How to Fit 9000 Seats in your 900 (Front/Rear)

[B202NUT]

Many know I promote the skin swap, especially if you have a MY91 or later 900. I would recommend taking the entire front seat from the 9000 because, the seats are bigger than the 900, and have more comfort options like:

Back Lumbar
Front thigh Lumbar (or whatever its title)

In Florida the skins have been in fair to exceptional condition on most 9000 I come across in the local pull n pay.

Many have seen me post where I installed the front seats from a MY95 9000 into MY92 900 last week with suede carpet.



This weekend I am doing the rear bench and then prepping the rear backrest.

I pulled the velour fabric off the back bench and exposed the springs.

Here are the tools for the job:

Heavy duty wires cutters = $20 Home Depot (could probably get some cheaper but I liked this paticular one as it does about 5 other things).

Staple Gun = hand held is plenty (i am using 1/2 staples becasue thats whats in the garage)

Hand Saw = $8.00 Home Depot





I made this job harder than what it was suppose to be. I mis-judged the size of the 900 bench. I thought it is smaller than the 9000 seperate seats and I was wrong.

The 9000 had a 3rd person cushion and I cut it off long ago. So I had to modify the bench to fit the 9000 skins properly.

I simply cut the springs down to match the missing section. The MY95 9000 has seperate rear seats; therefore the cushions fit either side the springs I left in place. BUT THE REAR SKINS NEED TO BE SEWN TOGETHER (more on that below).

So in Theory, the 9000 rear seats, in its dimensions will fit a 900 rear hatch bench. Had I not cut the mid section from the 9000 cushion (see cut foam in the piccy below), it would have been plug and play:

(9000 cushions left/right sides, dry fitted to the 900 rear bench)






Now you have to sew the rear skins together.


The 9000 rear passenger side (LHD) and mid-section are 1 seat. The driver rear is seperate.

I have a fabulous seamstress up the road that works from her home.

$20: for stiching:



here is a section of the seat rest that was stitched. Professional job:



This is the rear side. The skins were stitched together and then enforced with the with white fabric you see running down the entire stitch, back to front. In many sections she added that brown fabric you see as well. Not sure why but she says, "20 more years useage Mr. Mike, 20 more years", that was good enough for me!

(as you can see, cushion on rear side of 9000 leather still looks new).



I am off to prepare the spring section with cushion. more pics soon.

Cheers,

[bobsverts]

How do you tilt the 9000 front seat backs for passengers to enter the rear seat? Great writeup on modifying the rear seats.

[B202NUT]

Originally Posted by bobsverts

How do you tilt the 9000 front seat backs for passengers to enter the rear seat? Great writeup on modifying the rear seats.

Pull it forward with the forward adjust bar under the front of the seat, and roll forward with the back adjust knob pictured above. 2 steps but fully functional...

[B202NUT]

Sorry boys, but just like any artist, I got caught up in my craft.

Here is the completed seat:





Basically the rest of the way I fit 3/4 thick foam and polycotton over the springs.

I then used nylon zipties instead of the factory hog ties to hold the skins to the cushions.

Then I used the 1/2 staples around te perimeter of the back of the press board bench, pulled tight and stapled in the front.

Done.

One mistake I made, if you look above at the middle section of each seat, there is a diagnol crease in the right and left hand corners.

I can live with it, but to get a 100% crease free seat, make sure you tuck the wire that runs around under the skin into the creases of the foam.

Those corner creases are directly related to me not tucking the wire down into the cushion in each corner. Live and Learn.....

[B202NUT]

Here are the seperated back seat rests as I pulled them out of the MY95 9000 Turbo, along with the Arm Rest.

The arm rest is LARGE. I would say about almost twice the size the standard 900 armrest. It has a completely different shape and the foam if firm but nor hard. Very comfortable.

I hope to be able to keep it.




Here is the backside. This is the fit clincher!



The inner perimeter of the foam is the exact same shape as the 900 pressboard backrest. If you take a second to drop your hatch back, you will notice that foam and material protrude out the sides of the backrest off the press board.

That is reflective of the outermost foam you see above.

So, basically I should be able to sew the two seats together straight down the edge of the arm rest section and have them fit the back rest of my 900 perfectly.

It's dark out now, so I will wait till morning to pull the backrest out of my car and show the fit process.

Cheers,

[scantar]

Good writeup, B202NUT. I hope when finished it gets moved to a tech thread or forum. Also, if you have a writeup on the front seat swap I'd love to read that as well!

[B202NUT]

Originally Posted by scantar

Good writeup, B202NUT. I hope when finished it gets moved to a tech thread or forum. Also, if you have a writeup on the front seat swap I'd love to read that as well!

Thanks Scant!

[B202NUT]

After me Lucky Charms this morning (yes, I really still eat them)

I ran out and grabbed the rear bench:



Stripped it down:

[B202NUT]

Those that have been on SC a while know the Blue Velour fabric I am replacing was oiginally fitted in a 9000 CSE. So I already had the 9000 rear head rest.

Funny thing, SAAB made them a bit larger than the 900 rear headrest. So the leather skins from a 9000 rear head rest will fit the 900 but it will be a bit big.

Luckily my rear head rest were already 9000 headrest.

To start fitting you must turn the skin inside out and slip up the mounting post:

[B202NUT]

First I am securing the passenger side of the backseat. The left side next to the arm rest has to be secured to the bench.

