How To: Retrofit Rear Folding Seats into 05-06 Sedans

Parts Needed:

• 2007-2009 Rear Seats & Side Cushions
  
• Center Hinge Bracket - 64371AG21A
  
• Right Hinge Bracket - 64371AG00A
  
• Left Hinge Bracket - 64371AG01A
  
• 2x Seat Striker (Hook brackets) - 64375AG03A
  
• Rear Bulkhead Trim - 94511AG17A
  
• Various Bolts (For Lower hinge, center hinge to seat, hook brackets)
  

Tools Needed:

• 10mm & 12mm Sockets
  
• Dremel & Cut Off Wheel
  
• Stepped Drill Bit or assortment of bits up to 11mm
  
• Hammer
  
• Flathead Screwdriver/chisel (for removing spot welded hooks)
  

Removal Steps

Start by removing the bottom cushion by pulling up on the front of the two sides of the seat.

Unbolt the bottom of the back cushion, save these bolts they will be reused.

Removing the back cushion is a little tricky, first open the center piece since the center latch is bolted to the car it self. To remove the cushion lift up on each side and out.

Once the back cushion is out you can start unbolting the two support bars and the back covers.

There are two spot welded back cushion hooks that need to be removed. I used a screwdriver and a hammer to pry them off, you could also drill them out for a cleaner look. This part will be covered so no one will see it, but it is a good idea to still paint any raw metal.

Installation Steps

We are done removing factory brackets, now it's time to start installing the seats and making the necessary modifications.

Back cushion Hinges

Install the lower side hinges, all the spots for bolting this bracket are conveniently there already (thanks to Wagons with factory folding seats!). I used the previous seat bolts on the front holes but found new bolts for the rear holes.

Next I installed the right seat cushion (the bigger one) and bolted up the center hinge. This hole is very shallow, thus it's best to reuse the original center bolts here.

Finally the bottom cushions can be installed and bolted together.

Back Cushion Hook Brackets

Now comes the hard part, retrofitting the hook brackets that hold the back cushion in place. I snapped the hook into the seat, raise the seat and then held the hooks while releasing it and lowering the seat. That allowed me to mark where the seat wants the bracket to be.

After that, holes need to be drilled for the two bolts (drill them slightly bigger to allow for some alignment). Since we don't have welded nuts on the back side I used a magnet to alight the nut to the newly drilled holes.

Tightening them up was a pain but not impossible. Make sure you test opening and closing the seat a few times.

All done with the back cushion hooks

Side Cushions & Rear Plastic Trim

Each side has a cushion that stays upright while the seat is folded. These cushions have a top hook that goes inside the back top to hold it in place. 2005-06's don't have it thus you need to use the dremel with a cut off wheel to make a slit for them. Now you could go as far as fitting the factory plastic cups, but those are really expensive and require more cutting.

Remove the side cushions and install the rear plastic trim. Now it has a bunch of back clips that snap in place, we don't have holes for them so I decided to just throw them away. Instead I secured mine with 4 plastic trim retainers that I removed from stock seats.

With the trim installed now is a good time to verify the side cushions align with back cushions.

Secure the side cushion to the bottom.

Rear trim and side cushions installed:

Finally install the lower cushion (similar to removal) and you're done! Enjoy your folding seats!