Technical Upholstery ? seat cover.

I have a Dodge Caravan bench seat with stock upholstery. Is it ok to upholster over existing seat? With a new tuck and roll top. Or should I remove the original Dodge cloth?

 

I would remove it, you may feel the original seams through the new cover otherwise.

 

The original cover is very flat. The new tuck and roll has 1/2" of foam backing?

 

Years ago we peeled the rough tuck and roll upholstery off a '40 coupe seat to redo it. Found the original mohair underneath. No reason you couldn't do the same if the original cover has tight seams.

 

You probably want to remove the stock cover and then fill in the sculpted out portion of the foam where it has been shaped for the Caravan cover.
You probably want the seat foam flatter under the new tuck and roll cover.
You can glue some foam into the depressions of the original foam and shape it with a sander till it's flat and then spray a coating of glue over it and cover the whole thing with a layer of upholsterers 1/4" thick smoothing foam.
Then install the new cover.
That's the right way to do it.

 

be sure to check all of springs

 

^^^zactly what blue one said. (And couldn't have said it better)

 

I can't think of a good reason to leave original upholstery under new work. The foam will show through in the new cover. On these seats, I use a layer of 1/4" closed cell foam on the factory foam, sanded and blended. Prep work here is just as important as it is in body work.

 

Thanks for the replies, will take heed.

 

@ago The Dodge covers are often glued on to the foam so be forewarned they can be a bitch to take off.