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Swapping seats right and left

Discussion in '348/355' started by drbob101, May 6, 2013.

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  1. drbob101

    drbob101 F1 Rookie
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    #1 drbob101, May 6, 2013
    My seats are out having the leather done and I was thinking about swapping them left and right in order to move the squashed bolsters to the inside.

    On cursory inspection I thought hat it might just be the seat belts and someway of relocating the tilt to the opposite side.

    Has anyone done this?
     
  2. Rs200tez

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    #2 Rs200tez, May 6, 2013
    Hiya, if it's similar to the 348, I was able to swap the whole seats over. The recline leaver stays where it is but moves from the outside of the seat to the inside. The seat belt receivers are mounted to the seats so these need to be swapped over. Alternatively you can have the covers swapped over, but I wasn't brave enough.
     
  3. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

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    #3 treedee3d, May 6, 2013
    I messed around with my seats and it was the worse mistake of my life. Between messing up the reclining mechanism to screwing the seat belt pulley it cost me almost 500$ to sort out.

    Leave it, don't touch it, for the love of god don't do it...it comes apart and then you can't put it back....

    The local guy I brought my seat in to fix what I had messed up actually fixed the inside bolster and it was like new so it wasn't all bad so I suggest you do the same but not any upholsterer, make sure he knows Ferrari cause it ain't easy
     
  4. ForsytheFotographyHouston

    ForsytheFotographyHouston Karting
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    #4 ForsytheFotographyHouston, May 6, 2013
    Don't do it! I paid one guy $500.00 to do it here in Houston. It was ROYALY screwed up! My seat belts did not even retract anymore. In a panic I took the car to FOH and they said that not all of the parts were switched from seat to seat and the parts that were switched right to left were not done right. It cost me ANOTHER $500.00 to have FOH make it right! Do- Not - Do- It! For a grand you can recover the dang things!
     
  5. ForsytheFotographyHouston

    ForsytheFotographyHouston Karting
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    #5 ForsytheFotographyHouston, May 6, 2013
    I will add this as well... They still do not work the same before I had these guys mess with them....
     
  6. 308 GTB

    308 GTB F1 World Champ
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    #6 308 GTB, May 6, 2013
    Bob, if the leather is being done they should also be taking care of the padding.
     
  7. drbob101

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    #7 drbob101, May 7, 2013
    Interesting comments. I didn't really look at the seat belt mechanism all that carefully but thought if it was a simple swap why not. The bolsters are really not all that bad they just aren't like new. Ill just leave it alone

    Barry this place I took them to is a leather refinishing outfit. They don't take apart the seat. Ideally it would be nice to have it like new but it really isn't intolerable.
     
  8. dahveedem

    dahveedem Formula 3

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    #8 dahveedem, May 7, 2013
    I'm not sure I would attempt it with the normal seats.
    I did my Kevlar seats and received tons of cautions with it because had I screwed something up I'd be up a creek without a paddle.

    However, my seats are much less involved than yours. I only swapped the seat backs. Would that be an option in your car?

    I'm sort of with the others who say just redo them in place.
     
  9. rickware

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    #9 rickware, May 7, 2013
    I did it in mine without any problems. Just a matter of changing the seat belt fasteners over to the other side. Maybe its different on euro cars but I didn't find anything complex in swapping them. The drivers seat is much firmer and comfortable now so I'd recommend you do it.
     
  10. Dave rocks

    Dave rocks F1 World Champ
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    #10 Dave rocks, May 7, 2013
    I assume you just did the seat and not the backrest? (Since the backrest is not symetrical)
     
  11. WATSON

    WATSON Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #11 WATSON, May 7, 2013
    Looks like the OP has a spider.

    Seat belts in the spider are embedded in the back of the seat.

    The GTS & Berlinetta have the recoil mechanism on the rear shelf.

    I suspect a seat swap in a spider would be a lot of work...
     
  12. drbob101

    drbob101 F1 Rookie
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    #12 drbob101, May 7, 2013
    Good point on that. The recoil is at the bottom of the bottom outside rear of the seat. I removed it to gain better access to the the allen screw at those locations. One 15mm bolt.

    I am not sure about the rest of the hardware though.

    Dave..I dont see any assymmetry in the padded portion of the seats myself.
     
  13. Dave rocks

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    #13 Dave rocks, May 7, 2013
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    Bob, I don't fully understand your reply. On my car (non-spider), the back rest sections are not symetrical meaning there are adjustment dials on one side so if your swap the seats, they will then face the inward instead of outward. Also, I noticed yesterday that the driver seat has one more adjustment knob then the passenger seat and it's facing the center console. I've not adjusted any of these but I just know they are there.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  14. drbob101

    drbob101 F1 Rookie
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    #14 drbob101, May 7, 2013
    I thought you wre speaking of the shape of the ulpolstery being assymetrical. That I dont see

    On the spider there is only one tilt lever on the door side of the seat at the hinge that distinguishes it r/l and the discussed seat belt stuff. Having that lever on the inside would not be a big deal. No knob.

    Of course the seat belt issue is a deal breaker.
     
  15. Dave rocks

    Dave rocks F1 World Champ
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    #15 Dave rocks, May 7, 2013
    I just added a photo that shows the driver side knob I'm talking about.
     
  16. rickware

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    #16 rickware, May 7, 2013
    Brilliant, I didn't know this! Anyway still very comfortable
     
  17. drbob101

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    #17 drbob101, May 7, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  18. Dave rocks

    Dave rocks F1 World Champ
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    #18 Dave rocks, May 7, 2013
    Allow me to ask a fundimental question: Why bother if you are having your leather worked on?
     
  19. drbob101

    drbob101 F1 Rookie
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    #19 drbob101, May 7, 2013
    The outside bolsters are not as "fresh" as the inside ones in terms of shape. 16 years of butts dragging over them. Putting the fresh bolster on the outside and bracing the squashed one against the console would balance things out and as someone else said, renew the support of the seat on the outside.
     
  20. Dave rocks

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    #20 Dave rocks, May 7, 2013
    Can't you have the leather company replace the foam? That would seem much easier than messing with the seats....
     
  21. ForsytheFotographyHouston

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    #21 ForsytheFotographyHouston, May 7, 2013
    That is exactly why I did it. It just turned out to be a pain and real expensive for me to do it.
     
  22. drbob101

    drbob101 F1 Rookie
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    #22 drbob101, May 7, 2013
    In looking at that parts detail if you focus on the belt and and the locking tab only and not mess with the tilt mechanism it appears as if it is held in with two bolts on the belt side on one on the tab side with just the removal of the covers to access them.

    As I said I had already removed the winding part at the lower rear of the seats to better access the seat bolts in the floor that are right under it.

    The tilt handle being on the inside after the switch wouldnt be a big deal if it fits along side the console.
     
  23. drbob101

    drbob101 F1 Rookie
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    #23 drbob101, May 7, 2013
    The seats dont need major surgery, they arent that bad. Just switching them would accomplish what I would want.

    I'll look at that belt swap when I get them back. The intricacy of the mechanism is in the tilt lever it appears and as I said if it fits next to the console and can be accessed thats fine.
     
  24. 308 GTB

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    #24 308 GTB, May 7, 2013
    Repadding the bolster is not major surgery for a good upholsterer, Bob, and is preferable to swapping seats.

    Barry
     
  25. drbob101

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    #25 drbob101, May 7, 2013

    Ill call up to Classic Coach and see what they say Barry. The bolsteres really arent a big deal if I just leave them, in a perfect world they could be better. I dont want to be without the seats for any length of time and like I said I was only musing on this topic as I just took the seats out anyway.
     
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