I want to remove my driver seat to have it upholstered. (Needs more padding to raise my eye level.)


It looks as though it is connected it to the chassis by bolts at the 4 corners. The 2 in the rear are exposed and no problem, but the 2 front bolts are covered by plastic plates.


Unable to detach them by prying (tried from all 4 sides) without busting them. Being very noticeable parts, I prefer to keep them intact.


I have checked 2 librararies, and my usual auto mechanic. No luck on learning the trick.

 

Ok, have a great day.

 

That was helpful.


What year and model?

 

I did not specify model/year as it was my hope and belief that certain fundamental parts (that do not contribute to the appearance) would be universally found amongst many models/years. If a plastic plate covering a floor bolt does not fit this category, surely nothing does.

My car is a 2001 V70 XC. But the problem may have been rendered moot.

Unexpectedly and days after I first asked—my local mechanic came through with a schematic that seemed to suggest removing the seat could bypass the covered bolts altogether.

After loosening all 8, the seat seemed to give way. Can’t be sure if these 8 bolts are all that is securing the seat, but I shall find out the hard way when the time comes, i.e., when I am at an upholstery shop.

 

8? There are only 4 holding the seat to the floor. The covers come off differently on certain years and models and I don't remember the style that the 01 XC70 has. But none of them are difficult to remove. There is usually a retaining tab that needs to be depressed to slide them off. I would hope your mechanic would be able to figure that out.

 

Dénouement.



I muddled through on my own. Turns out the plastic plates are a hoax intended to misdirect do-it-yours-elfers. Loosened every screw I could find along the rails, as well as the single tab mentioned by ES6T, and sure enough, the seat was unseated. (Despite ES6T’s doubts, I can count all the way up to 8—all by myself.) Didn’t actually remove it until I got the Upholstery shop. There were a couple of power cables attached by nodes or modules, as well as a seat belt anchor point.

An artisan carved out pieces of high density foam (#51 for experts) and glued them in place like a puzzle. Then he stitched an extra skirt of material along the bottom of the upholstery to accommodate the added height (about 2-3 in).


Now I actually have to adjust the height below maximum simply to fit! I cast my old seat pad out with well earned delight. Makes a world of difference. Well worth the cost and trouble.

 

I have no doubts you can count, its just there are only four bolts that hold seat to the body. Maybe you took the seat off the rails. Either way, glad you got it.

 

"Turns out the plastic plates are a hoax intended to misdirect do-it-yours-elfers"...

Yeah, they have a whole division dedicated to inventing clever hoaxes intended to deceive beginners and similar. Another good one is the big metal lid they put on top of the front end, "hood" they call it, clearly designed to conceal the compartment that contains the major moving pieces... Sure, there is a miniature handle to open said lid but even that is hidden underneath somewhere and near impossible to locate without an engineering degree.