bootlegger2000

I have a recovered beautiful set of seats in my c3 but po didnt think to have the frame fixed. i assume its bent because the adjusters dont line up. I am just wondering if anyone has put power seats from a c5 or c6 in their c3. Will they fit? What mods are required? thanks

keithinspace

The SEATS will fit fine. The POWER STUFF absolutely will not. No way, no how.

I added seats from a 1999 Hardtop to my car and can't be any more pleased with the results. However these seats are bolted to the "flat" adjustment rails that were resident in my 1970. Just the added seat cushion alone raised my head about 1/2"...that's about all I could possibly tolerate.

If you kept all of the power seat stuff, even if you made hella custom brackets, the seat would be raised at least an inch or two. Intolerable in this car.

If you kept the STOCK C5 brackets, the seat would be raised 3 inches or so. You'd have your head sticking out of the T-top like a Shriner Go-Kart.

Honestly: In the C3, you'd keep the seat all the way down and all the way back, even if it did have power adjustments. So I can't fathom it being worth any amount of effort to incorporate the system.

bootlegger2000

so did you adjust the power seat and then take everything off as far as the power stuff? Meaning how did you get them set where you wanted them to stay? I assume there is no adjustment now? thanks

bootlegger2000

ps looks very nice

Wee

Keith...That is the first set of after market seats I have ever seen that I actually liked...Nice job.

Brian

PS....You got a screw loose.

keithinspace

You'll understand once you get the seats. All of the power stuff strips off and you're left with a clean frame bottom. You then bolt on the fore/aft adjustment rails from your car. You need to tweak the adjustment bar downward a little (shop press) and I tapped a hole in the back of the aluminum frame to accept the rear bolts (20 mins), but all-in-all, it was a fun job. Took about 3 hours total for both seats.

Thank you. They feel good, too.

Thank you. I lucked out. My brother is building a FFR GTM and got a 53k mile 1999 Hardtop Corvette as a donor. The seats were "basic" without any of the trimming, logos, writing or flags. Honestly, they fit the character of my car PERFECTLY. There is no way I could be any more pleased with the look or feel of any other seat in my particular vehicle. I thought I wanted brown, but the black just sits in there so well.

A) I have lots of screws loose.

B) Yes, that particular screw is troublesome. I'm on the cusp of doing a complete interior transplant from the afore mentioned 1999 Hardtop. Certainly not a "today" project, but it is something I almost certainly will go through in the next few years. Interior screws have been the bane of my existence with this car.

Killingsworth 73

C6 seats are a little taller, and the adapter plates make it even higher than that, but are very comfortable.

Lobzila

Oh contrare mon share.
Full power seats will fit in there with proper modification. It took some work, but full power sport seats will work. It took about three hours for the first seat and one for the second seat, but everything works. Final seat height was 1.5 inches taller than the worn out full recline seats in the car before. Also had to change the steering column to a tilt one and smaller steering wheel.
Also provided you are 5-10 or less in height. Taller than that and the t-tops are off.
Maybe it was more work than I thought, nahh.
It can be done.

keithinspace

My statement was "If you kept all of the power seat stuff, even if you made hella custom brackets, the seat would be raised at least an inch or two. Intolerable in this car."

Apologies...I should have clarified.

I'm 6'-0". My brother is a little taller than me. My dad, a little shorter.

So I'll agree with your point: If you are shorter than 5'-10", and you replace the steering wheel (which would suck in my manual steering car), PERHAPS you could live with keeping the power stuff under the seat.

Keeping the power stuff under the seat is intolerable in MY car.

Lobzila

Its all good, the seats are what I had to work with and it would of been much easier to do it without dealing with all the power crap. Once I started down that road, I really wished for a convertible. And to be honest, I have to agree with you that once you set them where you want them, you rarely ever move them.
But the C5 seats are a huge improvement on what the 68 seats were. I imagine the 78 seat is a bit better, but not like the C5 seats. Did you recover yours or did you get them that way?
But us short guys need to see over the dash anyway.

Rescue Rogers

I have a 68 that I am trying to put 2001 c5 seats in. I built some brackets but had to shim them so the 68 seat adjusters would work. My problem is the seats bolt down into the floor, so they have to move to get to the rear bolts. With the 1/2 inch of shimming plus the height of the seats with new padding put my forehead above the top of the windshield, Im 5'11".

The test drive i did made a difference in my decision to keep pursuing these seats. They are super comfortable and they hold in the seat.

I am going to buy new brackets from summit that are flat on top and adjust underneath, then buy original mounting tabs from paragon to weld on those. I can mock them up to get the holes in the right places and tack them before finis welding. I want them as low as possible to be the same height as the originals. I am keeping the original wheel so I have ordered a tilt wheel. Its definitly mandatory, especially with a manual, and braking was an issue too.

Good luck, obviously others have done it. Im stuck waiting until spring to finish. Your floor pan and brackets may work better than my 68s. Post pics of your progress..



all the way back but not reclined properly




height required for the adjusters to work


test fitting

Dream Theater Fan

Put C6 seats in mine, had to make custom brackets. They look and feel much better than the originals.

minitech

The C5 seats have inflatable bolsters in the sides and back. Are people taking out the power motion parts but keeping the inflatable bolsters? If the pump won't fit it would work to run longer tubing with small valves to the back of the seat and just blow them up to desired inflation for lumbar and side bolster then just shut off the small valve. If no one is sitting in the seat it would only take blowing in the tube to inflate then sit down to see if it is right. And it is not something that the same driver would change often. Would be nice to save the lumbar and side feel of the seat.

If the bladders are bad for lumbar and sides they can be replaced with blood pressure cuff bladders. Some searching for C5 seat lumbar shows how.

If the seat has them use them. If they don't it is easy to install the blood pressure cuffs. These seats come apart very easily with no special tools.


It really is nice to have some custom use of the seat to fit better.



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Also whenever replacing a seat even if it is redoing a stock seat some consideration could be made of putting in heated seats. Very easy and not expensive to do with a heated seat kit off eBay.

bootlegger2000

I am curious about the bladders as well. And the seats moving forward and backward. Lokks like the majority of you are using the manual ball to go back and forth? And what about the recline? Mine is power in my donor? How have you dealt with this?. Seems like if you dont use power on them thay are just stuck where they are?

Lobzila

I kept everything in mine with regards to power and the lumbar motor and support. Biggest mod was to the front mount where you have to flatten it out and drill a new mounting hole in it. As far as reclining the seat, you really can't due to it hitting the wall behind the seat. My wife is 5' 2" so I wanted to keep the full power for her more than anything else. But she has yet to drive the car. Seats go forward and back, but can only go back so far. I have the option, but once its set to where I want it, I never move it.