DIY Diy: How To Swap Your Bench Rear Seat Into 60/40 Folding Rear Seats

Diy: How To Swap Your Bench Rear Seat Into 60/40 Folding Rear Seats

Okay. This swap was done to a 1998 Corolla VE from a 1999 Corolla CE. Your car may already have the holes predrilled for the folding seats making it a lot easier to do. So check first.

Tools Needed:
Socket Wrench
12MM socket
14MM socket
10MM socket
Drill
13/64" drill bit
Hammer
Chisel

Parts Needed:
(6) 14 X 1 Sheetmetal Screws
Left and Right folding seat plastic interior panel
Factory tabs and screws
Right and Left folding seat release mechanism
Right and Left 60/40 folding seat backcushion (You do not need the seatcushion)
Left/Right/Middle folding seat brackets
Undercoat spray
Rear center seatbelt (OPTIONAL)
Seat covers (OPTIONAL)

Here are some pictures of what the parts you will need for the swap look like:







Okay. Now we are ready to start.

1) First thing you will want to do is clean the plastic interior panels and wash your backcushions. Check out the dirt from these junkyard pieces!



2) Pry up on the car's rear seatcushion to expose the 3 bolts that hold the benchseat down.


3) Unbolt the 3 bolts that hold down the seatcushion to the backcushion. Be careful to slip the seatbelt buckles under the seatcushion then toss the seatcushion aside.


4) Lift up on the backcushion and it should come off. The backcushion is held in place by 3 hooks. You can trash the backcushion now. Remember to save the headrest piece if you need to.


5) What is exposed is the black cardboard and the
V brace. Unbolt all 6 bolts and the V-brace comes off.


6) Now install the right and left folding seat release mechanisms. Start by feeding the cable part of the mechanism through the pre-cut hole from inside the cabin.


7) Bolt the 2 bolts of the mechanism to the sheetmetal.


8) Go to the trunk and take the cable release knob and insert the tab part into the 'T' shaped hole in the ceiling of the trunk (Circled in red).


9) Repeat steps 6-8 for both sides. Then unbolt the center/left/right seat belt buckle from the car. The bolts you need to unbolt are circled in red.


10) This is totally optional, but if you want to do it right you will need to get the center belt assembly from the donor car. The reason is that the center belts of the cars that have the folding seats can unbuckle in the middle so the center belt does not get in the way of stuff you are trying to stick through the trunk. I didn't do this step so you are on your own for this one. Here are some guides to help you.




11) Ok. Now put the 60/40 folding seats together using the 3 brackets.




12) The hard part is here. You have to mount the whole 60/40 seat into the car to test fit. Do not install the interior plastic panel pieces yet. But do rip off the black cardboard that divides the trunk from the interior.


Just to give you an idea, the red circle is where the seat belt bolts into the car and the green box is where you will be drilling the brackets to both the left and right side of the car.


13) Line up the folding seats and make sure both the left and right seats fold down and lock into place with no problems. Making sure the both the left and right folding seat is locked, drill one hole into the car for the middle bracket when lined up. Use a sheetmetal screw for the hole you just drilled.


14) Now that you have one of the middle holes drilled in, you want to try drilling either the left or right side bracket next. With the folding seats still locked, take a sheetmetal screw to align it to the side of the car. Use a chisel and hammer to make the spot you want to drill.


15) Use your 12MM socket wrench to take the seatcushion off the bracket so you have room to drill. Using the points you made with the chisel, start drilling.


17) Now install the interior panel for whichever side you just drilled. Screw in the sheetmetal screws. Put your seat back together and repeat for the other side. Make sure that when you take off the backcushion to drill the rear driver's side that you remember to drill your second hole for the middle bracket.


18) Make sure that you replace the two bolts that held the bottom of the stock V-brace unless you like having two holes that you can see through the bottom of the car.


19) You are pretty much done. Just put the tabs and screws back into the interior plastic panel pieces, reinstall the seatcushion, reinstall the seatbelt, and make sure that the belts go over the panels and seats when reinstalling.

20) I installed seat covers so that my seats matched. Here's how they look like:



21) Look under your rear wheel wells. You will see the sheetmetal screws poking out. You want to spray undercoat on these screws so your car's body don't start rusting.

Enjoy. The End.

looks good.

Nice job plu :king: I was wandering can this be done to a 01 S type thanks for the input

You should already have the folding rear seat on your Corolla S. Good job PLU

aaah augusta, ga. I miss that area. Hey does the Pull a Part have the doorhandle pieces in grey over there. The little padded part of the interior of the door.

Nope it have the V brace

Ahhh ok didn't see that your from PR. My bad

Yep and even so cars here are US spec in every detail (sometime federal regulations sucks) many models oriented to the US market don't get here :sad:

im thinking of removing my folding seats cuhz i dont even use them with subs in the back

Thanks. The only difference I see is that the S have black interior so you might want to get black folding seats and seatcushion to match or do the seat covers. All US spec S that I've seen do not come with folding 60/40 rear seats. The only S I think that have folding rear seats are from the Canadian spec.

Dude. If you live in Atlanta there are 3 8th gen Corollas there. Check out www.pullapart.com I'm going there Tuesday I think to look for power window parts for a conversion. My house is in Columbia so that's a 4 hour trip for me.

Actually I think I'll go tomorrow since it's Labor Day and I think they are open. Hit me up if you want to come too Machinehead.