Materials Required
(2) 1/8" x 3/4" stainless steel allen head machine screws
(2) 1/8" stainless steel washers
(2) 1/8" stainless steel nylon lock nuts
(3) 8-18 x 1/2" (or equiv) self taping screws
1/8" thick x 3/4" wide x 12" long flat aluminum bar stock
1/16" thick x 1" wide x 12" long aluminum angle iron
Tools Required
1/8" allen wrench
3/8" open end wrench
3/16" drill bit and cordless drill
1/4" socket with cordless drill adapter
1/4" 4" socket extension
1/4" ratchet
hack-saw with metal cutting blade (preferably a hand saw)
bench vise
sharpie marker
small metal file
small wood-workers chisel
channel lock pliers
dead-blow plastic hammer
electrical tape
1/8" foam or bubble wrap
How did you fix it?
First, I was inspired by the Toecutter's fix as shown here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=190204
I adopted his technique to get the seat back to stay on the seat. The fix on the lumbar support itself I made up my own method.
I went my own route on the lumbar fix because a friend of mine tried welding my old piece and failed. As a result I had to come up with a new method.
Old POS after initial attempt at fixing:
Current Driver Seat:
How do I lock that bottom piece of the lumbar support down? After much pondering on this subject I found the answer.
Screw/bolt a piece of angle iron in there and the lumbar support will 'float' in space and when someone is seated in the seat the lumbar support will press up against the angle iron. This, in turn, thereby provides resistance and enables the lumbar support to actually do its job.
Angle Iron test fitted (cut to about 13cm long and saw burrs filed down):
The key here is placement. How far forward and backward does the angle iron reside? I placed it forward to the point where it is just resting on the lumbar support bars. This will prevent excessive movement when someone gets in and out of the seat.
Metal on metal = noise. How do I prevent noise? I wanted to use some 1/8" foam but didn't have any. The closest thing I had was some bubble wrap. I cut a strip as wide as the angle iron is long (13cm) and rolled it up on itself three times. From there I used some electrical tape to affix it to one side of the angle iron as shown here:
Now this may look messy but it does the job.
With the angle iron all setup its time to anchor it into the seat. See that black piece of metal the angle iron rests on within the seat? That is the seat frame and it is made out of steel. We will be screwing the self-taping screws into that.
Start by predrilling the self-taping screws into the angle iron outside of the seat. I installed two screws about 1.5 or 2cm in from either end of the angle iron. As soon as the self-taping screws protruded through the other side of the angle iron I stopped.
From here I then positioned the angle iron in the seat. I used a 1/4" socket with a 1/4" 4" long socket extension and an adapter on my cordless drill. Starting on the right side, I positioned the angle iron where I wanted it and started drilling the right-most screw. One it drilled into the steel seat frame and the threads grabbed you want to stop. Now go onto the left-most screw and drill that one in (after you've repositioned the left side of the angle iron so its even across the lumbar support). Once the left-most screw is drilled in and the threads grab you want to also stop. Now take the socket and extension and use your 1/4" ratchet to snug the two self-tapping screws down. You want to snug them down by hand rather than the drill so you don't strip the new holes. Snug is good. There is no need to overtighten otherwise you'll strip the metal.
With the two outside screws installed, drill a third one in the center. You may have to push the lumbar support into the seat to give yourself access with the drill.
The finished product (and it works great!):
Looks as good as new (driver on left and passenger on right):
Now that the lumbar support is fixed it is time to focus our attention to the seat back. Your seat back most likely contains two broken lower clips. These plastic clips allow the seat back to sit on the two metal tabs on the seat frame. Three push style clips hold the upper portion of the seat back in place.
Using the ToeCutter's write-up and my passenger side seat back as a guide, I went to work bending the 1/8" x 1" flat aluminum plate to make clips that look similar to the OEM plastic ones. I started with using a wood-working chisel to shave down the plastic ridges within the seat back (where the clip broke). With that cleaned up the flat aluminum will rest nicely in place.
I cut two aluminum plates to, about, 2inches long (give or take). I eye-balled it. I then drilled a 3/16" hole in each one for the bolt that will attach it to the seat back. Use the metal file and file down all the aluminum burrs from cutting and drilling. I then drilled two 3/16" holes in the seat back.
Using a bench-vise, channel lock pliers and a dead-blow plastic hammer I bend each aluminum tab to resemble the OEM clip shape. I'd make a few bends and then compare my clip to the OEM clip in my passenger side seat back. This took some finesse but it came out almost identical to OEM.
My clip on the left and OEM on the right:
Here is the finished product bolted to the seat back with some nice, clean looking, stainless steel allen head bolts:
OEM clip:
Installation of the seat back back into the seat is as follows:
Slide the lower portion ontop of the two metal tabs within the seat back. Push down until bottomed out. Then snap the three upper clips into the seat. Push each vertical side into the seat to verify everything is fully inserted.
The finished product is as such (driver/fixed on left and passenger/OEM on right):
close-up of my fixed driver seat:
There you have it. All fixed. I reinstalled the seats and now I can move onto the next project. Hmm.. I think that will be removing the entire front end and removal of the intake manifold for paint. The 2.0L is coming in a few weeks.....
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Originally Posted by 400HPA4
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