[delaner]

So, I bought some black rear seats from a rolled '05 WRX to swap into my STI so that I could have the pass-through in case I wanted to hit up the mountains alone.

I got my seats for about $150 (shipped), and it cost me $35 (!-- that was unexpected!) to have them cleaned. Seems somebody had puked on them. lol-- well, they smell shampooy fresh now, so no worries.

First of all, I feel like a prick because I didn't take pics. It's not *really* necessary, if a n00b like moi can do it, anyone can... I'm not particularly mechanically gifted. I'm writing this because I couldn't find a step-by-step, and in case you're like me-- not Mechanic of the Year material, but you want to know what's involved, it's nice to have the info available.

So, to uninstall your rear seats, you need to pop the plastic bolt covers off from underneath the seat lip and keep them in a safe place. ALL OF THE BOLTS that you need to remove are quite conveniently 12mm, so have a socket ready, and you might like to have a long flathead and a rag handy. Also, park your car in a place where you can have both rear doors wide open. It's not necessary (if certainly easier), but you need to have at least one rear door fully open to get the seats out. Also, as with any sort of diy, plenty of light NEVER hurts.

Unbolt the two bottom seat bolts and put them in a safe place. The seat bottom lifts out easily. Set it aside.

There are three bolts holding the bottom of the seatback in, unbolt them and put them in a safe place. Try to keep all the bolts straight, because even though they're the same size, they have different colors and uses.

To remove the seatback, all you need to do is lift it straight up, toward to roof of the car. You'll find that the middle seatbelt will give enough belt with a long tug to make it around one end of the seat. The top portion of the seatback is held up/back by three wire-like hangers that slip into brackets protruding from the chassis. They are not held down by anything, so just lift the seat up, and with a little jiggling to get the seat belts on either side out of the way, it will simply lift out.


If you're going to install a pass-through rear seat, as I did, you'll have to do a few more steps. If you're just taking your seat out, I guess you're done!

*I'd like to take a moment to say that I'm really proud of the way the car is put together. It's VERY clean and tidy underneath, with some chassis bracing and wiring harness stuff all neatly arranged. It's just a NICELY PUT TOGETHER CAR. *sigh* I'm so in love. *barf* okay. Anyway, it's a cool car we have.

To change the trunk seperator (which is required if you actually want to USE the pass through), you need to uninstall two brackets, using four gold-headed bolts each. They're pretty obvious, and I'm guessing they're there either to protect passengers from heavy objects coming through the seat in case of a sudden impact or to further stiffen the chassis. Either way, I would't take them out to *lighten* the car. They don't weigh much, and it's probably safer and stronger to leave them there. Take note of which bolts go where, the gold ones with the big washers go in the top and the little ones go in the bottom.

Once you've removed the two brackets, there are four press-in pops holding the seperator in place. I used a folded-a-few-times paper towel to protect the paint and all from my flathead screwdriver scratching, and basicly had to wrestle them out. It was a pain. : (

My seats didn't come with the pass-through seperator (AHEM) but, once it was out, I simply replaced the brackets.

Then, you put your seat-back in, top first, minding all of the seatbelts, bolt them down, and again minding the seatbelts, slide the seat bottom in, back down (to catch the hanger) and then bolt the seat bottom back in. Replace the bolt covers/calf protecters, and VOILA. You're done.

FYI, the rear seat with the pass through is significantly heavier than the stock rear seat. The bottoms are about the same, but the seat back seems *almost* twice as heavy (again, this is from an '05 rex... not a genuine STI piece, as there are some)! So if you're a track guy, you probably don't have seats at all, BUT, in case you like to know those things... I have no idea how much they really weigh (cuz I'm a slacka... shoulda thrown them on some scales but I have none) but if the STI rear seat weighs 10lbs, the one with the pass-through is at least 15.

Anyway, I hope this was useful to ya. If you do the mod yourself, you *may* want to take pics to show the step-by-step, but it really is pretty simple.

Sorry for being a slacker about pics and scales. OH, and btw, I really like my new black rear seats-- now I don't have to worry about them getting dirty, and since my car is black and tinted, it makes it seem more sinister even in the daytime! no blu showin thru... =)

[Nachos Libres]

Nice write-up, I'll add it to the sticky.

[munky69]

wow that's some write up. it takes like 3 minutes to do in real life.

[Nachos Libres]

^^ Yep, but that will help someone who doesn't know how to remove the seat.

[chaboud]

Anyone priced out STi rear seats from Canada (and the separator)?

[delaner]

Thanks.. =) Glad I could perhaps help somebody.

[Stargazer]

Thanks for the info. You made it really easy for me. I took them out today and found some clear plastic wrap and a really long elastic thread under the rear bench--I think it's real JDM garbage



BTW, the two black wires on the right of the picture were twisted and overlapping each other through the clips. I straighten them out before I put it back together. Anyone know what those wires are for?

[Alex]

One of those isnt for the I/C res. is it?

[Nivek]

The plastic and white string seems like it was part of the plastic that covers the rear seat when it leaves the factory.

[KiNgMaRtY]

Post some pics with the seats folded down