So you have that 2000 Baleno you brought to part out and make some money from (as the missus thinks, haha) and you think those seats would be much better in the SJ51.
But you read through all the threads. Just drill 2 holes. Oval out 2 holes. Weld a bit here, cut a bit there. Make these plates etc etc. Then the drivers
seat is too high, cut the mounts out bla bla bla.
Well that sound pretty shit. Lets break out the tape measure. Hmm, I think I have a better idea!
Remove seats from both vehicles. Remove both sets of adjuster rails. If you need instructions on doing this, it is best not to proceed.
2000 GLX Baleno on the left. Rooted seats as fitted to the Sierra on the right.
Remove recliner knob and side plastic trim from Baleno and recliner shield from Sierra seats
Cut all of the upholstery clips to release the
seat covers from the Sierra seats. Wear eye protection.
Roll up the
seat back cover to access the back rest recliner bolts.
Undo the bolts on the recliner and remove
seat back. Keep the Sierra recliner and
seat base. Discard the Sierra back rest. Suzuki made the foam part of the
seat base. Remove
seat cover from base then get outside and strip all of the foam from the Sierra
seat base as best you can. Wear a facemask as the dust is disgusting!
Now unclip the upholstery on the Baleno seats. Only a couple of clips on the
seat back to be cut. The others just pull forward and slide off the
seat base
frame. Keep the back rest, base foam and base cover. Discard base
frame.
The next job is to fit the Sierra
seat base
frame to the Baleno
seat foam and cover. You will note that the passenger and drivers foams are slightly different. I needed to trim some foam to make the passenger
seat sit a bit lower at the front.
Passenger side sitting high at front before trimming
Stretch
seat cover over
frame and either hook onto
frame or use new upholstery clips to retain as required. Don’t have upholstery clips? Go to Bunnings and buy a pair of fence wire ring pliers and wire rings!
Passenger side after tensioning cover.
Drivers side
Now you will need to redrill the holes for the Baleno
seat backs into the Sierra recliner. Seems I forgot to take pictures.
Easy to work out. Spacing is the same between the 2 recliners. Temporarily fit the Baleno
seat back to the Sierra base and level the
seat back to the
seat base. Mark 1 hole and drill. Use Baleno recliner as a template.
Once drilled. Refit Baleno
seat back to Sierra base and tension bolts. Back recliner bolts first then base recliner bolts. Roll back down
seat back cover and resecure with upholstery clips.
Refit Sierra recliner covers.
Your seats are now ready to fit your Sierra rails back onto and fit to the car.
Factory
seat runners and
seat base frames that bolt to the floor as per the factory. That has to be a good thing?
Problems?
The
seat back is ever so slightly off centre. I can not feel it when sitting on them..
The driver’s
seat base is lower at the front than the passenger side. This is due to the difference in the
seat foams and the Baleno’s driver’s
seat being designed with the lifting mechanism. The backs are at the same angle when fitted to the car though so not obvious until you look at the
seat bases. I may add extra foam to the drivers side to lift the front as it is quite flat. Plenty of headroom and vision though.
Pictures fitted to vehicle coming soon..
