96 850 - Seat covers or new skins?!

[SonicAdventure]

I’ve got a tan cloth interior that while clean, is static city. I’ve had some Dickies fake leather covers from Walmart on for the past three years but they are worn out now and need to be replaced.

Getting very hard to find good leather on 850 models in the yards, if you can even find the cars… I’m willing to give aftermarket covers another shot but would like something made for P80 seats, or close to it. Any sources?

I’ve also considered removing the seats, buying leather skins and doing the full job myself but I know it will be a pain. I did a lower leather skin replacement once, it wasn’t too bad but it took a lot longer than I thought it would.

Any good sources for newly made leather skins OR does anyone have a pair of leather 850 tan seats in good to excellent shape for sale? Im picky, both my seats are manual and I’d like to keep it that way, so even if I found a pair of power seats I’d probably swap out the manual undercarriages, or not buy the power undercarriage at all if the seller was so inclined. Thanks.

[scot850]

Elwood are still around I understand:

http://elwoodindustries.com/Volvoparts.html

Expensive at $500 US/seat!!

Neil.

[850oldschool]

Lseat has reasonable prices, seemingly the whole front set for $350:

https://www.lseat.com/products/1991-199 ... front.html

I haven't been able to dig up much info on the quality and customer satisfaction. I don't see how they can even buy the leather for that price.

[FireFox31]

I would be terrified to use aftermarket seat skins since I assume they won't allow safe deployment of the side curtain airbags. As I understand, the stitching above the airbag is designed to break away upon deployment. Does the 850 have those? Does the 98 and 99 V70? My 2000 V70 has them.

I found a thread where someone swapped a low use passenger's seat skin on to a driver's seat. The only problem was that the lumbar support hole was on the wrong site. His solution was to cut a good part of leather from his old seat and adhere that over the hole. Unfortunately, we're left to wonder if the passenger skin will allow the driver's side impact airbag to deploy from the left when it expects it on the right.

Laying down an inexpensive seat cover seems like a great option.

[abscate]

I can post pictures of the interior of the skins in a few days. There doesn’t seem to be special threads or release for the side air bag part of SIPS

I’ve been driving swapped skins for years but my risk tolerance is probably higher than most, growing up with leaded popsicles and exploring uranium mines as a kid

Sonic…I still have the Greek seat covers from Evita in the classifieds, amd two brand new L seat bottoms in beige, too.

[850oldschool]

Abscate, what's the quality like on the Lseat product? Things like the thickness of the leather, quality of the stitching and the fit when installed? Would you buy again?

And just in case there's somebody here who hasn't seen Robert detonating the side airbag on an 850 seat, here it is:

[abscate]

Abscate, what's the quality like on the Lseat product? Things like the thickness of the leather, quality of the stitching and the fit when installed? Would you buy again?

And just in case there's somebody here who hasn't seen Robert detonating the side airbag on an 850 seat, here it is:

I never installed them as I stumbled onto good replacements seats but they look first class.

[BlackBart]

Does the 850 have those? Does the 98 and 99 V70? My 2000 V70 has them.

1994 850 has only front airbags.

[foggydogg]

... but it took a lot longer than I thought it would.

Any good sources for newly made leather skins OR does anyone have a pair of leather 850 tan seats in good to excellent shape for sale? Im picky, both my seats are manual and I’d like to keep it that way, so even if I found a pair of power seats I’d probably swap out the manual undercarriages, or not buy the power undercarriage at all if the seller was so inclined. Thanks.

I think the good Doctor found the second dance went quicker than the first.
As he mentions, he may have what you need for a quick fix.
Robert's friend Alex at Swedish Car Parts in Chicago has some as well, but he may simply be reselling Lseat product - don't quote me on that, though.

[abscate]

My first leather skin swap probably took 4 hours. I just removed a nice beige skin seat back in 15 minutes. It’s all in the practice.