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[Joedeal]

Hi All,
New to the forum. I am a DIY'er and new to auto upholstery. I am changing the seat covers from fabric to leather in a 2016 Dodge Charger. During the removal of the old covers I managed to break most of the embedded clips that hold the covers to the foam (the clips cracked in half but are still embedded). I tried gluing them together and it seemed to hold quite well (I used CA glue) but as soon as I tried clipping the new covers in the clips broke again. Are there any suggestions for repairing the clips or possibly another way of securing? I was going to use a combination of metal strips on the underside of the foam and zip ties and/or hog rings or maybe Velcro tape in the seam where the broken clips are but was wondering if there was a better way from someone with more knowledge and experience. Thanks!

[John]

Hi @Joedeal! Welcome to the forum! Happy to have you here!
Can you post pictures of the clips that broke. There are 1000s of different style clips used in upholstery and I dont know what your working with without pictures.

[BigRig]

@Joedeal , I do a seat repair almost daily and almost vision your clips ans suspect they are orange or blue. You do have to post a pciture. You may have broken them trying to get the cover out.

[Joedeal]

Hi yes that’s correct the clips are orange (pics attached). Yeah I definitely broke them taking the old covers off. In hindsight I should have just cut them out instead…

[BigRig]

You did rip them out of the foam for sure. You are using contact cement to replace them? I would set them back into the foam and the broken clips are broken now so no real repair for those.

[BigRig]

Do not cut them out either.

[Joedeal]

Thanks. They are still there just split in half… Any suggestions for an alternative to the clips for securing the listing strip in place?

[John]

So attachment points like that are embedded in to the foam when the foam is made. I dont know of a way to replace them in a way that will hold up long term. There are a hand full of way to go about this.
I think the easiest way would be to take what is called edge wire. Its Just a spring steel rod. Cut it to the width of the channel. Then tie twine to it in a few spots. Take a long tufting needle and pull the string through the foam to the bottom and tie the string to the springs on the bottom of the seat. Ensure that its nice and tight, not loose. Now you can hog ring the listing on the cover to the the edge wire you just tied in to the seat foam.

Hope that helps!

[Joedeal]

Thanks. That’s a great idea! I’ll give it a shot.

[John]

Let us know how it works out!

[Joedeal]

OK, I modified your suggestion a bit. I got 3/16 steel rod and ran it along the channel where the clips are as you suggested. Then I zip tied the rod through some small existing holes in the foam to large 1.5 inch washers to the underside of the foam (or to the frame of the seat where possible.) I used metal duct tape to tape a piece of rod across the middle of the washer to make point to zip tie to the center of the washer then hog ringed the listing to the rod. All-in-all it is very secure (probably stronger than the original clips lol). Thanks for the advice!

[John]

That's awesome! Glad to hear it worked out. Nice work