Mitsubishi GTO / 3000 GT / Stealth Leather seats installation guide (Front)
Many Mitsubishi 3000gt/GTO/Stealth have worn out/torn leather or cloth seats. So we at Exotik leather/www.interior-innovations.com we have specially designed leather seat covers that will replace your factory seat covers and totally enhance your interior. This detailed guide will give instructions on how to remove your cloth seats and install our leathers. Of course to achieve best results, a professional trimmer or upholstery shop is recommended, but if you wish to install it yourself, you can follow the below instructions. Please note this is just a guide, please bear in mind we are not responsible for any damage done to your covers due to negligence
First off you will need quite a few tools.
You will need : A socket set with 12 & 14mm (preferably a socket extension too), small thin screwdrivers, long nose pliers, wire cutter, penknife, a torch (too see dark areas inside the seat). You will also need either cable zip ties or hog rings to secure the new leathers as well. We recommend zip ties for easy installation as they are strong enough to do the job and easy to adjust the tension. A lot of 200mm zip ties are required.
1. To have the covers installed, you need to remove both seats from the car. It is not a difficult process. Each seat is held on by 2 bolts and 2 nuts. Locate the bolts and nuts, use a 14mm socket to remove them. Lift the seat backwards a bit, and disconnect ALL wiring you might see under the seat. You might also want to take the opportunity to vacuum the carpets under the seat as lots of dirt would have accumulated there over the years.
2. Once the seats have been removed, have them brought to an area where you can work comfortably, ie living room or big garage. Remove the headrests.
3. The headrests are very straightforward. At the bottom of the headrests “unclip” the support clip for the old covers, and remove them totally. You will notice the headrests have 2 portions. The inner part and the outer part. Outer part is basically the foam. Detach the 2 parts from each other slowly. Some parts of the foam might get stuck on the other metal part but that will not be a problem. Once the foam part has been detached, wrap the new headrest cover over the foam part. Ensure the correct direction of the cover is fitted in. It is a fairly tight fit, so take your time to squeeze it in. Once the new cover has been fitted over the foam, simply fit in the other metal part. Then just cover the bottom layer with the attached Velcro. Headrests Done!
4. Now for the Passenger seat. We shall refer to the seat as the base and the back. Base being where you sit and back as where your back rests. The base of the seat will need to be removed from the whole seat itself so you can attach the leathers well. Turn the seat over, and locate 4 main bolts at the bottom of the seat which attaches the base. (2 Bolts are under the carpet)
You will need a 12mm socket to remove them. There will also be some wires attached to the base by zip ties. Cut off all the zip ties so the base can be freed.
5. Now that the base has been removed, it’s time to remove all the factory hog rings that attached the old seat covers to the seat. Hog rings are basically round attachment rings as seen in the picture below (circled red)
Remove every hog ring by cutting them with the wire cutter. The hog rings are small but quite tough so some strength might be needed. Also try to remember the areas where the old hog rings were, cos when you put in the new covers, many of the same areas will be needed for you to apply your zip ties for tension adjustment. You must also put out the support clip circled in blue and any other similar support clips you see. Once you have cut off every hog ring and pulled out all clips, the old covers should come out. In the old covers you find see long metal strips. Remove these strips and put them in the corresponding slots of the new covers as seen in picture below. These metal strips are to hold the tension areas so you can tie your zip ties over them. Ensure there is a metal strip for every slot in the new covers.
6. Now it’s time to work on the base foam. You will need quite a few 200mm zip ties. Refer to the picture below. Insert the zip ties into the slots where the old hog rings were before. Put the zip ties around the metal parts.
7. Now it’s time to attach the new cover. Start from the back of the seat. As mentioned earlier you would have inserted the metal strips from your old cover into the slots of the new covers. Pull the slots towards the zip ties, use a small thin screwdriver or sharp object to pierce small holes into the slots of the new covers so you can push the zip ties in across the row you are doing. Once that is done, pull the zip ties to the max and cut off the excess, you would have created the tight tension. Then work your way to the front, doing the same as before.
8. Once the top of the base has been done and tension secured, flip the base the other side. Now pull the sides (2 pictures above you can see my finger pulling the side). Punch some holes into the edges so you can put zip ties around them, simply find any secure areas to fasten them to. Base of the seat is Done! You might also want to add more cable ties to areas you feel can add more tension.
9. Now we move on to the “back”, the portion when your back rests. Remove headrest. Then remove the Back plate from the back of the seat.
The back plate is held on by 2 screws. Open the black screw caps, remove the screws and pull out the backplate. The old cloth/leather is held onto the plate by staples. Use a pair of pliers to pull out all the old staples. You can use strong glue or a staple gun to put on the new leather piece on the back plate. Or you can even use masking tape to secure the back! It’s strong enough.
10. Next, remove all the hog rings you can find on the back portion. It’s more tricky here because there are some tight rings on the front, take your time to remove them, make sure every hog ring is totally removed. If your back portion has the side adjuster to move the seat back and forth, you can unscrew it out and remove that portion. Once you have removed all the way from bottom to top, you will come to the headrest and seatbelt holders.
Now, if you look at the back, you can actually pull up the foam where the blue arrows are pointing. Look inside and you will see the where the headrest clips go to. Simply squeeze the clips at the bottom so the headrest holders can come out.
The seatbelt holder is more complex. It is held by a “C-clip” as picture below.
If you have a torch you can shine inside and look for this area pictured below.
The clip is located a bit further up where the blue arrow is pointing. Use a long screwdriver or long nose pliers to yank the clip out by its side. Once it’s out you don’t have to put that clip back again.
11. Once all the holders are out, the old covers can come off completely. Prepare to insert the zip ties into the old hog ring areas. Put in all the metals strips as well. There is one metal strip near the top that bends. You can insert it into the new cover and bend it into place. Also replace any damaged foam you might have.
Put on the new cover from the top, bit by bit. Once the top of the cover has gone in a bit, locate where the holes for the headrest and seatbelt holders are. Punch a small hole into the cover and insert the holders. You can put your hand back into the back of the foam to adjust so the headrest holders go right into their slots. As for the seat belt holder, it was tight enough to go in without having to use the C-clip. If you have the side adjuster, simply measure carefully, use a penknife to cut a hole, and simply add the cover and screw on.
12. Work your way down from top to bottom, make sure you have every zip tie tension. It’s quite tedious so take your time! Once you have reached the bottom you’re almost there. Wrap the leather portion across the bottom of the seat, put them up and punch holes where necessary to put in zip ties for tension. Put back the back cover and you’re done! Also put back the base of the seat using the 4 main bolts. Add new zip ties for the wiring below.
The driver’s seat is very similar. The base is also held by 4 main bolts, however at the power seat adjustment there is another wiring. Simply Unclip the wiring and attach it back when base is done. Remember, you can add zip ties anywhere you like to adjust tension. Just be careful not to add them to places where it might be visible. Our covers are made in such a way it’s easy for them to be tensioned.
Thanks for reading. There is also another guide available at :