Reupholstering Boxster seats with the lseat kit.

[elgyqc]

Finally starting the seat recovering project, starting with the driver’s seat. Here is why I decided to take this on… the seat was like this when I bought the car. I installed Walmart seat covers first thing so that I didn’t have to look at them.



Given the amount of discussion on the lseat kits I am surprised that I have not been able to find a comprehensive DIY video. That being said I did find the following links that cover almost the entire project.

For seat removal from the car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nspj4kh3Ix0

For seat disassembly… you only need to remove the bottom cushion from the frame, so you can stop at about at about 7 minutes.
I would suggest not yanking the bottom out as he does in the video... at that point it will come out, lift the front and spread the bottom of the sides to give some clearance and it should come out without breaking any of the plastic frame as I did.
When I did the passenger seat I did not remove the seat belt buckle, I just disconnected the wiring connector from the cushion's base. That way the buckle wasn't flopping around while manipulating the seat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpX4D693D1I
Another disassembly thread, pictures not video.
http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/50255-boxster-seat-disassembly-procedure-part-1-2-a.html

This series goes through the seat disassembly, removing old skins and the installation of the new skin on the seat back insert, the hardest part of the assembly as far as I can see.
Part 1 (at the end of this installment he separates the frame bottom and back, this is not necessary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynGjh2jOU0A&t=5s
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kJgwUh5PpE
Part 3 (skip to about 2 minutes if you are not installing a heating element.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR_6HQTlZ1g
I like the idea put forward here to use wire instead of hog rings… I can’t see how you can install the hog rings.

This thread is also useful
http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/65968-changing-leather-seats.html

Today after removing the seat I got all the leather removed except for the insert for the seat back… those hog rings are a pain to disengage.

[PaulE]

Nice, please keep posting. I'm following as my seats may come to this some day too.

[rfuerst911sc]

Many years ago I redid a pair of 944 seats . I used heavy duty zip ties in place of hog rings . I cut the tails of the ties a little long so I could grab with pliers if needed to retention after the material stretched . Worked great .

[ndfrigi]

I just did mine with Lseat last july. Used zip tie instead of hog rings.

[dghii]

Great thread! Please keep posting. I'm facing a similar tast on my car.

[pilot4fn]

Fantastic! Very good thread, subscribed.
I started same kind of project two days ago - yesterday was time to take the seat leathers apart from the center sections. Plan is to reupholster those center parts with alcantara.
I guess next I need to learn how ot sew...

[elgyqc]

I got the seat back insert apart this morning. Once you have removed the material from the hooks around the top and sides (cut it off the hooks if the old piece is not to be reused) you can bend the insert to get access to the hog rings from the bottom and cut them with wire cutters… a lot easier than bending them as is suggested elsewhere.




Be careful because the plastic retainer that the hog rings hook into is not very thick. I broke it in one place and had to fix it using duct tape.



One of the videos suggests tightening the screws under the seat back foam… a couple of mine were loose and one fell out when I touched it.




The comments above have won me over to using zip ties to replace the hog rings. I came up with an alternative to passing the zip ties through the plastic like in the photo posted by ndfrigi… it looks like tightening the ties would be a challenge with that arrangement. What I did is to make a rod that goes across the plastic retainer and the zip ties wrap around it. I used a heavy duty coat hanger and bent hooks on both ends to prevent the ends digging into the plastic. A strip of duct tape below the rod hopefully adds a bit of resistance to the plastic and at least one layer on the top to insulate the rod from the metal springs in the seat back once it is installed.






In the package with my seat covers there was a piece of fabric backed foam 5/16 in thick and about 2 feet wide by 50 inches long. Is this just packing material or is it to recover the center of the bottom cushions? It looks like the same black foam in the middle of the cushion.

[ndfrigi]

more pics of how mine

[elgyqc]

Originally Posted by ndfrigi

more pics of how mine

The back of your insert looks great compared to mine, but I don't have the patience or skill or both to do it like that.

