Seat repair.
- Thread starter fkong777
- Start date
Dont bust up the seat just yet.
The seats frame's are the same, they have bolt holes on both sides so you can swap the seat belts and controls from one side to the other. I would just take the switch off the drivers seat, and put it on the passenger seat you just bought.
The only down side is when you swap the controls from one side of the seat to the other, there will be a hole left in the leather.
The seat butt's up next to the center console so you won't see the hole that much, or you could mount some kind of plate to cover it.
Hope this helps.
The seats frame's are the same, they have bolt holes on both sides so you can swap the seat belts and controls from one side to the other. I would just take the switch off the drivers seat, and put it on the passenger seat you just bought.
The only down side is when you swap the controls from one side of the seat to the other, there will be a hole left in the leather.
The seat butt's up next to the center console so you won't see the hole that much, or you could mount some kind of plate to cover it.
Hope this helps.
I just took off the 4 clips on the lower pad, and 4 clips on each of the side pices. Then you can flip the wire harness around, and button it back up.
The nut's that hold the controls on look to be pressed in.
I had to get 2 plastic caps to put into the holes were the controls mount to, so I could screw them in.
The nut's that hold the controls on look to be pressed in.
I had to get 2 plastic caps to put into the holes were the controls mount to, so I could screw them in.
bummer that the recliner motor broke on the used seat so I pretty much dismantled the seat to get all the seat cover pieces off.
DISCOVERY !!!!
1. I was a little disappoint to see that the only real leather are the Center Paddings. all other surface are vinyl
2. The entire forward backward frame can be unbolted from the seat. if you have to lower center pad off. you can mount a racing seat to the electric seat rail and retain the motorize adjustment if you can wire it together.
DISCOVERY !!!!
1. I was a little disappoint to see that the only real leather are the Center Paddings. all other surface are vinyl
2. The entire forward backward frame can be unbolted from the seat. if you have to lower center pad off. you can mount a racing seat to the electric seat rail and retain the motorize adjustment if you can wire it together.
The side bolsters (sections that face front) and the headrests (ditto) are also leather. You would have known this if you had checked out the section of the FAQ called Leather or Vinyl? in the General Info area.fkong777 said:
I'd like to add to the knowledge-base and this thread seems like a good place to do it
I successfully used the passenger leather seat cover to perfectly restore the driver side cover. It does require a small amount of sewing from an upholstery shop.
The leather covers are nearly the same for passenger and driver seats. The only difference between between the leather covers is the bottom bolster (lower "arm") on the main cover...the area where the seat controls are located. It turns out the lower bolsters are slightly different sized, and the inner lower bolster is taller and made of "faux" leather vinyl.
The driver seat wears at the bolster and bellows, leaving the rest of the cover in good condition. So I removed the lower bolster at the lowest bellow (cutting the threads with a sharp razor) from my driver seat (to be reused) and the bolster on the donor passenger seat (discard).
I had the bolsters sewn on by a shop and I was back in businesses the same day. Took a couple of hours of my time to complete.
The benefits of reusing OEM seat leather:
1. Works well
2. Inexpensive and quick
3. The OEM leather is quite good
4. Recycles some of the covers that are being discarded for new covers.
To make the restoration 100%: wipe down the seats with mineral spirits, coat the entire seat with shoe leather dye, let dry, add a very light coat of black shoe polish and wipe down with leather conditioner.
Scuffs can be repaired with light sand paper and dyed.
I successfully used the passenger leather seat cover to perfectly restore the driver side cover. It does require a small amount of sewing from an upholstery shop.
The leather covers are nearly the same for passenger and driver seats. The only difference between between the leather covers is the bottom bolster (lower "arm") on the main cover...the area where the seat controls are located. It turns out the lower bolsters are slightly different sized, and the inner lower bolster is taller and made of "faux" leather vinyl.
The driver seat wears at the bolster and bellows, leaving the rest of the cover in good condition. So I removed the lower bolster at the lowest bellow (cutting the threads with a sharp razor) from my driver seat (to be reused) and the bolster on the donor passenger seat (discard).
I had the bolsters sewn on by a shop and I was back in businesses the same day. Took a couple of hours of my time to complete.
The benefits of reusing OEM seat leather:
1. Works well
2. Inexpensive and quick
3. The OEM leather is quite good
4. Recycles some of the covers that are being discarded for new covers.
To make the restoration 100%: wipe down the seats with mineral spirits, coat the entire seat with shoe leather dye, let dry, add a very light coat of black shoe polish and wipe down with leather conditioner.
Scuffs can be repaired with light sand paper and dyed.
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