make it look much better than you can in your garage. They even added more foam in certian locations to make mine look even better.. just my opinion..

 

This isa great post.I installed the carpet - was no problem. But I've had the same questions about the seats. Has anybody purchased any of the Pony reproductions? Were you satisified with them as compared to the original?

 

mojocat27.. Mustang Monthly has a howto story posted: Car Seat Cover & Auto Upholstery Restoration - Mustang Car Seats. Its for a 72 mustang vert however it applies to the earlier seats as well. Photos of the entire process. They have another guide for a 69 as well found here. Another site shows some photos of the process as well here though not as detailed.

You can order the regular kits from any of the mustang dealers. Some even carry the 'Sports Conversion' kits which include additional padding to hug your body and a head rest for added safety. I've heard that adding the head rest is fairly easy to do as well.

 

You might want to start with the rear seat. Being much bigger it will be a little easier and that way you can "get your feet wet". Placing in the sun is a good tip, too. Seat covers do require some muscle, and weight, to pull them over the seats.