AU interior - interchangeable parts

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

Gday,

So for years I was under the impression the interior in AU's essentially could be swapped and changed.

I found out today I was very wrong..

I have a Fairmont sedan, a Forte wagon, and a Fairlane. I wanted to take the interior out of the Fairlane, put into the Fairmont, then take the Fairmont interior and put it into the Wagon..

So, the Fairlane has larger mounts that make the latches not line up (even though the bolt locations are the same), the wagon has a completely different mount and setup..

All these build threads I have seen of ghia gear going into Wagons, I never actually asked what the source car was.

Wiring.. well that's a whole new pain.. The Fairmont had all the required wiring. I knew the Forte wouldnt, so that's the next problem..

Questions..

Seats - is there a way to change the brackets for the seats mounts, or has anyone got hints for getting the different models to play nice?

Wiring - has anyone got wiring diagrams, pics, tips for putting high model stuff into low models (electric seats, courtesy lights, potentially a high series dash).

Electric windows - I am wanting to put the electric windows from Fairlane into the Wagon. 2 questions.. will they fit, how tricky is the wiring?

I brought the car for really cheap and will parts it out, I really just wanted the door trims, leather gear etc, so anything extra is just a bonus.

Thanks in advance!
Matt

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

If it helps the Fairlane is complete. It has a blown gearbox and smashed rear window, but from what I can tell the wiring and electronics ok, so can raid it for parts if needed.

[rayban76]

I put the Howe leather seats in to my wagon, eventually fairlane seats, the front bolt straight in but the tears won't.
The lower rear will clip straight in but the split folds I had to take my existing leathers and foam off the wagon frames and put the fairlane Howe leathers and foams on to my wagon frames, only way to get them in.

Regards
Ray

[macxr8]

Drill the rivets out of the seat hinges and re use the fairmont ones

[ebv8]

swap the foams and the covers over for the front seat bases, the tops of the seat may swap completely
as far as the wagon with elec windows there might be plugs under the carpet either under the centre console or under the sills and you might get away with just plugging in the window looms. E-series cars used to have all the wiring and was plug and play.

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

Originally Posted by rayban76

I put the Howe leather seats in to my wagon, eventually fairlane seats, the front bolt straight in but the tears won't.
The lower rear will clip straight in but the split folds I had to take my existing leathers and foam off the wagon frames and put the fairlane Howe leathers and foams on to my wagon frames, only way to get them in.

Regards
Ray

My wagon has a middle seat belt built into the seat. Is there a way to remove it?

The lower section looks to be a buckle setup but with no release. There is a small pin hole, might be it?

I got the rear section in fine, slight win

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

Originally Posted by macxr8

Drill the rivets out of the seat hinges and re use the fairmont ones

That does make sense. What sort of rivet would be strong enough to bmdo the job when I reassemble though?

[rayban76]

Originally Posted by ten[A]cio[U]s

My wagon has a middle seat belt built into the seat. Is there a way to remove it?



The lower section looks to be a buckle setup but with no release. There is a small pin hole, might be it?



I got the rear section in fine, slight win

Yeah that hole that you can see, push a punch or something in to it and it will release the center buckle, and then when you're done it just clips straight back in like a normal seatbelt.

Ray

[Uncle_Ken]

I need pics to visualise this. From what little I know the Fairlane will fit the least into anything else.
UK

[rayban76]

Originally Posted by Uncle_Ken

I need pics to visualise this. From what little I know the Fairlane will fit the least into anything else.
UK

Yeah they do but the wagons have a different setup in the rear because of the shape, it's much easier to take the original trim and foams off the rear frames and put the new trim and foams back on them, I've done it several times and it's about an hour job all up

Ray

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

I had a look under the wagons seat and no wiring for the electric seat.

I'll have to have a crack at swapping the foam and covers over.

The rear middle belt goes into the actual seat not behind it. What did you do to the leather seats to get around it?

[Crazy Dazz]

The problem with electrics in the AU, is that much of it is all controlled by the BEM. Not sure which bits, so wiring up things like rear electric windows, electric seats, etc, etc, may not work without swapping the BEM.
(and I'm not even sure that you can simply swap a BEM, without it interfering with other stuff.)

As for seats, I could have sworn that ALL front seats were completely interchangeable???

But obviously the rears in a sedan, wagon, and LWB sedan are different.

[b2tf]

Havent mucked around with one in ages but from memory the BEM is paired to the ECU, so if you change one you will require Ford help to get them to talk to each other again.

Front seats should work fine and if you dont have the loom there for the power seat you only need power and earth to make it move anyway.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by b2tf

Havent mucked around with one in ages but from memory the BEM is paired to the ECU, so if you change one you will require Ford help to get them to talk to each other again.

Front seats should work fine and if you dont have the loom there for the power seat you only need power and earth to make it move anyway.

I don't really understand why a BEM is needed for half the stuff it is.

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

Whats a recommended source to get power for the seats and electric windows from, essentially bypassing the BEM?

Is it worth finding a source near by or running a new circuit all together and fusing it?

I will be running the courtesy lights spliced off the ignition barrel light, saw that somewhere and seemed like the ideal spot.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by ten[A]cio[U]s

Whats a recommended source to get power for the seats and electric windows from, essentially bypassing the BEM?

Is it worth finding a source near by or running a new circuit all together and fusing it?

You'll need to get an understanding of exactly how the windows are powered. I'm not 100% sure on the AU myself.

Traditionally it was simple. High amp cables routed power form the switches, usually via the central switches, direct to the motor. Switches were prone to problems because the high current would often burn the contacts.

In "modern" cars, a low power (and possibly even low voltage) switch tells the computer that somebody wants the window up. Computer sends signal to open a relay, and supply power to the motor. For example on my wife's car, the windows also function when the top goes up or down, and can be raised with the remote.

I have no idea which system the AU used. I wanted to swap rear power windows from my Fairmont into the Futura, and was told I couldn't without also swapping and wiring in the BEM.

[xr6tjet]

I fit fairlane rear seats for the headrests in my au fairmont a while ago. I used the regular brackets except bent the tabs down and bolted them in via the square hole. They close up and lock no problems now.

[PridenJoy]

With the wiring, if the plugs for the seats are not already there under the carpet somewhere (have a good look because sometimes they're well hidden), easiest thing to do is get the body loom out of the Fairmont and either install it in the wagon or splice bits and pieces into existing loom, but I would replace it.

[TOP DOG]

DO NOT alter the hinges on a sedan rear seat to fit into a wagon. The sedan seats are designed to use the parcel shelf as a structural part (the seats rest up against it). The wagon does not have the parcel shelf, so the seat frames themselves are designed to be self supporting (much heavier frame). Yes I know lots of people have done it, but it is not safe and your insurance will be void.

Remove to cover from the sedan seat and put it on to the wagon frame and foam. If the covers and foam are a different shape to the wagon, you have to cut out the back of the sedan foam to fit around the wagon frames. This is an easy job it takes about 10 minutes with a razor blade. When taking the covers off don't forget the clips located on the center insert on the front of the cover.[ATTACH]FOAM RESHAPED.jpg[/ATTACH]

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

That's ultra helpful. Thanks for the pictures!

[TOP DOG]

[QUOTE='ten[A]cio[U]s;5695795']My wagon has a middle seat belt built into the seat. Is there a way to remove it?

I have left the original wagon center seat belt in place. You will have to cut the new cover where the seat belt comes through the top. A simple X cut will do the trick, either tuck the flaps under or trim them off so the plastic cover clips into the seat frame to hold the belt in place.