Refurbishing a van seat - possible ?

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Folks

Wondered if anybody had experience of refurbishing a car/van seat. The driver's seat on my recently-purchased '05 Pug Partner van has been well 'sat out' - it looks as if it should be possible to replace just the foam 'squab' (is that the right word??) - but I'm caution of taking on one of those jobs that's not d-i-y-able.

The Haynes Manual gives dire warnings about the little doofus that explosively pre-tensions the seat-belt - but it looks as if the whole seat would be removable by undoing four bolts - at which point the seat cover could be removed and a new foam section fitted....

Alternatively, maybe, the old foam could be utilised with a piece of new high-density foam underneath it (between the existing faom and the wire supports)...

Anybody 'been there - done that' and got tales to tell ?

Thanks Adrian

[Adrian]

Adrian Brentnall gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Treat it like an airbag. Disconnect the battery, then wander off for a languid cuppa whilst the capacitors discharge.

[Adrian Brentnall]

Ah - is that the way it's done (don't have such refinements on my other car - which is a '64 Moggie Traveller! )

The warning was about 'testing' the pre-tensioner with an AVO - presumably it's OK just to disconnect the thing at the multi-way connector under the seat ??

[Chris Bartram]

Yeah, but follow Adrian's advice first. Don't reconnect the battery with the seat out and connector apart as it may flag an error in an ECU.

[Adrian Brentnall]

Only worry is whether the radio (standard Pug fitment) is coded - 'cos I think it may want a code when the battery is reconnected ?

But about the seat foam / refurb thing..... any comments please ?? Thanks Adrian

[fred]

In article , Adrian Brentnall writes

A relative of mine does this sort of thing for a living and it doesn't appear to be rocket science but I haven't watched him do car seat work so can't reply in detail. Your idea of supplementing the original foam sounds good because, as you have said, you retain the embedded wire support structure. High density foam sounds right too.

I have repaired a vinyl covered car seat in the past and it was a straightforward task to take the skin off and repair it before reinstating but the foam was fine in that case.

[Keith W]

On some Pugs the radio is paired to the ECU and does not need to have a code entered when the battery has been disconnected. Worth checking whether yours is first though.