Interior Rehab! Installing Carpets and Seats

 You may have noticed in older posts that the interior in my 99 was a little worn out. The seats had ripped and faded, and the carpet fabric was a strange shade of brown/green. I had always been passively looking for a new interior, until a friend of mine messaged me on Facebook saying that he knew someone who had a full interior set for a 99 EMS/Turbo. 

I wasted no time in reaching out to this fellow, who got back to me right away. He also said he had a plethora of other 99 related parts to go with the set as well. The best news? This set was located in Rhode Island.

Here's a look at my original seats. They've been loved.

My boyfriend and I drove down to pick the seats up. Shockingly, a full 99 interior, plus a few boxes of parts, can fit in a 99 and a 9-5 wagon combined. We were able to get everything back to my house in the middle of a surprise storm that occurred on our ride home.

Not room for much more!

Eats up roads... Swallows loads.

Now it was time to pull out my ratty interior and throw in the new set. This was a super easy process. We started by removing the front and back seats, which simply unbolted out. After the seats were out, we undid the rocker panels, and then the carpet was able to be lifted out of the car. I did this all while hungover too. 

Carpet is out! Here's what a stripped 99 interior looks like.

Carpet is in! 

Once everything was pulled out, installation was easy - just carried out in the reverse order. I love old cars for many reasons, and this is one of them!

This was a super fun and gratifying project. I was so happy and grateful to have found a great set of 99 seats and parts. I was even able to locate the very rare back headrests. According to Conntech Saab owner Mike Connelly, everyone used to throw those out. Thank you to Lee for the parts, and Daniel and Sam for your help! Cheers!