Couple cosmetic questions

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 13 Apr 2018, 15:50

In an attempt to keep the interior something I'm slightly proud of, I've got a couple questions for the interior cosmetic gurus.

Part One: The leather on my seat is getting pretty bad. Taking it somewhere, I'm guessing I would want a shop that is familiar with the cars to some extent? (SRS issues?) I'd also like to replace the seat heater as it doesn't work anymore. Anyone have an idea of how much I should expect it to cost to re-do the seat? In this case, some of it could be reused and some would be replaced right? Does all the foam need to be replaced as well?

: Seat

Part Two: Anyone know of a good glue that could reattach this fake leathery foam stuff? The "Panelpads" worked really well to fix the bubbling doors, but after a few months, they've started to put stress on other parts, so I'm left with this.

: Door

Thanks as always!

Post by **abscate** » 14 Apr 2018, 07:12

Ed - How many miles are on the seat?

Im a fata$$ so I replaced my seat bottom foam and skins on my 1999. I do believe I have a seat heater that I can sell you - free if you are on a budget, Volvo list if you screw people for a living - left over from that project.

June priced P2 skins at about $400 per piece - OUCH. Keep your screwdrivers in a glass, not in your pocket.

The time to strip off both skins and replace was 4 hours. You want to get someone to troll the junkyards for a good charcoal skin for $30-50 range. You can make a passenger skin work on a driver side - not perfect but doable.

Ill try to find and link my thread

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84734&p=466785#p466785

Ed - I do have some leather material from the old seat if you want a temp patch, too.

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 14 Apr 2018, 11:42

Since the heater doesn't work, and assuming it's not the wiring or the switch, troll the junk yards for a nicer charcoal seat. This is certainly the much cheaper option, and swapping seats is pretty straightforward.

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 14 Apr 2018, 13:24

abscate wrote: ↑14 Apr 2018, 07:12 Ed - How many miles are on the seat?

Im a fata$$ so I replaced my seat bottom foam and skins on my 1999. I do believe I have a seat heater that I can sell you - free if you are on a budget, Volvo list if you screw people for a living - left over from that project.

June priced P2 skins at about $400 per piece - OUCH. Keep your screwdrivers in a glass, not in your pocket.

The time to strip off both skins and replace was 4 hours. You want to get someone to troll the junkyards for a good charcoal skin for $30-50 range. You can make a passenger skin work on a driver side - not perfect but doable.

Ill try to find and link my thread

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84734&p=466785#p466785

Ed - I do have some leather material from the old seat if you want a temp patch, too.

Seats are original, 260K miles. Thanks for the link! I'm gonna have to sit down and really go through that one. Looks like a bit of a project and may have to wait until I'm settled in Oklahoma (I'm about halfway thru a 4 month move right...). So you got the leather skin and foam from a junkyard?

I'm not looking to spend a total fortune, but I also wouldn't mind restoring/fixing them to like-new status.

I'll take a look for whole seats as well per WhatAmIDoing's advice. Never hurts to have extra parts these days!

Post by **scot850** » 14 Apr 2018, 14:17

When I needed seat covers I bought a whole power seat from a passenger side for $20 at PnP/junkyard in a sale.

As for glue, the problem you may have is the foam starts to crumble so no glue really works. If the foam is still flexible, then I used P4000 construction adhesive when re-gluing the 2 door panel sections pack together. I did use some Marine GOOP as well with a clamp and a load spreader like a piece of plastic so as not to leave indents in the vinyl, unlike the 'Pro' I had did when I had one repair a door panel in the 'R'. I do a much better job now than he did.

Check Robert's video's as he re-does a seat cover in one. Instead of hog clips he used zip-ties on the covers. Hardest part is the back rest as you have to find the hidden headrest release buttons in the backrest and ideally have someone help as they get tight and you have to depress 2 buttons at the same time. There is a step by step I linked to recently on this for abscate. There is a company that sells replacement covers for Volvos who have a how-to on their web-page in that thread.

The seat heater for 99-00 is different to ta 98, but with a bit of work a 98 can be made to work in a later car, but not the other way around. Just remove the whole foam section with the heater panel still attached.

Neil.

Post by **scot850** » 14 Apr 2018, 14:21

Here is the link to abscate's seat repair process:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84734&hilit=headrest&start=10

The link to Elwood Industries is in there.

Neil.

Post by **FLXC90** » 16 Apr 2018, 15:32

For the door, as mentioned above, the foam is the problem. What you MIGHT be able to do is: pull the panel, if you can get enough of the fabric over the fold point, mark the fold point on the fabric, scrape remaining foam off the backside of the fabric and adhere with a contact cement or gorilla glue. clamp it and see. Or same scenario and possibly physically attach. maybe pre-drill some holes in the panel, poke some in the "over the fold" part of the leatherette, and loosely thread them together, then tighten the ends and have "sewn-on" solution.

Alternative, find another door panel to transfer your panel-pads to.