To: volvo303@yahoogroups.com From: "Willem-Jan Markerink" Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 23:53:37 +0200 Subject: [Volvo303] Seat observations Reply-To: Volvo303@yahoogroups.com While exploring a somewhat stubborn seat sliding mechanism on the drivers side, and after applying a generous dose of teflon spray, I made the following observations: 1) the passenger seat[*] can not be adjusted as far back as the drivers seat, due to the asymmetry of the side of the engine hump/cover.... 2)....especially not if, on that drivers seat, you bend/hammer down the flat metal hook that stops the seat from sliding further backwards (sticks out backwards, in the middle, on the floor, attached to the floor-bracket)....at which point you then gain a lovely extra 5cm or so....not bad for tall people, especially when trying to squeeze your knee behind the steering collumn when getting in and out of the seat....:)) Only other thing one must do is drill a new hole for the adjustment lock mechanisme (slide seat all the way forward, and you can drill, no need to remove the seat (which is not all that straight-forward, since the two bolts on the right side of the drivers seat can not be accessed as the two bolts on the left, from within the wheel-arch) Will have to take another look to see if I could grind down some additional length from the upper console's right lower side, as it is this points that prevents any further movement to the rear (now also touching the engine-hump, just like the passenger seat did long before) (it is still not the back-rest itself that touches the engine-hump, only the lower corner of the gliding rail) 3) the passenger lower seat cushion is mounted to the upper steel console on both front and back (2 bolts each)....yet the drivers seat is mounted only to the front, rear is floating freely....not a case of missing bolts, since neither seat/wood nor steel console show any sign of bolt holes.... (the odd thing is also that if you pull the backrest of the seat forward, the drivers seat cushion almost automatically lifts up on the rear, while the passenger side of course doesn't....weird difference) 4) the front support of my upper console was broken at the welding points, left side....looks a bit flimsy though, especially for a Volvo....welded at only 2 points, the corners of this U-shape support bar (towards the Z-shaped glider bar)....was there never an official improvement of this construction? Perhaps including a diagonal support, to avoid the twisting forces that come with this single-sided locking-mechanism (and a gliding rail that attracks a lot of dirt/sand/seat-pilling, hence gets sticky over time, requiring even more twisting forces to glide forwards or backwards) [*] right hand side passenger that is, which only now makes me realise that a RHD-version of the Volvo is not at all desirable, much more than just sitting on the wrong side....you loose 5-10cm seat adjustment this way!....8-)) Comments & ponderings welcome!....:)) -- Bye, Willem-Jan Markerink The desire to understand is sometimes far less intelligent than the inability to understand [note: 'a-one' & 'en-el'!] To: Volvo303@yahoogroups.com From: "Willem-Jan Markerink" Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 01:55:08 +0200 Subject: 3 more seat observations (was: [Volvo303] Seat observations Reply-To: Volvo303@yahoogroups.com On 15 Apr 2006 at 23:53, Willem-Jan Markerink wrote: > While exploring a somewhat stubborn seat sliding mechanism on the > drivers side, and after applying a generous dose of teflon spray, I > made the following observations: > > 1) the passenger seat[*] can not be adjusted as far back as the > drivers seat, due to the asymmetry of the side of the engine > hump/cover.... > > 2)....especially not if, on that drivers seat, you bend/hammer down > the flat metal hook that stops the seat from sliding further > backwards (sticks out backwards, in the middle, on the floor, > attached to the floor-bracket)....at which point you then gain a > lovely extra 5cm or so....not bad for tall people, especially when > trying to squeeze your knee behind the steering collumn when getting > in and out of the seat....:)) > Only other thing one must do is drill a new hole for the adjustment > lock mechanisme (slide seat all the way forward, and you can drill, > no need to remove the seat (which is not all that straight-forward, > since the two bolts on the right side of the drivers seat can not be > accessed as the two bolts on the left, from within the wheel-arch) Update/observation #5: Luckily those two hard-to-reach right-hand-side bolts of the drivers seat console are mounted to the body/floor permanently....no finger acrobatics there....:)) > Will have to take another look to see if I could grind down some > additional length from the upper console's right lower side, as it is > this points that prevents any further movement to the rear (now also > touching the engine-hump, just like the passenger seat did long > before) > (it is still not the back-rest itself that touches the engine-hump, > only the lower corner of the gliding rail) > > 3) the passenger lower seat cushion is mounted to the upper steel > console on both front and back (2 bolts each)....yet the drivers seat > is mounted only to the front, rear is floating freely....not a case > of missing bolts, since neither seat/wood nor steel console show any > sign of bolt holes.... > (the odd thing is also that if you pull the backrest of the seat > forward, the drivers seat cushion almost automatically lifts up on > the rear, while the passenger side of course doesn't....weird > difference) > > 4) the front support of my upper console was broken at the welding > points, left side....looks a bit flimsy though, especially for a > Volvo....welded at only 2 points, the corners of this U-shape support > bar (towards the Z-shaped glider bar)....was there never an official > improvement of this construction? > Perhaps including a diagonal support, to avoid the twisting forces > that come with this single-sided