Driver side seat is done and in. Not that bad of a mod but there are a couple of obstacles that would turn some away. I don't have time for a writeup but I'll link a few photos for now.
Tob,
I sold my Ford racing covers for 350.00 on eBay....Al
My FRPP Recaro's just came in...
- Thread starter Tob
- Start date
Tob,
I sold my Ford racing covers for 350.00 on eBay....Al
Thanks guys.
I have yet to turn the key since adding the FTBR brakes, FRPP relocation brackets, Bob's oil separator, or the '13 CF driveshaft (all were added after last summer). When the Recaro's are done I'll actually drive the damn thing!
I have yet to turn the key since adding the FTBR brakes, FRPP relocation brackets, Bob's oil separator, or the '13 CF driveshaft (all were added after last summer). When the Recaro's are done I'll actually drive the damn thing!
Looks real good,and nice job Tob!
I think the best tricks are those that come from experience but I'll do my best to share what I learned in this endeavor. To recap:
- All I wanted was to purchase a pair of leather Recaro seats from Ford Racing. To date, they won't.
- I purchased a pair of the 'B' seats that FRPP has since discontinued. They currently only carry the 'C' seats which are a bit more expensive.
- I picked up a complete set of take-off 2013 GT500 leather seat skins from Dean at Rehagen Racing that will hopefully allow me to get what I simply wanted to buy in the first place - a leather Recaro seat.
- Because it was so easy, I also swapped bases between my stock 2009 GT500 seats and the FRPP Recaro's. This gave me the power track, and by swapping in the lumbar mechanism from the stock seats, the Recaro seats would then have power lumbar as well.
To begin, I started with the driver side first. I like to tackle the most difficult portion of an install first and then finish with the easy part. The driver side is definitely more involved than the passenger side.
I had already removed the seats from the vehicle. I laid them on some carpet in my basement and did most of the work on my hands and knees. Here you can see the lumbar and track switches as well as the seatback release...
As mentioned, they all come off well enough.
The seatback release lever came first. There is no way to pull it off from the face.
You have to go underneath the plastic cover to remove the retaining clip. I used a cotter pin removal tool (a dental style pick or small screw driver may suffice as well).
I then removed the small phillips head screw from the rear of the plastic cover.
Next was the multi-function seat track switch. You can gently pry it off by applying pressure equally from two sides. A pair of flat blade screw drivers or trim removal tools work well here.
Since the power lumbar button isn't placed over the side plastic cover you can leave it alone for now. Moving to the rear of the side plastic cover...
There is a large white push pin that anchors the rear of the cover to the seat frame. A long, skinny flat blade screw driver inserted can ease its removal while also pulling the rear of the cover away from the seat frame.
At about the middle of the cover, there is a large plastic tab that snaps into the seat frame as well.
The plastic tab slips into a steel 'V' retainer which locks into the seat base.
Same type of retaining mechanism at the front of the cover, only a little smaller.
Release the seat skin bottom clips, unplug the remaining harness to the multi-function switch as well as the lumbar switch, and you have successfully removed the side cover/switches/etc.
You can see the rear push pin as well as the respective hole it comes in.
These are the plastic retainers that are woven onto the edges of the seat bottom skin that simply slip off of the 'bar' that normally keeps them taut...
Similar to the structure underneath our dashboards, corrosion always seems to find a way...
The rear of the seat bottom skin is held in place by a long clip, similar to the sides, that is simply pried or slipped off of its respective bar.
The gray harness connectors are for the power lumbar mounted on the factory seat. Unplug it.
The underside.
In order to separate the seat back from the seat bottom, you have to remove the yellow side air bag connector from where it currently terminates.
The front of the skin is retained by a long plastic clip that slides onto a flat portion of sheetmetal. It pries off easy enough...
I then flipped the seat over to the other side.
- All I wanted was to purchase a pair of leather Recaro seats from Ford Racing. To date, they won't.
- I purchased a pair of the 'B' seats that FRPP has since discontinued. They currently only carry the 'C' seats which are a bit more expensive.
- I picked up a complete set of take-off 2013 GT500 leather seat skins from Dean at Rehagen Racing that will hopefully allow me to get what I simply wanted to buy in the first place - a leather Recaro seat.
- Because it was so easy, I also swapped bases between my stock 2009 GT500 seats and the FRPP Recaro's. This gave me the power track, and by swapping in the lumbar mechanism from the stock seats, the Recaro seats would then have power lumbar as well.
