For my AE86 Levin, I plan to restore the interior to factory. Non-faded zenki seats in maroon are impossible to find, so I went with a different strategy: I bought the cheapest and most torn seat off yahoo auctions and decided to replace the fabric instead using the TimeMachine AE86 seat covers. This is my review.
I ordered a complete JDM maroon set from TimeMachine86. Before you read on, let me tell you that I am a perfectionist when it comes to restoring cars. I am looking for perfect quality that is indistinguishable from OEM. My standards are very high and as a German, I give direct and straightforward feedback. This review may sound harsh. That doesn’t mean that I think it is junk – quite the opposite.
The Fabric Is Not Great
The first thing that struck me in a negative way is the maroon fabric: to be honest, the color is quite far off. You can see here a direct comparison of the fabric, and towards the end of the page, there are also in-vehicle pictures.
The fabric is not really maroon, it’s more orange. Also, the feel of the fabric is different: the stock factory feels like proper fabric, but the replacement feels more synthetic.
The fabric may not be the perfect choice, but the stitching looks good. It looks like the original OEM. Also, they’ve nailed the fake leather part. The leather is a tiny bit more patterned than the original one, but the color looks like a perfect match. Note that the side parts on the head rest are not included in the set, and these are the original ones. The original leather tends to turn dark blueish after the years – originally, it would have been a very dark brown color.
The fitment quality is pretty good. The center part fits perfectly, but the two side support pieces feel a bit tight. Looking at the pictures, you can see that the upper corner of the side pieces is pointing out a bit. This happens because the sewing in that corner is a bit too tight. My seat is not the only problem with this issue, if you look closely on the shop website, you’ll see the same slight distortion on their pictures.
The Seat Base Fabric is Questionable
I am not happy with the choice of fabric for the maroon part, but the seat base fabric is even worse. It feels super synthetic and is glossy. Also, even after tensioning it as much as I could, there are some wrinkles left in the seat base that I couldn’t get rid off.
Also, the sewing pattern is different: on the factory zenki seats, the leather part reaches all the way up to the highest part of the seat. On the reproduction covers, the transition from leather to fabric is lower (like on the factory kouki seats). I’ll add a picture soon to explain this.
I also would like to note that the cutout for the metal hinge is not present and needs to be cut by yourself.
Restoring the Plastic Trim Pieces
The plastic trim pieces are usually grayish and sun faded. I can’t put new seat covers on without taking care of these as well!
I restored the plastic part by first scraping off the sun-damaged plastic with a plastic scraper. Then, I used a heat gun to carefully restore the brown color. If you want to do this yourself, use a high quality heat gun that can be temperature-adjusted. You need to perfectly time the point where the color starts restoring, but not heat it too much where it would melt. For the final finish, I use a Japanese-made plastic refresher from Ohajiki.
Conclusion
Overall, I would rate the TimeMachine86 seat cover set a solid 3 out of 5. I can’t deny that the restored seat looks amazing – it really looks and feels like new. The fabric is firm again and it’s a just pleasure to sit down. The fitment is good, but I criticize the choice of fabrics, which is quite far off of the OEM material. My biggest pain point is the color, which is more orange than maroon.
Considering the price, I still think it’s a good buy, especially since there are no alternatives except going fully custom made.
Am I happy that this product exists? Absolutely! Will it make you happy? Pretty sure it does! Does it satisfy a die-hard perfectionist? Nope, it doesn’t. If you want to have results that are indistinguishable from OEM, reach out to an experienced professional upholstery service.
