Astra Mk4 GSI Recaro Seat Install! (Part #1)

Something i have always wanted for my Mk4 Astra has been a set of GSI recaros.. After years of trying to find some i finally did it! Enjoy!
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[@milesfinch]

The vids are coming thick and fast, very much appreciated young man. ;-)

[@TheSavageGarage]

You’re welcome! Glad you’re enjoying them

[@10100011100]

As someone who's got a Mk4 astra as a first car not too long ago, I'm very happy that you're making videos about it again!

[@frothe42]

Autoshine UK 🇬🇧 I recommend for detailing, he's in Blackpool. I think steam heat might help that cracked leather as well as leather cream to replenish.

[@neilashman7794]

I've been down this road swapping seats in a B5 Passat to a B5.5. The airbag plugs are different. Lots of advice on the internet saying you must not cut and solder airbag wires. I cut and soldered them with no problems. You will need to put resistors in the wiring if you don't connect the airbags or you will get the airbag light on the dash. Ideally those seat airbags need to be connected or removed, they are a bit of a liability just left open circuit.

[@djmandrick]

A great thing to do use is a shoe polish brush to work the foam in. firm enough but forgiving on the material. Much easier to concentrate on heavy stained areas too. Waiting on my Spot Cleaner to arrive to do exactly this process but this time properly. Nice vidya.

[@johnhunt2388]

the 28 minutes went that quick I couldn't believe it was finished, you had me so captivated.

[@mysterymonkey]

I winced when I saw you with that drill and brush combo, glad you stopped!

[@jaybenjamin5649]

I love the clip of you and your dad riding a motorbike you sitting on the back. You can see you really love your dad

[@TheSavageGarage]

Absolutely! We have a great relationship

[@jaybenjamin5649]

@@TheSavageGarage wow you replied. Awesome dude just finied my mini I started watching your videos last year and you got me into mechanics man thank you man I found my passion. I'm in ireland just bought and finnished a black mini 05 with lowered springs body kit and gold rims I f ing love it!!!

[@kriswoodward4020]

They’re 100% Zaf GSi seats, can tell as they’ve got no lever to move them forward and the lumbar adjuster is on the opposite bolster.

[@dave_listener]

100% agree. I thought Zafira GSI straight away.

[@mikedarling-holmes5434]

Of all these types of videos I watch yours are the most informative and interesting-keep up the very good work

[@JustbeingHayden]

Seats look banging 😍 what a job you've done on them

[@elliottpeters2996]

It won't fail an MOT because of restricted access to the rear seats. If the tester can't reach he will just advise "not tested because of restricted access". It would fail however, if you didn't connect the seat belt pre tensioner as it would put the airbag light on (of course, I am not telling you to bridge the wiring loom out with a 2.7ohm resistor).

[@andyhoare4644]

Just catching up on your vids James as a recent house move has consumed my time decorating,Just scrapped my MK4 did aload of work on it had it running mint again clutch went n threw my teddy out of cot so it went, I’m sort of regretting it now 😞 nice to see the Astra back getting some love I really like what you’ve done with it over the period of time you’ve had it,think it’s time I just bought myself a gsi, keep up the good work anyway James also great work on the skoda gearbox rebuild another set of informative and helpful videos for all us subscribers

[@TheSavageGarage]

cheers andy!

[@andyhoare4644]

@@TheSavageGarage your welcome

[@andyhoare4644]

Also must be zafira Seats I’ve never known of a 5 door Astra gsi and probably best to remove back seats for mot or just leave it standard for your mot then fit the recaros

[@davidfagerberg9283]

If you have side airbags on the seats : One important step when removing the seats is to disconnect the negative lead on the battery and wait for a minute or two so the capacitor for the airbags drains. If you don't you can tigger the side airbags on the seat when disconnecting the plug under the seat. Awesome video btw! The new seats looks stonkin!

