removing seats

[RatHead]

Is removing the seats simply a matter of unbolting them from the seat frame mountings as in Section VD (schoolboy giggle) page 15 of the Service notes?

[Paul.P]

Rathead, 4 bolts / seat. Outer ones have nuts underneath the car, probably need some easing fluid, & the inner ones are just bolts, don't forget to undo your seatbelt warning light wires as well.

[RatHead]

thanks paul,
so the seat runners come out as well as the seats?
there is no way of unbolting the seats from the runners and leaving the runners in place?

[Doug]

the runners are part of the seat assembly

see the write-up on seat heaters and you can see me taking my seat apart to see what is involved

4 bolts and the whole thing pops out -- take more time to type this than remove the seat . . .

brace your back though as the seat weight an ungodly amount!!

[Andy_R]

It can be a little trickier to get them back in because of their weight, but as Doug says, it's not one of the hardest jobs.

[Gary]

I understand the under car bolts can be a Ba**ard depending on their condition

[Paul.P]

I understand the under car bolts can be a Ba**ard depending on their condition

They can be Gary, problem is the threads are open to the elements, so best thing is a wire brush & a can of wd40, then once youve put seats back in, smear some grease on the exposed threads.

[Enright]

Looks like we've both been working on seats today Paul (only yours look a bit better)!

I put some copper grease on the bolt threads as soon as they were removed. Shouldn't cause any more problems!

It was really great to find that the driver and passenger side seat bases are interchangeable. Now that I've swapped mine, my bum covers the nasty mark that I previously had to stare at, and it feels like a brand new seat in comparison to the old (almost collapsed) one.

Vast improvement.

[Fubar1764]

Yet another candidate for SS upgrade. The list continues. . .

[Enright]

Pardon? What do you mean? I've done a search but can only find reference to the S2 seat base. Is that what you're referring to?

[Sy V]

Settle down Neil, i think he's referring the possibility of replacing the bolts with stainless steel to prevent corrosion. But it took me a while to realise too...

[Enright]

Oh.

"...and relaaax."

It certainly makes me wonder a couple of things though Sy:
If you take the spacers out from under the seat, then because one of them is slightly longer than the others aren't you putting a twist in the seat base? Does this affect it's operation on the runners?

Also, it highlights how much potential weight there is to be saved for your hillclimb project. But what about seat adjustment? Or would you just measure it to find your ideal position (which you're then stuck with) and bolt your replacement seat straight to the floor, rather than using the original slider mech?

[Sy V]

I'm in that area now actually - see here:

http://www.lotuselancentral.com/forum/v ... 3&start=40

[Dave M]

Oh.

"...and relaaax."

It certainly makes me wonder a couple of things though Sy:
If you take the spacers out from under the seat, then because one of them is slightly longer than the others aren't you putting a twist in the seat base? Does this affect it's operation on the runners?

Also, it highlights how much potential weight there is to be saved for your hillclimb project. But what about seat adjustment? Or would you just measure it to find your ideal position (which you're then stuck with) and bolt your replacement seat straight to the floor, rather than using the original slider mech?

I took the rear spacers out to give the seat base a bit more "tilt" toward the rear. A slight, but noticeable improvement IMO. It did not affect the sliding of the seat at all.

Replacing the seats *does* make a big difference it weight. Going with a lightweight "street" seat (Momo RS GT) and a fixed base (hey, I'm the only one who really drives the car anyway!) I figure I saved 30-40 pounds.