a sad seat saga... -or- there is no such thing as a cheap porsche part

[nineball]

about 8 or 9 months ago i took a couple hour drive up into michigan for a little pre-hershey swap meet and to meet a few pelicans. one guy i met had a pair of black 993 seats he had gotten as part of a package deal from someone else. i wanted to upgrade my stock sc seats and eventually he gave me a great deal, $375 for the pair. (please note i do not in any way, shape or form hold the seller mentioned here responsible for the problem - he was more or less a middleman).

next order was to get some custom dye made to match my brown interior. i ordered it from the same place i got my carpet so i knew it would match the trim. they told me it would take three 18oz aerosol cans to do the job, total cost was $70 ($445 total). i bought sem brand cleaner/prep and leather/vinyl prep to complete the job ($475 total). after looking at the seats and realizing i only had one shot to get it right and no experience i decided to let a professional do the job. found a (somewhat) local place and after a 45 min car conversation with the owner he quoted me $150 out the door if i supplied the materials. done deal in my book. it was one of those "pay me in cash and when we have free time we will work on them" deals, so about 2 weeks later i get a call. apparently the seats were soaking up the dye and they needed 3 more cans so i ordered them, knowing that it would be another 2 weeks before the dye arrived ($695 total).

3 weeks later i get another call that they are going to work on them and hopefully finish them that evening. i get another call at 6pm and the nice guy at the upholstery shop starts out by apologizing to me. naturally my heart sinks and i cringe in anticipation of the worst. they need a 7th can of dye. he said they looked good in the shop light but once they were brought out into the sun there were some areas that needed a little more dye. order another can of dye ($28) and wait another 2 weeks ($723 total).

time passes and the shop calls again. the seats are done and ready to be picked up and the owner makes several comments on how good the seats look, almost brand new. i pick them up and he was not lying. pics can be seen here:

it seems like everyone else has done it, so why not me... (interior)


a week later i have a sunday free so i start to install the seats. got new allen bolts and washers to repalce the normal bolt heads the factory used for ease of installation. i ran a 20a fused 12g line for power to the battery and test the passenger 4 way, works perfect, install it in the car. set the driver's seat on the bench and begin testing. everything works EXCEPT the front and back movement, the only required movement to install the seats. i do a little research and it turns out the cables that connect the threaded rods the seats move along to it's motor are gone. the plastic casings are there, but no cables inside. weird.

order some new cables ($140, $863 total) and they arrived today. the cables are basically a bunch of steel strands twisted together with the ends formed into squares, one being smaller than the other. the smaller end goes into the threaded rod, the bigger into the motor. put both cables in place without the housings for testing - the motor spins, the cables spin but the seat does not move. remove cables, reinstall, same results. remove the cables and notice that both small ends are now frayed a good amount. upon further inspection i find that the hollow ends of the threaded rods are somehow stripped out which caused it to spin around the cable end and fray it.

call a few friends, brainstorm for a while and it looks like i have only 2 solutions. 1 - order another set of cables and try to find a good set of threaded rods, and god only knows how much the rods will cost if i can even order them; 2 - get some jb weld, fill the hollow threaded rod, jam the frayed cable in and pray for the best. since my setup is basically screwed already i went with the jb weld. grabbed some qtips, cleaned out the grease in the tube and the cable end, use acetone to clean it more, stuck a piece of cotton down past the cable end point as a stopper, filled the hole with jb weld, jammed in the cable and it is now drying overnight.

with bolts, jb weld, acetone and over various expenses i am over the $900mark. if you don't mind please cross your fingers that it works. if it doesn't i am going to have the only $1200+ pair of non-sport 993 seats in the world.

[Winter]

fingers crossed for you, my friend.

[dad911]

Fingers crossed..... but not hopeful. My guess is that the threaded rods are jammed/need grease or some other attention, which is why the cables stripped.

Can you turn the threaded rods by hand?

[herr_oberst]

We've all been there; your saving grace is that the seats look spectacular, and once you get the mechanics sorted out, they will more than likely make you very happy.

Good luck. fingers crossed.

[nineball]

dad911 was right, the outside threaded rod is screwed. it will not turn at all. the good news is that the driver's side is now working thanks to the jb weld but now i have to find an outside threaded rod for power seats and a new cable.


/sigh


anyone by chance know someone with an old pair of power seats that have seen better days to help in my parts hunt?

[leeb51]

PM Sent

[SCWDP911]

Kris,

hate to hear of the troubles. I sold a set cheap to a friend in Memphis (also a fellow Pelicanite - JT Freels). He was using them in his shop and game room, so I doubt he was using the electric parts. I can call him and find out if he still has those parts on the seats or not (he may have tossed them for what he was using them for). I see someone else has PM'ed you, so let me know if you still need the parts.

Shane

[Oh Haha]

That sucks, Kris.

Good luck on getting everything worked out with the seats.

[nineball]

thanks shane. i have taken pretty much all i am going to for these seats so i called all across the country looking for enough parts to make it work. i found one side's cable and rod and they were supposed to be shipped out today (for way more than i wanted to pay but i just want to sit in my car again!). leeb said he may have the parts i need for the other side but i am waiting to hear back from him. i'll let you know in a couple days if i still need the other side. for now the jb weld fix will hold but i would like to get replacements for it.

