Bucket Seats into VN/VP (VR/VS?)

[xlr8_87]

ok, got some buckets for my car, here's what you'll need:

- Rail adaptors (available through supplier usually, autotechnica have them for my seats)
- 6mm and 5mm allan keys (reccommend LONG handled ones, makes leverage easier as they can be tight)
- 13mm spanner
- RP7 doesn't go astray
- patience

1.
Passenger Seat:
You have four allan bolts to un-do per seat, 2 at the front and 2 at the back, which you'll need to remove.
To undo the front bolts you'll need the 6mm allen key, slide the seat all the way back. Be careful here, they'll require a lot of force, as they're in tight, just don't slip and strip the head like i nearly did on one of them . I also found spraying a little bit of RP7 or similar on the bolts prior to removing helped a little.
This here is the front left bolt


Front right bolt hides under the carpet


For the rear two, slide the seat all the way forward




The seat will now pull out, and you will be left with this (good idea to get the vaccuum out now, as these bits are near impossible to vaccuum with the seats in)



good idea to lay the bolts out near their respective holes, as the ones closest to the trans tunnel (front right for passenger) are shorter than the others




2.

The two seats side by side, my rail adaptors were already bolted on, they're the square bracket on the bucket seat



The back adjustment wheel needs to come off, first off, pry the centre out with a knife or something with a thin blade



Next, lever the wheel off with a screwdriver




3.

Now for the rails, we need to take them off the existing seats. First off we need to remove the plastic side, there are two screws:
One at the front, shown underneath here, and one at the back.



Now it should look like this with the plastic side off:



Time to remove the back of the seat.
Two allen bolts on each side need to be removed using your 5mm allen key:



once they're off, the back should fall off and you'll be left with the base and back seperate:
This is a good time to get some RP7 or lubricant in there, will just make operation of the slidey bit easier in the future.



To get the rails off, you'll need a 13mm spanner, works a lot better than the adjustable spanner i tried first off. There are once again 2 bolts on each side of the rails, take them out



With all four off, your rails should come apart like so, don't worry if the middle comes out, just don't lose the little clips (which i'll show later) which hold them in



4.
Now the easy bit, the rails will bolt straight upto the rail adaptors on your bucket seat, slide them onto the bolts and then use the nuts and washers that should come with your seats or adaptors, and do them up.

shown here is the clip that you don't want to lose, its the little square one right in the middle, if you don't replace these, the adjustment handle could fall out



5.

Now, the seat will bolt straight into where the old one went, i found one of the rear bolts didn't line up exactly so i had to pull the rail to one side a little, in order to get it in, wasn't much of a hassle.




Drivers Seat

Pretty much goes the same as the passenger, removing the 4 bolts to the floor, removing the plastic, except with this one, the plastic for the height adjuster will need to be removed, but the unit itself won't, with the plastic cover for the height adjuster taken off it'll look like this



then remove the plastic side the same as the passenger (2 screws), unbolt the rails in the same fashion, but these will stay as one unit as shown here



then the same, bolt onto adaptor on bucket, and bolt into car, and here is how it'll look all done

[jas98]

mate thats an awsome wright up u have there and those seats look awsomely nice.. hehe ........just curious what are those seats worth??

cheers

[xlr8_87]

thanks
the seats do look the goods!
i bought them off a forum member for $350 which included a matching steering wheel, i think they're roughly about $200 each + whatever the rail adaptors cost, not entirely sure though

[jas98]

ok thanks mate.............and once again nice write up ....im sure to use it if and when i ever change me seats lol

[dijm8]

killa write up dude, i had the same seats in my vk but blue, ther like 200 to 300 bucks new, frm autobarn

[xlr8_87]

yeh i thought seeing as i've never done anything like that before i might as well document it and help anyone else out.
if anyone has specific questions feel free to ask via PM

EDIT: Just added in the little tips of using longer handled allen keys, and when is a good time to use the RP7



.

[savage1987]

Are they much lighter than standard? Personally I don't like the look of racing-style buckets at all, so I was wondering if they have a significant weight saving. Why do people like these seats?

Just to make it perfectly clear by the way, I'm not having a go at what you've done. Great job!

[jas98]

when i took my seats out the allen bolts holding the seat to the car were that tight it wasnt a joke lol (atleast i wasnt going anywhere in a crash i guess lol jks) i had to get a metal bar and use it as a breaker bar as i would never of got them out if i was just useing the allen key lol . just make sure u dont strip the bolt as its easy to doo

cheers

[savage1987]

Yeah I had that when I took out my VN seats to put the Calais ones in.... had to use my 12" shifter as an extension for my allen key. I love misusing tools lol

[jas98]

Yeah I had that when I took out my VN seats to put the Calais ones in.... had to use my 12" shifter as an extension for my allen key. I love misusing tools lol

hah yeh......they have lock tight on them and that stuff is good sh1t so thats why mine were so hard to undo....................so what i do is i put lock tight back on then so i have the same prob next time i take them out hahah

but atleas the bolts aint gonna come loose easyly i guess

[xlr8_87]

yeh, if necessary just slide a hollow tube over the allan key to get more leverage

as for the lighter, they are lighter, not enough to make any difference though (maybe 1 or 2 kg between the two of them), the thing they are better for is holding you in your seat. you don't realise how much you slide around in normal seats with no leg or shoulder supports.
this way you feel the car more and hence feel more in control.

[savage1987]

Thanks mate I get it now. I'll just try to jam in a set of Coulsen buckets for the VR

[slayer]

where do u get rail adapters from

[xlr8_87]

give autobarn a call, or the seat manufacturer
mine came with the seats (bought them 2nd hand)

[Haydz]

Good screw drivers you used.

ive got a set and theyre good screw drivers