[@scottjohnson5449]

good job on the seat mate!!!!!! by the way...the yellow connectors/plugs at least here in the usa means they belong to the air bag system!!!! hope this helps ya!!!! love this channel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@David_S1985]

If you want to have the tilt mechanism. You may be able to swap the covers and foams onto your old frames. It would sort of rely on things like back rest adjustment levers being in the same location on both. Then you would just need to cut a small hole for the tilt lever. This has a cover etc anyway so doesn't have to be too perfect. I've done it before on other seats and it's easy enough. If you don't want to cut the new material then you could possibly run a cable down to the underside of the seat to pause the mechanism. However you would still have to use the 3 door seat frames.

[@stevenchambers7538]

Good video mate keep them coming. I’ve learnt a lot from your videos so please keep them coming

[@markharris7662]

Those seats cleaned up so well. Very nice upgrade.

[@raccie]

The plug is different because the new seats are out of a Zafira that would be a 05 plate or 54 they swapped to full can wiring around that time so your Astra will have half can wiring but the seats have a full can plug 👍

[@maxinhooo9679]

Great to see the Astra back! And awesome to see you making videos on a regular basis again! Cheers James keep it up 👍🏽💪🏽

[@LickyDischarge]

They look brilliant dude! Such a huge improvement over the standard cloth seats 👍🏻😎

[@RecklessGenesis]

they are still cloth , and the pattern is ugly

[@LickyDischarge]

@@RecklessGenesis I didn’t say what material the new ones were, I just referred to the standard seats as being cloth. Who rattled your cage 🤣🤣😂🔔end

[@gwengo4167]

LOVE the mk4 Astra’s. I had a black 2002 1.8 SRi, it had a full Irmsher body kit with that great little spoiler on the boot. Really wish I kept it, but it had an oil leak around the bell housing. I could’ve probably fixed that now, but at the time it was a job for an expert so I had to get rid :(. Great vid James, good to see those cars still on the road 👍🏻

[@MySpeed12]

Ive been watching a lot of Astra video's since I have a mk4 myself, sport and full leather interior. These Seats do look good but if there were full leather recaros that would be mint. Also, my Astra probably needs an rebuild since the Smoke its producing is insane, and the oil usage aswell. It already broke my catalytic converter due to this issue. Watched your video a while ago Im Just too afraid to hone my cilinders, im too afraid to take the timing off (distribution) and mess something up. But no money to pay someone to do it for me, sadly. I love the Astra video's and hope there Will come more soon! You inspired me to get the gsi wheel aswell, ill search for that when I have the money :) so far my Astra hasnt been Really reliable but I did make a trip to hungary and back( no gas pedal response most of the time) in this summer (Live in the Netherlands) thanks again mate, one of the few channels that I keep coming back to. And it helps me with this depression :)

[@classicgamer4451]

@savage garage James wow those seats came up lovely how satisfying was it to watch the dirt come out of those seats nice

[@FordMatt647]

Great video James loving the different content at the minute the seats have came out so well just shows a little bit of time and effort goes a long way .👌🏻

[@dabber1984]

I have 5 door seats in my 3 door ST170 and it passed the MOT, no issues last week 👍 keep up the good work

[@tuffynor]

Sell the seats for a profit and buy the correct ones.

[@trippy_boxer_dog2170]

yay, time for a beer and watch my fav youtube garage mechanic entertain me

[@lukejones9933]

it doesn’t matter if the seat goes back, the mot tests the door operating, just aslong as your boot opens and is accessible. i am a mechanic at vauxhall 👍🏻 you good to go

[@jokebre]

Need a white drill brush for seats, it's softer. They came out great though.

[@joejosephjoe]

100% white tip for carpet and upholstery, mine have been lifesavers! blue is for hard plastics if using the proper brand not cheap china's

[@adamcollins9404]

Random little thing I found, eventually you could see marking when the foam finally fully dried, I then washed them again only using water in the wet vac, that solved that issue 👍, great job James

[@andyterry5397]

Love the recaro seats mate and how clean and fresh they looked on camera...great video again look forward to the next one

[@londoncentral]

Fantastic result on them seats fella. Nice one 👍 Loving you videos.

