RMW Seat Identification

The drivers seat in my '95 Caprice is pretty broken down and I found a 107K RMW parting out with a very nice interior.  I am considering picking up the seats for my wagon, but have a couple of questions:

1)   I've seen a few posts where people advise avoiding the RMW limited seats due to tendency to fatigue crack and basic comfort - how do I tell the limited from the non limited seats? The seats I am considering are leather, heated, single lumbar 1996 (photo attached).

2) The seats I am looking at are tan and my Caprice has a glorious burgundy interior - I am off my rocker thinking I can dye these to match?

Thanks,

Andrew

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Those are Limited seats. If your Caprice is burgundy, hold out for the matching colour from a Roadie. The 94-96 cars match perfectly.

Bad news first, the seats you are looking at are the Limited seats. The frame is prone to breaking. From your picture they appear to be in decent condition. But they can be repaired if there is an issue. You would have to remove the seat cover and bring the frame to a welding shop for repair. Then, maybe bring it to an upholsterer and have him add foam to the outside which is where it breaks down.

The wagon has low mileage, seats appear to be decent and your's is not in good shape. Go for it. I would get front and back seats. Several guys have done, two color interiors. I think you'd be very happy. The Mrs. has a Cadillac CTS. The seats were "pleather" (plastic / leather), gray interior. I found a set of tan leather seats. They look great with the gray.

I have done a similar swap to what you are doing. I believe there are 2 groups of wires coming up through the rug. Cut the wires about a foot from where they plug in the seat, so it has a pigtail. If you get the seats PM me and I will explain.

I would say probably $100 for front and rear seats is fair from a private party. Remember there's not too much demand for these.

Good Luck

Tom

Thanks for the quick replies guys. The low mileage and good condition of these seats certainly makes them tempting - but they would definitely make for either an interesting two tone interior or 20 hours of work trying to dye them to match. If I can get both rows for $100 it would be worth it to have a more comfortable seat to use while I look for a better alternative. Unfortunately the seller is not at that price point yet, but maybe we can get close.

Thanks again!

Ideally, Jason is probably right.  But these cars are 25 years old, seats, in good condition are few are far between.  Maroon seats in any condition are really hard to find.

I know "Brokecello" had a Oldsmobile CC with blue interior and gray seats.  It looked great.

Tom

You can change colors with SEM "paint". Some people consider it a dye, but it is a paint. It is called Color Coat, and is designed for use on leather and soft vinyl. I am not sure if it is a standard color, or if you must have it mixed. The mix color is ruby red 4197. Figure on at least 1 spray can per seat. I have used the product on my dash pad, and parts of the door panels, and it holds up well.

Well, I have not pulled the trigger on the Limited seats for my wagon yet.  I have been inspired to take a closer look at my current seats and see about getting them fixed up - probably replace the foam with pass foam from the junkyard of have them re foamed.  I've done a lot of searching and have not been able to find a good thread on this process, specifically how to remove the seatback from the base, and R&Ring the upholstery.  It appears that the upholstery is mostly attached with plastic J-Hooks (no hog rings so far).

 Any pitfalls to look for taking the upholstery off?

 Any tips for deep cleaning while it is off - or do I run a risk of it shrinking and never getting it back on?
 
 Any tips on how to remove the seatback from the base?

 Also, my headrest is floppy so something is clearly broken in the seatback - is this a common thing on the Caprice seats?  

Thanks!

Andrew

68J, I think that is your smartest move.  Those seats don't look that bad, if the material is good, everything else can be fixed.

1.  Remove seat for easy access.

2.  Removing the headrest:  I use a hard plastic tie, about 3/16 wide and atleast 8' long.  Raise the headrest all the way up, insert the tie wrap on one of the support bars while keeping an upward pressure.  It will release.  Do the same on the other side.  Done. it will pull up.  There may be other ways, but this one was always quick and easy.

