D1 seat bottoms

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Hey guys! I have two Exmoore D1 seat bases sitting right here. I had my seats for my LSE redone and ended up not needing them.

I paid $90 each for them from Rovers North, they've never been used, (just dusty from sitting in the upholstery shop for a while) Price is negotiable. hit me up if you're interested

PM sent.
 

mdcoa

Well-known member
Jan 25, 2013
113
4
Southern Pines, NC
mdcoa, how did the new foam fit under the existing covers? Or did you get new covers as well?

Sorry for posting and then running away . . . apparently I need to tweak my alerts.

Looks like this has already been answered, but I'll pile on--I used existing seat upholstery. Fit pretty well. Only hard part (with fitting the diaphragm I got at the same time) was figuring out how to drill new holes in the rear seat rail without removing the seat base from the back (because I couldn't be bothered)--my drill chuck wore some marks on the vinyl on the bottom of the seat back. Wish it had occurred to me to use my 90-degree drill chuck, which has to be one of the handiest things I own, right up there with the angle grinder.
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,781
358
-
Foam appears interchangeable from my experience too, except I reused stock foam with the new cover on the passenger side
 

salvvia

Well-known member
May 28, 2005
990
39
BIG WHEEL ROVN IN KNOXVEGAS TN.
fwiw....I bought a set of seats from Summit Racing for my '95...they look like Recarro copys,they were $159 each....came with the tracks, all I needed to do was bolt in an alluminum plate on top of the old mount to bolt the new seats to.....which allowed me to mount them back a little farther...

Do you happen to have a pt number fo those summit seats
 

Buddy

Well-known member
Nov 6, 2006
2,839
1
Central NC
Turns out my foam was fine but the diaphragm was shot.


Then this happened!


Sat in it in the garage and felt A-OK.

That's one way to do it. If it does not hold up long term or you want an alternative. I've had good luck using para cord also. It's definitely strong enough and it has stretch to it also.

2DBC71C7-E0E2-4C19-A8D4-C39A5FC88937.jpg
 

Disco95

Well-known member
Mar 20, 2020
51
21
Portland, OR
Updating this old thread with another method to repair the D1 seat sling/diaphragm thing that rips. I repaired mine with a strip of canvas a few months ago, and it worked pretty well (other than being a pain to sew) until it ripped at a new place in the rubber panel. I decided to replicate the whole sling in canvas.

I used a a fairly light canvas duck (I think 10oz, like a tote bag) in a single layer, folded over the edges to create sleeves for the 1/8” rod, and cut out four slots in the fabric on each side for the original hooks. I could’ve reused the rods but wanted to leave my old sling intact in case project canvas flopped.

It worked! I wondered if I’d have enough stretch to mount the hooks. I did but not sure I could’ve done it from the bottom (came in from the top after in clipping the lower cover). Had someone sit in each seat while I measured and the resulting sag is very close to the original passenger-side sling—slightly tauter, but the canvas might stretch a little over time I guess.

I’ll update on how it holds up.
IMG_5902.jpegCheers,
joe b
pdx or
95 D1 v8 5IMG_5906.jpeg
 
Hi, How did it work?
I imported this complete rubber diaphragm in order to use it when my original pad deaths, but after years I discovered that imported pads are Classic RR pads, they are useless. I sewed a rubber strap replacing the torn one, but after couple of days from happyness, all was falling, rubber can't support cutting effect from threads, albeit I preemptively painted sewings with bitumen.
Now I was planning to put springs and a wire net from a D1 rear seat i have, but always is better to know other experiences

Regards
 

Disco95

Well-known member
Mar 20, 2020
51
21
Portland, OR
Hi, How did it work?
I imported this complete rubber diaphragm in order to use it when my original pad deaths, but after years I discovered that imported pads are Classic RR pads, they are useless. I sewed a rubber strap replacing the torn one, but after couple of days from happyness, all was falling, rubber can't support cutting effect from threads, albeit I preemptively painted sewings with bitumen.
Now I was planning to put springs and a wire net from a D1 rear seat i have, but always is better to know other experiences

Regards

So far so good with the canvas, but I have to admit I've had limited seat time (need to find time to do up a leaky valley gasket). This was just a test run for me, so I didn't fool with replacing/fixing the foam. I expected to have to go a gauge or two thicker, but the lightweight canvas actually seems about right. You can see in the image all the anchoring has disintegrated, so the cloth covers are a little loose on the seat surface. I have a set of leather seats waiting to swap in at some point.

I had a similar short-lived success as yours trying to sew the old one back together. Lasted about a month before it ripped again and also bent a couple heavy duty needles!

Cheers,
joe b
pdx or
95 disco v8 5-speed
 
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DiscoClay

Well-known member
Mar 18, 2021
433
85
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Look up Exmoore on youtube. There is a really good tutorial on rebuilding front seats, about 20 minutes total. The front seats are early, 95 and back, and late 96 and up. Manual seats are all different than power in my experience. I need to do all the fronts in both my 95's, either going the Exmoore route or just buy some after market seats.
It looks so painful I think I'd rather do head gaskets... but not a clutch (at least on the D1).
 

DiscoClay

Well-known member
Mar 18, 2021
433
85
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Has anyone just made their own seat bottoms? I was thinking of stitching (large) velcro sections on to the side bolsters and a large velcro overlap for the center bottom.. and then just take some buffalo hide.. attaching the mating velcro to it and just sticking it on there. That way its removable to wash, clean, replace.. etc.
 

Jimmy

Well-known member
Apr 10, 2006
740
64
Aurora, CO
Over the years I've grabbed a few of these from junkyard passenger seats and swapped them into my driver's seat (the only one that's ever broken) as needed. I've done it a couple of times over the 17 years of ownership.