need help with seat restoration

[MattDon]

the bottom has fallen out of my seat (in the car) and id like to refurbish it, however at the moment being 6'3" its a bit tricky looking under the top of the windscreen, so im a little nervous if i put the bottom back on it will be even harder, is it possible to lower the seats?

[dapinky]

Yep.




But just to help out, as well as answer the question, the seat runners are held in with 4 bolts, one at each end of each runner. If you shove it back as far as it will go (probably already there if you're 6'03" ) and undo the 2 front bolts (one is captive, one has a nut so will need a spanner on the underside of the car, with a ratchet inside).
Then adjust the seat to the front of the runners, tilt the backrest forward a bit, and undo the back two bolts, then it is detatched BUT DONT FORGET TO UNDO THE TWO WIRING CONNECTORS TO THE SEAT BELT WARNING LAMP BEFORE LIFTING IT OUT.

With the seat out, the rubber diaphragm can be replaced with a bit of pulling and a lot of swearing - new ones are about £11 from Lotus IIRC

When you replace the seat, just leave out the 4 aluminium spacers from under the seat runners. You may need to source some shorter bolts for the runners, fully threaded, to replace the seats properly.

I'm 6'02" and can just about see out of the windscreen with this method!

For a bit of extra vision, remove the sun visor (screws under a pop-off cover) and wear cool shades and a baseball cap

[Enright]

Like wot ee said.

But just as a bit of additional information:
The foam underneath the seat cover has a nasty habit of breaking up after 15 years. So just replacing the clips and the rubber diaphragm may not be enough. However the seat bases are completely interchangeable from one side to the other.
Invariably the passenger side gets a lot less hammer, so you may decide this is the way to go. It takes a bit longer and you have to remove both seats, but it doesn't cost anything at all!

[Elanlover]

Can you simply replace the foam in the bottom? What kind is it or what would be recommended?

[clemo]

i recommend that the south west edition of the yellow pages (phone book) was fine for many years..
as for the foam bit ?
i have no idea !!

[MattDon]

thankyou all, im curious though do you think the washers will remove the height i gain from rebuilding the seat? i think im going to just swap them around and possibley try to get leather seats later or the ones i have refitted. so on the shopping list, is a diaphram, some foam, and clips, doesnt sound too painful.

[theelanman]

there are spacers under the seat which 'lift' it which can be taken out
I changed my se seats for s2 seats and put the se seat spacers in...only to find out that the s2 seat spacers are smaller.......Ive not changed them out yet but I think Im gonna get rid of them completely to lower the driving position
cheers
G

[dapinky]

Matt,

The part you require is:-

C100U0117F Diaphragm Seat (S1 Cars) Elan 89 on - £11.00

Details from Aftersales parts list, there were 26 availlable, but i don't know how many are left now

This has all the clips you need, then it may be just a case of sourcing some 1" thich upholstery foam from somewhere, although i didn't replace mine.

Perhaps the best compromise is to remove both seats, fit a new diaphragn to the knackered one, then choose the best seat squab for the drivers' side (probably the one from the passenger side) as they are NOT 'handed' and bolt it onto the correct seat back (which are handed).

Replace the drivers seat without the spacers (it'll give you a good 1.5" drop) and the passengers side with or without spacers as required.

If there is still not quite the view you need, remove the sun visor and wear shades!

When i did mine I had to do some stitching to one of the seams where the thread had seperated, i re-coloured and sealed the leather, put it all back together and it still only took just over half a day.

[Sy V]

Two bits of input here:

By removing the rear spacers only you drop your arse down and give yourself more of a bucket feel to your sitting angle. This is ample adjustment for me as a long-backed 6'2" individual.
By removing the spacers you will find that your seat protectors on the back panel will no longer align with the frame protuberance when the hood's folded - causing damage to the rear of your seat(s), if the come into contact with the folded hood frame.

[dapinky]

Two bits of input here:
By removing the rear spacers only you drop your arse down and give yourself more of a bucket feel to your sitting angle. This is ample adjustment for me as a long-backed 6'2" individual.
By removing the spacers you will find that your seat protectors on the back panel will no longer align with the frame protuberance when the hood's folded - causing damage to the rear of your seat(s), if the come into contact with the folded hood frame.

2 very valid points from someone who knows far more than me

I forgot to say in my bit above, but i re-located the seat protector shields to allow for this!

[MattDon]

lots of info there, i think im feeling ready to have a go with all your help. funny thing is i find there is more than enough leg space, and to be fair there is enough head room, its just that my head sticks over the windscreen with the hood down and of course my vision is impared with the hood up or down.

[Sy V]

Matt

The outer bolts have nuts underneath the car and will need plenty of prelube with WD-40 or similar.
IIRC the inboards are semi-captive (the nuts move around a bit in their positions)...so be careful when removing the bolts, not to lose the recipient nut within its void.

[Dico]

there are spacers under the seat which 'lift' it which can be taken out
I changed my se seats for s2 seats and put the se seat spacers in...only to find out that the s2 seat spacers are smaller.......Ive not changed them out yet but I think Im gonna get rid of them completely to lower the driving position
cheers
G

Ah, that explains why i'm now sitting much higher since I swapped mine.
I thought it was down to the solid base in the S2, but maybe not.