3.  Removing seat back from base:  Two bolts either side where the seat back and seat meet.  You may have to pull / push the upholstery and foam out of the way to access.  One of the bolts has a shoulder on it allowing the seat back to move.  Make sure that it's not broken, as that is a common problem.  If you need to take off the upholstery on the back, it should pull right off.  There may be an interlocking strip to undo first and maybe some Christmas trees.  The back usually is not the part that gets worn, most of the time.  But maybe on your seats there are issues with the framework / headrest

4.  The seat base upholstery should come off easy also.  The lever has a horseshoe clip holding it on.  Push material in and it is visible.  Peel off the upholstery and size up the foam.  Remove the foam and inspect the frame.  Damage is usually on the door side.  

5.  How to repair foam:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32bMlq-9JUc

I just did this repair on my 2001 Yukon XL, thanks to the 300 pound + previous owner.  The frame was broke and the foam needed to be built up.  All is great now.

If it's your daily driver, install passenger seat on drivers side while you repair, bolts right in.

6. As for cleaning, just rent one of those shampoo machines with upholstery attachments.

Good Luck

Tom

Tom,

Thanks for all the tips on tearing down the seat. It took me awhile to get started, but things actually went pretty easily. God bless whoever invented the J-Hooks that hold the upholstery on - I've done a little work on older cars with hog rings and these things are a breeze compared to that. Also, the shoulder bolts that hold the seatbacks on are in perfect shape, so I got lucky on that front.

Anyway, after looking over the foam, I am ready to take a stab at replacing it - where would a person procure new foam to use to shape the seat cushion?

Thanks,

Andrew



68J, I think that is your smartest move. Those seats don't look that bad, if the material is good, everything else can be fixed.

1. Remove seat for easy access.

2. Removing the headrest: I use a hard plastic tie, about 3/16 wide and atleast 8' long. Raise the headrest all the way up, insert the tie wrap on one of the support bars while keeping an upward pressure. It will release. Do the same on the other side. Done. it will pull up. There may be other ways, but this one was always quick and easy.

3. Removing seat back from base: Two bolts either side where the seat back and seat meet. You may have to pull / push the upholstery and foam out of the way to access. One of the bolts has a shoulder on it allowing the seat back to move. Make sure that it's not broken, as that is a common problem. If you need to take off the upholstery on the back, it should pull right off. There may be an interlocking strip to undo first and maybe some Christmas trees. The back usually is not the part that gets worn, most of the time. But maybe on your seats there are issues with the framework / headrest

4. The seat base upholstery should come off easy also. The lever has a horseshoe clip holding it on. Push material in and it is visible. Peel off the upholstery and size up the foam. Remove the foam and inspect the frame. Damage is usually on the door side.

5. How to repair foam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32bMlq-9JUc

I just did this repair on my 2001 Yukon XL, thanks to the 300 pound + previous owner. The frame was broke and the foam needed to be built up. All is great now.

If it's your daily driver, install passenger seat on drivers side while you repair, bolts right in.

6. As for cleaning, just rent one of those shampoo machines with upholstery attachments.

68JCode wrote:

Anyway, after looking over the foam, I am ready to take a stab at replacing it - where would a person procure new foam to use to shape the seat cushion?

Thanks Andrew

I know foam, to fit, is available, probably on ebay, or just search. Although like I said, I think your best bet is repairing, although I have been wrong one other time.

Here you go: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=foam+for+car+seats

I found a junkyard RMW with limited seats. My RMW has the standard leather. Both cars are DGGM/woodgrain with tan interior.

The junkyard car was pretty filthy. I think the seats would clean up. Driver's side has a hole in the leather about 3" long and 3/4" wide, and the foam is ripped in the same place. Car has been sitting with broken hatch glass for an undetermined amount of time. The armrest/console was in pretty poor shape.

I had a thought about trying to retrofit those limited seats to my car, perhaps even swapping upholsterty (will it interghange?) so I wouldn't have to swap the second row. But considering that I have no idea what condition the electricals are in, plus the cautions here about weak frames, I think maybe I'll let sleeping dogs lie, and continue to enjoy my car with the unheated seats it was built with.