Hello everyone. My son left a crayon in the back seat of our 850 sedan and it melted into the seat. Have tried pretty much every method suggested on online message boards, but it's in there for good.
Was wondering if anyone has ever switched out their cloth seats for leather ones off of another 850. Was thinking about checking out salvage yards or someone parting out their car. Only thing is that the car has side impact air bags - so would this complicate things or make it impossible?
Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

There are some really nice seat covers out there, including some nice flowered ones made out of wet suit material made in Hawaii. You can order many colors, two-tone, or with contrasting piping. Many can be ordered with provisions for air bags.

Try - http://www.wetokole.com/

You can also throw many of them in the washing machine if Junior blows his lunch.

Most leather seats in the junk yard have suffered from sun and weather, one left-over piece of glass can ruin your day. Do you really want an air bag that has been in an accident and living in a junk yard?
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'96 855R,'64 PV544 driver, '67 P1800 basket case, '95 855, '95 854, the first three are mine, heh, heh, 435,000 miles put on 9 bricks

Take out the bottom of the back seat, cut all of the metal hog clips that hold the fabric to the seat cushion, and remove the seat covering. If you have room in your freezer, great! Freeze the wax for about 1 hour, take it out and lightly brush off the wax.
If that did not get it all off, then hold the dirty part of the fabrick upside down and pour boiling water on the backside of where the wax is/was to remove the rest of the wax.
You can wash the cloth cover in the washing machine, cold/cold water only, and lay it out to dry - no drier! But the wash machine soap will not remove wax, just a lot of dirt.

Klaus
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Please answer, we need to know if the advice is good or bad. The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are 2 turbos :)

The rear seat bottom pops right out. I've not pulled the seat back but I'm sure it's much more involved. The side airbag not a problem. It's contained within the front seat so it can be pulled as a unit. The bag is in the side bolster, and the actuator is located right under the piece of plastic on side of the bottom (the bit that holds the power adjustment switch). Just don't drop the seat on its side and depress the plunger! As I recall, the seat belt was also attached and not easily removed so you may have to replace that as well.

If you're lucky, you'll find a power passenger seat if you don't have one already. Not too many 850s I've seen have one.

-Will
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850 / Mini

An auto detailer might have some technique in his bag of tricks that isn't mentioned on an online board. I doubt this is the first time this has happened.

Did you try Erie Vovo http://www.erievovo.com/?

They have a pair of gray cloth seats with the SIPS with a "buy it now" price of $250. I doubt they put the regular rear seats on e-bay -- there IS some demand for the ones with the optional child booster seats -- so you'd need to call them for the basic rear seats.

I suppose you could switch to a full leather interior but you'd be buying 11-year old leather so it's likely to show a lot of wear on the driver's seat and cracking in places where it's not worn. The door panels are different, too, at least on the V70. The easiest and cheapest solution would probably be to replace the rear seat with a used cloth one.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5 5-speed, 173k mi, heated velour cloth comfy chairs, factory HD suspension, Bilstein HD, front IPD stabilizer bar, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, XC grill, C70 jewel E-Codes, V-1, Lidatek, IPD stuff, JB Weld, Original Duck tape, zip-ties, two '06 Honda license plate nut impressions in back bumper (gift from daughter), Mobil-1 since new.

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." - Douglas Noel Adams (1952 - 2001)

I've read about this technique for getting wax out of fabric before, but haven't tried it. You'll need an iron and some paper towels. Empty the iron of water, set it on warm & no-steam. Put the paper towel on top of the crayon mark and the iron on top of that.

If no crayon transfers to the paper towel, turn up the heat a little. When the crayon melts into the paper towel, the heat will be right. Keep moving the paper towel to a clean piece and keep ironing until no more crayon comes up.

Hope that helps!
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1998 V70 T5 138Kmi; Previous car: 1985 SAAB 900T, 254kmi

Hi, If none of the removal techniques work, there's something else to consider. I had splits in my seats and took them to an auto upholsterer. It was McCoy Tops in Queens NY and they do convertibles and seats of every kind. Small sections can be done for about $90 a piece. I am still very pleased with the job they did. It looks factory and it's the cure for those splitting Volvo seats. Maybe there is a shop like that in your area, if all else fails. Good Luck