1992-1995 Civic Seat Bolster Wear
 

A common problem with 1992-1996 Civics (VX included) is premature wear of the driver side seat bolster. Constant entry/exit by the driver rubs on the bolster, causing the cloth material to wear right through. The foam stuffing underneath then comes out, usually all over the place. As a stop gap measure I've used some duct tape, but this also comes off after awhile, making the seat sticky from the adhesive. I'm going to head over to a local upholstery shop to get the hole/stuffing thing repaired, but I wondered what remedies '92-'96 Civic owners on the site have come up with for this problem.

Seems to me the best thing to do is to not have it restored to the original shape-if I do that, it will just get worn through again. I'll have them leave it in the "worn" configuration-using just enough foam to fill in where it has fallen out. This will leave it in a somewhat flatter profile than the original, but should help prevent the wear process from reoccurring.

When I had a similar problem in a very different vehicle, the answer was a makeshift seat cover made out of a bedsheet wrapped around the offending parts and pulled tight by straps. On a bucket seat it should be as easy as adding a $10 store bought seat cover.

I bought a VX new in '95, drove it 225,000 miles, and the seat never tore or wore away at all. Maybe it's the way I got out of the seat. I think an easy solution is to sew a piece of leather, fake leather, vinyl or other synthetic, slippery upholstery-type material to that section of the seat so your body glides over it rather than rubbing on it. It may not be pretty, but it should work if it's sewn or otherwise affixed to the seat securely.

Seat covers before it happens. 170,000 and mine (when the cover is off) looks as good as new. Of course, that doesn't help now that yours is worn. You might still put a cover on it, though, just to contain the mess.

One of the benefits of civics is the wide availability of ricers swapping out their seats for pricey recaro's. On top of this there is a good amount of changability in swapping out the seat pans.

Mint Integra seats can be had for $150 on craigslist and will bolt right in when swapping out your old seatpans. On top of this Integra seats are way more comfortable and hug you on those tight turns.

As far as price is concerned what is the quote on the re-upholstery?

That's a great idea. If you're not picky, you could probably get something from the Free Stuff section on craigslist, or something for $10-20 from a ricer swap. It's probably not even necessary to get seats that came from a Honda. I've seen more than one odd swaps, like Integra seats into a Jeep or Chevy S10, though I don't know if custom brackets were required.

I think I remember seeing that Jeep with Integra seats... pretty cool! The whole seat pan swap is to get around having to make custom rails... I assume with fabrication you can put an friggin Lazy Boy on slider rails in a mini cooper!!!

Here is a link to Honda Seat Pan Swaps:https://honda-tech.com/showthread.php...light=seat+pan Even though this is for S2000 seats in a Civic, the steps should be the same.

Whoa, that's a lot of work...I'd rather pay more for seats that will fit than do that job. I was thinking more along the lines of getting pieces of steel and drilling appropriate holes to make relocation brackets, or just drilling holes in the floor to put new seat bolts through (and reinforcing the other side if necessary to have the seat stay solid in a crash).

I have not taken it to the upholsterer yet, but he quoted me at $45-95 range over the phone (sounds reasonable to me). I really don't want to go through the work of replacing the entire seat right now. The Integra seat thing does sound intriguing though. Are you speaking of a particular year (or range of years) of Integra seat to replace mine?

Repair Completed
 

I took the car to an upholstery shop on Monday (3/30/09). They did an excellent job, replacing the fabric and foam filler on both sides of the seat for only $98. The seat now looks like brand new. If anyone needs upholstery work on their car in the Aurora, CO area, call Automation Upholstery at 3291 Peoria St (303-341-0525). They have been in business for more than 30 years, and have done many classic cars, etc. I highly recommend them...