The DeLorean's leather-covered seats are bolted directly through the fiberglass body of the car.
Leather Repair and Maintenance[]
The stock DeLorean seats are covered with leather. Over time the leather can crack, wear or become discolored.
Removing Stains and Discoloration[]
David Teitelbaum posted to the DMCNews Yahoo Group about restoring the color to leather seats that have been stained or discolored. He recommends leatherique.com's solution, which is a complete dye system in a grey that matches the DeLorean interior.
Maintenance[]
The covers generally require no significant maintenance beyond normal leather care.
Removing and Installing[]
The seats are held onto the car with four M8 nuts. These extend through the floor of the fiberglass body, and can be easily accessed by raising the car. Once these are removed, the seat can be easily lifted out. It is much easier to recover the seats, install heating pads and perform other seat maintenance when the seats are not in the car.
Removing and Installing the Seats[]
These instructions cover removing the seats themselves from the car.
Tools and Parts[]
- Socket wrench with an 8mm socket
- Spare M8 washers, for uses as spacers
- Four (4) spare M8 lock nuts
Instructions[]
- Raise the car
- Using the 8mm [[Tool:Socket Wrench|socket wrench], remove the four nuts holding the bottom of the car
- Lift the seats out of the car. It may be easier to first slide the seat forward and tip the seat back forward to facilitate removal.
The seats sit on a set of standoffs or washers. These lift the seat just enough to allow them to be easily slid forwards and backwards via the adjustment handle under the seat. When reinstalling the seats, you need to ensure that the seats sit high enough that they can easily be adjusted. M8 washers can be used for this purpose.
Reinstalling the rail is just a matter of reversing the steps above. It is not uncommon for the lock nuts to be damaged when removing them due to rust and such, so a set of extra lock nuts and washers may prove useful.
- Install an equal number of M8 washers on each bolt so that the seat can be easily adjusted. An inch or so should be fine. You'll want to either stick the washers to the floor with tape, silicone sealant or some other mild adhesive, or stick them directly onto the seats bolts themselves. Mounting the washers over the bolts makes it easier to avoid knocking the washers off when putting the seat back in.
- Carefully place the seat back in the car to avoid knocking off the washers.
- Sit in the seat and try to slide the seat forwards and backwards. If the seat cannot be easily adjusted once it is mounted in the car, remove the seat and add more washers.
- Replace the lock nuts with an 8mm socket wrench.
Removing and Installing the Adjustable Rail[]
The adjustable rail is mounted on the bottom of the seats, and is secured by four M8 cap screws. The rail, also called the slide in the DeLorean Parts Manual, allows the seat to be slid forward and backwards for the comfort of the driver or passenger. Removal of the rail is necessary when recovering the seats, installing heating pads, or if other access to the bottom of the seat is needed.
Tools and Parts[]
- Allen Wrench, 8mm
Instructions[]
- Raise the car
- Remove the seats
- Flip the seat upside down and lay the seat bottom (the part you sit on) across the a workbench with the seat back hanging over the edge.
- Slide the adjustable rail all the way forward by pushing the handle at the front of the rail toward the seat bottom and pulling the rail forward. This will expose two of the cap screws.
- Use the allen wrench to remove the first two cap screws.
- Slide the adjustable rail backward to expose the other two cap screws.
- Use the allen wrench to remove the last two cap screws
- Lift the rail off of the seat.
Removing and Installing the Seat Bolts[]
The bolts that hold the seat onto the car are pressed into the adjustable rail. This makes them somewhat difficult to remove. You'll need to force them out with a press (either a dedicated tool or an ad-hoc one, such as a bench vice and some pipe).
Tools and Parts[]
- Press
- Four (4) M8 press-fit bolts
Instructions[]
- Raise the car
- Remove the seats
- Remove the adjustable rail from the seat
- Using a press, remove the four press-fit bolts from the seat. The rail will need to be slid forwards and backwards to access all four bolts.
- Using a press, press the new bolts into the rail. You'll need to use slide a piece of pipe or similar hollow standoff over the threaded end of the bolt and place a piece of metal between the press and the bolt head to actually press the bolt into the rail to avoid damaging the rail itself. The rail is quite strong, though, so if you're willing to risk it you can get away with just the piece of pipe over the threaded end of the bolt, but this is not generally recommended due to the risk of bending the rail.
Recovering[]
DeCobra has reposted an article he previous wrote for Gullwing Magazine detailing how to recover the DeLorean's seats on DMCTalk. The ten PDFs include step-by-step instructions with numerous pictures.
Parts[]
See the DeLorean Parts Manual, page 8/7/3 for a complete list of seat parts.
External Links[]
- Restoring Color to Leather Seats, posted by David Teitelbaum on DMCNews Yahoo Group, recommending leatherique.com.
- Re: How to Re-upholster your seats Step-by-Step, originally from Gullwing Magazine, posted by DeCobra on DMCTalk.
See Also[]
- Heated Seats
- DeLorean Parts Manual, page 8/7/3