casm Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) Well, I finally gave in to temptation today at the junkyard. I'm now the proud owner of two heated leather seats with manual adjustment from a '99 OBW that are destined for the Brat. This fills me with pleasure. How many people have done this swap before? The seat part seems pretty straightforward, but the heater wiring has me in the dark. I'm guessing I can use the (unused) defroster circuit, but I'm flummoxed on the switch wiring and which wire goes where. I found beheinen74's thread where he did the swap here and sent a PM to him but haven't heard back yet. If anyone else can chime in it'd be appreciated. Mmmm... I love the feel of leather on my Brat (sorry, can't resist). Edited July 16, 2009 by casm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 bheinen74 put them in his Brat, and they look awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 bheinen74 put them in his Brat, and they look awesome! Agreed, and that was part of what spurred me on to finally do it (that and the Outback was about to go to the crusher, so it was now or never). I'm really hoping he pops his head up; I could use his expertise in tackling all of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 I am on here, just have been uber busy with work. I think i am one of the few in the offices, so that means i am doing like 8 peoples work, yeah for about 3 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 I am on here, just have been uber busy with work. I think i am one of the few in the offices, so that means i am doing like 8 peoples work, yeah for about 3 weeks No problem, and apologies if I sounded like I was being pushy because that wasn't my intention. Just kinda got a rush from grabbing the seats this morning and got all gung-ho about it. Totally understood on work pressures; I'm in a calm period myself after six weeks of hell. Let me know when you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 I seen a BRAT for sale a few years ago on ebay that had forester leather seats. It looked great, guy said he lost an inch or so of head room though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 I seen a BRAT for sale a few years ago on ebay that had forester leather seats. It looked great, guy said he lost an inch or so of head room though. These should actually be an improvement over what I've got in there now, which are out of God-only-knows-what. I've probably lost a good 3" of headroom or so; the OBW seats should get an inch or two of that back based on rough measurements of both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Txakura Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 baccaruda was talking about this, not in a Brat, but he may have wired them boy that'd be pretty nice to put in any car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 baccaruda was talking about this, not in a Brat, but he may have wired them Interesting. If he (or anyone else) has a wiring diagram for the heated seat circuit in the OBW I took them from, I would love to see it. I think I've got it mostly figured out, but I'm still stuck in a couple of places. boy that'd be pretty nice to put in any car Yeah, I'm looking forward to this *bigtime*. Somehow my last four cars have all had heated seats and it's one of those things I never cared about until I had them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 I probably lost about 2-3 inches headroom too. I am 6ft tall, and I wish they sat a little lower, but there was no way to do it, given the thickness of the bottom cushion, and the power mechanisms. Also, the side bolster is pretty close to the door when closed, and the upper side is close to the frame of the body. The headrests limit slider motion all the way back. All in all, it works quite well but it too time to consider all this in making brackets. For wiring, I left the airbag connectors loose. The wiring for the heated portion i have that goes from the seat connector to the switches. Then there is wiring from the switches which I joined together at the fuse box for "rear defrost/unused". I had to wire in both power adjust and the heated portion, and i think there was a purple wire if i remember, and a blue wire, and then ground. I think one of the wires was power for seat movement, and the other was for the heat. At first i placed a 15 amp fuse, but found it would blow if i had the heated seat switches on and tried to move the power adjustment at the same time. I then decided a 20 amp works for it all. I have no relays for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 I probably lost about 2-3 inches headroom too. I am 6ft tall, and I wish they sat a little lower, but there was no way to do it, given the thickness of the bottom cushion, and the power mechanisms. Good to know. I'm 5'9", so headroom shouldn't be as much of an issue. It also looks like the seats I grabbed have a thinner lower cushion than the ones I've currently got, so I may actually gain back an inch or two (or at least break even). Also, the side bolster is pretty close to the door when closed, and the upper side is close to the frame of the body. This was a concern of mine because the leather seats have the manual height adjusters on the driver's side - it wasn't clear if it would hit the door or not. Chances are I'll have to remove the adjusting arm. More on the seat specs in a bit; it'll help clear up where I'm coming from on all this. The headrests limit slider motion all the way back. The current ones are the same way, so I figure I can live with that. Frankly, I'd like to find a decent stock Brat driver's side seat and use that (I have a good passenger side seat in my parts stockpile), but good luck finding one in decent (read: economically-salvageable) condition. All in all, it works quite well but it too time to consider all this in making brackets. Thanks - I appreciate the insight on this. I'm in a slightly different situation as regards all of this; see below for more info. For wiring, I left the airbag connectors loose. My seats are pre-airbag (they came off of a '99), so that's one item off the worry list. The wiring for the heated portion i have that goes from the seat connector to the switches. Then there is wiring from the switches which I joined together at the fuse box for "rear defrost/unused". Cool; my plan was to use the rear defroster circuit for it. Was power already run to that fuse, or did you have to pull +12V to it? I'm guessing it was already live, but would like confirmation if possible. I had to wire in both power adjust and the heated portion, and i think there was a purple wire if i remember, and a blue wire, and then ground. I think one of the wires was power for seat movement, and the other was for the heat. Hrm. It looks like I may be on my own for the heater wiring; IIRC, your seats are out of an '04 and mine are from a '99 - and are manually-adjusted. I'll get some photos of the switches and heater wiring I scavenged over the next day or two; if we could do some comparisons between what I've got and what you've got, it would be very helpful to me. At first i placed a 15 amp fuse, but found it would blow if i had the heated seat switches on and tried to move the power adjustment at the same time. I then decided a 20 amp works for it all. I have no relays for this. The relay(s) will probably be pretty straightforward. 