Question about E21 Recaro Seat "Repair" - "Tw

[02fanatic]

Just bought a pair of black vinyl E21 Recaros out of an '81. Not bad overall condition, except for some usual tears, and one big concern: The seat backs on "both" seats is somewhat "twisted". If I keep these seats I may have them recovered in navy vinyl anyway, so I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and had it fixed.

I was thinking the upholstery shop could work on the configuration of the seat back supports when the seats are stripped down to the frames.

What da yas think? Is this a common fix or a waste of time to try to repair?

I have another pair of the same year Recaro seats in my '76 '02 and they are "perfect", so these are obviously not up to par in my eyes - they need help!

Any advice appreciated. Thanks,

John

[bcthomas122279]

If you kneel in the seat, facing the back, you can muscle it back into shape.

[02fanatic]

If you kneel in the seat, facing the back, you can muscle it back into shape.

I don't know if I'm that strong....can give it a try I suppose. The seats aren't in the car right now.

Is this a normal problem with these seats?

[BruceH]

I just went thru this. Bending it back doesn't work long term. The flexing of the seat back causes the welds that hold the back's "pan" to crack.

You need to strip the seat back and weld the pans back together. I went one step further and tacked an "X" brace across the back of the pan. This has survived my 260 lb body during AX events.

[02fanatic]

I just went thru this. Bending it back doesn't work long term. The flexing of the seat back causes the welds that hold the back's "pan" to crack.

You need to strip the seat back and weld the pans back together. I went one step further and tacked an "X" brace across the back of the pan. This has survived my 260 lb body during AX events.

How difficult is it to strip the upholstery off the seat backs? Can I do it without ruining the vinyl and padding?

I may try that fix before taking the seats to have reupholstered.

Thanks Bruce!

[esty]

I just went thru this. Bending it back doesn't work long term. The flexing of the seat back causes the welds that hold the back's "pan" to crack.

You need to strip the seat back and weld the pans back together. I went one step further and tacked an "X" brace across the back of the pan. This has survived my 260 lb body during AX events.

correct...once the seat has twisted, bending them back into shape only further weakens the frames, thereby allowing them to bend back into a twisted position more easily and quicker....

frame support is the only permanent fix

[Guest Anonymous]

reason that E21 Recaro seat backs "twist" is that only the outer pivot has a locking mechanism on it - the inner pivot only has a thick spiral wound "clock" spring supporting it. Over time, the clock spring weakens, and the constant pressure on the backrest causes it to slowly sag rearward, and the backrest frame warps and twists - the bigger the driver, the sooner it happens. As has been posted, twisting the backrest back into its original shape only hastens the seat's demise.

There is a potential fix (as soon as I can find the time, I'm going to try it on my seats) which involves mounting a passenger seat recliner mechanism in place of the inner pivot of the driver's seat. If you pull the upholstery off your backrest frames, you'll notice that they're symetrical - the mounting holes for the recliner are present on both sides of the backrest. Mounting the passenger recliner should require only two modifications: adding a couple of captive nuts behind the mounting holes for the mechanism's mounting screws to thread into, and the removal of the stud that the clock spring mounts on.

The downside is that it'll take both hands to adjust the backrest angle, but with a postive recliner mechanism on both sides, warping of the backrest should be a thing of the past...........

[BruceH]

Barry, I am sorry but I disagree. Most seats are twistd due to the pan seat back welds popping. We stripped the pan and welded the cracks. That lasted one AX. Stripped again, rewelded and added the X brace. Problem solved.

The stripping does not harm the upholstery. All the padding and upholstery is designed to slide on.

[02fanatic]

Barry, I am sorry but I disagree. Most seats are twistd due to the pan seat back welds popping. We stripped the pan and welded the cracks. That lasted one AX. Stripped again, rewelded and added the X brace. Problem solved.

The stripping does not harm the upholstery. All the padding and upholstery is designed to slide on.

Thanks Bruce.....I understand what you are saying & it seems logical to me! I started digging into the driver seat back and it indeed appears that the upholstery will slide off once I have the insert removed and unhook the padding from the pan.

I hope to get the seat backs straightened & welded up with minimal expense...keeping my fingers crossed! :-)

Thanks,

John

[BruceH]

Pix of the pan after stripping attached. The black areas were sprayed after welding the cracks.

[curt74golf]

I just went thru this. Bending it back doesn't work long term. The flexing of the seat back causes the welds that hold the back's "pan" to crack.

You need to strip the seat back and weld the pans back together. I went one step further and tacked an "X" brace across the back of the pan. This has survived my 260 lb body during AX events.

What type of material did you use for the X brace? Some bar stock or just a couple chunks of 16 gauge? I've partly stripped my driver's side Recaro and the welds and bracing in the hinge areas look good -- it's the torquing of the upper RH side of the seat back I need to fix. Any chance you took photos?

Tks,

Curt

[rami]

I saved this pic from a previous thread on e21 recaro repair for when I repair my recaros. Sorry, don't remember the author.

[curt74golf]

Huge help -- thanks.