• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

'85 and down front seats: what to do

joshkeady

joshkeady

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2018
Location
Salem, OR
Apparently I haven't ever posted here so hello... I've owned a couple of 240s over the years and have certainly spent a lot of time reading this and other Volvo forums.

I'm currently in possession of a nice '84 245 and I'm in the process of performing a mild restoration and engine swap.

My question is about upholstery, specifically sourcing. This is kind of a meandering tale so thanks for sticking with me. I've tried to read up on the subject as much as possible but confusion abounds.

My front seat upholstery on both sides has come apart at the seams in a couple of places and has cracks throughout (this is 5307 beige). They also both need lower foam, at least, and I would think it would be a good idea to just replace all of the foam since I'm planning on really using this car regularly once it's back on the road. The lumbar supports work, adjuster mechanisms work, etc., but I'm prepared to fix what needs fixing (and add heaters).

Before I started seriously looking for new upholstery, I wrongly assumed that 240 seat shapes were the same for all years. I know now that the '85 and down are different than the '86 and up. The problem is, everyone seems to have leather upholstery kits for the '86 and up cars, no one has leather upholstery for the '85 and down cars. (No one that I can find, that is.)

Plan B was talk to a reputable upholstery shop nearby and see what they said. I sent them pictures of my seats, asking what I could expect to pay for new leather surfaces. The confident reply: "those aren't leather, they're vinyl, and we could do both in vinyl for $2,000."

Well I *can* find vinyl upholstery online for my year for a fraction of that cost (granted, a big chunk of that $2k is installation labor), so I'm hesitant to shell out that kind of coin for something that will be very similar to what I could have done on my own with just a kit from eBay. And everyone says it, but, it's not the money so much, I just want to end up with something that matches my interior AND feels good. I have even considered ditching the perfectly good material on my back seat for a complimentary tweed or plaid fabric on all the seating surfaces.

Which gets me to the questions:
  • Can someone please confirm for me (and I know the answer but humor me): are '86 and up seats so different that you can't use upholstery for those years on the '85 and down models?
  • Did my '84 come from the factory with leather seat faces or vinyl? (And yes, I can go out to the shop and touch it but don't know how to really tell.)
  • Is there a good source for replacement leather upholstery for the older style of seats? And if they *were* vinyl from the factory, who is the best supplier of those?
  • Is it better to just go find some junkyard '86+ seats and start with those?
For what it's worth, I'm attaching a photo of the seats I have, just so we're working from the same information here. Thanks very much in advance, I really appreciate whatever advice you might have.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1032.jpeg
    IMG_1032.jpeg
    769.7 KB · Views: 15
atomicdeathmonkey said:
Interested in the replies here, I was going to try mount the 86 foam on the 85 and below frames and use one of the lseat kits for the fronts. Hoping that's an option!
Click to expand...
That was one of my thoughts, as well, but this thread has a lot of good photos that lead me to believe that's not really possible:

Early vs late 240 seats and seat covers, help with fitment.

So I bought some blue 240 seat covers for my '80 wagon from Swedish Car parts (seat needed a rebuild, decided might as well go for new upholstery. Decent enough covers but I've noticed a good amount of extra material at the top of the seat. I recall some differences between the seat backs on...
turbobricks.com turbobricks.com
 
atomicdeathmonkey said:
Interested in the replies here, I was going to try mount the 86 foam on the 85 and below frames and use one of the lseat kits for the fronts. Hoping that's an option!
Click to expand...
Likewise also interested. I have an 82 which came with genuine leather seats, these have since been replaced. My plan was also to purchase 86+ seat cushions from swedishcarparts, order skins from LSEAT and cover.

Presumably the rear seats are the same? Not different from 86 onward?
 
I am having an email conversation with Lseat right now, trying to see if they actually have the patterns for this early seat or what. I said I would gladly send them my covers for measurement if it would help things, will see what comes of that.

I kind of suspect the path of least resistance is just buying ‘86+ seats and working with them. Looking at the difference between early and late seat frames, I have a hard time believing that late model seat back foam would fit well on an early model frame. But I definitely don’t have hands-on experience so I’m really just guessing.
 
To make it easy. You need a 86+ seat frame and foam. You can find used frames/foam on Ebay or post in wanted. The newer style provides more lumbar support. The older seats are more flat.
 
joshkeady said:
I am having an email conversation with Lseat right now, trying to see if they actually have the patterns for this early seat or what. I said I would gladly send them my covers for measurement if it would help things, will see what comes of that.

I kind of suspect the path of least resistance is just buying ‘86+ seats and working with them. Looking at the difference between early and late seat frames, I have a hard time believing that late model seat back foam would fit well on an early model frame. But I definitely don’t have hands-on experience so I’m really just guessing.
Click to expand...
You can send in the seat covers and have them make a new pattern so that other people would be able to order without changing frame/foam.
 
Lseat came back with a reply that linked back to their '86+ covers. When I responded to let them know that I needed the earlier style, their reply was, "Please inform us that you need it for 85 early generations on the checkout page."

SO, I think I will give that a try here in the next month along with new foam (need to do my taxes, I guess...) and see what happens. I remain cautiously optimistic.
 
I wanted 86+ seats in my 242 but still needed to access the rear seats and folding 86+ seats were never made. I took my original 1980 seat bottoms and hinges and bolted the 86+ seat back to the bottoms and cut a hole for the folding button. Seat covers on the bottom are the same and only the back and headrest change. Headrests do not swap between early and late seats.
 
Received the upholstery for my ‘84 from Lseat.com today. About four weeks between order date and arrival. Waiting for my taxes to be done before I order seat foam and then we’ll see about the fit. The material feels very nice and their beige color will look good with the Volvo color.

Will post pics when completed. Fingers crossed that they’re actually made for the ‘85 and older seats as promised…
 
joshkeady said:
Received the upholstery for my ‘84 from Lseat.com today. About four weeks between order date and arrival. Waiting for my taxes to be done before I order seat foam and then we’ll see about the fit. The material feels very nice and their beige color will look good with the Volvo color.

Will post pics when completed. Fingers crossed that they’re actually made for the ‘85 and older seats as promised…
Click to expand...
If this all works I will definitely be tempted to get a set of skins from lseat so I can run the early style seats.
 
We’ll see what happens. I’ll use Wagonmeister lower foam + their seat grids and heaters, as well as VP-autoparts back foam. Might be selling a kidney by the time this car is done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top