[@kaiabram150]

The seats will be fine mate dont worry about them, as long as you can access the seat belts in the back thats all that matters mate

[@steveduffy1013]

love the videos, had a check online and as for the seats not having access to the rear shouldnt be a problem for the MOT as it states that the seat are checked for the following: structure not defective not insecure fore and aft adjustment mechanism works as intended does not move inadvertently backrest can be retained in the upright position so according to that it should be ok but it is much easier to wait for the 4 days and change them afterwards keep up the great work

[@68donatas]

You really give me a lot of inspiration to put effort into my Astra G (by the way, yes there is actually a 5 door Astra version, mine's actually 5 door).

[@1066gaz]

A man with good taste, likes the mk4 astra's like me. Owned my now rare 1999 astra 2.0 sri 16v for 16 years now and i probably never will part with it haha.

[@zhoaibraja2992]

Got these in my 5dr.. best mk4 Astra seats you can get imo 👌🏼 also got super rare leather pleated CDX door cards too in my Astra.. my interior is mint now 😍

[@somethingpanda123]

i can feel an engine swap somewhere down the line

[@paulillingworth1242]

Wow what comparison result like new, the yellow plug is usually airbag, the rears take out for Mot I’d say it depends on the tester as they can vary on what they pickup on.

[@MrBotyesz]

You can make the side airbags to work it's plug'n'play open up from the back your seats and take out the aribag cable from the actual airbag cause that end is the same and by that way you can plug in the bags and they will work.

[@joevwgolf]

Great vid James‼️ I’ve been wanting to clean my half leather seats for a while now, but wasn’t sure how to or what to use. Keep the vids coming really enjoying them‼️

[@gosportjamie]

I'd suggest putting a few more doses of the leather cream on the areas that are showing the cracking. While, as you say, it won't heal the cracking, it's quite likely that a lot of the areas that look like cracking are actually areas where the leather has dried out so much under the dye coating that the dye has been pulled down and formed a crease. The more of the leather cream you put on it, the more the leather will plump back up to its' original thickness so some of the little dye coat creases will disappear. Like human skin, leather is a natural skin. When it's on the cow then it will maintain the right level of natural oils and moisture, but once it's off the animal then it will start losing the oils and moisture to the point that the hide effectively shrinks both in thickness, which is when you get dye coat creases, but also in overall area, which is when it starts to pull the seams apart. You can't put too much leather/hide food on to leather as, when it has taken what it needs, it won't absorb any more so it will just sit on the surface. When I got my old Focus LX and wanted a leather steering wheel, so I bought the shabbiest, most horrible-looking one I could from my local breakers for a bargain price compared to what they'd normally charge. Then, over the next week, I cleaned it thoroughly and dosed it with hide food every night for a week. When I actually put it in the car the next weekend, it looked, felt and smelt like brand new, apart from a couple of ring scratches in the dye coat. I dosed it with the hide food until the leather wouldn't absorb any more so it would just sit on the surface and stay there. It got the same clean and does of hide food every year and the wheel rim leather never deteriorated, despite the car always being outside uncovered...

[@EverythingCarsandMoreECAM]

Good to see the Astra is back. Great video great man.

[@ReeseSS01]

I have a fiesta st with a broken lever on one side, it showed as an advisory on the MOT. I imagine it could be a bigger safety concern if both sides are not working... but hopefully not a fail though!

[@kaydawg1996]

Hi, just so you know the drill brushes work wonders! But you’ve got the wrong colour, there are different stiffness of Bristles and white ones are perfect for upholstery

[@m60kaf]

Wowww . Sometimes its like the dirt protects things

[@andrewwww7684]

Go on James, smashing the videos out keep going, we all missed you before when you had a creative block ;)

[@JooshYT]

Ive wanted to do a seat clean like this in my corsa, but seems to be a massive ballache with the seat bolts corroded to the underside of the car and few stripped bolts. But good job on getting the crud out the seats.

