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SVT Shelby GT500
My FRPP Recaro's just came in...
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<blockquote data-quote="Paul." data-source="post: 13916865" data-attributes="member: 156070"><p>My heated, power, leather Shelby Recaro passenger seat is in… and it works!</p><p></p><p>Not gonna lie, this is kind of a lot of work. I started this project at 11:30 a.m. today, having already stripped the Recaros down previously, and didn’t finish until after 7 p.m. Of course, I was taking my time and stopped for lunch, but still, it was no picnic. My back is sore and my fingers are cut up.</p><p></p><p>…and it was so worth it.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Here’s my best shot at a how-to, keeping in mind that I’ve omitted the overwhelming majority of seat disassembly as Tob has covered that exhaustively already.</p><p></p><p>Here is my factory 401A black premium leather passenger seat. My car has the comfort package so both my front seats are power and heated.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548772[/ATTACH]</p><p>First things first, remove the negative battery cable, and prepare yourself for some work. You need to remove the airbag fuse for safety and to help prevent a potential airbag light later. Or so I’m told. Don’t know where the interior fusebox is? I didn’t either. After some Google-Fu on the internetz, I discovered that it’s in the passenger kick panel. There’s a little door that you pull off, then a paper cover that is taped and velcro’d on.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548773[/ATTACH]</p><p>Bam! Fusebox. Pull the red 10 amp fuse - #31. It’s already missing in this picture.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548774[/ATTACH]</p><p>It’s that one – where the hole is. (your car may have less fuses than mine, I have pretty much all the options so virtually every slot is filled)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548775[/ATTACH]</p><p>You can look at the map on the cover.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548776[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548777[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Then unbolt the four bolts (13mm and 15mm) that are holding the seat in place. If you have power seats, you actually might want to remove these bolts before you pull the batter so you can slide the seat forward/backward for easy access to the bolts. I did. Once that’s done, put on your weightlifting, and prepare to jack up your back. <strong>My OEM passenger seat weighed in at 57.8 pounds.</strong> (using my ultra-scientific bathroom scale)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548778[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I brought it inside, and flipped it on its side on the rug. Here’s what it looks like underneath.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548779[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Found this tag with a date on it. Neat.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548780[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I <em>highly</em> recommend you have a set of trim tools for this job. I bought this cheap seat at Harbor Freigh years ago and they’ve served me well.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548781[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Then, follow TOB’s incredibly detailed instructions on seat disassembly. This will take a little bit. DON’T LOSE THE DANG CLIP THAT HOLDS THE SEAT TILT LEVER! That thing loves to go flying and traverse different dimensions of time and space.</p><p></p><p>Once I was far enough along to split the seat back and bottom, I snapped a few pics of the seat heater wiring and connectors.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548782[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548783[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Note that the seat back heater goes <em>through</em> the upholstery. You have to disconnect it at the seat base, then pull it out.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548784[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Here’s the two seat heater connectors. The grey one does the seat back, the green one is the seat cushion heater.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548785[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Seat back and cushion are officially separated.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548786[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>When you pull the cushion, it exposes the OCS. (occupant classification system)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548787[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Here’s a pic of the cushion and foam.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548788[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>When you peel the leather back, you can see the seat heater. Note that these are not Velcro’d in like the Recaros. There appears to be a rod and some hog rings retaining the leather skins.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548789[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548790[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548791[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Here are the two bare seat bases before I started swapping stuff.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548792[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548793[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548794[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This is the Recaro OCS sensor. It looks quite a bit different from my OEM one.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548795[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>It is riveted onto the frame.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548796[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This is the OCS sensor from my factory seat. It’s much larger, and held in with three rivets. Two up front and one through the top of the seat frame.