How to Re-Upholster Fiero Seats

1. You'll need to use the following tools and supplies (left to right): wire cutters, hog rings, a hog ring tool, and a 13mm socket wrench with a Torx bit. The hog ring tool and hog rings are included in the upholstery kit.

2. Use the socket wrench to unbolt the seat from the tracks and the Torx bit to separate the back section from the bottom piece. Turn the bottom piece upside down and cut the hog rings that hold the old upholstery in place. (If you're not sure how to use a hog ring tool, practice by replacing the first few rings you remove--see Step 5.)

4. Slide the rods into the corresponding sleeves on the new seat covers.

5. Use the hog ring tool to refasten the rods at the hooked ends. This tool simply compresses the ring around the items to be joined.

6. Pull the new cover over the corners of the foam, and be sure to line up the Velcro strips. Spray the foam with soapy water for easier installation. Massage the cover to make sure the seams are straight.

7. Turn the seat bottom upside down and install the hog rings in their previous locations. Make sure the cover is snug.

8. Covering the seatback is slightly different than covering the bottom. Unzip the cover and cut the exposed hog rings on the lower end of the seatback.

9. Roll up the old cover a few inches to expose the hog rings holding the lower ends of the rods in place. Cut these rings and then note how the upper ends of the rods fit underneath a horizontal wire embedded in the foam at the base of the headrest. You will have to slip the rod back under this wire later on.

10. Pull the cover off until you see where it is hog-ringed to a wire inside the foam just below the headrest. Cut these rings and remove the old cover.

11. Turn the new cover inside out and slip it over the headrest only. Insert a metal rod (clothes-hanger wire will work) into the horizontal sleeve at the front seam of the headrest section of the cover. Use four hog rings to secure the rod to the wire embedded in the foam. (Be careful not to pierce the cover.)

12. Pull the seat cover completely over the seatback. Slide the vertical rods through the sleeves in the cover and under the wire in the foam at the upper end.

13. Use hog rings to reattach the hooked ends of the rods, then zip the cover shut before reinstalling the seats in your Fiero. KC

When you go scrounging for a Fiero for a rebody project, it's a good idea to buy a dog-eared donor car. If it isn't a little rough around the edges, you'll probably end up paying too much for something you plan to tear apart anyway. Besides, it's a lot less painful to operate on a clapped-out Pontiac than to start slicing into a perfectly good one. If you follow this bit of advice, your donor's seats will probably look just as funky as the body. Instead of simply slipping some cheap sheepskin rugs over those beat-up old buckets, give your cockpit an upscale look with PISA's new leather seat covers, priced at $425. As you can see here, it's really easy to remove the frayed factory fabric and snug on the new skins. Also, PISA has a number of other Fiero conversion products, including dashboard treatments, so you can make your Pontiac project look new both inside and out.