Here is a guide that may be helpful when installing heated seats for your Vette. I used a GM licensed heated seat kit from this website ( http://www.seatheater-heatedseats.co...OVMTC=standard ).

Below is a link to the previous thread on this topic that will fill you in on some of the background details...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...9&page=1&pp=20

As I mentioned previously, I did not anticipate the amount of interest that I have recieved on this matter. Because of this, I unfortunatly did not take many pictures during my initial installation. In the past week however, I did disassemble what I felt to be the most important stages of the project and took additional pictures. W/ that said, if anything appears confusing or if anyone has questions about what they see please let me know and I will try to ellaborate.

Now for some legal matters:
--> Use these instructions at your own risk

Now on to the project :
-->There are essentially 3 phases in this project... 1] Installing heating elements into seats 2] Wiring power to heating modules 3] Installing buttons into center console

Phase 1]
--> It may be helpful at this point if you have a removable targa top to put it in the hatch... this will give you some extra clearence when its time to take the seats out of your vette

--> Now for actually removing the seats from the car... At this point I had planned on removing my seats again to show everyone how I did it, but after reviewing vetteessentials' writeup I decided to simply add a link to their writeup (I couldnt do a better job no matter how hard I try ). Below is the llink...

http://www.vetteessentials.com/instr...er_change.html

Follow these directions up to step 17. C.

--> W/ the seats now out of your Vette, and w/ the seat skins removed it is time to install the heating elements. (I am basing my directions on the kit ordered from the aforementioned website by the way)

--> The back and bottom heating elements are sold make and model specific so this part of the project is a snap . Simply place the bottom heating element between the strips of exposed velcro and replace the bottom seat skin on top. The heating elements are very thin and foam padded so do not worry about them pressing up on the leather. The velcro which holds the leather skins to the seat foam also serves to hold the heating element in place.

--> Repeat this process for the back heating element. Although the kit is made model specific, I found the back heating element to be a bit too long. It will extend slighty past the top of the sport seats' insert area into the empty space below the halo. This however is not a big deal. Holding the element in place, reattche the insert's leather skin over the heating element. With the element now held in, simply fold the excess heating material under the skin as you zip the skin back closed. This is the best solution, as you clearly can not trim the heating coils.

--> Now reassemble the seats making sure that the wires and harnesses are guided underneath the seat and out of visibility. I tracked the new wires along the same path as the existing factory lumbar wires. Depending on the options in your particular vette you may decide on a better method, but this is what I found to be the best way.

--> W/ the seats still out of the car, now may be a good time to lossen up the center console. It is not necessary to entirely remove the console, just create enough space so that you will be able to run some of the wiring underneath. Having the center console loose will also make the carpeting easier to work w/. It will no longer be pinned down by the console's weight. This will be beneficial when running wires under the seats and carpeting later on.

-->Follow the steps (through step 3g) shown in this link to loosen your center console.

http://www.vetteessentials.com/instr...brake_h_b.html

Phase 2]Wiring...
--> Some pretty good instructions are provided w/ the kits in regard to the wiring portion of this project. I have however included some additional pics and instructions which I thought may be of use.

--> Below are pics of the fuse box (located in the passenger footwell) w/ the red (power) wires from the heated seat harness.


--> Below is a pic of the black (ground) wires which are tied together in one ring lug and grounded under a 10mm screw. This is located under the bulge of rug found beneath the dash panel on the passenger side. It is that little overhang of carpeting located just off to the left-bottom corner of the glovebox.


-->Below is a pic showing the red and black wiring being run under the carpeting and behind the center console. This is how I got the wiring from underneath the driver-side seat to the fusebox on the passenger-side footwell. A metal hanger can be used to guide the wire through the opening.

 

Phase 3] Buttons...
--> Unfortunatly for us GM left very little room on the Active Handeling Trim Plate for inserting heated seat controls... This however can be overcome w/ some reletivly minor trimming and drilling

--> Just to give you an overview of this phase, this is what the back of the Active Handeling Trim Plate looked like before modification...


--> This is how it will look after modification...


--> Now for the steps in between...

--> First, using masking tape create a level line extending from the top of the Act. Had. button to the far edge of the trim plate... Do the same from the bottom of the Act. Had. button to the far edge of the trim plate. This will provide you w/ reference lines (also gives you a writing surface) to position your heated seat buttons in accordance w/ the existing Act. Hand. button.

--> Next, place the heated seat buttons (included w/ the kits) an even distance between each other and the Act. Hnd. button... when you have them set up the way you would like, make a tempory mark in the center of each button's postition. Now flip the trim plate over and make sure that your buttons will have clearance to pass by the circuit board (remember there will be wiring running to the back of these buttons). Trimming any more of the circuit board than I did (see later picture) will render your act. hand. button useless. The way I have it trimmed, allowed the act. hand. button to remain fully operational.



--> Once you have a suitable location for your buttons... and PLEASE MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE... drill a hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the buttons. Once you have drilled out a hole close to the size of the buttons, use a file and shave the remaining by hand. This will allow you to take a little bit off at a time... Continously check to make sure that you havnt gone too far w/ the size of the hole. The buttons have a little tab, and are pressure fit into the holes.



I found that a simple utility knife and file worked best in shaving and trimming these plastic pieces. None of the plastic trim found underneath the Act. Hand. Trim Plate are visible so don't worry about making it look too pretty Follow the pictures below and trim carefully.

-->The top lefthand corner of the circuitboard has been trimmed in the following pic...






I apologize for the less than spectacular pictures. If you have anymore questions please let me know.

Good Luck

-Joe

 

Awesome. Now all I need is time and motivation

 

Kudos on a job well done and for documenting it for the rest of us.

 

Just finished installing mine, details are here :HeatedSeatsInstallation

Thanks to Joe for his writeup!
Barry