Easy Aspire front seat swap

[Festevil3]

@MIKEYJD

Looks great! Really nice job

[mikeyjd]

@MIKEYJD

Looks great! Really nice job

Thanks They are soooooo much better than the previous seats. I can take this on long trips now and it's a joy to drive.

[JPT]

Picking up Escort seats this weekend. This thread will come in handy.

[kumalaba]

I used this today Huge upgrade indeed ^

looks so good & comfy

[rmoltis]

You know...

If you guys just bought an aspire.
You wouldn't have to source all of these upgrades from them.
You would just already have all the good stuff.

:-P :-D

[navdoc101]

Aspire seats are nicer & more comfortable than Festy seats. But... Escort seats are that much more comfortable than Aspire seats!

[scitzz]

I have to ask, since I have some nice Aspire seats ready for my Festy, is there any reason you can't just swap the bottom rails of the Festiva onto the Aspire seats?

[navdoc101]

I guess you could, if you cut the Festy & Aspire rails off the frames, then weld the festy rails on the Aspire seats. If I remember they don't bolt on. Easier to swap backs & cushions from Aspire to Festy frame.

[scitzz]

I mean just the bottom rail, the part that slides and has the mounts. Or just cut the mounts and weld the festy ones on, just the tabs?

Running around outside the asylum again with my tappy talky appy

[TominMO]

I mean just the bottom rail, the part that slides and has the mounts. Or just cut the mounts and weld the festy ones on, just the tabs?

MUCH easier to just do the seat swap as I documented.

[scitzz]

I was thinking, it looks like you could drill out the two rivets on each rail, put the Festiva rail on the Aspire rail, and pop two new rivets. I have an Aspire seat sitting in my living room ATM, and need to drag a Festy seat in to compare them.

[mikeyjd]

I was thinking, it looks like you could drill out the two rivets on each rail, put the Festiva rail on the Aspire rail, and pop two new rivets. I have an Aspire seat sitting in my living room ATM, and need to drag a Festy seat in to compare them.

Keep it simple and follow the right up unless you want a big head ache on your hands..

[scitzz]

Keep it simple and follow the right up unless you want a big head ache on your hands..

Actually, anytime I mess with upholstery, I end up with a big mess on my hands, which is why I asked about an alternative.

[scitzz]

So, I went outside to this ratty old set of Festiva seats that I have, and drilled out just one of the rivets, and tada! Rail slides off

It looks like the Aspire seat might be a little more challenging getting its rails off, but not too tough, and the Festiva rail should slide right in. Proof of concept, confirmed!

Technically, it looks like you could just cut off, at the welds, the mounting tabs, and weld them onto the swap. But the rails look identical, just different tabs.

Not that this is better than the OP, just another alternative, one that might open up even more seats being able to be swapped in? especially if we could just weld mounting tabs onto different seat rails!

[mikeyjd]

So, I went outside to this ratty old set of Festiva seats that I have, and drilled out just one of the rivets, and tada! Rail slides off

It looks like the Aspire seat might be a little more challenging getting its rails off, but not too tough, and the Festiva rail should slide right in. Proof of concept, confirmed!

Technically, it looks like you could just cut off, at the welds, the mounting tabs, and weld them onto the swap. But the rails look identical, just different tabs.

Not that this is better than the OP, just another alternative, one that might open up even more seats being able to be swapped in? especially if we could just weld mounting tabs onto different seat rails!

Make a new thread with pictures. More options is always fun. The writeup Tom did hear is super simple and straight forward for doing the Aspire swap though.