15A should be enough to run just the heaters since there's no power adjustment to worry about. As an aside, I was actually surprised to find heated leather seats with fully-manual adjustment (including height) - I'd never seen anything with that spec and no power adustment on any vehicle before. The lack of power adjustment was actually one of the things that prompted me to do this since it should theoretically make fitment easier and allow for better headroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 and when i mentioned the door comes close, its mainly the arm rest of the door where it can be pressed against the side part of the seat back. My armrests will touch the side if the seat is in a certain position, otherwise it is not a problem, just be aware to watch this area. If i have the passenger seat folded forward for when i put my smaller dog back behind the seat, then the armrest hits for sure with the seat folded foward while its slid forward for the room for doggy, door still closed but has some pressure on it. I am w/o camera now, its lost, otherwise i would put some pics up of the mounts and stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 and when i mentioned the door comes close, its mainly the arm rest of the door where it can be pressed against the side part of the seat back. My armrests will touch the side if the seat is in a certain position, otherwise it is not a problem, just be aware to watch this area. Will do. I'll be interested to see if the non-airbag seat has a little more clearance, but we'll see what happens. If i have the passenger seat folded forward for when i put my smaller dog back behind the seat, then the armrest hits for sure with the seat folded foward while its slid forward for the room for doggy, door still closed but has some pressure on it. Got it. Probably not an issue for me, since the only time I tilt the seats forward is if I'm tossing small stuff behind them. Still good to know. I am w/o camera now, its lost, otherwise i would put some pics up of the mounts and stuff. No worries. I'm letting the shop figure it out; I just don't have the facilities to do it myself, so it's a them problem I'll get some photos of mine up once the Brat's back next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 also, this job would be relatively quick if you just drill into the floor. I did not put a single new hole in my floorpans, and used all 4 of the factory mount holes on the floor, creating new seat brackets to match those original holes on like 3 of the 4 seat brackets. I did have to cut some of the side sill plate..... aah, holes...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 I haven't touched this job yet but will try to acquire FSM wiring diagrams when I get seats. I will NOT go another winter without heated seats! My drive to work is too short for the heater to warm up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 18, 2009 Author Share Posted July 18, 2009 also, this job would be relatively quick if you just drill into the floor. Yeah... But I've got original floorpans with no rust. I have no idea how that's even possible, but I really don't want to drill them. The shop's fooling with the rails to get them to fit. I did have to cut some of the side sill plate..... Ah. OK. Interesting. Can I get a quick description of that from you? Not sure why that would be necessary, is all. I haven't touched this job yet but will try to acquire FSM wiring diagrams when I get seats. If you wouldn't mind sharing those with me once you've got them, it would be much appreciated. I've decided to hold off on the wiring part of all this until I've got diagrams to work with; it'll mean pulling the seats after they're out, but at least that's easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyperDru Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Hey quick question for you guys. I am putting heated seats in my OBW 99. I do not know where the pale blue wires go. I think they are the 12v hot not sure I know where all the other wires go. If anyone can help me that would be great!! Thanks you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Hey quick question for you guys. I am putting heated seats in my OBW 99. I do not know where the pale blue wires go. I think they are the 12v hot not sure I know where all the other wires go. If anyone can help me that would be great!! Thanks you!! Not to be a jerk, but you may want to start a thread on this in the New Generation Forum - it's more appropriate for your model and I'm actually at a loss for the wiring part myself, so you'll probably have better luck over there. Besides, I'd like to see the replies as well since i'm going to have to go through the same thing at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Yeah, hit up New Gen. I won't get diagrams until I get the seats first and I prob won't hit this for a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 (edited) It's done, minus the heaters. On a quest for glycerine soap in order to clean them up a bit more - they've still got some junkyard dust on them in the photos. Click images for the larger versions. Edited August 5, 2009 by casm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYeti Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 They look really nice! I would like to do this for my hatch in the very near future. Nobody ever takes pictures of the mounts. Be a hero and post some pictures of the mounts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 They look really nice! Thanks! I'm actually thrilled with the way they turned out - the old ones were great, but these are a major upgrade over them. Can't wait 'til the heaters are wired in. I would like to do this for my hatch in the very near future. Nobody ever takes pictures of the mounts. Be a hero and post some pictures of the mounts... Give me a day or two and I'll do exactly that I wish I could give you more info off the top of my head about them, but as I had a shop do the work it's pretty much an area I know squat about right now. Just remember these are the non-power seats - mounting power ones may be more difficult due to the motor positioning. Having said that, I highly recommend the swap - it just makes it that bit nicer to live with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rottenhead Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Awesome. Would love to do this at some point too, but height (6'2") may limit my options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 i was at the Subaru dealership last night to drop off my bro:grin:ther with his Outback for service, I was in my Brat, and I looked into the 2004 outback they had on the lot and said, hey, that has the same seats as my Brat....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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