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548797[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548798[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548799[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>While the Recaro <em>should</em> be totally plug ‘n’ play as far as OCS systems go, I am paranoid, and figured I might as well swap everything since I’m neck-deep in this mess already anyway. Sooo, I started drilling rivets.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548800[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Pop the green push-pins holding the OCS bladder in place to reveal the top rivet.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548801[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>There it is.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548802[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>To remove the OCS bladder from the seat, you have to slide the connector retainer off of a metal tab on the seat. It’s held in by a very small metal tab that you just pry up gently with a screwdriver. Then it will slide right off. Disconnect the connectors too.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548803[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Should look like this.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548804[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Seat tracks with OCS removed before swappage occurs.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548805[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548806[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I don’t have a welder, and even if I did, I’m a colossally crappy welder, so rather than cut and re-weld the extra metal bolster supports from the Recaro to my original seat, I unbolted the “tops” of each seat track assembly and swapped them. Remove the four nuts on each seat track.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548807[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548808[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This is everything blown apart. Recaro manual track on left. OEM power assembly on right.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548809[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Recaro track.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548810[/ATTACH]</p><p>OEM track. There is some wiring that you’ll need to remove using a trim tool so you can reinstall it on the new upper half from the Recaro.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548811[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Using my big rivet gun that I got to put new door handles on my foxbody notch, I riveted the OCS modules back onto the now-swapped upper halves. Then I reinstalled all the wiring.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548812[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548813[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This is the completed power, heated Recaro seat track.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548814[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548815[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548816[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548817[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Here are both seat tracks next to each other after the swap.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548818[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548819[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p></p><p>Now onto the seat warmer pads themselves. On the left is the seat back warmer. Right is seat bottom warmer.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548820[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548821[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Seat back warmer PN.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548822[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Seat bottom warmer PN.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548823[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Side-by-side upholstery.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548824[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Note that the cushions themselves are different. The Recaros have a Velcro groove in the bottom that the OEM seat cushion doesn’t. [ATTACH=full]548825[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This is problematic because the seat heater covers that groove completely.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548826[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The seat heater pads are held in place by double-side tape strips on either side of the pad. Lifting up the OEM pad, you’ll find a small recess cast into the foam to accommodate the heater element terminal thingy. This is also problematic because no such provision exists on the Shelby foam.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548827[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Time to get creative. Here you’ll notice the Velcro groove on the Recaro cushion that holds the leather skin tightly in place.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548828[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This strip sewn into the covers gets pushed down into that groove.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548829[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>When I put the heater over the top of the cushion, I paid close attention to where the heater wire passed through the pad. There was a “straight” section where the wire itself didn’t interfere with the groove, but the pad did.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548830[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548831[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>See what I’m talking about? The wires pass on either side of the groove.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548832[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I used a sharpie to draw some straight lines across the pad, paying close attention to avoid the heater wires. Then I grabbed my scissors, and got to cutting.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548833[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548834[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I got most of it out of the way. There was still a section in the center that had to remain because I can’t cut the wires. Still, most of the groove was exposed. This was a good thing.