Stay standard or go leather

[battrm]

I have a 71 cuda with standard black vinyl seats.  The car is a no options 4 sp car.  I would love
To replace with leather from legendary   A friend tells me not to because it will hurt value of car. 
What do you guys think?

[dfrazz]

New leather interior from Legendary vs. Old vinyl seats.  No brainer.   

[tommyg29]

 
I would love to do this myself, but the cost is too much.
Rather save my money for an OD tranny and other priorities.
If youre worried about originality, just save the old covers?   

[1 Wild R/T]

Not only is leather always a nice upgrade but 71 Cuda standard vinyl seats are simply the ugliest interior of all E bodies... 

[rUNCHARGER]

I agree, the 71 Cuda seats look terrible. The leather looks way better and is a lot nicer to sit on as well.

Sheldon

[anlauto]

You would need different foams and the steel insert rods etc....The difference is not "just a cover"

[battrm]

Are the steel insert rods something that I can buy new or is that something I need to find used or need to make?

[1 Wild R/T]

If you bring a good upholstery shop covers & foam they should have no trouble cutting & fitting the wires...   If you plan to do it yourself welding rod works well & while originally the rods were wired to the frame allot of upholsterers these days use zip ties because it makes it so easy setting the tension which sets the depth of the pulled down details....

If your doing them yourself there are plenty of other tricks but honestly if your willing to spend the $$$ for leather you should probably let a pro install them... Learn on the less expensive stuff..

[battrm]

Thanks for the info.  I talked to a shop that a friend recommended and they would do all three seats for
350.  They would do the work as long as I purchased legendary.  They said some of the others takes a lot
More work to make look good. 

[1 Wild R/T]

Labor where you live is allot cheaper than here in California... In 1995 I paid a shop $600 to stretch a set of Legendary covers... Since then I've had a few sets done by guys who work in the trade doing stuff on the side...

[Skunkworks Challenger]

I went with Legendary leather with new foam.  My RT fender tag called for black leather.  I would have gone with leather no matter because I don't like vinyl.  Installed them myself and they turned out great.

[JoeGrapes]

I finally put the correct seat covers in my 70 Gran Coupe. I did it myself using Legendary covers. I was going to use the leather seats but decided on the original interior instead. It really screams '70s. The install was more physical than technically difficult. I used a lot more hog rings than I thought. The original listing wire is pre bent at the factory but the wire Legendary gives you comes in a roll so you need to bend it. It bends easy.   

[GreenFish]

Put what you want in your car. IMO go leather

Who cares what it does to the over all value. Its not like it can't ever be changed back anyhow. I'd love to some leather in the cuda, so much nicer than the crappy stock stuff.

[TelisSE440]

IMHO Go leather, but keep the original seat covers. You''ll see the leather seats are very beautiful 

[CudamanTom]

I went with Legendary for vinyl seat covers. 
I installed them myself. Had to buy and bend my own wires. They are referred to as "listing" wires.
I purchased all my supplies from a local upholstery shop.
Here are a couple pics.





If you do go leather and install them yourself, be careful as I was told leather can rip easier than vinyl.