I've seen mention of swapping the covers from one seat from to a new seat frame, but can't seem to find any mention of what's involved. Is this a particularly difficult proposition, anybody have any info? Thanks.

 

It's not hard and it's pretty straightforward.

The backrest ***** pry off, along with the guide plate.

The covers of the reclining mechanism come off with phillips screws.

You can pull out the axles that drive the reclining mechanism with a pick or a sheetmetal screw (then the back comes off). There an e-clip on either side that comes off, allowing you to disconnect the wire that tilts the seat forward to allow access to the back seat.

The covers are held on by hog rings and metal spikes on the frame that are bent over (un bend them).

Make sure you have hog ring pliers and rings before you start, or you won't be able to get it back together.

You can do it easily in a day.

 

Cool, does sound pretty easy. DR has the hog ring pliers, looks like there are straight and 45 degree bend. Useful to have both, or is one good enough for the job?

 

I bought a set from harbor freight that had both kinds. They were cheap, too. I ended up using both in different spots, depending on the situation.

 

Brian, Sterling, thanks for the info!

 

Where are you getting your seat covers. I have seen them on some interior restoration sites but was very expensive. Or are you using used ones?

 

It's sort of academic right now, but my ultimate goal is to get a set of memory/heated seats, and swap my current covers onto them, as they are in pretty good shape. I wanted to get an idea of what I was in for before I got myself too excited about it.

 

Ah, that's one more thing to check out, thanks for the heads up. I would think it's something that is separate from the cover, so it can be replaced if the element goes bad.

 

Sterling is right, the heating element is indeed sewn into the covers.

Paul

 

Gentlemen
Correct me if I'm wrong please but are you all saying the leather covers come off in ONE PIECE (well OK, 2) from the seat back and base. So replacement is just a 'pull-over' operation?

Colin 89GT

 

That certainly throws a kink in that plan. When you say sewn in, is that like, integrated, or is it something that could feasibly be changed out? As I mentioned before, it seems like a somewhat bad plan that you'd need to replace the whole cover to fix a heating element, but wouldn't be the first sub-obtimal design in a car.

 

Hey Chris,

the heating element is a thin sheet that is held in place by being sewn into the side seams of the insert of the seat.

If I was to make new covers for someone with heated seats, I would require that they send me the original insert first, so that I can switch the element to the new cover.
Same holds true if you order new covers from GAHH

Now in your case, you could always cut out the heating elements from the old seats and "tack" them to your current covers. That could be done by hand. Not as good but if the seat does not have lumbar, the insert pretty much stays in the same place, so it should not be a problem.
If the seat also has lumbar, then I would not recommend it unless you are very careful to secure the element to the covers all along the seam.

Paul