Seat Swap 1993 850 to 1994 850

Timothy Masters · Post by **Timothy Masters** » 06 Apr 2012, 20:21

I currently drive a 1994 volvo 850 Base model: and my front seats are busted, as the previews owners did not take much care of the leather. I REALLY want new seats; so looked EVERYWHERE, and couldnt find complete sets or even REALISTIC prices. UNTILL craigslist. This guy has front and back seats from a 1993 850 in great condition! The only hesitations i need help understanding are:

-I currently have heated seats: the 1993 aren't. Can i still get the heated pads to work in them?
-Is the swap even going to fit/work?
-Will these cloth/leather replacements be a better find than getting some leather ones?
-Is this going to be hard to do myself?
-And i'm sure i don't but: do i have airbags in my seats now? If so would getting these be worth it?

Thanks!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 07 Apr 2012, 20:30

All of the 850 seats are plug and play between model years. In order to move the heaters from your seats to the replacements you will need to peel back the skins. It isn't a huge job but it is tedious.

Neither the '93 or '94 models had SIPS. It wasn't standard until '96 but I think some of the '95 Rs had SIPS.

At the end of the day it might be easier to swap the skins from the '93 to your '94 and not even mess with the heaters.

...Lee

Timothy Masters · Post by **Timothy Masters** » 07 Apr 2012, 22:01

Would i have to remove the seats to swap the skins? I prefer to swap the skins anyways lol: but is this possible with the back seats too: as i need those replaced also?

Cheers!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 08 Apr 2012, 08:45

I suppose you can peel the skins back without removing the seats but it is much easier to get to things after the seats are removed. There are 4 bolts that hold the seat to the car and one bolt that holds the seat belt to the seat.

This thread might be of help.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 0367#30367

...Lee

Timothy Masters · Post by **Timothy Masters** » 08 Apr 2012, 13:07

Thanks ill be sure to use that thread for the front! But what about my back seats? How do i swap the skins on those? And since my seats are heated; are my 1993 replacements gonna burn up? As the main sitting and back comfort areas are fabric, and the rest is leather.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 09 Apr 2012, 08:42

On the rears I would just swap the entire seat assembly rather than the skins. The current versions of the seat heaters are all the same, no matter whether they are cloth or leather. They did have trouble in the early model years ('93 and '94 both fall into that category) with the heaters burning up on the leather seats. They did a variety of things including changing the thermostat circuit and for a brief time I think there was a change in the heating pads themselves.

The problem was most prevalent on the leather seats rather than the cloth so I think you should be OK.

...Lee

Post by **rspi** » 09 Apr 2012, 11:37

+1 With Lee on all counts. You can pull a seat in less than 5 minutes and it would take you forever to try to swap the lower skin with the seat in.

The back seats are not to bad to swap. A couple of bolts in the seat back and the edge post pop out as well. I just did an interior swap a few weeks ago for a guy and the leater is real nice. Put '97 seats in a '95.

As for the heated seats, the thermostats should shut the heaters off at about 95 degrees and wont turn them back on unless the seats drop to less than 58 degrees so you shouldn't have a problem with them over heating unless the thermostats are bad.

Timothy Masters · Post by **Timothy Masters** » 09 Apr 2012, 11:51

Thank yall so much, this is exactly what I needed to hear! I'll post my progress just for the experience of it once I get started!

Cheers!

Timothy Masters · Post by **Timothy Masters** » 10 Apr 2012, 17:41

Hello: so the seat swap went well: i decided to skip the skin stripping and just put the seats from the 93 into my 94: what was weird though, the 93's driver and passenger front seats both had all the same wire connects as my 94's. Which in my mind would mean that tey must have the heated pads in them? And another weird thing i never noticed was in my back doors side foot panels i guess it's called: there was the word SIPS. But Lee said i did not have that in my model year? But over all everything fit nicely, and the seats are way more paded. The only problems with these replacements probably from age is: they are a bit skin lose, in minor areas. But i might just take it to someone to tighten it? It's not noticeable unless you move it with average force. But im happy with the results!