Coupe Front Seats

[Neil-yaj396]

How do you dismantle the front seats? I have managed to get hold of a good drivers seat which I only bought for the reclining mechanism. This has never worked on my drivers seat.

I can't do a straight swap as my seat is blue and red leather, whereas the seat I bought is the ubiquitous late grey velour. Is it a matter of completely detaching the squabs from the frame (and if so how do you do that?) or can the reclining mechanism itself be swapped over?

Having looked at Guy's part book diagram the main hurdle seems to be removing the big recliner knob. Does this just pull off (without breaking?) or do you prise off the central trim to reveal a nut/bolt?

I know Hawk was working on a full strip down. Any progress?

[andybeta]

If they are the Recaro VX front seats they are quite straight forward to dismantle, remove cloth and retrim. I can't remember the exact sequence to dismantle but as I say it is fairly straight forward.

[Hawk]

I know Hawk was working on a full strip down. Any progress?

Not yet!  This is still on my to do list but other things keep getting in the way.

Let me know how you get on

[Nigel]

Neil,
I retrimmed my HPE seats, so i've done this.....memory reliant next...

Separate the two halves by undoing the 6 large crosshead screws,3 either side, under the large plastic covers.
The winding mechanism is bolted to the seat squab somehow,and is a stand-alone unit.

If you decide to swop trim over:

The trim is held onto the frames with tucks under the frame. [stiff cardboard is sewn into the cloth]
Use a small screwdriver to get a 'hook' onto the end,then gently pull down/away.
Once all the sides are free, you'll find hog-ties buried quite deep in the foam holding the centre of the trim.
Use a pair of pointy-nose pliers to twist and bend the hog-ties apart [they're not very stiff]

To re-assemble,you'll need a packet of hog-ties and hog pliers [should be obtainable from e-bay or your
local trimming shop]

[Neil-yaj396]

Nigel - Cheers, I'm only looking to 'liberate' the adjusting mechanism. I take it the by 'stand alone unit' you mean that it can be separated from the squab?

[Nigel]

Yes Neil, i'm sure it can. I say that as i'm sure I didn't have to work around it when I trimmed.