Hardseat backs

I have acquired some whole 996 seats including the hard seat backs. I first need to remove the hard backs on some forums i have read that the centre section of seat is velcro'ed in. On others they are in using clips. Then once inside its a simple thing of 2 screws and some clips and the backs come away. can anyone confirm this or has any knowledge of removing the seat backs thanks Dan

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/topic/4650-removing-hardbacks-from-sport-seats/

Anyone know if it is it possible to remove the entire hardback from the seat base and swap them over for the comfort seat backs?

Yes (seat base is shared).

If you have the sport hardbacks, and are looking to sell, then I'd be interested as I want a spare set to paint so I can keep my originals too. :thumb:

ok, of course its possible to swap over the entire backs from one to the other, but from experience (I have done 2 such seat back swaps) I would say DONT, its an absolute nightmare, you might think its an easy swap over, well it might be if you posses some bizarre tools, and funny circlip pliers. also the electrics are very awkward with the heating elements, as you have to swap everything, as the location of clips/wiring is different from the hard back to the comfort/normal seats. after the first set of these where I did swap over the entire hard back onto my targa base, (so I had full electrics and memory) when it came to the second time, I opted for the complete seat swap, which just involves a wiring change to the main block that comes from the floor pan. removing the backs for painting, is a breeze, but the clips that are used are like razor wire , and be very careful with the newly painted backs. also (no eggs to suck here) be careful with the air bags, and pre tensioners, or you will throw a light (if you remove the battery, make sure you have the seat in the right position first so you can get to the 4 x torx. if you don't have heated seat backs, or the memory module, its far easier. if you need any help just PM me and ill call you. regards David.

The swap is possible, and I was assuming some basis for the predicament (eg tbrown has Comforts with worn base and Sports with worn back etc). Of course swapping the whole unit off its runners is a lot easier. Disconnecting the battery probably takes the longest (given you will need to allow 30 mins for the airbag firing circuits/capacitors to discharge/dissipate)

you don't have to wait any time after disconnecting the battery, in the trade you just (after the battery has been removed) touch the positive cable to the negative cable, and any residual charge that is floating around will be released.it will not harm the car, or ECU's but if you have time on your hands as GT4 rightly says a 15-30 mins will also do the trick.

I prefer to let them discharge "naturally", as any protection diodes or induction isolator (induction transformer) may prevent forced discharge. I have had a wack from dismantling a flash system (camera) even after shorting the battery terminals. This was because the firing cap was charged up to many thousand of volts via a transformer, which has two isolated windings. Simply shorting the input (primary) side of transformer has no effect on the output (secondary) circuit as they are electrically isolated (they are only coupled when a dynamic magnetic field is created in the primary).

Thanks for all the replies to my question. I asked because I have heated memory comfort seats and thought the easier option would be to change out the seat backs only. I'm happy to sort out the electrics & airbags. medicus, thanks for the offer of advice. if I go ahead with the change, expect a pm :thumb:

on a tangent, when I swapped the bases on the first set of seats (C4's) that had the full electrics (back/side/lumbar/memory & heated, for the manual bases (hand leaver) I could not believe the weight difference, when both were swapped out, it was the same as a passenger in the car, as they weighed over 30 kg's each. those full electric tombestones are very heave compared to hard back sports seats.

Did you remove the entire seat from the car before removing the back or did you do it in situ? Main reason for me going this route, there are far more basic sport seats available than ones with all the wiring. Did you need to buy any fasteners/clips to finish the job? Don't want to get half way through and find an order to porsche is required.

on both swaps I removed the seats from the car, as this takes about 5 mins per seat, its so easy, 4 torx bolts, and one connecter that's it.

Almost broke my back getting 993 hardbacks out, now they do weigh a lot!

to be honest, if it was me again, knowing what I do now, this is what id do. id buy a set of hardback sport seats, (paint them the colour of your car)with only the seat back electrics, and manual base forward/back, because lets be honest how many times do you actually adjust the forward/back, unless you share the car. and the weight saving is huge, cost is cheaper, and install is a doddle. keep the old seats for when you sell the car, and put the sports ones back on flea bay. as long as you don't break anything, there is nothing to buy extra.