locking-mechanism (and a gliding > rail that attracks a lot of dirt/sand/seat-pilling, hence gets sticky > over time, requiring even more twisting forces to glide forwards or > backwards) Further observation #6: The plywood panel-bottom of my drivers seat cushion was broken, on the rear/right-hand-side....not very strange, since the entire seat is only supported on the very front and very rear, 2 inch front, 1 inch rear....and the rear sides of this plywood panel are only 7cm wide (only the front is solid/closed plywood, the rear is open, for ventilation I assume, plus another few centimeters of 'spring' travel, before bottoming out with your spinal collumn....:)) So, I will probably not weld in a diagonal support, but two supports on the sides, flat steel. (that should also avoid having to repair the seat cushion's plywood bottom, which looks like a lot of fiddly work (to the point that one might as well completely re-upholster the seat, which is a bit overkill in my case) Observation #7: While the factory seat/console was out, I thought this was a nice opportunity to test-fit a spare Recaro Ergomed....didn't fit all too well, because of the factory headrests still in place, but that would have gained me only another 10cm, while the Recaro was pre-set in the most upright position, far from comfortable. Yet even with all that in mind, I never had such a acute feeling of claustrophobia before, couldn't leave the seat fast enough....8-)) Seat cushion too tall, too far forward....in one word: a knee-cap- waiting-to-be-shattered-on-the-dashboard nightmare, not in my life! Which is all too bad, since there is one feature of those Recaro's I learned to love: active/electric ventilation. (but I also learned to hate the stiff side-walls of the earlier models, especially those with the electric control-panel on top of one of the side-walls....yet one of the newer models, 'Style', does quite a bit better, by having the controls on the side of the chair) Anyway, I guess nothing beats the factory seats for maximum leg room, and there is an easy/cheap alternative for this active/electric ventilation-concept: the Waeco Magic Cool seat cover, from Germany. Only downside is that it pushes air through the cover, while the Recaro's only transport moisture along the inside, draught-free, through a Gore-Tex liner (the use/announcement of that material back then made me want such a seat in the first place, just for the 'cool- factor'....:)) > > [*] right hand side passenger that is, which only now makes me > realise that a RHD-version of the Volvo is not at all desirable, much > more than just sitting on the wrong side....you loose 5-10cm seat > adjustment this way!....8-)) > > > Comments & ponderings welcome!....:)) > Willem (wondering how long it will take before Gore-Tex is also replaced by the new (breathability) improved PFTE-version, 'eVent', in these rather unusual applications....:)) Jan -- Bye, Willem-Jan Markerink The desire to understand is sometimes far less intelligent than the inability to understand [note: 'a-one' & 'en-el'!] To: Volvo303@yahoogroups.com From: "Willem-Jan Markerink" Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:45:58 +0200 Subject: Re: 3 more seat observations (was: [Volvo303] Seat observations Reply-To: Volvo303@yahoogroups.com On 20 Apr 2006 at 0:09, Willem-Jan Markerink wrote: > > > 4) the front support of my upper console was broken at the welding > > > points, left side....looks a bit flimsy though, especially for a > > > Volvo....welded at only 2 points, the corners of this U-shape support > > > bar (towards the Z-shaped glider bar)....was there never an official > > > improvement of this construction? > > > Perhaps including a diagonal support, to avoid the twisting forces > > > that come with this single-sided locking-mechanism (and a gliding > > > rail that attracks a lot of dirt/sand/seat-pilling, hence gets sticky > > > over time, requiring even more twisting forces to glide forwards or > > > backwards) > > > > > > Further observation #6: > > The plywood panel-bottom of my drivers seat cushion was broken, on > > the rear/right-hand-side....not very strange, since the entire seat > > is only supported on the very front and very rear, 2 inch front, 1 > > inch rear....and the rear sides of this plywood panel are only 7cm > > wide (only the front is solid/closed plywood, the rear is open, for > > ventilation I assume, plus another few centimeters of 'spring' > > travel, before bottoming out with your spinal collumn....:)) > > > > So, I will probably not weld in a diagonal support, but two supports > > on the sides, flat steel. > > (that should also avoid having to repair the seat cushion's plywood > > bottom, which looks like a lot of fiddly work (to the point that one > > might as well completely re-upholster the seat, which is a bit > > overkill in my case) Additional note #7: A single piece of steel, 4cm wide, on each side, isn't enough to support the seat bottom properly (the rear is less wide than the front), so I will have 2x 4cm welded in. (single pieces of 8cm wide came in larger thickness, so that wasn't an option (the current 4mm thickness is plenty)) Warning: while the drivers seat can still be easily mounted back in place, because of the large adjustment of the upper console, back & forth, the passenger side front mounting bolts will be somewhat blocked by these reinforcements....you can still access the bolt with a flat wrench, but not any longer with a key-nut from the top. So, I'll have holes drilled at that exact spot....:)) In hindsight it *might* be possible to put a single set of 4cm wide reinforcements more inwards, so that it clears the mounting bolt right away. Oh, and I had the original factory front supports (U-shape) welded solid to the upper sliding rail as well, instead of the meager two factory welding spots on each side of the support....it simply doesn't look right. -- Bye, Willem-Jan Markerink The desire to understand is sometimes far less intelligent than the inability to understand [note: 'a-one' & 'en-el'!]