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548835[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Next up, I had to do something about making a recess in the foam for the little connector thingy.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548836[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>After mocking it up, I used a sharpie to mark where I was gonna do some damage.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548837[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Then I used a razor blade to cut a little hole with a “pigtail” provision on it.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548838[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548839[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Then after taking some measurements, I VERY CAREFULLY cut away some of the material that gets pushed down into the groove. My goal was to ensure that it didn’t stick up too much and create a bump in the upholstery once installed. Don’t cut your expensive leather covers!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548840[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Then I mocked up the cover to see how it fit before I peeled the tape and installed the heater pad for the last time. It tucks in perfectly, and everything looks nice and toight. Toight like a Toiger.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548841[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548842[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Pull the cover back off. Flip the heater pad. Pull off the orange film to expose the tap.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548843[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Install the pad for the last time.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548844[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Install your leather, being careful to ensure that all the Velcro is pushed down into the grooves and is held tightly. If you don’t do this, your upholstery will look like crap.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548845[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Seat back heaters were next.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548846[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The seat back heaters have this weird gap in the middle, presumably to fit the architecture of the OEM seat backs I’m sure. However, since I didn’t disassemble the OEM seat backs (because they were held together with hog rings and rods) I don’t have pictures. I just tried to figure out how these pads might fit best on the Recaro foam. I used a sharpie to mark the wires to ensure I didn’t cut them.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548847[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I cut a slot in the top like I did before to provide for attaching the Velcro.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548848[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I didn’t want the big gap in the middle because it pushed the seat heater down pretty far to a section that your back wouldn’t be resting against while driving. I resolved that somehow I would bring the sections together, kinda like this.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548849[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>So, I VERY CAREFULLY trimmed away all the pad around the wires so I could manipulate everything more easily and not create a lump in the upholstery. Not sure if this was the best solution, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548850[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Cut away a small section in the upholstery again.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548851[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Mock up a provision for the connector thingy again.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548852[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Cut the hole.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548853[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Made sure that things fit to my satisfaction, then installed the heater pad.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548854[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Installed the skin per TOB’s instructions. By the way TOB, thanks for the advice on zip-typing the leather flaps up where the clamshells pass through the seat. Mine were cut just like yours, and your trick worked perfectly. In this picture, you can see the seat heater connector on the left, and the yellow airbag connector on the right.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548855[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Bolt the halves together, and reconnect all of the various electrical connectors, harnesses, and clips. Then do any final reassembly per TOB’s instructions.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548856[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>BAM! Here you have a heated, power, Shelby leather Recaro passenger seat. This is quite an endeavor, and this is a pretty expensive seat. <strong>The completed passenger seat weighs in at 62.2 pounds, which is 4.4 pounds heavier than the seat that came out.</strong> These are NOT lightweights.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]548857[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>After installing it in the car, I went for a quick drive with my girlfriend so she could verify that her butt was, in fact, being warmed by my new seats. She did confirm that she had a hot ass, and all was right with the world. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]548858[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Driver side, which should be easier, is still to come. I’m going to tackle that this weekend. More to come. I hope this write-up is helpful.</p><p></p><p>Paul.