SeattleAllroad

Ok, I give up. I've tried searching the forum as well as broader internet searches. I'm trying to remove the hard back from my sport seats so they can be painted. Anyone have pointers or instructions on how get the hard backs off?

Thanks

Opo

Sorry, I had mine done at a local shop here in Houston

Mike J

This is all by memory:

Take the center cushion out, its Velcro'ed in, then the outside lip of the leather cover is held to the plastic backs with little clips - you can see them if you look carefully. Take all the clips out (you can pry them out), and then you can peel the leather backing off the back and off the seat. Undo the screws that you exposed that are behind the cushion, then the back comes off...

Simple, right? :-)

Cheers,

Mike

ABCar

Hmmm...maybe I could do a group paint with my ducktail. Thanks for the memory DIY Mike. Yes, it does sound "easy" just like all DIY jobs, right?

SeattleAllroad

Hey Mike,

Thank you for the memory dump. I'll give it a shot this weekend. I'll post photos of the final results. Not sure when that will be though.

Somewhere in my cobwebbed memory I seem to recall that re-assembly was a little tricky.

aerocrosby

My 996 Hardbacks center pad wasn't velcro'd in. It had plastic clips. You needed to pull up vertically on the center pad until the top clips popped loose and then you can see the other clips along the sides. At the bottom - it wraps under the seatback and clips in a long channel on the back.

SeattleAllroad

Hey guys,

Thank you for the input. I've been tinkering around with the seats this afternoon and am getting closer to having them loose. Turns out that there are two screws holding the upper portion of the seat back to the frame and the lower portion is secured with two expanding plastic grommets. Now, I need to get the seat back release handles off and I should be ready to drop them off with my buddy for a body matching paint job.

SeattleAllroad

Finally managed to get one of the release handles off. Unfortunately, it got a little mangled in the process. Fortunately, they're relatively inexpensive. I'll likely replace all four if necessary.

Spidey 993

I'm a little late to the thread, but I just bought some 996 hardbacks I plan on painting.

I searched out this thread below. (Maybe not exact seat type but has to be similar)

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...m-sport-seats/

Then when your done and ready to paint:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=97793

SeattleAllroad

I finally go the seat backs off. It's slightly different than with a 996 hard back. Oddly, the hardest part is getting the release handles off.

I can only hope my seat backs turn out as well as the blue ones.

ABCar

Okay, I decided to take the plunge.
Here are a few pictures of my dis-assembly. Pretty straight forward...clips challenging but easier as I got the hang of it. Don't scratch or mar the plastic hardbacks. Start Clip removal at the bottom and work around the top to the other side using a slightliy curved pick to pull rubber clips away. Again, do not mar finish...take your time. Carful removing rubber-plastic Porsche badge...mine was fine but I noticed it could easily be damaged even if you pry it off from the back side...take your time and do not damage this difficult to replace item.

Roughed up the the back side with 220 grit...washed with dawn and scrubbed off any dust, dirt or residue. Off to the paint shop (with ducktail) tommorow.

Spidey 993

Very cool, excellent post. Post pics going back on and the new painted backs.

ABCar

For sure.

SeattleAllroad

Andy,

Thanks for the photos. That's exactly what I experienced dis-assembling my seats. Hopefully, re-assembly will go smoothly. I'm hoping that I won't end up scuffing the areas where the rubber clips tuck into the groove on the seat back.

Arena Red seat backs are going to look great.

ABCar

My worries/thoughts exactly. I will be releived (hopefully) when they are safely back in the car. Good luck with yours too.