Bf F6 Factory Seat Swap

[ashturner]

Hi Guys,

I have a BF Typhoon and my drivers seat has seen better days. It squeaks and the right hand side is worn away from getting in and out. I am wondeirng if its possible to swap the drivers and pasenger seats over as the passenger seat is basically new.

any help would be appreciated

[PhilMeUp]

I think the base can be swapped over (ie the bit that goes between the seat and the rails). Not sure if the foam is the same on both sides. With the frames, that will probably be a problem because of the reclining mechanism.

Something else to consider:

I've got a pair of Recaro seats here that I'm going to put in my car soon. One of the things that I like about the Recaro stuff is that it's symmetrical, meaning that driver and passenger side can be swapped over easily enough.

From http://www.fordforums.com.au/showpost.php?p=3709654&postcount=18

A year and a half later and the XR6 driver's seat has been feeling crap for a while now. I know know that the bases are rubbish and have absolutely no chance of handling my 120kg-ish weight.

The next step is to fit Recaro seats. I found one at a Japanese import wrecker for $100 (ie looks awful) and another two for $350 for the pair. The trick to getting Recaro seats is to get them from an early 2000s Proton Satria GTi - they came standard in that particular car. Because they are regarded as Proton seats (instead of exotic Recaros) then they are much cheaper to buy that way.

For photos, have a look at www.carsales.com.au and find photos of the Proton Satria GTi by selecting the car options.

Recaro seats also flip forward, making them useful for a ute or coupe.

For seat covers, it turns out that Sperling (ie what I use now) can custom make seat covers to suit that seat. The Satria GTi is in their database, so that means that to get a seat cover for any Recaro seat in that shape you just have to order one for the Proton.

The early 2000s Suzuki Ignis Sport also came with Recaro seats but they are not the standard Recaro base, so you would have to get brackets custom made.

Useful link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recaro#Cars_with_OEM-installed_Recaro_seats

The useful thing about Recaro seats is that they are symmetrical. You can swap the adjustment knob to either side of the seat. I'll probably end up rebuilding and rotating the seats every six months or so, ie spend six months on one seat, swap it with the passenger seat and rebuild that one. That way both front seats will always feel right.

Recaro sell a bracket adaptor to connect the seat to the Falcon rails. One thing I haven't figured out yet is the switch for the height and angle adjustment - that switch is on the actual driver's seat. I'll have to cannibalise a driver's seat and come up with a way of getting the switch mounted on/next to the Recaro.

By getting seats out of the Proton and the bracket from Recaro, it keeps the whole lot legal (essential for me).

I'm also curious about getting Fairmont rails - they have a three way adjustment and memory function, which would be useful for me (ie the day driver and I could have our own settings saved). I only found out about that an hour ago so will go have a look at a Fairmont at a car yard tomorrow and see how it works.

With the Recaro seats, parts are fairly easy and cheap to get. To rebuild the whole thing with all new foams, hinge kit and base costs around $A300 if you get the parts from the UK - http://www.capitalseating.co.uk