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Paul., post: 13916865, member: 156070"] My heated, power, leather Shelby Recaro passenger seat is in… and it works! Not gonna lie, this is kind of a lot of work. I started this project at 11:30 a.m. today, having already stripped the Recaros down previously, and didn’t finish until after 7 p.m. Of course, I was taking my time and stopped for lunch, but still, it was no picnic. My back is sore and my fingers are cut up. …and it was so worth it. Here’s my best shot at a how-to, keeping in mind that I’ve omitted the overwhelming majority of seat disassembly as Tob has covered that exhaustively already. Here is my factory 401A black premium leather passenger seat. My car has the comfort package so both my front seats are power and heated. [ATTACH=full]548772[/ATTACH] First things first, remove the negative battery cable, and prepare yourself for some work. You need to remove the airbag fuse for safety and to help prevent a potential airbag light later. Or so I’m told. Don’t know where the interior fusebox is? I didn’t either. After some Google-Fu on the internetz, I discovered that it’s in the passenger kick panel. There’s a little door that you pull off, then a paper cover that is taped and velcro’d on. [ATTACH=full]548773[/ATTACH] Bam! Fusebox. Pull the red 10 amp fuse - #31. It’s already missing in this picture. [ATTACH=full]548774[/ATTACH] It’s that one – where the hole is. (your car may have less fuses than mine, I have pretty much all the options so virtually every slot is filled) [ATTACH=full]548775[/ATTACH] You can look at the map on the cover. [ATTACH=full]548776[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548777[/ATTACH] Then unbolt the four bolts (13mm and 15mm) that are holding the seat in place. If you have power seats, you actually might want to remove these bolts before you pull the batter so you can slide the seat forward/backward for easy access to the bolts. I did. Once that’s done, put on your weightlifting, and prepare to jack up your back. [b]My OEM passenger seat weighed in at 57.8 pounds.[/b] (using my ultra-scientific bathroom scale) [ATTACH=full]548778[/ATTACH] I brought it inside, and flipped it on its side on the rug. Here’s what it looks like underneath. [ATTACH=full]548779[/ATTACH] Found this tag with a date on it. Neat. [ATTACH=full]548780[/ATTACH] I [i]highly[/i] recommend you have a set of trim tools for this job. I bought this cheap seat at Harbor Freigh years ago and they’ve served me well. [ATTACH=full]548781[/ATTACH] Then, follow TOB’s incredibly detailed instructions on seat disassembly. This will take a little bit. DON’T LOSE THE DANG CLIP THAT HOLDS THE SEAT TILT LEVER! That thing loves to go flying and traverse different dimensions of time and space. Once I was far enough along to split the seat back and bottom, I snapped a few pics of the seat heater wiring and connectors. [ATTACH=full]548782[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548783[/ATTACH] Note that the seat back heater goes [i]through[/i] the upholstery. You have to disconnect it at the seat base, then pull it out. [ATTACH=full]548784[/ATTACH] Here’s the two seat heater connectors. The grey one does the seat back, the green one is the seat cushion heater. [ATTACH=full]548785[/ATTACH] Seat back and cushion are officially separated. [ATTACH=full]548786[/ATTACH] When you pull the cushion, it exposes the OCS. (occupant classification system) [ATTACH=full]548787[/ATTACH] Here’s a pic of the cushion and foam. [ATTACH=full]548788[/ATTACH] When you peel the leather back, you can see the seat heater. Note that these are not Velcro’d in like the Recaros. There appears to be a rod and some hog rings retaining the leather skins. [ATTACH=full]548789[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548790[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548791[/ATTACH] Here are the two bare seat bases before I started swapping stuff. [ATTACH=full]548792[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548793[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548794[/ATTACH] This is the Recaro OCS sensor. It looks quite a bit different from my OEM one. [ATTACH=full]548795[/ATTACH] It is riveted onto the frame. [ATTACH=full]548796[/ATTACH] This is the OCS sensor from my factory seat. It’s much larger, and held in with three rivets. Two up front and one through the top of the seat frame. [ATTACH=full]548797[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548798[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548799[/ATTACH] While the Recaro [i]should[/i] be totally plug ‘n’ play as far as OCS systems go, I am paranoid, and figured I might as well swap everything since I’m neck-deep in this mess already anyway. Sooo, I started drilling rivets. [ATTACH=full]548800[/ATTACH] Pop the green push-pins holding the OCS bladder in place to reveal the top rivet. [ATTACH=full]548801[/ATTACH] There it is. [ATTACH=full]548802[/ATTACH] To remove the OCS bladder from the seat, you have to slide the connector retainer off of a metal tab on the seat. It’s held in by a very small metal tab that you just pry up gently with a screwdriver. Then it will slide right off. Disconnect the connectors too. [ATTACH=full]548803[/ATTACH] Should look like this. [ATTACH=full]548804[/ATTACH] Seat tracks with OCS removed before swappage occurs. [ATTACH=full]548805[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548806[/ATTACH] I don’t have a welder, and even if I did, I’m a colossally crappy welder, so rather than cut and re-weld the extra metal bolster supports from the Recaro to my original seat, I unbolted the “tops” of each seat track assembly and swapped them. Remove the four nuts on each seat track. [ATTACH=full]548807[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548808[/ATTACH] This is everything blown apart. Recaro manual track on left. OEM power assembly on right. [ATTACH=full]548809[/ATTACH] Recaro track. [ATTACH=full]548810[/ATTACH] OEM track. There is some wiring that you’ll need to remove using a trim tool so you can reinstall it on the new upper half from the Recaro. [ATTACH=full]548811[/ATTACH] Using my big rivet gun that I got to put new door handles on my foxbody notch, I riveted the OCS modules back onto the now-swapped upper halves. Then I reinstalled all the wiring. [ATTACH=full]548812[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548813[/ATTACH] This is the completed power, heated Recaro seat track. [ATTACH=full]548814[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548815[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548816[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548817[/ATTACH] Here are both seat tracks next to each