[@TheOnlyMosesMalone]

The seats came out great James 👍

[@garethedwards2883]

Recaro srats are fantastic, had a few cars with them fitted 👍👍

[@Gmad-ig3cf]

Definitely out of a zafira gsi as ive got the astra gsi and there got a lever for seats too lift up

[@GaeilgEAssassiN]

I have this car love seeing stuff being done to mate

[@stephenpidwell3427]

I've used simoniz leather cream on my motorbike leather jacket,its cheap but works brilliantly,makes the leather more supple,and easier to clean next time.

[@michaelstevens7533]

Done a brilliant job on these seats buddy

[@williammcgowan6687]

on the drivers seat on the back part of the drivers seat there is 2 adjusters on the bottom right corner closest to the drivers door try them one of them may be the adjuster worth a try

[@jordanrose3211]

Good video bud and yeah looks like there from a zafira gsi as not got the handle on the seat but its not a problem for mot it will be fine I've got a non reclining bucket seat in my 3 door and its passed mot twice no problems

[@kieransewell659]

Watching your videos again I miss your content mate hope you are well James 👍

[@phillipsharpe6459]

Well done that man, looking forward to part 2,😁👍

[@silksdetailing]

You need the white bristle attachment you can from clean your ride. Much softer and designed for fabrics.

[@DoctorZi]

The lever is on the front side of the seat One hand to the side of the round knob you used to level the back of the seat.

[@jamescable4227]

Not part of the MOT as long as they slide back and forth and lock in different positions on the runners and the back is secure will pass

[@benholroyd5221]

Do they need to slide? Presumably definitely not if sliders aren't fitted.

[@jamescable4227]

@@benholroyd5221 if sliders aren't fitted then there is no mechanism to test so can't fail possibly advisory depending on testers opinion

[@diydave3034]

Put the original seats back in for the MOT and unless you have a cunning plan to swap over the internals, I'd look to sell on those Zafira seats - all clean and shiny so should get decent money for them.

[@michaelslater5669]

I don’t know why but watching people using wet vacs in their videos is soo satisfying haha 👌 top job man, loving the content both cos it’s a lot and it’s good too, not too many people can put out constantly good vids keep it up James 👌

[@jonnyvt6602]

Should always clean fabric in line with the way the cloth if manufactured. Never used a circulation motion, this is the same for car n household carpets. Nice seats btw, you can get some paint on dye iff ebay to touch up the leather, nice

[@tomjohntig]

Ask at the MOT station James the examiner should tell you about the seats if he says it will go down on the seats then plan B old seats and change them after. Thanks for the Wednesday treat take care

[@roscomrc]

I would love a set of these in my astra, would look sooooo good

[@paultaylor9652]

Lovely Jubbly, now after all that work and the do look great, I think the seats might have been in another car before the van though.

[@skodakatie7341]

Really enjoying your content, it’s very interesting to watch, thank you James.

[@Roverturbo]

My first though was it would fail as they couldn’t check the rear belts.. then I had a think. They could put a limitation on the mot that the rear belts were not accessible, therefore not testable. If you ask nicely.

[@colinboyd4371]

"attacked by a lion" hahahaha that made me chuckle hard, nice one.

[@beany1987]

Gets the hoover out - mises standing nervously watching over you 😳😳

[@huntingtreasure8855]

the hand brush seems worse thats for floors ,a big car sponge a couple of times say 4 times with lots of soap let sit for 30mins each time that will be nice and gentle and will do the job

[@martincheesman5666]

Hello mate. Love the videos. I was wondering if you could offer some advice. I have an astra van 2011(H) and I have GSI fitted. Unfortunately I have an airbag light on which is becoming a pain. I've checked all connections and everything seems fine. Any advice?

[@jasonpi76]

hi james i used this in my car for the leather dyes fixes and protects, car looks mint carbuston p419 black dye has changed the leather like no ones business, mrs used it to dye a white leather chair and turned out immaculate and dont use there stuff for alcohol rub pop down to poundland get nail polish remover with acetone a quid use that u be surprised. jay

[@colin-hanlon]

What was the brand/model of wet dry vacuum that you were using? Looked like it did a great job.

