i would not worry too much about the shrinkage now since you know it will when the weather gets warmer. i know the feeling of getting stuff perfect but winter will go away eventually so just wait

 

I went ahead and performed the procedure for resetting airbag warning light. It's gone for now so hopefully it doesn't come back.

 

Well, here's my last update on this. I finally got my shift boot installed along with my new shift ****. Pics are attached as well as my opinion on the leather seat items I purchased.

1. Seats are nice and fit 90% like factory. Hopefully time and heat will cause them to shrink and give me that perfect fit I want. Instructions on the other hand suck major *** so I would advise you to take your time and go slow. The quality of the leather is nice and feels expensive. During the install process, if you tug too hard you run the risk of tearing the seams. I know this because my idiot friend pulled too hard and tore the back side of the driver seat. It caused a seam near the pocket area to come loose, about 1/2" worth, so be careful.

2. Door armrests are a nice complimentary touch to the seats. Excellent quality. Not so easy to wrap. Some people take off the factory material before putting on their leather arm rest covers, some don't. I didn't because I wanted the option of rolling back if I didn't like them. I used a staple gun and spray glue to install mine. So far I am happy witih them.

3. Shift boot looks real good in my opinion. Only thing I don't like about it was that the mounting holes and slits were not already made. So I basically had to do them myself. Go slow and keep a steady hand so that you don't cut your leather up or make the holes bigger than they need to be. The fit is spot on.

4. Overall I am happy and feel I got my money's worth. I'd give the product a B+. The installation was a pain in the ****, however, I saved some money, learned something, and working on my own car is always better than letting someone else do it.


Here are some last pics with my shift **** installed. I did a before and after so you can compare. If anyone has any questions let me know.

 

Turned out great OP! I'm sure they'll tighten up a bit with use.

But now you've encouraged me to get some new covers from leatherseats. My wallet is not happy.

 

ntwillie1- looks great and to your point #4. I to had rather do things to my car myself but sometimes I am unable to meet my own expectations, so next Friday I am going to let Leatherseats do the install on mine. Maybe I would look at this project a little different if I wasn't but three hours from them. Anyways yours look great and I am looking forward to getting mine to.

 

Thanks red roadster. Please make sure u post pics of your install. I'd love to see how tight they can get your covers on initial install.

 

Exotikleather is the eBay seller that I bought
From. He has an auction up now for 350z synthetic leather.

 

Try a clothes steamer on the seats to help them shrink a bit.

 

I thought this was supposed to be done on the foam intself and not on the leather. I guess I can try that anyway and see how that goes. As it turns out I have to remove both seats to make a small adjustment to how I installed them over my airbags anyway so I'll have the opportunity to tinker around a bit more. Thanks.

W

 

What's going on with your airbags?

 

@Tpete19 - nothing is wrong with the airbags themselves. The issue I want to rectify is that there are cloth support straps/loops that are supposed to go over the airbags. The support straps are part of the seat covers themselves. Not knowing what they were for and not thiinking they were important I didn't take the extra 5 minutes of effort to install them. Now i have gone back to do some research and have learned that they are actually important as they dictate what direction the airbag would inflate in should the need arise. So I'm going to wait for a warm day and just pull the seats out and redo. It requires taking the seat out of the car, dissassembling, but only removing the leather cover from the backrest. Unfortunatlely, my laziness will now cost me another 2 hours or so of labor. Lesson here is - don't be lazy like me.

 

Any pictures yet?

 

Just got home from Okc Yesterday evening. Just now took a couple of pics to get on here. I think the install went well, they had to do some major reconditioning on my driver side cushions, both seat and back rest. They did confirm what every body is saying that with some time and heat from warmier weather that the leather will tighten.

 

As Ive already stated, just take a hand steamer to them, its what all the good shops do. The shop that installed yours should be doing this for their customers already, it would make their look better and only improve their customer satisfaction.

 

That still looks really good!!! Near factory when its new. It will tighten up in no time

 

Red Roadster, thanks for posting the pics. I think your backrests came out a little better than mine. How do you like them so far? I've only driven in the twice but I have noticed that they are very cold when I first sit into them.

 

Did you happen to keep your OEM cloth covers? I'd like to get some in order to deconstruct and make some patterns.

 

Yep, I have them. PM me if you are interested. Thanks.

Wil

 

Damn this looks nice!

I wish I lived close to the factory too.

I do alot of stuff on my car, but this looks way too labor intensive, and I'm afraid I'd muck it up.

How much did they charge for the install?

 

@ntwilliw1, Thanks for starting a very good thread. Your writing style, explanations, and pictures are excellent.

The side bolsters on fabric seats in older Z’s wear quickly. The solution you describe in your thread is a good fix for this. It’s affordable and looks great. Owners in cold climates might want to consider adding seat heaters.

I’m pushing your thread ttp since I think it is useful, and exceptional threads (as you did here) convert visitors to members.

--Spike