Replacing Verde front seat upholstery

[<Harold6C@xxxxxxx>]

In response to a couple of inquiries, here is a (maybe not so) brief 
description of what I went through to replace the center upholstery
inserts on the Recaro front seats.

To remove the seats from the car:
     Four allen head cap screws, two front and two rear, hold the seat 
rails to the car.  You will need to slide the seat all the way forward 
to reach the rear screws, and all the way back to reach the front.

To remove the seat back from the seat bottoms:
     First you need to remove the rotary seat back angle adjusters, by 
removing one phillips head screw in the center of each one, then
pull straight out.  Note that the two sides are slightly different, the 
outboard adjuster has a spacer and a sponge washer. 
     Next the black plastic covers over the mechanism on each side,
with the Recaro logo, need to be removed.  It is not immediately
obvious, but there are three plastic retaining clips that hold each one
on.  Tilt the seat forward, and look from the inside, and try to find them.
There is a molded four prong clip that goes through a hole in the 
metal plate, and it is locked in with a plastic plug though the center.
It may be simpler to describe how it goes back together:  The plastic
cover with the three molded in clips is snapped onto the metal bracket,
then three round plugs about 3-4 mm in diameter, 12mm long are inserted
through the center of each clip from the outside, and pushed flush.
These lock the three clips into the metal bracket.  To remove, just push
the plastic plugs from the inside out, and the cover comes right off. 
It is really very simple once you see it.  If you try to pry it off without
going through this, you will break the clips.
    Finally, there is  a spring clip on the end of each pivot point that
needs to be removed.  Then just pry a little outward on one side
to get the bracket off the pivot pin, then slip the opposite side off.

Disassemble the seat bottoms:
    It has been a while, so some of this may not be exact.  
     First remove the seat tracks: Unbolt the track mechanisms from
 the bottom of the seat (4 allen head bolts).   Then unbolt the four 
adapter plates from the seat bottom (at least one allen head bolt each).
    Next remove the seat center section, which is independent of the
side bolsters.  Remove the black rubberized support that is attached
by a series of metal clips to both sides, and goes across the bottom 
of the seat frame.  Remove the two spring clips that retain the guide 
rods for the movable leg support portion of the seat.  The back of the
seat fabric is held onto the seat frame by a continuous plastic clip
or hook.  This is pretty simple to unhook from the frame.  Slide out
the movable leg support, note that the fabric is connected to the 
rest of the seat bottom.  There is only one more thing holding it onto
the seat frame, a stiff wire in a loop of the fabric on the leading edge
of the seat bottom, that is clipped to the frame with about four white
nylon clips.  These are shaped somewhat like a paper clip, and can
be manipulated to unhook from the wire without damaging them.
(There may be an additional wire closer to the center of the seat
that is held in the same way, which would also need to be removed).
You now have the whole seat bottom removed from the frame.

Remove the fabric from the seat bottom:
     On the movable leg support, the fabric is sewn to plastic strips 
that are inserted into slots around the base of the leg support.  These
can be pried out, and the fabric comes right off the foam. 
   On the main section of the seat bottom, the fabric is held on by 
metal staples that go through the black fabric into the foam.  Pull them
out with pliers.  I was unable to reuse these.  The fabric will now come
right off. 

Replace fabric inserts:
   Here you would be wise to enlist an experienced seamster/seamstress.
Use a seam ripper to disassemble the fabric pieces.  The black fabric
is reusable, leave it intact as much as possible.  The gray fabric piece that
connects the leg support to the rest is also re-usable, it never sees any
wear or UV light.  Use the original grey pieces as patterns to cut out
new ones (this is where some skill comes in, to make the new one 
slightly smaller as appropriate to allow for the fact that it has stretched,
made even worse because of the huge hole worn in it).  Sew it all back
together, and assembly is the reverse of disassembly. Hah!  In place of
the staples, I used a curved needle and upholstery thread to reattach 
the fabric to the foam, with large stitches.  
     One last note, the plastic strips need to be sewn back onto the new
fabric.  It doesn't look  possible, but I was able to stich these on with 
my home sewing machine.  It may be more prudent to do these by 
hand using the existing holes (depending on whose sewing machine 
you are using).  Take note of the orientation of these, there is a kind 
of hook molded in one side.

Checking the side bolsters:
    On mine, the side bolsters were somewhat broken down on the
outboard side.  The black fabric is held on with wire inserts hooked
under sheet metal clips on the frame.  This is easily unhooked and
removed.  On mine the foam had split, which I repaired with spray
trim adhesive (3M)  applied to both sides, allowed to dry slightly, then
pressed together.  Voila!  Stronger than new.  Put the fabric back on,
and bolsters look like new.  Mine have held up for two years with
no problems.

Seat backs:
   Again only the center padding with the gray material needs to be
removed.  At the base of the seat back the fabric is held in with 
plastic strips like those used to hold the leg support fabric in place
on the seat bottom.  There are also some staples that make sure
 it doesn't come loose.   Remove the staples, pry out the plastic strip 
from where it is held in.
    Now the bottom of the insert is free.  If you lift it away from 
the seat back, you will see the next attachment.  There are two 
sets of the metal wires/ nylon clips holding it in, one at each major
horizontal seam.  Finally at the top there is one more metal wire,
this time held in by sheet metal clips in the frame.  These you may
have to pry up slightly to get the wire out.
   You should have the whole insert assembly out now.  The fabric
is held to the foam with the same staples as on the seat bottom.
I only replaced the bottom-most panel, since it had the hole, and
I didn't want to lose the Recaro insignia.  I may regret this later!
I also did not remove the last two or three staples on the sides, and 
none of the ones at the top.  It did all the sewing with the foam pad 
still attached at the top of the fabric.   It made reassembly easier.
Again, for reassembly, I used upholstery thread and a curved
needle to reattach the fabric to the foam, in place of the staples.
    The backs were much easier than the seat bottoms.  The 
sewing was easier, and there is much less to take apart and 
reattach.  I did one in about 3-4 hours.  

A curiosity:
   At first I assumed the front seats were interchangeable, in fact
I put the passenger seat in place of the driver's seat while I was
working on it.  Actually the tracks and adapters are not symmetric, 
with the seats mounted slightly outboard of the tracks.   The 
passenger seat on the driver's side interfered with the console.
   I did end up swapping the tracks so that I kept the passenger seat
on the drivers side, to equalize wear on the bolsters.  I very quickly
regretted that, when the seat bottom wore out within a couple
months from daily use.  It probably would have gone years left
where it was.

Rear seats:
    The rear seats are constructed much more simply.  Hog rings
hold the fabric to the foam all around.  I confess I just dropped the
whole seat bottom off at an upholsterer with my fabric, and had it back 
in a day, with both inserts replaced, only $90.

Good luck!  

Harold Downey
Austin, TX
87 Milano Verde
69 1750 Spider Veloce

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