To begin, I started with the driver side first. I like to tackle the most difficult portion of an install first and then finish with the easy part. The driver side is definitely more involved than the passenger side.
I had already removed the seats from the vehicle. I laid them on some carpet in my basement and did most of the work on my hands and knees. Here you can see the lumbar and track switches as well as the seatback release...
As mentioned, they all come off well enough.
The seatback release lever came first. There is no way to pull it off from the face.
You have to go underneath the plastic cover to remove the retaining clip. I used a cotter pin removal tool (a dental style pick or small screw driver may suffice as well).
I then removed the small phillips head screw from the rear of the plastic cover.
Next was the multi-function seat track switch. You can gently pry it off by applying pressure equally from two sides. A pair of flat blade screw drivers or trim removal tools work well here.
Since the power lumbar button isn't placed over the side plastic cover you can leave it alone for now. Moving to the rear of the side plastic cover...
There is a large white push pin that anchors the rear of the cover to the seat frame. A long, skinny flat blade screw driver inserted can ease its removal while also pulling the rear of the cover away from the seat frame.
At about the middle of the cover, there is a large plastic tab that snaps into the seat frame as well.
The plastic tab slips into a steel 'V' retainer which locks into the seat base.
Same type of retaining mechanism at the front of the cover, only a little smaller.
Release the seat skin bottom clips, unplug the remaining harness to the multi-function switch as well as the lumbar switch, and you have successfully removed the side cover/switches/etc.
You can see the rear push pin as well as the respective hole it comes in.
These are the plastic retainers that are woven onto the edges of the seat bottom skin that simply slip off of the 'bar' that normally keeps them taut...
Similar to the structure underneath our dashboards, corrosion always seems to find a way...
The rear of the seat bottom skin is held in place by a long clip, similar to the sides, that is simply pried or slipped off of its respective bar.
The gray harness connectors are for the power lumbar mounted on the factory seat. Unplug it.
The underside.
In order to separate the seat back from the seat bottom, you have to remove the yellow side air bag connector from where it currently terminates.
The front of the skin is retained by a long plastic clip that slides onto a flat portion of sheetmetal. It pries off easy enough...
I then flipped the seat over to the other side.
Disconnect these two plugs...
There are four bolts, two on each side of the seat, that join the seat back to the seat bottom. A 15mm socket allows their removal.
You are now left with the bottom seat frame/motor/etc. My plan included swapping this for the one that came on my FRPP Recaro's. There is some welding involved - more on that later...
At this point I started work on the FRPP Recaro seat.
Because the FRPP cloth skin was going to be completely removed, I had to remove the seat lever located on the upper back face. The knob pries off...
You then have to remove a small Torx screw at its base.
I then moved on to the trickiest part of the swap - the harness bezels, located near the top of the seat. There are two pairs of the these, each pair splitting into two pieces. I'll fast forward to show what it is that needs to be released. There are two 'snaps' on top of each pair, two on the bottom, and two retainers on each side...
Be very careful here. You don't want to damage the skin, the bezel, or yourself. I used a combination of small flat blade screw drivers, picks and pry bars (all can be found in the hardware section at your local Home Depot). You definitely need a small flashlight (which helps throughout this mod - make sure you have one!).
By carefully prying the bezel up or down, I could see inside and tell where the tabs were. I then released each tab with a screw driver from the back side.
You can see the 'hooks' that retain the skin at each bezel location...
Once the tabs on top and on the bottom of each bezel was released, I simply pulled the bezels apart from each side. The side retainers released on their own with enough pressure. They are what hold each bezel to the seat.
The above is one of the more challenging portions of this install. You simply have to make it through it once to know what you are up against. It isn't easy. Once done, the next one isn't as difficult.
I then moved onto the rest of the Recaro disassembly. Laying it upon its side...
No electric switches here, just the same seat back release, and a unique seat height adjustment lever...
Pretty self explanatory.
The seat back release is identical to that of the OE seat. With no switches in the way, the rest of the cover removal is the same as well.
Flipping the seat over...
I then removed the yellow air bag plug from the seat bottom as well as the four bolts at the base of the seat back...
For reference, this area of the Recaro fabric seat skin was tucked into place as opposed to being held in place via a clip.
Removing the clips that keep the skin attached to the frame and you see the bolster 'frame' that is not present on the original seat (this piece must be removed and welded to the original frame if you want to use the power base).
The two seat bases next to each other...
One of the welds that needs to be cut...