[nineball]

at this point all i can do is punch the wall or try to laugh it off (which won't be easy). i got the package from the used parts place in the mail yesterday and opened it this morning. they sent me the entire seat rail, threaded rod, plastic housing BUT NO CABLE! called them back and the guy was adamant that the cable was included and that he taped it to the rail. the housing was taped to the rail but no cable was inside it. removed all the brown paper they used as "padding" and no cable in the box either.

now i may be wrong, and i hope i am, but it seemed by his attitude that he was not going to do much else to help me. i was told that the only person who ships out all their packages is not at work today so now i have to wait until monday for him to come in, be questioned and give me the answer i know is coming - we sent it (even though it never arrived). looks like i may have to file a charge dispute on my credit card next week and STILL not be able to drive the car.

i never heard back from leeb so if anyone else has a lead on where i may be able to find some parts i would greatly appreciate it.

[azasadny]

Kris,
I've been almost exactly where you are except my problem was an old burglar alarm, pulled headstuds, bad CIS. Tab Tanner in Findlay, OH took care of everything as I was about to sell the car and give up. That was 4 years ago and now the car is all sorted out, runs great and I'm VERY glad I hung in there (as you will) and very fortunate to meet Tab (through this forum). Hang in there!!

[Por_sha911]

Wow great stories but bad experience for you. Sorry. Once they've had time to do the right thing, be sure to tell us who is the offending parts dealer and if they did or didn't make good. A satisfied customer should be your best advertising and an unsatisfied customer should be your worst nightmare.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Wow great stories but bad experience for you. Sorry. Once they've had time to do the right thing, be sure to tell us who is the offending parts dealer and if they did or didn't make good. A satisfied customer should be your best advertising and an unsatisfied customer should be your worst nightmare.

that's exactly why i have not mentioned them by name. the same guy was as nice as you can imagine when i originally placed the order, but not today. maybe he was having a bad day or something.

[daniel911T]

I understand the pain of getting in too deep on a project that was supposed to be cheap or simple. It sucks.

Those seats are absolutely amazing! That color is beautiful. 5 years from now you won't remember the frustration. You'll just love how comfy your seats are!

(at least that's what I tell myself while sinking in a project)

-Dan

[ToddM]

You DO realize how HEAVY those seats are?

Hahaha, sorry I am evil

[nineball]

Originally Posted by ToddM

You DO realize how HEAVY those seats are?

Hahaha, sorry I am evil

yes i do, but i fail to see your point.

[Red911_SC]

Wow. That's by far one of the more (probably most) awful seat stories I've heard. Hope you've found the solution!

[nineball]

hehe ya my luck has not been the best. after a long conversation the used parts supplier reluctantly agreed to send me a cable so i am waiting on that to arrive. the "shipping guy" apparently could not remember if the cable was included in the package or not. if everything goes well i may actually be able to take the car out this weekend but i am not holding my breath.

[nineball]

FINALLY!!!! a good update!

the cable arrived 5 days after i talked to Oklahoma Foreign- Used Porsche Parts. From early to late models, 356, 914, 911, 930, 944, 928, 968, 993 & boxsters. who i feel safe suggesting to other pelicans now. looking over their site they have lots of ways to spend money and once again i find myself yearning for that winning lottery ticket!

installed the new seat rail and cable, did a test run and it moved. great. go through the ordeal of mounting it once again (it's a pain to line up the rail, the spacer and the mounting hole 4 times) and get the rear bolts in. go to move the seat backwards and it will only go half way. hmmm. look under, nothing is in the way. remove the seat again and find that the motor is super hot and will not even move the rails with no load. bad motor. yep.

shane (SCWDP911) tipped me off to someone who may have extra parts and it was true. jay (shane's friend) is one hell of a guy. he sent me the threaded rod, 2 cables and the motor all for free, and i have never even met the guy! we have only had about 6 or 7 emails back and forth but he (and this site) did a lot to restore my faith in humanity. got the parts today, installed them and there was a noticeable difference in speed with the replacement motor. put the seat in and installed the rear bolts, took a deep breath and started to move it back. SUCCESS!!! moved it all the way to the rear, installed the front bolts, moved it up a little and did the dance of joy! I HAVE A WORKING SEAT AGAIN!

it was a beautiful night so i got on to the last parts on my interior resto, the door pockets and new handles. my old plastic handles were fine (if anyone needs a set please let me know) but i found an aluminum pair with logos, which will make it so much easier for people getting out. every passenger i have had was dumbfounded when they tried to find the handle to get out. now i can just say "pull on the logo" and not watch them worry if the plastic handle will break or just bend a little. got one door pocket recovered but i did not have enough glue to finish the other side, so it will be done tomorrow. i also removed the rennline dead pedal to see how i like it. it looks a little cleaner imho but the jury is still out on if i will miss it.

pics will be posted tomorrow once the pocket is recovered and everything has had a good cleaning.

[nineball]

as promised







fire extinguisher ordered from our host should be here on tuesday