Are VN Calais seats electric?

[andy05]

Just wondering, if all the adjustments, seat up and down, tilt of the backrest ect is electric. If it is, is it that hard to put in a VN executive?

[AirStrike]

No elecs in VN Calais seats mate. Straight swap. 4 x hex headed bolts to undo the fronts. 2 x 10mm (from memory) bolts for the rears.
AirStrike

[gone_nutz13]

four 6mm allen key bolts, two at front two at back, slide chair right forward, undo the back, slide right back undo front two, then the chair will just come out, rails and all, then just bolt the new seats in, takes not even half an hour

[AirStrike]

four 6mm allen key bolts, two at front two at back, slide chair right forward, undo the back, slide right back undo front two, then the chair will just come out, rails and all, then just bolt the new seats in, takes not even half an hour

Yep thats how its done.
AirStrike

[andy05]

Yep thats how its done.
AirStrike

You are right. Four allen keys front and back. The allen key nearest the transmission tunnel is hidden under the carpet (why the hell did they do that!?!?!?! Did it today, took a little too long because the allen key I used was burred, rusty ect. Also some of the allen bolts have limited access, making you do very small turns with the allen key to undo them. But I got my Calais seats, mint, front and back for $200, oh man its gonna look so SMICK

[AirStrike]

You are right. Four allen keys front and back. The allen key nearest the transmission tunnel is hidden under the carpet (why the hell did they do that!?!?!?! Did it today, took a little too long because the allen key I used was burred, rusty ect. Also some of the allen bolts have limited access, making you do very small turns with the allen key to undo them. But I got my Calais seats, mint, front and back for $200, oh man its gonna look so SMICK

Congrats. Yep after getting mine out of my VR, in preperation for the SS I got some hex headed drivers to suit a 1/4" drive ratchet..........so much easier
AirStrike

[wes_v8]

yea congrats m8 hope it turns out all good, post sum pics up of it

[andy05]

I'm having great difficulties getting the front seats out of my car, the blots all seem welded in. I had no such problem with getting the seats out of the Calais. My hex key actually twisted when I put some leverage on it! I did put some WB40 on it last night, left it soak in, didnt make any difference. Holy cow this is irritating!

[gone_nutz13]

all the bolts in mine had loctite or something similar on them, try getting a hardened allen key set, cos yeah mine took a hell of a lot to get them out, ended up using a small pole from a trolley jack and using that to lever it. they're pretty tough bolts so i doubt you'll strip the head before they come but just be careful

[defa]

unbolting the rails is the easiest way around the hex bolts not coming out.. i tried for ages and broke some tool. then i decided the unbolt the rails and use my original ones

[andy05]

Congrats. Yep after getting mine out of my VR, in preperation for the SS I got some hex headed drivers to suit a 1/4" drive ratchet..........so much easier
AirStrike

Wanna sell your hex drivers? Just tried today to unbolt the rails. Calais seats (1989 model VN) had bolts, but my executive seats (1990 VN) had bloody hex keys securing the rails! And I could'nt undo 'em. If you won't sell me your hex keys, tell me where you bought 'em and how much dough were they?

[andy05]

Funny, getting the Calais seats out WITH A ALLEN KEY was pretty easy. Getting the seats out of the executive was a different story. I broke a few tools just getting these out! I guess those tools were'nt much good anyway, should've been able to take the torque I was dishing out. Anywayz, the seats are in! Shite, these things are comfy. They look fully sick too, real limo stuff. Mine are velour, I really recommend the velour ones. They look good, and the velour seems to have held up damn well considering its 17 years old. They didnt have seat covers on 'em either. Bit of a vacum and a clean up and they look VERY close to new.

By comparison, the executive seats are falling apart despite having covers on them most of their life. Thin rubbish material and no shaping in the seat. Very uncomfortable and a eyesore! I like the velour too, as in the VN, it had a bunched up look, (rouched in fabric parlance) which I reckon had some character. Leather after this amount of time usually looks worn, and is cold in winter and boiling in summer. Usually they cost a heap more too. Anyway thanks everyone who recommended the VN Calais seats, they look great and even the rear bench feels like a comfortable lounge!

[AirStrike]

Wanna sell your hex drivers? Just tried today to unbolt the rails. Calais seats (1989 model VN) had bolts, but my executive seats (1990 VN) had bloody hex keys securing the rails! And I could'nt undo 'em. If you won't sell me your hex keys, tell me where you bought 'em and how much dough were they?

LOL! I have both of em for a reason. Can't always get in with the drivers. Just get all good stuff and you wont have a problem.
AirStrike

[defa]

i put my vq statesman seats in my car on the weekend. it makes the car look better as well as the comfort.. i like with the vq seats that all the interior is all pretty much the one colour. against with exec, s pack, berlina and calias seats being the lighter grey, even though i still like calais seats.. i also put in all the lower dash parts in as they have some sort of spray on stuff so it feels like vinyl.. it looks great

[andy05]

i put my vq statesman seats in my car on the weekend. it makes the car look better as well as the comfort.. i like with the vq seats that all the interior is all pretty much the one colour. against with exec, s pack, berlina and calias seats being the lighter grey, even though i still like calais seats.. i also put in all the lower dash parts in as they have some sort of spray on stuff so it feels like vinyl.. it looks great

You're not wrong that the exec is many shades of grey... still I don't mind so much. I'd really like to see your stato interior though! The only VQ's I've seen are beige, but I think they came in grey and other colors. What color is your interiour?!

Yeah I noticed some stato's and some later model Calais had some kind of spray vinyl on some of the panels, I guess to make the color matching be more even maybe, and to give a feeling of something different than the exec. I'll post pics too, see what people think