Upper Bucket Seat Replacement SC430 2002
11-02-13, 02:05 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Upper Bucket Seat Replacement SC430 2002
My drivers seat on our 2002 SC430 was in terrible shape in every way. The only part that looked decent was the head rest. The center panel had a big tear in the leather, and the former owner had left the seats to bake in the Florida sun. Cracked, blistered and badly discolored. Several 'repair' shops quoted me a ton of money to patch and dye the seat. Unfortunately, I would be left with a $500 bill, and 12 year old leather seats with some patches and dye on top. The leather conditioner I use, Lexol, does not recommend it's use with repaired/dyed leather, and I always use it to get the best mileage out of my interiors.
Last week I found a distributor that had a few new, never installed, never sat in, Saddle leather Lexus SC430 bucket seat backs. I bought everything he had. I still have 1 seat back remaining (a drivers side), which I do not need. The following tutorial with illustrations show the work involved in completely replacing the bucket seat back. Understand, the entire seat back is new, the wires, airbag, side bolsters, springs, foam, leather, stitches, levers, cables, clips, etc. Not a single mile on them!!!
1) Remove the back of the seat trim with leather pocket. There are two screws on the bottom of the back, and two hooks near the top. Remove screws, and press down from the top to release the hooks. The seat lever trim piece has to be removed as well, and pries off after wedging a flat driver in the plastic slit. My first action was to remove the seat release cable which is loose on the bottom, ready to install on the lower seat.
2) Remove the old drivers seat. There are 4 bolts, and 2 cables up front. Undo the back bolts, then move seat full back to remove the front bolts. I had to rotate the drivers seat counter clockwise to free it from the cabin area. It's a little tight.
3) Flip the seat on it's face to access the underside, containing electronics and connectors. You need to remove the black plastic buttons and 3 retaining screws. The carpeted part of the seat trim is held in place with 2 additional screws. Carefully separate the trim and set aside.
Continue to remove the wires and tubes connected to the upper seat area. These are for the airbag and power seat bolster. You have to remove several zip ties, and a handful of guide clips. My new bucket seat had all NEW guide clips, so it was easy to discard the old ones. I had a bit of a snag fishing some of the cables out of harms way, so be sure to take photos as you work.
4) There are 3 metal/wire clips that hold the seating leather from the front to the back. You need to remove the metal and set them aside for re-assembly. Once released, push the leather through the back to the front.
5) After removing all the cables that run between the upper and lower bucket seats, you have to split the two apart by removing 4 beefy bolts, two on each side the seat. These were covered by the black trim you removed earlier, and a second trim piece for the inside hinge. I did not completely remove the inside hinge trim, as it was easier to just hold it out of the way when unbolting.
Very carefully separate the two halves of the seat. I had my upper bucket resting on a dinner tray, and the lower half on a recycle bin. Gave me the right amount of height to keep both parts balanced. There were a few moments where I had to take extra care to feed all the parts out of the way, but no big stress.
Re-assembly is self evident. I did take a lot of time to make certain everything fed back the way it came out. Some of this was a little tricky, but with progressive photos and some patience, it's a no brainer. The entire job took about 2.5 hours, and I would have done it in 1.5 if I hadn't goofed around cleaning the carpet under the seat, taking pictures, yakking with my wife, etc. The result is fantastic!
Last week I found a distributor that had a few new, never installed, never sat in, Saddle leather Lexus SC430 bucket seat backs. I bought everything he had. I still have 1 seat back remaining (a drivers side), which I do not need. The following tutorial with illustrations show the work involved in completely replacing the bucket seat back. Understand, the entire seat back is new, the wires, airbag, side bolsters, springs, foam, leather, stitches, levers, cables, clips, etc. Not a single mile on them!!!
1) Remove the back of the seat trim with leather pocket. There are two screws on the bottom of the back, and two hooks near the top. Remove screws, and press down from the top to release the hooks. The seat lever trim piece has to be removed as well, and pries off after wedging a flat driver in the plastic slit. My first action was to remove the seat release cable which is loose on the bottom, ready to install on the lower seat.
2) Remove the old drivers seat. There are 4 bolts, and 2 cables up front. Undo the back bolts, then move seat full back to remove the front bolts. I had to rotate the drivers seat counter clockwise to free it from the cabin area. It's a little tight.
3) Flip the seat on it's face to access the underside, containing electronics and connectors. You need to remove the black plastic buttons and 3 retaining screws. The carpeted part of the seat trim is held in place with 2 additional screws. Carefully separate the trim and set aside.
Continue to remove the wires and tubes connected to the upper seat area. These are for the airbag and power seat bolster. You have to remove several zip ties, and a handful of guide clips. My new bucket seat had all NEW guide clips, so it was easy to discard the old ones. I had a bit of a snag fishing some of the cables out of harms way, so be sure to take photos as you work.
4) There are 3 metal/wire clips that hold the seating leather from the front to the back. You need to remove the metal and set them aside for re-assembly. Once released, push the leather through the back to the front.
5) After removing all the cables that run between the upper and lower bucket seats, you have to split the two apart by removing 4 beefy bolts, two on each side the seat. These were covered by the black trim you removed earlier, and a second trim piece for the inside hinge. I did not completely remove the inside hinge trim, as it was easier to just hold it out of the way when unbolting.
Very carefully separate the two halves of the seat. I had my upper bucket resting on a dinner tray, and the lower half on a recycle bin. Gave me the right amount of height to keep both parts balanced. There were a few moments where I had to take extra care to feed all the parts out of the way, but no big stress.
Re-assembly is self evident. I did take a lot of time to make certain everything fed back the way it came out. Some of this was a little tricky, but with progressive photos and some patience, it's a no brainer. The entire job took about 2.5 hours, and I would have done it in 1.5 if I hadn't goofed around cleaning the carpet under the seat, taking pictures, yakking with my wife, etc. The result is fantastic!
11-03-13, 08:09 AM
#5
Rookie
Thread Starter
SC430 bucket seat back replacement
I definately need to do the bottom seat now. I've seen good dye work, and it didn't look new because all the plastic plus the stitches were old. Look at the seat in a 2014 Lexus woth zero miles, and that's what I see in our 12 year old car!
My next step is to pull the bottom leather out and have a shop sew a complete new replacement. i'll use the headrest for color match, as it's easier to bring than the seat.
So far I have about $500 in my new seats. If I cannot adapt my other new saddle bucket seat to fit the passenger side, I will probably sell it. It is also a DS seat back, complete and brand new as the one I just installed.
My next step is to pull the bottom leather out and have a shop sew a complete new replacement. i'll use the headrest for color match, as it's easier to bring than the seat.
So far I have about $500 in my new seats. If I cannot adapt my other new saddle bucket seat to fit the passenger side, I will probably sell it. It is also a DS seat back, complete and brand new as the one I just installed.
Last edited by marty99; 11-03-13 at 06:49 PM.
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