I hope the insert will look ok once it is installed in the seat back. I might have pulled the material a bit too tight when installing it on the hooks.



With the insert finished I moved on to the seat cushion cover which is held on to the foam with 3 lines of hooks across the cushion and 2 running the length of the cushion.
I was able to attach one row of the 3 rows of transversal hooks, but it took me over an hour, so I gave up on that for the other 2 rows and used zip ties with a plastic backing and a piece of coat hanger, adapted from how I did the insert. It took me less than 30 minutes to do the other 2 rows.




On the sides I was able to use the stock hooks except for one on the front (where the foam is thickest) and I ended up using a zip tie there also.




For the other seat I will probably replace all the hooks with zip ties. The original hooks have a tendency to pull through the foam that has lost a bit of its solidity over the years. The plastic backing strip (cut from an ice cream bucket) spreads the load over a larger area of foam.

[elgyqc]

The cover for the cushion is now ready for the final step... pulling the bottom of the cover over the plastic base. I have tried and am not able to get enough slack to install the "u" shaped molding over the bottom of the base. What is the trick to this? Are tools needed, or just strong hands?

[MrBen]

I paid a pro to do this for me. He rebuilt the seat bases and put in new foam where needed. I replaced the Savana beige with black with silver thread. He did a fantastic job. The seats are tight and have much more support. He charged me 200 bucks looks like I got my moneys worth.

[2ata]

Originally Posted by MrBen

I paid a pro to do this for me. He rebuilt the seat bases and put in new foam where needed. I replaced the Savana beige with black with silver thread. He did a fantastic job. The seats are tight and have much more support. He charged me 200 bucks looks like I got my moneys worth.

Who did you use?

[MrBen]

I used a guy on the north side of Holland. Kind of by the old roller rink. He did my convertible top a couple years ago. I gave him the car. He took the seats out and put them back in as well. I thought it was a lot of work for the money. I gave him a little tip to buy the shop lunch or something on top of the quoted number. PM me if you need more info.

[Stl-986]

it's best to do this with at least a hair dryer but a heat gun is better to warm up the leather and stretch it. You want the leather warm,not hot.

[elgyqc]

A lot of what is explained here may seem incomprehensible until you have taken a seat apart… then it all becomes… a bit clearer.

I was getting nowhere with the cushion so turned my attention to the seat back. My first attempt at inserting the seat covers into the groove in the back of the seat was frustrating as I needed about a half inch more of slack. I regrouped and decided to attach the clips on the bottom that hold the front and back of the cover on each side.
I made up a tool to help pull one clip towards the other than I was able to get them attached using 90 degree needle nose pliers.



Next I set up a small heater to warm up the head rest section, front and back. After leaving the heater do its thing for a half an hour I was able to pull the top part of the back of the cover down and insert it in the grove enough to hold it, then working with a screw driver then my fingers I was able to work it properly in place all the way around. A bit like installing a bicycle tire.



I then installed the heater on the headrest to warm up the interior of the seat.




While test fitting the cover on the bolsters I found that foam moved around so I taped it in place.




I had trouble inserting the tongue into the 2 clips at the top, so I removed clips from the frame and attached them to the seat and then reinstalled them on the frame. Much easier.
Note: the clips were deformed during removal of the old seat cover, so make sure to bend them back together.

For the sides I started by removing the clips to attach them to the cover like at the top… but when I tried to reinstall the clips to the back there was no way I was going to be able to pull enough slack.



Even forcing the black band on what I call the tongue was not going to reach the clip...


So I looked for a way to use zip ties again… their big advantage is that they can be attached with lots of slack then pulled tight and it allows for slight differences in the size of the cover.

This is what I came up with…



... a piece of wire threaded through the channel that the seat back of the cover is pushed into, then zip ties up to the tongues that normally are pushed into the clips. The 2 zips nearest the bottom cushion can be attached to a metal bracket on the frame.




