I'm swapping out my cloth for leather and I watched the video. Only problem is, I removed the little cotter pin holding the seat recline lever on but the lever still feels like it's holding on for dear life. I don't want to scratch or break anything trying to do this so I'm wondering if anyone has any insight? Is it glued on or something? I have a '14 base GT w/ manual seats.

 

So no one has had ANY trouble removing that piece? How about other '14 owners? Could they have started putting some kind of glue on that they didn't previously? I'm really worried that if I pull with anymore force than I tried in my last attempt that I'm going to damage or break the piece. Ugh. This happens every time I do an "easy mod" on a car...

 

i have plastic prying tools and after i removed the pin, i used my plastic trim removal (prying tools) to help me get it off.

 

Lol, too funny. I just ordered a set on overnight delivery from Amazon. It was really funny and odd to drive to work with no passenger seat and a leathered backseat this morning. I do love the way you can see the white stitching on the rear seat headrests from the back window. It looks pretty classy. I've got a co-worker who's family use to own a body shop and he pretty much said the same thing-it's either glued on or needs a trim removal tool. He also said I'd be surprised how cheap I could get an upholstery shop to do the work but I don't want to be without my car and don't want to spend anymore, lol.

DeeJayTJ, were there any other places on the fronts that you had any hiccups? Thanks for all your help so far, BTW!

 

no hiccups, just broke the plastic side piece on the passenger side, they call it a seat valance... i broke a tab trying to pull it out :-/ had to replace it for $53 or so.

the other thing was, on driver side where the height adjustment is, i had to put a little slit in the leather so i could put the lever back on. but no big deal.

 

Oh. You had me worried a sec about the slit in the leather but now I understand. Did you have any trouble removing the seat recline on the seatback? Or do we even have to do that? Just wondering since the video is for Katzkins and not the pre-cut factory leather...

 

watch this guys video instead, he does it step by step very good video

 

That's the one I watched. I called it the Katzkins video b/c that's what he's installing. But the way he just popped that seat lever right off after removing the cotter pin is killing me.

 

I was futzing around last night with that recline lever and first tried putting a kitchen spatula under it and prying. It broke the spatula. Guess I'll have to go to Spatula City (They sell spatulas, and that's all). Anywho, I tried once more with a flat blade screwdriver. I kept trying to reach under the plastic's edge to get to the bare metal part on the seat. I finally felt it hit there. So I gave a little twist and the handle came right off. I got my front passenger mostly done except for reattaching all the little pieces at the base of the seat back and the trim panel. I'd had a late night on Sunday so I needed some rest. So hopefully, I'll have it all done tonight! Finally...

 

WOOT! SEATS DONE! This is hands down the best "mod" I've ever done to a car. It makes the interior look 1000% nicer. I can't believe how easy this was, in retrospect. After "learning" on the first front seat I did, the second took me under an hour.