How-to: MS6 Seat Swap to Gen1 Seats (MSjuan6 Seats)

My first how to, been years since I have posted anything this long on a forum lol. Anywho.

This is a hopefully a simple how to with lots of pictures to swap Gen 1 sport seats into a MS6 GT (minus seat heaters - I live in az)

Final fitment - they sit maybe 1-2 inches higher than original if that matters to you.
This swap required no splicing and no mounting fabrication and there are no airbag lights because we are retaining the factory MS6 airbag.



Alright so the first thing you need to do is accept your oem MS6 seats suck and are sacrificial, and you must hack them up to make your car much better.

Also sorry I forgot to snap some pics during the MS6 seat disassembly but just remove the cushions so that you all you have is the lower MS6 frame rail and harness we will be re using this AND the MS6 airbags so be mindful of the harness!

MS6 Seat Rail & Airbag diss-assembly
to remove cushions:

4 bolts on the bottom cushion some zipties leaving you with this:


4 bolts to remove the seat back below




Release the vinyl hook thing using a flathead to get it started on one side and then just yank her off


Next get your rusty knife out mate and cut the back up


Pull foam cover to gain access to this nut here and remove




Now pull the fabric to the side revealing the side airbag ** One thing I didn't do that I would recommend is
take a sharpie and draw an arrow pointing up somewhere on the airbag so you aren't trying to remember what the orientation was.**


there are 2 10 mm nuts holding it in place on the inside of the seat back frame, remove those and carefully unravel the harness to free it and set aside.


Now you have what you need from the MS6 seats:
(lower frame assy. and the original airbag)

Gen 1 Seat diss-assembly

Starting with the removal of the 4 bolts to the bottom cushion and unhook the vinyl insert








Now to remove the upper seat back I found it easy to lay the seat on its side.

pull the vinyl seam clip apart

unzip the seat back

Remove the 4 seat back frame bolts




straddle it talk dirty to it


repeat for the opposite 2 bolts
these ones were nuts



Time for removal of the Gen 1 airbag which we will not be using because we dont want codes or splicing

Remove strap thingy - another annoying vinyl super strong retaining clip

Pry to the right





She is free


Un ravel harness and you can leave this attached to the Gen 1 lower frame rail for now you wont need this





Re-assembly of your frankenstein MSjuan6 seats


Install Gen1 seat backs onto MS6 frame rail
remember one side has stud/nuts so insert that side first.

get upright set into position



Self aligning tab not so self aligning




Now time to install your old airbag into the upright seat back
install the way you removed ( I found myself adding a few more wraps around this bar to take up slack)




Ok here is one key thing, the holes that the Gen 1 airbag occupied are shorter iirc but my luck there was multiple holes and it fit perfect. Dumb luck I guess lol


Install the two nuts for the airbag

Route wiring carefully and add some zip ties

re-attach retainer sock sleave thing



Zip back cover down


Time for bottom cushion! Almost there!


Loop the fabric flap around the bar for the bottom cushion


Go to town

So 2 of my bolts needed a little persuasion


So I laid it on the side and grabbed the ol persuader pry bar





Done


Button up the back


Button up the bottom





Time to Install your new seat into your car!



Install this seat the same way you removed the old one

4 bolts 2 plugs








Plug in the airbag and seatbelt plugs


DONE!


So a couple things that I can't stress enough. The reason I'm even sharing this is I see a lot of ppl suggesting splicing or just bypassing the airbag plug with a resistor and I figured its a lot easier to mess that up than this method with a ton of pictures.

Be careful with the old airbag harness, this isn't something you should really mess with and if you do, you do this at your own risk. One nick in the airbag harness is all it takes to have a bad day.

Double check that you aren't missing any bolts or nuts especially the ones on the airbag itself. You get all excited to put the seat in and those are easy to miss if you get distracted 100 times by your kids lol.

Cheers

 

Very cool how-to! Congratulations, you have earned a Metal Member upgrade! Check out the additional sections and raffle!

 

Excellent write up! Lots of pictures for people of my age too.!
Likely a modification my speed 6 will get when I discover a nearby source. Pacific Northwest has a junkyard enemy water, so if removed quick by yard = $$. So timing is everything, a summer time acquisition search next season.
Thank you for your time, patience, authorship.

 

Thanks!!

 

@Rokusek happens to take part in the auto scrapyard business in the PNW adjacent.

 

Outstanding write up! I did this in mine as well last year. Best decision ever. Now the real question is... Can you get the rear seats in to match?

Oh... I actually have a complete interior for a Juan... Leather with gray cloth I might be willing to part with....

We're are you located? I manage Spalding Auto parts in Missoula.

Yes, yes I am.

I can helps.

 

Washington Coast... Thank you for the offer. I am incredibly cheap... So the treasurer chair hunt is in my wreaker future.