[misleading]

Hi,

I've been a long time lurker up until now, so I thought it was about time I came out (so to speak!)

I have been offered a set of leather seats which have manual adjustment and I was wondering if anybody could tell me if it is possible to swap the leather onto my existing electrically assisted seat frames to allow me to have the best of both worlds?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Laurie

 

[Mark B]

Originally posted by Loz:
[qb]I've been a long time lurker up until now
[/qb][/b]

It's a good job you've come out now as I'm sure that "long time lurking" will soon be an offence under the next set of New Labour law "improvements".

Sadly I can't answer your question, but welcome out anyway. I'm sure someone useful will be along soon.

 

[misleading]

Hmmm.... couldn't agree more!

Thanks for saying hello, even if you couldn't help!

Laurie

 

[Stephen Brown]

Welcome.
Although it is possible to swap skins on seats, it is necessary to have the following: thumbs of steel, the patience of Job, no need of your car for weeks and the skill-set of an accomplished upholsterer.
Really, this is a task best left to those who do it for a living.
Steve

 

[misleading]

I have the thumbs of steel and access to another car if it all goes pear-shaped, and I'm normally not afraid of getting stuck in - I also own an old Land Rover and if there's one car you can't have a hands-off approach to, that is it!

Has anyone tried this? Any advice, apart from running away from the subject, only looking back to scream 'eeeeeeeep' every once in a while until I'm a safe distance away??!

Cheers,

Laurie

 

[mark e]

Welcome!

I've re-skinned a couple of sets of 9k seats now and it's not that difficult IMO.

The hardest part is hooking through the retainers from the front of the seat on to the back of the frame through the foam.

Pros have a special hook tool for this (don't try to use pliers, they just slip off) however I've found that a 4mm cable tie, in a loop, does the job quite easily.

The first seat may take you 2-3 hours; after you've done one it's plain sailing.

One key tip- to remove the headrest you need to push the top of the front of the seat back down very very hard to get at the torx screw that's holding it in place- see pic below

 

[philcrombie]

Stripped the base of the seat in the aero to fix the heated seat - once rolling, it wasnt too bad but the hooks that grip onto the seat frame pull down very hard... be sure to have medical supplies available though (eg. plasters, blood etc)
I followed this guy's guide - might be of some use in the stripping down part for you although its an aero seat, most is the same.

http://www.quasimotors.com/heated_seat_repair.htm

 

[djtaylor]

To do those hooks, I use a welding rod (not the electric welding ones ) but a coat hanger with a small bent bit on the end to make a hook would work ok.

Just poke your hook up through the seat, engage the clip on the hide and then pull through and turn to clip it onto the wire. I've never found it to be a problem.

David.

 

[misleading]

Hi,

Thanks for all the help and advice - I may well tackle it in the next week or two - the advice on the torx screw is invaluable as I'd no doubt have spend hours pulling at the headrest and swearing!

Cheers,

Laurie

 

[mac_xpert]

There's also a 'how to' here:
www.NorsePerformance.com

Its for the repair of heated seats in an Aero, but there are a few pics of the seat being dismantled that might help you out. Theres also a few more pics in the image gallery here:
www.NorsePerformance.com

 

[misleading]

Excellent - thank you.

L