other after the swap. [ATTACH=full]548818[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548819[/ATTACH] Now onto the seat warmer pads themselves. On the left is the seat back warmer. Right is seat bottom warmer. [ATTACH=full]548820[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548821[/ATTACH] Seat back warmer PN. [ATTACH=full]548822[/ATTACH] Seat bottom warmer PN. [ATTACH=full]548823[/ATTACH] Side-by-side upholstery. [ATTACH=full]548824[/ATTACH] Note that the cushions themselves are different. The Recaros have a Velcro groove in the bottom that the OEM seat cushion doesn’t. [ATTACH=full]548825[/ATTACH] This is problematic because the seat heater covers that groove completely. [ATTACH=full]548826[/ATTACH] The seat heater pads are held in place by double-side tape strips on either side of the pad. Lifting up the OEM pad, you’ll find a small recess cast into the foam to accommodate the heater element terminal thingy. This is also problematic because no such provision exists on the Shelby foam. [ATTACH=full]548827[/ATTACH] Time to get creative. Here you’ll notice the Velcro groove on the Recaro cushion that holds the leather skin tightly in place. [ATTACH=full]548828[/ATTACH] This strip sewn into the covers gets pushed down into that groove. [ATTACH=full]548829[/ATTACH] When I put the heater over the top of the cushion, I paid close attention to where the heater wire passed through the pad. There was a “straight” section where the wire itself didn’t interfere with the groove, but the pad did. [ATTACH=full]548830[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548831[/ATTACH] See what I’m talking about? The wires pass on either side of the groove. [ATTACH=full]548832[/ATTACH] I used a sharpie to draw some straight lines across the pad, paying close attention to avoid the heater wires. Then I grabbed my scissors, and got to cutting. [ATTACH=full]548833[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548834[/ATTACH] I got most of it out of the way. There was still a section in the center that had to remain because I can’t cut the wires. Still, most of the groove was exposed. This was a good thing. [ATTACH=full]548835[/ATTACH] Next up, I had to do something about making a recess in the foam for the little connector thingy. [ATTACH=full]548836[/ATTACH] After mocking it up, I used a sharpie to mark where I was gonna do some damage. [ATTACH=full]548837[/ATTACH] Then I used a razor blade to cut a little hole with a “pigtail” provision on it. [ATTACH=full]548838[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548839[/ATTACH] Then after taking some measurements, I VERY CAREFULLY cut away some of the material that gets pushed down into the groove. My goal was to ensure that it didn’t stick up too much and create a bump in the upholstery once installed. Don’t cut your expensive leather covers! [ATTACH=full]548840[/ATTACH] Then I mocked up the cover to see how it fit before I peeled the tape and installed the heater pad for the last time. It tucks in perfectly, and everything looks nice and toight. Toight like a Toiger. [ATTACH=full]548841[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]548842[/ATTACH] Pull the cover back off. Flip the heater pad. Pull off the orange film to expose the tap. [ATTACH=full]548843[/ATTACH] Install the pad for the last time. [ATTACH=full]548844[/ATTACH] Install your leather, being careful to ensure that all the Velcro is pushed down into the grooves and is held tightly. If you don’t do this, your upholstery will look like crap. [ATTACH=full]548845[/ATTACH] Seat back heaters were next. [ATTACH=full]548846[/ATTACH] The seat back heaters have this weird gap in the middle, presumably to fit the architecture of the OEM seat backs I’m sure. However, since I didn’t disassemble the OEM seat backs (because they were held together with hog rings and rods) I don’t have pictures. I just tried to figure out how these pads might fit best on the Recaro foam. I used a sharpie to mark the wires to ensure I didn’t cut them. [ATTACH=full]548847[/ATTACH] I cut a slot in the top like I did before to provide for attaching the Velcro. [ATTACH=full]548848[/ATTACH] I didn’t want the big gap in the middle because it pushed the seat heater down pretty far to a section that your back wouldn’t be resting against while driving. I resolved that somehow I would bring the sections together, kinda like this. [ATTACH=full]548849[/ATTACH] So, I VERY CAREFULLY trimmed away all the pad around the wires so I could manipulate everything more easily and not create a lump in the upholstery. Not sure if this was the best solution, but it was the best I could come up with at the time. [ATTACH=full]548850[/ATTACH] Cut away a small section in the upholstery again. [ATTACH=full]548851[/ATTACH] Mock up a provision for the connector thingy again. [ATTACH=full]548852[/ATTACH] Cut the hole. [ATTACH=full]548853[/ATTACH] Made sure that things fit to my satisfaction, then installed the heater pad. [ATTACH=full]548854[/ATTACH] Installed the skin per TOB’s instructions. By the way TOB, thanks for the advice on zip-typing the leather flaps up where the clamshells pass through the seat. Mine were cut just like yours, and your trick worked perfectly. In this picture, you can see the seat heater connector on the left, and the yellow airbag connector on the right. [ATTACH=full]548855[/ATTACH] Bolt the halves together, and reconnect all of the various electrical connectors, harnesses, and clips. Then do any final reassembly per TOB’s instructions. [ATTACH=full]548856[/ATTACH] BAM! Here you have a heated, power, Shelby leather Recaro passenger seat. This is quite an endeavor, and this is a pretty expensive seat. [b]The completed passenger seat weighs in at 62.2 pounds, which is 4.4 pounds heavier than the seat that came out.[/b] These are NOT lightweights. [ATTACH=full]548857[/ATTACH] After installing it in the car, I went for a quick drive with my girlfriend so she could verify that her butt was, in fact, being warmed by my new seats. She did confirm that she had a hot ass, and all was right with the world. :) [ATTACH=full]548858[/ATTACH] Driver side, which should be easier, is still to come. I’m going to tackle that this weekend. More to come. I hope this write-up is helpful. Paul. [/QUOTE]
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