Hookempjh

Wanted to share a project I did over the weekend to improve the condition of my still reliable 2000 RX. My seat cushions were becoming a little ragged as seen in this wonderful snapshot.

I ordered two seat cover options, 1) some slip on seat covers from FH group which came in a pair for the front passenger and driver seat and 2) a replica OEM seat cover for just the driver side bottom.

I was on the fence on whether I go slip on or just go all in and make a project out of making the seat as close to new. I tried the slip ons and for the price and effort they weren't bad and would recommend them to anyone who want a cheap easy option to make seats new and pretty descent.


If I wasn't so freaking stubborn I would have kept them But me wanting to DIY everything thought I could do this right myself with a replacement seat cover I found on Amazon. The only difference with the latter option was that I had to disassemble the entire seat and remove the cushion. I wanted to share a few tips I learned that I wish I had known in case anyone else chooses to go this route.

1) When removing the bolts that secure the entire seat down do so by first moving the seat all the way back first then forward. You'll want the seat to be in the forward position to access some key screws when the seat is out of the car.
2) Disconnect the battery (safety first kids)
3) Disconnect the seat and airbag connections (you can now remove the seat from the car
4) unscrew the paneling. There are the obvious screws and then there are these tricky little dudes

First set of hidden screws are under the electric buttons. To remove the buttons I used a flat panel screw driver and popped them off. Beneath these two buttons are three of the screws.

5) Under the front panel you there are two screws, one near each corner that holds the panel to the seat frame. They are near where the end of the seat tracks are. This is why you want the seat in the forward position otherwise getting a screwdriver up there is impossible. I learned the hard way and had to reconnect the seat to move it forward to access these to remove the panel. You'll need to remove the panel to access the frame of the seat cushion to remove so that you can remove the cushion cover. Be sure to disconnect the seat adjustment buttons before completely removing panels.

6a)Once you have the paneling removed you can access 4 bolts that hold the seat cover frame in place. At this point you may need to begin to unhook the seat from the bottom to pull back the cover. This is where I got sloppy but if you are certain about this project you can cut away the material to access the bolts if you can'y remove the hog rings tying down the seat cover. The bolts are along the side near where the seat bottom meets the back. Here's a photo of the position before the cover is placed back on.

6b)And then there are two bolts up front where the motor raises and tilts the seat that will need to be removed.

7) Once the seat is loose you'll need to remove all the underwiring connection points. One note to make is that the wiring had tape to indicate where the connection points needed to be applied. One thing I did to avoid having to track where to reattach was to tape them in place with scotch tape after unhooking from the under seat springs. They release and reconnect easily. (sorry I forgot to take a picture of these.

8) Two wires are connected with plastic pins that you'll need to remove before the seat can be removed freely. I've indicated those here after I had the cushion off but you'll need to make note of this position and remove from beneath if you don't have the cover off at this point to pull the cushion up.

And that should get you to a point to completely remove the seat bottom assembly to remove the old worn cushion. It's likely that the cushion itself is still in great shape. Mine was fine. The cover itself is attached to the assembly with hog rings underneath the assembly usually close to around the edges and in wiring that is molded into the foam cushion. You can take some diagonal pliers and twist them off. I'd caution you while you are dong this on the tie down points in the cushion. You don't want to rip the wire that's molded into the foam out. This wire is what keeps the seat cover nice an tight. It's a lot of work but I felt like the cost of the cover and my own time (about a day - figuring it out as I went) and sweat were a good investment to make my car look semi newish. Here's the finished product.

Next up I plan to repair the wrinkles and wear on the seat backs and other covers. I'll share the results of that when I get to that next!

maxSteel

Nice write up!
Can you post the link to the amazon replacement seat cover?

Hookempjh

Here's the cover I purchased and installed myself $134.


There's a real leather version this company sells for $175.
I'm not sure if it's the faux leather material I installed or if leather is more slippery but the seat I installed has way more friction (not sticky but not slippery like the rest of the seats) Something else to keep in mind. I'm going to try to armor-all it today and see how that affects it. I liked how my old seat I could just slide across into the seat, but now I don't slide around when I take corners sharp.

Hookempjh

Update on the project. I replaced my armrests with new real leather covers I bought on Amazon for $25:


If anyone is interested in refreshing the armrest without hunting salvage yards (good luck finding one that isn't already halfway to shredded only to pay over $100) or can't afford OEM (in case you're wondering about $500 for each armrest) this wasn't a bad option. Now to start, they will be baggy and they do not match the color exactly. But as you will see the end result is better than what I had.




When the replacement covers came in i first slipped them on and wasn't happy with the fit. They were loose and left them looking saggy.




So I got an idea to go pick up some foam from Wal-Mart. They sell packs of these foam squares for chair cushions in the fabric/craft department. I bought a 4 pack for $7.




I then cut strips of the pad using a small hacksaw I had. Not the prettiest of cuts but I learned if you go slow you can make some straight lines.



So I took this piece and folded it over long-ways twice and stuffed it into the "sleeve" of the armrest so it would be at the end. If you think about it the original end of the armrest would compress against this foam. So using a good "wad" of this will compress so tight once you have the leather stretched over the armrest it doesn't even feel like it's soft foam. One thing I did learn was that depending on the remaining shape of your armrest you may have to add foam in a few places prior to slipping the armrest sleeve on so you get a smooth uniform and tight fit. I had to add a layer on the top to get have a straighter line on the top of my armrest due to some lost foam from the original OEM armrest on the drivers side, and I added on both armrests a thin layer on the outer side of the armrest so the foam would hold the leather out and prevent sagging on the sides of the armrest. The results (the first one in direct sunlight and the second one in the garage under shade and indirect sunlight) are what you see here:





You can also see the "new" seat cover I replaced in comparison to the new arm rest and seat back with the original beat up OEM leather. Personally for roughly $32 to have new "real" leather armrests and the $134 seat bottom cover, I'm rather pleased with the results. And an added bonus the new leather armrest restored some of that new car smell with all that fresh leather aroma!