Bolt at right rear track for driver seat won't come out

Probably, the bolts go all the way through the floor and are exposed on the other side of the belly pan. They likely just rusted on the far side and the rust is jamming the threads.

Best bet is to find where they come through on the bottom, dowse 'em with PB blaster or such (save WD40 for cleaning things), loosen the bolt until it binds a little, run it back in, relube it, and repeat. Each time it should come out more.

Running some of the penetrating oil down the threads from the top while the bolt is unthreaded as far as it'll go will help, as well.

If you have a dremel, you can go under and cut the bolts flush, then they should come right out.

Dave

When I got under the car at the salvage yard (because it was up higher than I could get with my ramps and jacks on my car back home to take a peek), I couldn't see where the bolts protruded through the hump. Couldn't use a dremel at the salvage yard (no electricity). I brought a battery-powered sawsall but they don't allow any cutting tools in the yard except for hacksaws. At home and in my own car, and because I didn't want to break off the bolt, I used the back-n-forth method to get out the bolt. I'd unscrew it a bit then rescrew it, then unscrew it out a bit more, then back in, then a bit more out. This was to grind off the rusted end which was larger in diameter than the threaded hole (basically I used the threaded hole as a die to slowly rethread the rusted end of the bolt). Damn, this was hard rust to get off. I couldn't get enough leverage with the 3/8" wrench or breaker bar or with the 1/2" wrench, so I used a 1/2" breaker bar but I didn't have a 14mm socket in 1/2" drive at the time so I used a 1/2"-to-3/8" adapter. Got the bolt out but ended up spliting the socket in 2 places. Off to the hardware store tomorrow for more sockets.

Alas, the salvaged seat comes back out tomorrow and I put back in my old faded seat (after washing it). The salvaged seat looks nicer (less faded than my old one because my car is ALWAYS outside) but the left outside seat bolster has been squashed so badly and repeatedly that the wire support is sagged way out of position and could be broken or disconnected. The first thing I noticed when I got in was the sag on the left side of the seat. ARGH! Well, I only lost $16 on the salvaged seat.

It's been a learning experience, like smacking your thumb with a hammer.

The in-n-out method is a lot easier with some penetrating oil.

Dave

I'm not following you, as to which seat is sagging. If the salvage seat is sagging, but the upholstery good, you can swap the upholstery. If a seat you want to use is sagging, you can probably fix that. I doubt a wire support is broken. More likely the foam is chewed up from flexing against the wire, or seperated from it. I have seats I am rebuilding where the foam seperated from the imbedded wire.

VF

Since the salvaged seat is already out of the car, why not take it to an upholstery shop. The major part of the labor is already done by removing the seat. Actually, take both seats, they nay be able to combine the two to make one good one.

I didn't look that carefully but I didn't think the cloth cover could be easily removed and reinstalled. I'll take a look at the seats for swapping the upholstery.

On the outside left of the salvaged driver seat, the support wire that is normally up at the seam is about midway down the side of the seat. There is almost no support from the foam on that bolster so I suspect it is a chewed up.

My old seat is still very good for support. The car is always outside so the cloth got faded and the salvaged seat looked better. However, I'd rather have good support than good looks. Like my aunt mentioned, just put a seat cover over it. Although the faded cloth doesn't look that bad, I might just do that so my butt is wearing away at the seat cover rather than the upholstery.

Could they match the cloth (color & pattern)? Rather than move the cloth from the salvaged '93 seat to my faded '92 seat, and with the expense of doing the job, I'd want them to put on new cloth, not recycle the old cloth.

Any idea what would that cost? I can call around to check, too.

I pretty much took everything off one seat to make the best one that went into the car except when I found the salvaged one was sagging. So I'll put all the best hardware back on my old seat and put that back in the car.

I just called a couple automotive reupholstery shops. They would have a very hard time matching the Subaru cloth so I'd have to get something that was a close match which means that I'd have to get both front seats done. Excluding the variable cost for the cloth selection, they would charge $150 for labor, parts, and whatnot to do the cushion (seat) and another $150 to do the upper (back). That's $300 times 2. Ouch. I've got a timing belt change due so I need to allocate that $600 to that job first.

the upholstery should be attached with "C" shaped hog rings. Might be hard to get them off and on, but you don't sound like you are affraid of a bit of work, and the upholstery sounds worth the effort, I'd try taking a few rings off, and see how it goes. I always tell friends who say that something can't be done, when they say something can't be fixed, like something won't come apart. I tell them, it went together, so has to, even if it has to be cut and epoxied.

Probably better to cut the old rings off, and install new ones with the special pliars, but I like to getting a workout from most things I do. then I Don't have to go to a gym to get exercise.))

I have a pair of Recaro seats from an 85' Mustang SVO I am going to try to put in a 07' Imp wagon I just got. The seats have some similar issues I am going to work on. They are also More extreme shape than the Sube seats, so the foam gets chewed up, Plus they have adjustable thigh side bolsters, worked by metal plates connected to a threaded rod, so more metal to rub against. I glued where the foam was just split, and plan to fill the chewed areas with expandable foam. The seats have every adjustment I could want and need, and got them for

If your old ones faded, expect the new ones to also, and cover them at least when not using the car, or they have car covers that just cover the windows and roof.

VF