[@1066gaz]

100% definitely not a mot failure with the catch on the side of the seat, as my mk4 astra catch on my drivers seat has not worked in 10 years and passes the mot everytime. My drivers seat slides backwards & forwards ok and tilts either way ok too, so your seats should definitely pass the mot. You can always ask the mot bloke he should tell you.

[@kacperstick]

If you ever get to changing the rear seats, make sure to clean the threads of the bolts that secure the seatback. They go all the way trough the chassis and stick out on the bottom, thread rusts itself to the body and being torx bit bolts they are easy to round off. Absolutely the worst bolt i've ever had the displeasure of removing from a mk4.

[@billywhizz98]

If you have any stubborn stains use a wallpaper stripper steamer it will bring out most stubborn Staines

[@CarsExposed]

The seats turned out really nice James I don’t do much detailing but I’ll try to get some Yum products this week . Good question if it’s a MOT failure it will be interesting to know 👍👍👍

[@zafiradaz]

Yes the astra is back.... 👍

[@oliverdoggett1357]

Loving the content as always, glad see the Astra back on the channel although makes me miss mine, them seats are out of a zafira GSI 100%, it could possibly fail mot as the testers normally like get in the back and test the tension of the rear belts.... but depends on the tester and what day he’s having

[@nfuryy285]

I got well confused in the vid because you made reference to the levers to pull it forward, but previous to this you said they were out of a van which don't need the levers because it will have the usual van openings

[@blackghost769]

Switch everything from the new SEAT onto the Old seat you will have to modify the leather for the levers by using the old seats but take off the covers

[@robthesamplist]

Wont work mate

[@fredericverhoef2751]

Love your videos keep up the good work greetings from the netherlands

[@Bucharestguidedtours]

The seats came up great.

[@danielhornblow8603]

Love the recaros mate keep up the content james love the vids bud

[@BradThomasJ]

Look like new those seats! well done man :D

[@georgeg99]

Good idea to do the mot with the old seats as you don't know and you can ask them when you have the mot done. You don't need a vax and a henry you can just get a George what is a dry and wet vac

[@liamtopham2]

I had these seats with no leavers when I had a mk4, they went through a MOT fine, just annoying if anyone wants to get in the back but luckily I never really had back seat passengers

[@kirkofski]

Im pretty sure I saw on Wheeler Dealers where you can use a razor to remove the furryness caused by that stiff brush.

[@jessicanicholson]

£120 I pretty expensive just for the fronts mins I have a few sets as in door cards and rears in the past usually pay about £200 for the lot x

[@gliga5249]

finaly videos with Astra

[@huntingtreasure8855]

if you have a crash your insurance will have something to say if they find out or if you dont tell them and 5o let them know ? your choice is it worth it for two seats i wouldn't

[@jonlake9118]

Sell them james.make a few quid on them and get the right ones.its too much of a bodge.we have all been there with second hand parts.love the channel.keep up the good work.😉

[@davezetec]

I was thinking this, seems like too much of an uphill battle to make those work.

[@faisalmoghal4055]

Can't you just take the connector off the old seats and put it on the new one, if you can open the plastic holder. Also, is the lever by your leg on the seat for up and down, maybe check if that folds the seat forward for rear seat access?

[@michel7339]

Yesss Vauxhall clips. Good job mister bond

[@peteredwards9147]

It's not a case of getting in the vehicle, but of being able to get out. You also need to notify your insurance company as this is a modification. It's also not a case of taking the back seat out, as this is a modification also

[@gullett125]

Well!! It got thru well done for that mate

[@strawmanlogic4089]

My old van failed its MOT because it's seat wouldn't slide forward using the lever underneath. I didn't even have back seats, just a bulk head, but it failed anyway. I looked up the history on it and found the code; Offside Front Driver's seat fore and aft adjustment mechanism not functioning as intended. (6.2.A.3) Hope you get it sorted!

[@strawmanlogic4089]

I just found the codes for the seat. 6.2.5. No mention of the back support moving at all. Only the front and back of the whole seat. I think you will be fine.