The two seat bottom skin/foam 'assemblies' (note that one uses a push pin and the other a clip at the same location)...
At this point you can swap the seat bottom skins. Peeling back the FRPP skin, a familiar tag rears its head.
Similar to Velcro, the skin pulls right off (no hog rings!).
Easiest part of the install, placing the new skin into place - simple reversal of the removal.
Note - I'm placing the seat bottom onto the original base for photo purposes. The metal side bolster reinforcements have to be swapped onto the original base for power to be used...
More tomorrow!
No electric switches here, just the same seat back release, and a unique seat height adjustment lever...
Pretty self explanatory.
The seat back release is identical to that of the OE seat. With no switches in the way, the rest of the cover removal is the same as well.
Flipping the seat over...
I then removed the yellow air bag plug from the seat bottom as well as the four bolts at the base of the seat back...
For reference, this area of the Recaro fabric seat skin was tucked into place as opposed to being held in place via a clip.
Removing the clips that keep the skin attached to the frame and you see the bolster 'frame' that is not present on the original seat (this piece must be removed and welded to the original frame if you want to use the power base).
The two seat bases next to each other...
One of the welds that needs to be cut...
The two seat bottom skin/foam 'assemblies' (note that one uses a push pin and the other a clip at the same location)...
At this point you can swap the seat bottom skins. Peeling back the FRPP skin, a familiar tag rears its head.
Similar to Velcro, the skin pulls right off (no hog rings!).
Easiest part of the install, placing the new skin into place - simple reversal of the removal.
Note - I'm placing the seat bottom onto the original base for photo purposes. The metal side bolster reinforcements have to be swapped onto the original base for power to be used...
More tomorrow!
as always very nice write-up Tob!!!!
only thing you do not need to swap the metal side bolster onto the original base for power to be used, save yourself some work and remove the 4 bolts that keep both pieces of the base togheter and swap the power... i have done 4 of these swaps on 07 including my car that now has a pair of power Recaros
only thing you do not need to swap the metal side bolster onto the original base for power to be used, save yourself some work and remove the 4 bolts that keep both pieces of the base togheter and swap the power... i have done 4 of these swaps on 07 including my car that now has a pair of power Recaros
Have a question on the passenger seat, Is the seat bladder in between the foam and leather on stock seat or does it rest under the stock foam. If it is in-between leather and foam does it require hog rings and puller? When swapped over I take it no hog rings needed?
Thanks
Thanks
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Somebody else will have to comment on the bladder as I haven't done the passenger seat yet. I'll get to it tomorrow (I hope!).
As far as hog rings are concerned, the Recaro seats don't use them. The original factory seats do however.
I've read this over a few times now and am a bit confused by what you wrote. Are you saying that you did the swap without including the thigh bolster reinforcement plates? If that is the case, I still want them there as they offer additional support. If you are saying that I could have use the Recaro seat bottom 'top' along with the motor - I guess I could see that. However, I needed some form of mechanism to raise/lower my original seats so I definitely wanted the Recaro 'top' placed onto my now motorless original seat. Either way, kudos to you for breaking ground on this mod, if you will.
As far as hog rings are concerned, the Recaro seats don't use them. The original factory seats do however.
BilletProShop said:
I've read this over a few times now and am a bit confused by what you wrote. Are you saying that you did the swap without including the thigh bolster reinforcement plates? If that is the case, I still want them there as they offer additional support. If you are saying that I could have use the Recaro seat bottom 'top' along with the motor - I guess I could see that. However, I needed some form of mechanism to raise/lower my original seats so I definitely wanted the Recaro 'top' placed onto my now motorless original seat. Either way, kudos to you for breaking ground on this mod, if you will.
The bladder is between the foam and the metal seat frame.It is held in place by plastic push pins to the seat frame...and as noted by TOB,no hog rings.It is easy to swap from seat to seat...
You really do need the side bolster plates.Without them the seat cushion has no support.They will wear from getting in and out. i think the stitches in the seats will give over time.It is possible to do without,but does not offer the correct support if you really drive your car hard.I swap them on evey set i've done.Not hard work.I want it like it was designed...but that's just me...All of them i do are power also.
It sounds to me that he is saying that the power mechanism can be separated from the metal base of the seat. Same with the new seat. Then you just bolt the new metal base that already has the bolsters onto the power mechanism. So you don't have to do anything but swap the metal bases with the lower mechanisms. Sounds like there are 4 bolts that hold the metal base on top of the auto mechanism. I have not done this but that is how it reads to me.
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