Howdy gang.
I recently replaced my front seats with some out of a 2003 Chevy. Unfortunately after taking the time to make the necessary brackets for mounting, I'm just not happy with them. Just a bit too wide to slide past the trans hump without resistance. I've heard some BMW 3000 series leather seats are narrower and work well, power seats would be ideal. I have heard they tend to run a bit narrower than other manufacturers cars. Can anyone tell me which years and models have been used, by you or others you know? I have several auto recyclers within about 50 miles and trying to narrow my search to specific years and models.

I put 850 seats in my 544. I looked for a car with all the windows closed and chose gray cloth sets as I have no AC.

I ground off the mounts and had two aluminum bars, 1/2 x 3 inch welded on.

I made a plywood plate that mounted to the original bolt holes and mounted the seat bars to the plate.

I then cut any excess material from the plate, including foot room for the rear seat passengers. I duplicated the plate out of 1/2 inch aluminum. No changes to the car.

I decided not to wire the seat switches, I hook the switch panel to the battery with jumper wires.

The passenger seat folds for access to the rear - its a little bit fussy, but it works well.

850 seats are adjustable for height in their base - you can run them down almost 3 inches, with a loss of electric height adjustability.

I made three mistakes -

I found out after I was done that I could have retained the side air bags. They are not electric.

I also should have looked for S60 seats - they are in better shape, cheaper, and lower. Old seats in good condition are expensive due to their rarity. Supply and demand.

I should have purchased the rear seat as well. Auto Restorer had an article about narrowing a rear seat.

Great seats for an old car!

Great description! I found a couple of 850's and S60 in the local wreckers. Haven't been out to check them out as it's raining cats and dogs. I presume the seats were electric. Any wiring issues to concern myself with? What about clearances next to the hump? Full adjustment range?

I did not wire up the seat switches - when I want to adjust the seat (which I never do) I plug the switch panel into the seat and run jumper wires to the battery. some day I will wire them.

From the seat switch panel on the side of the seat there are only two wires, power and ground. There are not too many fuses in a 544. To fuse any wire, just cut the wire, install an insulated spade connector on both parts, and join them with a modern spade fuse of the proper value. Keep the unfused part of the wire short and protected from damage.

The hump is smaller than I thought - there is plenty of room - as I said, I removed the side air bag trigger and found out that I could have retained it. I do not fiddle with air bags.

My 850 seat was too high for my chubby thighs, so when I lowered the seat in its frame, I lost some vertical adjustment, the other adjustments are as original. I could gain a 1/2 inch by grinding off the cross bars, and welding them in flush with the bottom of the seat frame.

The plywood plate allowed me to experiment with seat location until I was happy, then change to aluminum.

IMHO - you can't beat Volvo seats!

I did not wire up the seat switches - when I want to adjust the seat (which I never do) I plug the switch panel into the seat and run jumper wires to the battery. some day I will wire them.

The hump is smaller than I thought - there is plenty of room - as I said, I removed the side air bag trigger and found out that I could have retained it. I do not fiddle with air bags.

My 850 seat was too high for my chubby thighs, so when I lowered the seat in its frame, I lost some vertical adjustment, the other adjustments are as original. I could gain a 1/2 inch by grinding off the cross bars, and welding them in flush with the bottom of the seat frame.

The plywood plate allowed me to experiment with seat location until I was happy, then change to aluminum.

IMHO - you can't beat Volvo seats!

I used 85 mazda 626 seats

To keep it looking pretty original look at VW Beetle seats of the era. I had a Duett for a while and that had one Beetle seat. The difference wasn't that obvious. Upholstery seats for the Beetle easy to find in virtually any colour you like.

Sorry I can't offer any advice on your search for alternate seats for your 544, but if you ever need new upholstery for your original seats, I have the patterns, and can make many different colors in vinyl or vinyl/cloth combinations.

Around 2005, 1 of my customers used seats from a Toyota van in his P210.

IIRC, the seats came out of a late 1990's van.

Whoever he had do the job did a very poor installation. He/she just bent the Toyota seat brackets and didn't properly re-enforce the new mounting points and the seats wobbled

And when I tried to tighten some of the seat mounting bolts, the brackets and unenforced sheet metal just bent.






--
Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502
hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com