The zip ties can be tightened progressively and then the seat can be assembled. At a later date, when the leather has stretched it can be re-tensioned by just removing the middle insert and tightening up the zips.

I did all this with the cover partially installed… for the passenger seat I will install the wire for the zip ties before inserting the seat back into the groove.

[elgyqc]

The seat back is done, although I plan to go back at some point and work out some of the wrinkles. It turned out fairly well.



The zip ties worked really well, I heated up the leather then worked my way up and down each side rolling the leather toward the interior of the seat and tightening up the zip ties. There is a bit of bunching at the widest part of the bolsters, but I got most of it out.

I am now back to the cushion... still haven't been able to get the bead on the bottom. I am waiting for someone to explain how it can be done easily...

[elgyqc]

Well, I swallowed my pride and asked my girlfriend to help with the seat bottom and we got it together in about an hour with much grunting and groaning. Not perfect but not too bad.



It looks a bit better in reality than in the picture.



We started at the back on one side and worked our way around to the other side. The toughest part was the front and the secret was for one of us to push in the front of the foam to give some slack while the other rolled the the bead into place.

[Chboro]

Thanks for posting these. I'm getting ready to do the same Lseat thing to my 01. BTW - what is your car color called? Is it Rain Forest Green Metallic? That's what mine is and yours is the first one I've seen with the same color.

[elgyqc]

Originally Posted by Chboro

Thanks for posting these. I'm getting ready to do the same Lseat thing to my 01. BTW - what is your car color called? Is it Rain Forest Green Metallic? That's what mine is and yours is the first one I've seen with the same color.

I am happy to post my experiences, hopefully they will help others... almost everything I do is after looking at what has already been posted on the internet. I try to tie together the dribs and drabs that I find here and there and combine them with my experience.

Good luck with your project.

The colour is referred to as Jungle Green (2A1 J4) but it may be the same as yours, I seem to remember seeing it referred to as Rain Forest Green... likely different translations of the original German.

[elgyqc]

The seat is back together and it looks pretty good.

After all the effort that went into installing the cushion I was worried that it might pop off in the front so I screwed in a retainer to make sure it doesn’t move.




The cut-out and installation of the seat back release levers turned out really well.




I had problems with the installation of the panel for the seat controls. I think the new cover distorted the foam so that I could not get one of the top clips to engage. I ground about an 1/8th of an inch off the panel’s lip in the top rear and then was able to install it. Then I had to take it off again because the seat back recline control wasn’t working correctly (see below).

And here it is back in its natural habitat!




When I installed the seat bottom cushion I had a few problems related to the assembly order, I suggest the following. (if I have this wrong please correct me).
Note - when you remove the cushion and its plastic base from the seat frame the wiring for the seat back recliner switch may stay with the frame or the plastic base. It is easier if it remains with the plastic base, in which case the control panel can be removed and replaced with the cushion out of the frame. This means steps 3 and 4 become steps 2 and 3.
1 – install the hinge cover
2 - place the cushion on the frame and pass the seat belt buckle through the back of the frame and install it and clip the wire in place (if you removed the buckle).
3 – position the seat back recliner switch in the hole in the seat cover for the control panel. It goes between the cushion and the frame.
4 – install the recliner switch in the panel for the seat controls and install the panel.
NB – make sure the lever for the recliner switch is centered when installing the switch, if not it will only work in one direction.
5 – before installing the cushion make sure that wire for the recliner motor in the seat back is out of the way. The hardest part is to get the rear of the cushion in place between the seat back and the bottom frame. Working from the bottom, there are 2 conical stand-offs that have to be lifted up into the pads they sit in. With the cushion at an angle you can do them one at a time. Pull the bottom edge of the seat around the shaft for the height adjustment lever as you lower the cushion onto the frame.
6 - install the screw in the rear. Position the wires, some of them are inserted into clips on the sides of the base. Zip-tie the wires.
7 – install the white clips in the front.
8 – insert the seat height adjustment lever into the panel.