SeVeNisOnE

Not to long ago I bought some minty rear JDM DC2 Type R seats locally after reading so many posts about how these seats bolt up without any modification into a 96-00 hatchback. So after looking at the seats for about 2 days I notice they aren't so much alike after all. I was starting to wonder how they were going to bolt up if they don't even have these same bolt patterns! For those of you out there that always wonder how much of a bolt-on process DC2 ITR rear seats are into a EK hatchback, let me tell you, you can't just slap these on without a bit of modification to the backrests, at least not my ITR seats. They look the same, but they are not. So after wondering how I was going to get these seats in my car, I decided I was going to have to swap out the metal frames. All your basically doing is removing the fabric and foam from the ITR seat and placing it over your stock metal frame.

The 2 door ITR bottom cushion fits, but has giants gaps on the left and right side and between the backrests and the cushion itself. Its best to source out the bottom cushion from a DB8 sedan ITR, since the cushion pretty much fits better. If someone has already posted up a how-to like this then a big oops to me for wasting my time on this. So lets start already.

First lets compare the stock hatchback backrests to the ITR backrests. They are basically the same size and shape, except the ITR backrest has a little hump up top for a bit of a headrest.


The backs look almost identical as well.


Upon closer examination (I've always wanted to say that) you notice the inner part of the driver side hatchback frame has a rod sticking out and the ITR has a hole.


The outside of the driver side hatchback frame has two threaded holes for the bracket that holds it onto the car, while the ITR frame has a rod. Same thing with the outside of the passenger side ITR frame. It has a rod while the passenger side hatchback frame has two holes to bolt the bracket to.


Now I started to dismantle the backrest.

Here is a list of what I used:
Wire Cutters (or a ninja sword, whatever your more skilled with)
Philips Screwdriver
Flathead Screwdriver
34 thin 4" Zip-Ties (17 per side)

First you can remove the screw on the side with a philips screwdriver. Remove the plastic piece. It pops right off.


You can remove this **** now if you want to. It twists off counter clock-wise after about 20 turns.


Now comes the dangerous part! Get your wire cutters (or your trusty ninja sword) and cut off all of the metal rings on the back side. I counted 17 per side. They are pretty simple to get to, but after cutting them off all 4 seats at once, my hand was sore.


Once you get all of the rings off you can start to separate the foam from the metal frame slowly. BE VERY CAREFUL, the frame edges are very sharp. I cut myself a couple of times. You can't remove the foam yet since you still have to take off the tricky plastic grommet where the **** was up top. No need to remove the fabric from the foam. Just leave it all together.


Ahh my favorite part (note my sarcasm). The plastic piece on the top of the backrest is a bit of a pain to get to and remove, but with a bit of patience and screaming, you can get it out. Be very careful here with the sharp frame edges again. I squeezed my hand in and pressed the parts inward and up to get it out. I also jammed a flat head in there to help. Eventually with enough pushing, twisting, and pulling, I go it out.


Once you remove the plastic piece up top, remove all of the foam from the frame and your ready to move along.


Again, I compared the ITR frame to the hatchback frame and I just don't see how this was going to easily fit into my hatch without swapping the frames. ITR frame on the front, hatchback frame in the back


Now all you have to do is repeat this process 3 more times!!! Use the same procedure in order to remove the foam and fabric from your ITR seats so you can slap them on to your OEM hatchback frames. Don't separate the fabric from the foam.


Take your ITR foam and fabric and start to place the civic hatchback frame into it. Just take your time. It is very easy at this point. Do the same for the other backrest. Now you should have your ITR backrests go to go for the Zip Tie process.


At this point you can either take it to an upholstery shop to get new hog rings installed, or you can go the simple route and just tie the seats back together with some quality zip-ties like I did. Just slip them all into the same areas where the original rings were and tighten them down just enough to hold it all together.


Once your done, pat your self on the back and take a nap. After you wake up take the time to check out your awesome ITR seats that can NOW officially bolt in like stock OEM hatchback seats.

I don't have a pic of my seats installed just yet, so I borrowed one from the net. Hopefully I don't get sued. Here is a pic I found with the DC2 ITR seats with the DB8 ITR bottom cushion installed in a EG.


Hopes this helps someone. I learned the hard way, but it was fun.


*Disclaimer: Don't hold me accountable for any damage you do to your seats. If you tear or rip up your stuff, thats your own fault. Do this mod at your own risk, Have a nice day!



Modified by SeVeNisOnE at 1:12 PM 1/11/2008

-Gambit-

damn nice write up, that came out really nice.

NA4life

iTrader: (1)

guess all them itr thieves now know how to install these in their civics

caustic.

good write up.

00ekcoupe

Good write up! I'd like to see them in YOUR car. Waiting for pics...

I'd like to see how well they fit because I hate the gaps! This really doesn't apply to my car because I have a coupe but I'd like to see.

gabebauman

NICE...please add this to the FAQ section moderators.

slaberdy

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Evo MR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">guess all them itr thieves now know how to install these in their civics </TD></TR></TABLE>
good assumption

SeVeNisOnE

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Evo MR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">guess all them itr thieves now know how to install these in their civics </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats funny. They can steal a car, but they can't figure out how to swap seats? This won't work for coupes by they way. Unless maybe you re-weld the center bracket more towards the middle to convert to the 50/50 split seats. Eh, thats not my concern.

jime64871

iTrader: (1)

that actually looks pretty good!

nice write up

Chris.

iTrader: (4)

nice writeup

JdMeF9SiR2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by -Gambit- &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn nice write up, that came out really nice.</TD></TR></TABLE> x2

RS_marshall

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nice writeup </TD></TR></TABLE>

SeVeNisOnE

Thanks guys. Any Q's let me know

CHIAMX

Wow, very nice write up.

I've always wanted to see a diy on this.

Mingo

iTrader: (1)

those seats are minty...

Mr.OB*GYN_Rhett

iTrader: (2)

wow that is very creative of you, much props

jiggatone

bookmarked thnx man this will come in handy for future purposes.

teeho

hondastreet

nice write up

I DID SAME THING WITH THE REAL EK 9 CIVIC TYPE R SEAT on EJ6 HB.




Modified by hondastreet at 12:55 AM 1/12/2008

b18ctrb

iTrader: (72)

Very nice write up. Now lets see them in your car

Hikaru

iTrader: (2)

Nice write up. ITR rear seat looks much better than the EK9, with the hump on top and red stitching.

My friend did the same has ITR rear seat into his EK hatch, but he didn't remove the frame, what he did was removing a portion of it at the lower portion then welded 2 10mm nuts in and ready to go. As you stated that the frame is the same, even the holes on ITR are there just without the nuts welded.


To minimize the gap between cushion and backrest as this picture shown, it doesn't necessary to use DB8 bottom cushion coz there is no way to get 2 sets of rear seats and mismatch to create one. What we did is adding an extra layer of high density foam sheet, about 2", at the bottom of chasis before we lay down cushion seat to secure it. It works fine as well.

Hikaru

iTrader: (2)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondastreet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nice write up

I DID SAME THING WITH THE REAL EK 9 CIVIC TYPE R SEAT on EJ6 HB.




Modified by hondastreet at 12:55 AM 1/12/2008</TD></TR></TABLE>
ek9 seat is a direct bolth on to every SO3.

A's 94 GSR

nice write up

euroek

sweet seats

hondastreet

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hikaru &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
ek9 seat is a direct bolth on to every SO3.</TD></TR></TABLE> What is a SO3 ?