The stock 9000 back bench is aluminum and had tied down points using the god awful metal s clips.




Since I am using zip ties, instead of re-using the S clips, one would be tempted to tied down at that meatal bar going down the middle.

Not wise. The stretch loop of the zip tie will balloon the fabric that has to cover the exposed portion of the bench you see above and make the job a mess.

After a few strokes of the beard, I raided my wifes picturing hanging kit :



Lined them up directly under each tie down hole



Then zip tied them down straight like it should be:



Notice the hold downs are pulled just tight enough to keep the seat straight and secure. They are not pulled to the point of stress or stretching.

[B202NUT]

I hope this de-mystifies the Myth....

[Krizzie]

Nice Job!

I did the same thing to a 9000 Aero back seat and front seats (also made them foldable!)

I used the 9000 springs for the backseat though. If I get crazy enough to do it again I think I stick to the 900 springs and adjust the 9000 foam to that. But I would need a second 900 seat and a 9000 aero seat to do that.

Here's my topic: http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=206978

[B202NUT]

Hey Thanks,

I saw your build in the performance forum (i believe). I installed my seats last night. After cleaning them they look ridiculously brand new. I spent about 20 minutes outside last night just in awe at the beauty of the leather.

I need to move the passeneger side cushion over to the left about 2 inches so it lines up well, but the driver side is perfect. I wil move the passeneger seat when I install the suede carpet in the rear... I will post up a piccy when its all done.

[Krizzie]

Maybe you can squeeze the armrest back in then!

I was wondering how you did the headrests, cause with the Aero ones I had to install the mounts on the inside of the plate else they would be way too far to the back.

[B202NUT]

Originally Posted by Krizzie

Maybe you can squeeze the armrest back in then! .

tHATS THE EXACT PLAN. If not, I plan to have whatever inches removed from the middle section of the armrest. What do you think will cut the foam like butter? I know there is metal inbetween as well.

Originally Posted by Krizzie

I was wondering how you did the headrests, cause with the Aero ones I had to install the mounts on the inside of the plate else they would be way too far to the back.

Very good observation. I initially was going to mount from behind like the standard 900. When doing it that way, the head rest tilt forward just a tad and its not a bad look; However, since I need to move the passenger side, I will mount them on the indide as you mentioned because the cut out is already there and it wouldn't take much effort since I am moving the passenger side.

Good thing everythiing is only stapled to the board. I can move staples, make adjustments, mount head rest inside, and then staple back up.

I will do this tonight and post up the pictures. The seats look soooooooo nice though; Holy snap!

My indy guy had to pick his chin up off the ground when he saw the quality of the seats, and after I told him I paid $30 for the full set!!!!

[Krizzie]

I think you need some sort of saw to cut the foam, I used a knife, but it doesn't go that smooth.

I'm interested to see how it looks inside the car, the 9000 seats are a little wider than those of a 900 so It might be a tight squeeze. Atleast it is in my car. It will fold though! That was my main goal. :P

And for just 30 bucks it looks good indeed! I paid around the same for my back seat in materials. (Excluding the original price of the Aero interior of course) Counting the hours I put in it though...

Stripping the 900 seat is a real pain in the xxx!

[B202NUT]

Originally Posted by Krizzie

I'm interested to see how it looks inside the car, the 9000 seats are a little wider than those of a 900 so It might be a tight squeeze

Here is a view without the headrest. I was so focused on getting the arm rest to fit I completely forgot about mounting the head rest on the inside.

Only staples hold the skin to the press board, so when I do the carpet this weekend, I may just undo the seats again and fit the head rest.






Besides the wrinkles in the corners (rear wheel arch), it's a perfect fit..

Now I need to get the arm rest re-upholstered. I am thinking of using either a simple tan vinyl, or taking a chance with a tan wool material.

As you see, the seats are much wider than the 900. The foam underneath is posture-pedic. I sat back there and they feel more comfortable than the front.

Junk Yard Find

[B202NUT]

with the skin I stripped off the arm rest I made these bits:



I am only using the gauge cluster and the rear ashtray for this application.

The gauge cluster for my NA is for Volts and Oil Pressure.

They look like this, just gotta fit them in the NA.

[Krizzie]

That looks very good indeed!

[B202NUT]

Since I am in seat mode, and with the replacement engine for the vert on the Fedex Palate, I figured, this would be a good time to get the Vert rear seats done, since the front are so easy and this will be a custom retor fit for the rear.

This will be a bit more intense. The press board on the vert has rotted i the rear, so I want to cut a fresh piece.

The springs are also rotted very bad and I think they have lost some flex.

Luckily I did not discard the springs I cut from the last job.




SAAB Calls the Vert a 4 passenger car but this rear seat is basically a bench with stitches that create a ficticious seperation of passenger seats.

Clearly this seat needs some help. If its going to be a luxury Cabriolet, it deserves better interior.



Besides the reality of the seat being a bench, I dont like the pointy corners. I prefer the rounded corners.

Here is the 9000 rear skin that will replace the current Vert skin.

You can see the color is lighter which I like alot. gives more more room to play with the interior asthetics.




Here is the 9000 foam:


I deleted the middle section and dry fitted it to the Vert Bench:

True 2 seater,,




1. Clear definition of 2 seperate seats
2. Much wider bigger seat room; for more comfy rear passenger
3. Again here the foam is superior to the 900 seat foam, so seat is fluffier

Stay Tuned,,,