Fixing Drivers Seat Base

[Challo]

While my other thread tackles the mechanical aspects of the car, I want to get some feedback on the tatty seats currently in the car.

Drivers Side - The seat base looks to have come undone on the side nearest the door, which gives the feeling its collapsed slightly. Also the stitching has come undone in the middle.

Is this an easy repair? I saw the technical topic on how to change the covers but is it really that simple? Can you swap the passenger seat base over to the drivers side?
Also the heated seems warm rather than hot on the drivers side?

Rear Seats - While the seats are in good nick, the stitching has also come undone in the base of one of the seats. Can the rears be stripped similar to the fronts?

While I tempted to give this a go myself, would something like this cost much at a repair place?

Cheers

[griston64]

I had the bases swapped on my 940 and also both front seats refurbished. Cost for that was £100 about 18 months ago. They weren't coming apart but did have wear on the edges

[Challo]

Cheers. Did you need to take the seats out for that, or did they remove them?

Anything special to change the bases over or just a straight swap?

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Challo

Cheers. Did you need to take the seats out for that, or did they remove them?

Anything special to change the bases over or just a straight swap?

I took the seats out. As far as I am aware they are a straight swap but I didn't swap them over the repairer did

[Laird Scooby]

I went down the route of swapping the seat covers Chris. I also fitted a piece of foam carpet underlay between the actual cushion and the spring base of the seat.



That's not the Volvo seat but it shows where i put the underlay (covered in white material) and it makes a huge difference. I still have the drivers seat to do in my Volvo (only done the passenger one so far) but there is a knack to getting the seats in and out.

Just found a pic of the passenger seat when i did it :



When you try to lift the seat out, you'll find there are two mushroom shaped things on the bottom of the seat frame, one each side holding them into the floorpan.

Sounds easy to lift one out then the other doesn't it?

First, slide the whole seat including the runners/frame towards the back of the car to release the heads of the mushrooms.

I used a piece of plastic thick enough to be strong enough to support one mushroom over the hole while i lifted the other one out, putting the seat back the plastic goes over one hole, seat mushroom on top then engage the other side mushroom, lift the other side of the seat slightly and pull the plastic out so the other mushroom can drop in.

There are some subtle differences between 740 and 940 models, Luke would be best to advise you on that but most 940 bits should fit the 740. However if you can get 740/760 bits to refresh your seats, so much the better!

I may have a spare pair of rear seats in black leather available, drop me a PM if you're interested. Also a set of dark grey 760 carpets that should fit the 740 in good condition but to make the most of them you'd need to find the footrest piece to bolt onto the floor so the footrest in the carpets has some strength behind it.

[Challo]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I went down the route of swapping the seat covers Chris. I also fitted a piece of foam carpet underlay between the actual cushion and the spring base of the seat.



That's not the Volvo seat but it shows where i put the underlay (covered in white material) and it makes a huge difference. I still have the drivers seat to do in my Volvo (only done the passenger one so far) but there is a knack to getting the seats in and out.

Just found a pic of the passenger seat when i did it :



When you try to lift the seat out, you'll find there are two mushroom shaped things on the bottom of the seat frame, one each side holding them into the floorpan.

Sounds easy to lift one out then the other doesn't it?

First, slide the whole seat including the runners/frame towards the back of the car to release the heads of the mushrooms.

I used a piece of plastic thick enough to be strong enough to support one mushroom over the hole while i lifted the other one out, putting the seat back the plastic goes over one hole, seat mushroom on top then engage the other side mushroom, lift the other side of the seat slightly and pull the plastic out so the other mushroom can drop in.

There are some subtle differences between 740 and 940 models, Luke would be best to advise you on that but most 940 bits should fit the 740. However if you can get 740/760 bits to refresh your seats, so much the better!

I may have a spare pair of rear seats in black leather available, drop me a PM if you're interested. Also a set of dark grey 760 carpets that should fit the 740 in good condition but to make the most of them you'd need to find the footrest piece to bolt onto the floor so the footrest in the carpets has some strength behind it.

Thanks Dave. I will get the front seat out and base removed and see what the damage is.

In terms of the rears I might be interested, but will firstly check if mine are repairable first.