1991 RT4WD CRX seat pan swap DIY.
superhatch
Moderator
I couldn't really find a write up for this so I decided to make one. The RT is a little different than the rest of the wagon family and the seats are a little different too. There are still some pics missing, I will fill those in soon. Without further adieu:
Tool needed:
Socket wrench
12mm socket
14mm socket
19mm socket
Small and medium phillips
Small flat head, or 90* pick tool
Needle nose/regular pliers
Wire cutters
Zip ties
Welder (depending...see below)
Start by taking off the rails from the RT seat.
Next separate the bottom of the seat from the back, here are the bolts you will have removed in total.
Remove the hog clips from the bottom of the seat, I used a Dremel to make it go a lot quicker.
Pull up the seat fabric over the foam, then remove the foam from the seat, it might be sticking so be slow (use it as practice for taking off the CRX foam which you do not want to damage).
Repeat process on CRX seat.
Mount CRX foam to wagon seat, you will find a groove cut into the foam that fits around the pan, match this up then start pulling down the front of the seat cover first, followed by the back. (This is the RT seat foam)
Use zip ties to secure the fabric to the RT seat pan.
Done!
Remove the hog clips from the bottom of the seat back.
Pull the fabric down just a tad and you will notice some rubber cords with C hooks in them. Pull down on the cord and slip the C hook off the seat back spring.
Remove the headrest, pull the fabric up and detach the headrest plastic things by pushing them together at the bottom, inside the seat.
The adjustable headrest thingy has a screw in it, I removed the fabric and foam (gently) and then used a small screw driver to pry out the button. It just slides out. Unscrew the thingy and then remove it like you did on the other side.
To remove the foam off the wagon seat back I cut where the carpet material and foam meet. This made removal much easier. DO NOT do this with the CRX foam.
You will now have a bare RT seat back.
Removal of the CRX seat back foam is almost the same procedure. The headrest is removed by pulling two clips out the front of the seat, just under the plastic thingies that the headrest slides into. Instructions here: http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2478056 There is no adjustment button on the CRX seats.
After looking at the seats I decided to put the CRX back on the RT bottom and noticed two things. 1. They don't meet up flush between bottom and back. 2. The seat is slightly crooked. If you really don't care much, and don't want to weld anything you can leave it as is and enjoy your CRX seats!!
At first I was just going to attach the CRX foam to the RT back, but after looking at the two backs the CRX seems to have larger metal bolsters, and the upper seat nubs. I am therefor going to remove the lower right mounting point from the RT seat back and weld it on the CRX seat back. This will allow proper alignment of the seats as well as retain the CRX seat back support. Pics of that coming soon.
Tool needed:
Socket wrench
12mm socket
14mm socket
19mm socket
Small and medium phillips
Small flat head, or 90* pick tool
Needle nose/regular pliers
Wire cutters
Zip ties
Welder (depending...see below)
Start by taking off the rails from the RT seat.
Next separate the bottom of the seat from the back, here are the bolts you will have removed in total.
Remove the hog clips from the bottom of the seat, I used a Dremel to make it go a lot quicker.
Pull up the seat fabric over the foam, then remove the foam from the seat, it might be sticking so be slow (use it as practice for taking off the CRX foam which you do not want to damage).
Repeat process on CRX seat.
Mount CRX foam to wagon seat, you will find a groove cut into the foam that fits around the pan, match this up then start pulling down the front of the seat cover first, followed by the back. (This is the RT seat foam)
Use zip ties to secure the fabric to the RT seat pan.
Done!
Remove the hog clips from the bottom of the seat back.
Pull the fabric down just a tad and you will notice some rubber cords with C hooks in them. Pull down on the cord and slip the C hook off the seat back spring.
Remove the headrest, pull the fabric up and detach the headrest plastic things by pushing them together at the bottom, inside the seat.
The adjustable headrest thingy has a screw in it, I removed the fabric and foam (gently) and then used a small screw driver to pry out the button. It just slides out. Unscrew the thingy and then remove it like you did on the other side.
To remove the foam off the wagon seat back I cut where the carpet material and foam meet. This made removal much easier. DO NOT do this with the CRX foam.
You will now have a bare RT seat back.
Removal of the CRX seat back foam is almost the same procedure. The headrest is removed by pulling two clips out the front of the seat, just under the plastic thingies that the headrest slides into. Instructions here: http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2478056 There is no adjustment button on the CRX seats.
After looking at the seats I decided to put the CRX back on the RT bottom and noticed two things. 1. They don't meet up flush between bottom and back. 2. The seat is slightly crooked. If you really don't care much, and don't want to weld anything you can leave it as is and enjoy your CRX seats!!
At first I was just going to attach the CRX foam to the RT back, but after looking at the two backs the CRX seems to have larger metal bolsters, and the upper seat nubs. I am therefor going to remove the lower right mounting point from the RT seat back and weld it on the CRX seat back. This will allow proper alignment of the seats as well as retain the CRX seat back support. Pics of that coming soon.
Comments
I thought it was a lot easier, now I think I will leave mine stock.
I think once it's all in front of you it ends up being pretty easy, if you want to leave the seat back bracket as is. I'll say that the seat felt just fine when sitting in it, and in the car might look totally normal. Sitting on my floor where I could look at it squarely it was just a tiny bit skewed.
Me thinks this applys to Auto-belt equiped wagons (USDM)? We Canadians never got that (hated) option.
Optimistic it could work (that, and I'm not too stuck on appearances). Thanks!
Added to quick links...
Damn you!!
Tonight I'll take a pic of the assemblies, and how far forward the CRX seat goes in the stock position. My RT seat back is getting hacked atm (to make cutting the bracket easier) and I should have the CRX back ready to go for tonight. After a second look at them I'm actually worried that swapping them isn't going to work as a one for one swap. I think if I have the wagon bracket welded to the CRX seat back at the same distance as it sits from the bottom of the seat it might not work due to the CRX seat back being square on the bottom and the RT being round. We'll see how it works out.
Si seat first upright lock position.
Si seat all the way forward.
I'll let you know as soon as they are mounted and take some pics.
Due to this I need to get some more welding done, and might end up using some shims. I'll have results of the final process with pics up early next week.
If you notice the RT are angled forward. The Crx/Del Sol are angled back more. Just need to compensate for that misalignment.
Hope that helps.
I just took a hammer to the metal on the frame. I dented it until it cleared.
Cleared it and works fine.
EF Si seats to USDM only auto seat belt equipped civic wagon
mods if you could please clarify in topic title
here in Canada, no auto belts
thanks
I have the first seat welded (ended up making a new bracket) and will post up pics this weekend with progress and the finished product.
I was going to put the seat together last night, but then found a set of red/black CRX seats in good shape being sold locally so I'm picking those up on Sunday and should have pics up Sunday night!
I plan on doing a step by step of this process in another write up perhaps, but the pics below are the final product. These seat covers came off of different foam, and were all reattached with zip-ties. Can't really tell a difference.
Nice and level. (looks askew due to camera angle...I put a level on it!)
There are a couple of rub points that are present due to the auto belts. The seats would wear much faster than normal over the life of the car. But Im not too worried about it.
I'm going to pull the seat rails and get them repainted since they are now exposed, and I will paint the auto belt covers when I paint the rest of the interior (spring project.) Once I get everything together I will update the main post. After this project I'll continue my interior project by getting the rear seats covered to match...somehow.