Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications General Mods seat rebuild

Well as some of you know,I work at the factory that builds the seats for the 300C,Charger and Magnum. I specifically build the rear seats and arm rests at work.

Today I was bored and I had the old cloth seats from my Mystique laying around after I put the leather in it before I got rid of the car,so I decided to take the rear seats out of the shed,tear them down to see how they were built,and then rebuild them.

I started with the 60% rear seat back. Removed the armrest,then undid the j-clips that fasten the front of the seat to theback. I unrolled the corners,and undid the 3 hog rings that hold the cover in place,and removed the latch bezel on the back side of the seat,then removed the several push pins that hold the cover inplace in the arm rest cavity.

I was then able to pull the cover off,remove the foam from the metal frame and it was all torn apart. I've got 18 step by step pictures of how the rebuild goes,but I don't really want to post them all. I might post a few later,but I have to upload them.

To start,these seats are pretty different than the ones I build. We use 6 hog rings in 2 rows to hold the cover in place,and the headrest is built into the seatback. Instead of j-clips all around the back of the seat,we use zippers on either side and j-clips on the bottom. Instead of pushpins to hold the material inplace int he arm rest cavity,we use a j-clip that attaches to the seat frame. All in all,the Contour seats are more complicated and time consuming to build rather than the ones I build for a living. But then,at work,I have all the proper tools,know exactly how to build the seats step by step and I just put my know-how to work with the Contour seats.

To rebuild the seat was very simple. Place the foam on the frame,then lay the cover on the foam. usually,the first thing you would do is then hog ring the cover to the foam,but with these seats,you actually need to roll the arm rest cavity area first,and fasten the push pins in place,and then hog ring the cover and roll it. After it's rolled,flip the seat over and there are 6 more push pins to put in up at the top of the cover to hold it in place. Keep it face down and fasten the j-clips,then flip it over and install the arm rest. Should take no more than 5-10 mins. After the arm rest is in,flip it back over and install the latch bezel with 2 pushpins and you're done.

I might attempt to do the front seats sometime,but I'm confident I could reupholster seats and do a good job if anyone would be interested in me doing so.

Fellow seat builder here! I do the Escape/Mariner/Tribute seats. Same plant that used to do the Contour/Mystique seats. If you run into any trouble, shoot me a PM and I can ask some of the old folks at work about it. I'm sure they have a wealth of info about these seats.
I did find out a while back that the SVT seats were hand built off the assembly line. I also was told that they were a PITA to build.

BTW, What company are you with? I'm Magna.

it's a beauty, ain't it?

me too. i cant believe nobody wants these seats. power and leather the whole 9 yards.

If someone had tan leather with the split rears in good condition...

Midnight blue is the issue, I think.

Secondly, I like my early SE seats, and if I were doing a resto, or upgrading to leather, or upgrading the seats in a GL, I'd start with them because they are undoubtedly cheaper and more plentiful, and still a significant upgrade.

My driver's seat is the only one starting to show some age. The left side lower seat bolster is starting to collapse a bit, so will need to be restuffed eventually. Material is in good shape for now. Back seat has years left on it, although the kids are tough on it.