phase 1 of my seat recovery...

[BLK95TA]

well i didnt get pics of the seats in the car but removing them wasn't too tough
4 13mm bolts on each seat + an air hose and an electrical connection (thing i had the most trouble with)
the lower back seats are held in with 1 single 13mm bolt
the upper back seat has 4 T30 torx screws for the seat belts that i had to go get a socket for (i had a torx wrench set somewhere but couldnt find it and those things were really tight because they were lock tighted in)
finally there's the 2 13mm bolts that hold the back seat to the car
and what you're left with is this
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0640.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0641.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0642.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0643.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0644.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0645.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0646.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0647.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0648.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0649.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0650.jpg
for whatever reason the drivers seat is much heavier than the pass seat. is the motor for the bolsters and lumbar only under the drivers seat or something?

[Camaro_94]

Nice!!

While the seats are out, you should clean the carpets too (not saying theyre bad or anything, but its just sooo much easier to do when they are out). I dont know if you were already planning on doing that or not, but I'd highly reccomend doing it while its like this. I just helped a friend of mine with this a few weeks ago. He just bought a LS1 Camaro SS Convertable, and had all the seats out of it to clean the carpets. I shampooed it for him, and it was just soooo much easier to do. I had the top down, and I was inside of his car shampooing away. Definately worth doing while you have the seats out.

[BLK95TA]

how hard is it to shampoo the carpet? i dont have a wet vac or shampooer or whatever. i did vacuum the interior out already although from the pics i noticed some things i missed (the car is in the garage and it was kind of hard to see the carpet in there

[Camaro_94]

how hard is it to shampoo the carpet? i dont have a wet vac or shampooer or whatever. i did vacuum the interior out already although from the pics i noticed some things i missed (the car is in the garage and it was kind of hard to see the carpet in there

Its not that much harder than vacuuming the interior. You can rent one if you dont have one, check around. You can probibly get one for like $20 a day, but with most of them you can do the carpets in your house/place too. Just make sure you get one with the attachments to allow you to do your car and not just a house carpet. Thats what I used to do until I bought my own awhile back.

All of them pretty much operate in the same way, or require the same work to get the job done.

With my shampooer, its pretty small and portable (unlike the ones you rent, but still work very good), so it makes the job a lot easier to do because I can move the unit itself easier and not just the hoses. You will need to buy some soap also, but it will usually last you a pretty long time. Follow the instruction on how much soap to add in to the amount of water, and after that, its pretty much like vacuuming. Part of the shampooer will suck the water/soap back up, and the other part will soak/scrub the carpets. There should be a little trigger on the unit which applies the soap, but the vacuum should always stay on.

You dont necessarily want to "soak" the carpets until the point where its just wet, but rather go over it. Some spots may require more soap than others, but you dont need to drench the carpets because you still have to suck the water/soap back up too, which may not be too fun after doing that since you've just created a lot more work for yourself. If somethings pretty hard to get out, I usually have a can of a product called "Tuff Stuff" on hand too. Spray it on, scrub, and let it sit for a few minutes and it works wonders. Wipe the tuff stuff off, and go over it again with the shampooer.

Basically treat the shampooer like you would a vacuum cleaner and you should be good to go. You might have to vacuum all the soap up a few times, which is usually normal, but its really not that hard to do at all. If you have any other questions about how to do it, feel free to ask or send me a PM and i'd be glad to help you out. ;)

Good luck, and I know you will be amazed with the results and the amount of dirt you can get out of your carpets. I wish I had some pictures of the amount of dirt that the shampooer can take out of a single cars carpets. But either way, its definately worth doing while you have all the seats out of your car. It can probibly take a lot of the stains out of your carpets too.

[McCauleyWB]

Don't know what grocery stores are near where you are located, but the Stater Bros. here offer a shampooer (Rug Doctor I believe). It has saved me a bunch of time in the past.

[BLK95TA]

well i did use some carpet cleaner foam stuff and it came out alright. not perfect but cleaner than it was. the carpets did get slightly damp (not soaked, i felt the pad in one spot by the electrics that i could get my fingers into and it was dry)

then i started dismantling the drivers seat. i think tomorrow i'll be able to separate the 2 pieces of the seat after i get the other 3 bolts holding the seat to the frame.

here are some pics of the seat in its current state and the interior

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0673.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0674.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0667.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0670.jpg

[SSSC]

Good job there for sure. Yes to answer your ? the motor and all that is on the drivers seat under there. Helps make them heavy

[BLK95TA]

i got the drivers seat completely stripped and put the new pad on (still needs hogringed down) as well as one of the lower back seat cushions. the upper back seat cover and foam is off except one of the 2 handles on the side's screw stripped and now i can't get it off. i already ordered a used one for $13 because i know i'm gonna end up destroying it to get it off and since the bolt is stripped it wouldn't go back on very easy anyway. heres a few updated pics

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0691.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0696.jpg

the old pad, you can see where the bolster foam is shot
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0687.jpg


and here's that stripped screw. its MUCH worse now
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0711.jpg

[BLK95TA]

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0724.jpg
both tops of the front seats are off, so as soon as the new upholstery comes in, they will be taken to the upholstery shop to have the plastic pieces swapped. what i can't decide is whether or not to have them install the top covers for me since they have the hardest to get to hogrings. getting them out wasn't too bad but i dont know how getting them in will be.
and here's a pic of the bolt that won't budge on the pass side of the back seat
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0722.jpg
the only other problem i had was today while taking apart the pass seat top when i went to take off the control switches on that seat, one of the clips holding the power plug to the buttons broke but even then it was still a PITA to get off so i know that clip being broke won't cause it to slip off later
here's the passenger seatback pad which you can see is in much better shape than the one i took off the drivers side. since i got a new pad for that side i left this one hogringed in place (and so i know where to hogring the other one)
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0719.jpg

[meissen]

Awesome! What reupholster company are you going with? I got my reupholster set from LeatherSeats.com but on ebay. Saved me a hundred or so going that route.

