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Steve Dickson
TryHard
Qld
Soarer GTT

Posts: 124
Reg: 04-2009

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Saturday, July 04, 2009 - 10:13 am, by:  Steve Dickson (Stevedeez87) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hey guys was just wondering if anyone could tell me if i need to take the plastic off that surrounds the bottoms of the front seats in order to put the seat covers on properly? If so how? Also anyone else that has got these did you have to make your own holes at the tops of the front seats to put the headrests back on? They cover the entire top of the seat! Cheers
Lawrence Ostle
DieHard
NSW
tt

Posts: 914
Reg: 12-2005

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Sunday, July 05, 2009 - 10:01 am, by:  Lawrence Ostle (Lawrence) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

NO AND YES:

INSTALLING ULTIMATE AUTO TRIM SEAT COVERS

REMOVING THE SOARER SEATS FROM THE VEHICLE

REAR SEAT

REAR SEAT BASE
The seat base is just held in place by two clips. Pull the front firmly in an upwards direction, and the base will unclip. Remove the seat base from the car by pulling it forwards and up. Remove the base from the car and set aside.

REAR SEAT BACKREST
Towards the base of the backrest you will see that there are three bolts securing the backrest to the car. Remove these using an appropriate spanner. Once done, lift the backrest up firmly and it will unclip from the vehicle. Remove and set aside.

FRONT SEATS
NOTE: you do not HAVE to remove the seats to install the covers. I would recommend this if you have the time and are reasonably handy.

Remove the plastic covers at the front and back of the seat rails using a flat screwdriver to pry them gently loose. Remove the five bolts holding the seats in the car. This can be quite hard to do, as they are very tight, so be prepared! Make sure you use an appropriate well fitting spanner which allows you to grip the head of the bolt properly and exert sufficient leverage. A shifting spanner will NOT do. I managed to strip two bolts, and ended up removing these damaged bolts with a hammer and screwdriver – avoid having to resort to this! Disconnect any wires that may be attached to the seat (in the case of electric seats) This can be done by squeezing the center of the white plastic retaining clip with a pair of narrow nose pliers and gently pulling the two parts of the clip away from each other. Carefully remove the seats, and avoid scratching the cars trim. THEY ARE HEAVY – 25kg for the passenger and around 35 Kg’s for the drivers, and the seat rails are quite sharp. You may need some help with this.

Place the seats on a suitable surface, such as a layer of cardboard on the floor of a garage. Don’t put them directly on the ground, as you might inadvertently scratch up the plastics in the process of installing the covers, as you will find yourself turning the seats over multiple times during the install.

INSTALLING THE SEAT COVERS

REAR SEAT
The process for the rear seats is quite intuitive. Try and get a tight fit by stretching the covers to some degree. I found a warm seat cover was easier to work with, so try leaving them in the sun for 5 minutes.

The covers are held in place using two methods:

- Elastic straps which go behind the seat and simply loop over any handy location point, such as the springs and seat hardware, or these can be connected to each other using a hog ring or a short piece of wire bent into a suitable shape.

- White cords, use of which is optional, but which should be used for a superior fit.
You will note that the covers are constructed in the same way as the factory upholstery, and the joins in the covers correspond with the joins in the seats. Line up these joins and thread the cords through the seat at the corresponding join in the factory upholstery using a thin crochet hook (3mm) or needle, pull them tight (not too tight) and tie them at the rear of the seat.

FRONT SEATS
Before you install the covers on the front seats, two additional steps need to be performed; removing the headrests and removing the seat backing:

The headrests are removed simply by pressing the buttons either side of the headrest, and pulling the headrest up.

The rear seat back is removed as follows:
Remove the two Philips screws at the base of the seat back. About 180mm up from the bottom, push the seat-back forwards into the seat with even pressure. At the same time as you do this, slip your fingers around the edges of the seat back and bend them gently slightly outwards. This procedure releases the clips securing the seat back to the seat at the sides, and the gentle outward bending allows the back to be withdrawn past the metal clips. If you don't do this carefully you may rip the metal clips out of the pressed board seat back.

Once both sides are spread evenly, pull back towards you as if the seat were hinged at the top. That clears the spring clips. Then pull gently straight down to release the top clips.

SPECIAL NOTE: If you do manage to rip the clips from the back board, all is not lost. I peeled back the vinyl to expose the damage. I then cut a flat piece of plastic from an ice cream container and used this as reinforcement, placed between the vinyl covering and the back-board. I then drilled the rivets out of the metal clips and replaced the rivets with a small flat-headed bolt, appropriate washers and a small nut. Ensure the flat head of the bolt not the nut is on the outside to avoid an unsightly bulge in the vinyl. I then used hot glue to stick it all together, and hey presto almost as good as new.


INSTALLING THE FRONT SEAT COVERS
The covers are held in place using elastic straps which go behind the seat, and cords as for the rear seat. Again, the process is quite intuitive. Try and get a tight fit, and leave the covers in the sun for 5 minutes to assist in this. You will probably want to remove the plastic shroud at the base of the seat to get the best fit. I didn’t as it is quite tricky, and used a plastic ruler to push the seat covers between the seat and the plastic shroud.

SPECIAL NOTE: carefully observe how the seat-back is attached to the seat. You will need to be aware of how the clips on the seat engage the seat-back, and install the covers to clear the clips accordingly. I sweated for HOURS getting this right, but it is key to ensuring a good installation. It is particularly important to ensure you allow yourself sufficient clearance at the top of the seat, where the large metal clips on the top of the seat back engage with the corresponding receptacle on the seat. Ensure the covers are kept as far away from this area to avoid them fouling the clips, by pushing them well aside. Again, warming the covers will assist, as will using the straps to pull the covers well away from this area. Again it is quite tricky, but can be done – I did and it worked fine.

Re-installing the seats is fairly easy, and essentially is the reverse of the above. Before installing the headrests, feel where the holes are and make a small hole using a screwdriver or similar.

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