OEM Seat Cover Swap

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Project Scope: Removing and installing OEM leather seat covers
Tools Required: 10mm, 12mm, 14mm socket and wrench, sheers strong enough to cut hog clamps, needle nose plyers, Phillips screwdriver, flat head screw driver, Exacto knife, hot glue gun, small to medium sized wire ties.
Resource to assist in removal of seat. Hyundai Service Website. Setup an account. It is free and very helpful!
Time Required: 2-4 hours for experienced 4 – 8 for novice.
Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5
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Section 1: Removal of the seats

Start off by removing the negative terminal from the battery. Removing the electrical connections from seats is involved. Use the 10mm socket and wrench to accomplish this.



Now remove the bolts from the front seats. Start off by removing the two front bolts using the 14mm socket and wrench. Move the seat into its rear most position to make this easier. Then push the seat forward to remove the rear bolts. Remove the bolt covers in the back by gently prying with a flat head screwdriver.




Now rock the seat back to remove the wiring harness from the car and seat. Be careful not to tug and pull. Next, grasp the plug and push down to unhinge and gently pull out.




Section 2: Removal of leather from lower seat cushion

Now that the front seats removed set up an area that you will be comfortable. A lot of time will spent here ;-)

Begin by removing the appropriate levers from the side of the seats. The difficult lever to remove is the seat back lever. Get a flat head screwdriver between the side cover and pry out the metal retaining clip that hold the lever onto the arm of the lever. After this is done remove the three Phillips screws that hold the side of the seat on. One is located in the front, the other in the back and there is one in the middle. After this is done the cover will pop off.




Now you can being removing the lower seat cushion from the seat. You will notice that there are grasps that hold the cushion on the seat. Begin by removing the white front retaining grasp and begin working your way around the lower part of the seat until they are all removed. Be sure to be careful and remove with care. You do not want to tear the leather and compromise the clips.




Now that the grasps removed, unhook the heated seat liner plug. It is blue and located behind the cushion. After this is done pull out the cushion. The leather will come off by pulling off cushion. It is held on by Velcro in the seams. Take notice that the heated seat liner is attached to the leather. To remove cut with scissors the liner from the leather. Now lay the liner back down to the cushion and tape into position onto the foam.







Lay the leather back onto the cushion and reinstall. Make sure not to plug the thermal back in yet. The upper seat cushion also attaches to the same plug.

If the velcro is accidentally removed from the seem glue the vlecro back to the cushion with a glue gun. (Another reason why I wish I had this DIY because I would have been more careful the frist time)
Now push the leather seams back pushing the end of a screwdriver along the seams to ensure the Velcro grips.




Section 3: Removal of leather from upper seat cushion

Basically the same concepts will apply for the removal of the top cushion. Remove the rear backer panel by removing the head rest and pushing and pulling in an upward fashion against the panel. Now remove the head rest holding clamps. Use something to keep the holding clamps in and upward position so you can remove them. This allows for the next step of grasping the clamps and pulling upward.




Now remove the cushion hog clamps. Use a good set of sheers than can cut them off. When re-installing use wire ties for an easier application to hold the leather down. This will come in hand when working with the rear seats. They use over 50 hog clamps.



Section 4: Removal of the headrest leather

Begin by squeezing the center of the bottom of the head rest cushion where the clasps lock into each other. This will allow for the clasps to release. Next cut the stitching from the sides of the bottom of the cushion. Now extract the leather from the head rest cushion. When sliding the new cushion onto the seat sew the stitching back in place.




Now install the head rest. Enjoy your hard work and repeat for the passenger seat.



Section 5: Remove Rear Seat

Start by folding rear seat down and disconnection seat belt from holder. Then remove the two 12mm bolts to the right and left of the seat. Now push down and release the seat from the retaining clamp. The upper cushion will slide out.

Now remove the single 12mm bolt in the center of the lower cushion. This is located in the back of the cushion. Pull up on the right and left front underside swiftly to unhinge the retaining clamps. The lower cushion will come out easily.




The lower cushion requires removing many hog clamps. Using the same method as mentioned with the front seats wire ties can be used to attach the leather back down to the seat.



The upper cushion involves prying out the leather retaining clamps from the backer panel. Use the prying edge of a hammer along the edge and gently pry out. Installing is the opposite I found a gentle tapping method worked well to firmly reinsert the clamps back in. The upper seat cushion uses 10 hog clamps to hold leather back.





Section 6: Install seats

Install the seats In the reverse order they were installed. Take time to work in the tightness of the leather by hand. Push in against the seams. This helps the fitment even more. Also be sure to use a leather treatment to help keep the seats conditioned properly for them to break in.

Enjoy your work, relax. You did a great job!