[shock6906]

for whatever reason the drivers seat is much heavier than the pass seat. is the motor for the bolsters and lumbar only under the drivers seat or something?

I don't now how it is on Trans Ams, but on Camaros, only the driver's seat is motorized.

[BLK95TA]

I don't now how it is on Trans Ams, but on Camaros, only the driver's seat is motorized.


on my T/A both tracks are manual and both seats have power lumbar and bolster. i guess the motor for all that is only contained under the drivers seat


Awesome! What reupholster company are you going with? I got my reupholster set from LeatherSeats.com but on ebay. Saved me a hundred or so going that route.


i got the $399 set from hawksthirdgenparts.com and had them perforate the inserts so the seat covers will look stock.

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/ProductImages/interior/seatcovers/93_96FirebirdLumbarRearBenchgrey.jpg

[meissen]

Very nice! Can't wait to see the finished pics! :D

[BLK95TA]

Very nice! Can't wait to see the finished pics! :D

yeah they should look really good. they are actually hampton vinyl which is supposed to feel like leather but is more durable..

here's a pic of a 91-92 GTA 'vert with the same kit i'm getting from hawks (only mine is specific to 93-97 4th gens, which means my headrests are different, etc)

the owner decided not to swap over the plastic accordian pieces which imho makes the seats look weird without them, so when mine come in, i'm taking them to an upholstery shop to have the pieces moved from the old set to the new. those pieces are discontinued from GM which is why they aren't included on the seat upholstery already.

I'm debating whether or not to have them put the covers on the front seat backs because i think those might be the hardest since the cover has to sit a certain way with the hogrings, and the only other pieces that get hogringed are the lower back seat pieces which pretty much will only go on one way. (the front seats also only go on one way but the hogrings have to hold them in a certain spot or they won't look right and i'd have to redo them)

http://www.tpsphotography.com/TA05.jpg

[SSSC]

Nice

[Camaro_94]

Damn!! That will look awesome in your car when its done!

[BLK95TA]

the T/A logos on the headrests are something that person added. i won't have those although they do look pretty good.

[Camaro_94]

Gotcha. That should still look great though. :cool:

[TCGiRL220]

Can't wait to see the finished product!

[uncool]

Were you able to find new seat foam, or did the shop make you some new foam? The 93 and the 96 both need new seat back foam, right side bolster is worn through on both seats. Makes it very uncomfortable to drive. Looks good by the way.

[BLK95TA]

Were you able to find new seat foam, or did the shop make you some new foam? The 93 and the 96 both need new seat back foam, right side bolster is worn through on both seats. Makes it very uncomfortable to drive. Looks good by the way.

i was able to get new seat foam for the upper drivers seat from GMpartsdirect.com for $37.xx shipped.

the part number for the upper drivers seat is 16739035. i forget what the pass seat number was but it was still available.

the lower part is discontinued and IIRC one of the other GM sites had it but it was something like $160 plus shipping. the lower part is also interchangeable between the seats whereas the upper part supposedly is not (although i didn't see any large difference between it and the pass side one other than it looked like they possibly built up the outer bolster on the drivers seat)

since i had to get my side panels sewn into the new upholstery i ended up taking all 4 pieces of the front seats to the upholstery place and for $200 they are sewing in the side pieces, adding some foam to the lower part of the drivers seat, and installing the leather.

the new foam can be seen in this pic

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0696.jpg


I'm not sure what kind of car you have, but the seat cushion i got is for 93-02 T/A and formulas with the AQ9 seat option

[96formula8az28]

i was able to get new seat foam for the upper drivers seat from GMpartsdirect.com for $37.xx shipped.

the part number for the upper drivers seat is 16739035. i forget what the pass seat number was but it was still available.

the lower part is discontinued and IIRC one of the other GM sites had it but it was something like $160 plus shipping. the lower part is also interchangeable between the seats whereas the upper part supposedly is not (although i didn't see any large difference between it and the pass side one other than it looked like they possibly built up the outer bolster on the drivers seat)

since i had to get my side panels sewn into the new upholstery i ended up taking all 4 pieces of the front seats to the upholstery place and for $200 they are sewing in the side pieces, adding some foam to the lower part of the drivers seat, and installing the leather.

the new foam can be seen in this pic

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff279/pdennis93/generic%20photos/100_0696.jpg


I'm not sure what kind of car you have, but the seat cushion i got is for 93-02 T/A and formulas with the AQ9 seat option

Now do these use velcro? or the hog rings? Im looking at the set on ebay for 850 bucks from a guy in LA..
Let me know what you think!