| So, this has been one of those things that I've regretted not doing when I rewrapped my seats 6 years ago. You're probably wonder why one would need heated seats in a convertible and those that have one will tell you that unless it's a really hot day, the minute the sun starts to set or is nearing the golden hour, it can get chilly real quick. I hate driving with the top down and windows up and the heaters don't work worth a crap even if the windows are up unless you have your hands right by the heater. I even installed the crotch vent and that doesn't help either so the best that I get is warm feet. I bought the Dorman 628-040 kits (x2) since these realistically are what all shops would install aftermarket and in the process, upgraded my ~6 year old Interior Innovations seat skins to their newest ones which have grain as opposed to being smooth like the earlier gen. Also, I decided to rewrap the seats myself which was a first and having known how long it would take and how anal I am trying to get things perfect, I probably should have paid to get them rewrapped since it took me about 20 hours with the drivers seat taking about 12 due to being power. I did this over a few weekends and a couple week days so it's not like I blew an entire weekend doing the work. That's just my best hourly estimate for those of you thinking about doing it yourself. I consider myself very DIY and skilled at what I do and if you've followed my posts, I don't (at least not intentionally) half ass anything. Backrest heating pad. The wires should run out of the bottom left as you're looking at the backrest. 
On the passenger bottom, the wires will come out as pictured (bottom left when looking at the cushion) On the drivers side, it will be flipped so coming out top right when looking at this same view. This is all done so the connectors are closest to the trans tunnel. There's plenty of slack. Fyi, zip ties are to hold the leather in place and tighten down as necessary before using hog ring pliers. I went through 100 or so zip ties in total. 
End result. The backrest is deceiving but also the most difficult IMO because of that back middle seam. You pull one way and there's slack, you pull another and there's slack. The newer style pulling points on these seats SUCK compared to the earlier generation as the previous used a tougher nylon like loop that was also much smaller. This one is a bigger loop and out of fabric so it can tear easier when you're really trying to tighten down. Also (if you're reading Khalid) using the white fabric backing also sucks compared to the previous style which used leather so it all blended it... Now, i know leather is expensive but damn... use black or grey fabric, not that thin white stuff. 
Okay, enough ranting... This is where I decided to stuff the wire assembly & relays. Just to the upper right of the steering column where you see the hole. This is also where i moved the fuses instead of having them at the end of the run. This is to make things accessible and only have to take out one panel and not the whole center console. 
After doing some research and having a few ideas, I decided to tap the Orange/Black wire of the cigarette lighter. This doesn't feed anything else and is a 20 amp circuit by itself. Each seat for reference comes with its own 10 amp fuse so I think this is the perfect choice AND only has power when the car is on. 
Another one of the items was where to put the damn switches. Originally, I was going to put it in the ash tray and use one of those blank out plates that were once sold that I can't find anymore.... but then later changed my mind because I didn't want to drill through the center console and the ash tray making the ash tray useless for gum wrappers and the like. I stumbled on the blank out plate which took a little modification because behind it is the 6 open slots for the misc factory lights. I had to cut the grid out so the switches can mount but there was enough room behind it to feed both wire harnesses.
HIGH/HIGH :)
 LOW/HIGH :)
1993 TT. R.I.P. 09.15.2010 |
Heated seats in the vert whaaaaaaaaaaat?! :) - 
