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So i bought a set of seats off amazon, they were initially going to be put into my cj7 jeep. but the more i am looking at them, i am thinking they could go into the c5 and likely improve the comfort. I have watched a bunch of videos and read threads of swapping in the ricaro seats. One thing i have not seen is anyone taking aftermarket seats and fabricating a bracket to mount onto stock rails and retain the power functions.
I wont mess with it for a few weeks. but from what i see some minimal welding and fabricating and it can be done.
the seats i am considering are pictured below. i have only unboxed and sat in them, but i think 6 way power and these would be a nice fit.
you will need to do a C6 seat belt mod. The C5 has two belt retractors. One is in the seat well, and the seat cannot be wider that about 18.5 inches at the lower back area of the seat.
I will grab some pics and write it up when i do the install. Admittedly its not first on a very long list. i ordered a set of c6 belts in the event i need them. And i found a video online of a guy putting a racing seat into a bmw and retaining factory power. they were a little more crude than i want. they just welded the seat base to the power base. i am hoping i can put it together with a intermediate bolted frame, then fab up a plate where the switches will live.
Best of luck to you. The C5 seats are notoriously shitty, and beg for an upgrade. I'd suggest taking some measurements before doing anything you can't easily un-do. The area the seat must fit into is deceptively narrow, especially on the outboard plastic trim near the lower seat belt retractor. Even purpose-built seats like Corbeau Evos are a tight fit in that area.
So I did the passenger side today. Wanted to do a mockup in case I didn't finish. Passenger is in, power guts. I have to swap the c6 belt in. But if I adjust it high it goes all the way back. Only thing I didn't swap over was the lumbar.
I'll get pics up tomorrow
you undo the trim clips and front trim pieces to get the front 2 nuts off. then use the power to get the seat moved forward to access the rear 2. tilt the seat back, unhook the electrical connection. carefully remove the seat assembly. Then, get a good look at what kind of slobs owned the car before you. Vacuum to your desired level of completion. I had decided that i wanted to retain the factory functions, so i would need to retain the lower mount with all the motors for tilt etc. To do this once the seat is out, you need to pull back the lower cover and foam. there are 4 bolts that hold the upper frame to the lower. Once those are out, the 2 pieces seperate.
Once they are apart, you can get a good look at the systems. there is a control harness ( corvettes love their harnesses ), but i deleted the lumbar portions as they werent going to work and took up a decent amount of space.
To fit this particular seat to the lower motorized portions i was going to need an offset bracket. For long term, i think i am going to make some new steel ones. But i had aluminum on hand so thats what i used. took me a little trial and error with the layout. i think if i did it again i would build a jig to keep everything straight and square. the next picture is the bracket mounted to the new seat just for alignment.
during assembly you will see that there is 2 sets of bolts to get at in a tight area. i will be rethinking this when i pull it out to do the other bracket. but it takes some thinking ahead as far as order of assembly. this is the lower frame with the bracket mounted.
After both brackets are mounted to the seat bottom, decide how you want to mount the seat harness and everything. there is allot going on under the seat, and with moving parts the chances are high for a pinched harness.
So despite most people saying to switch L and R seats so that the pull tab for the back is not in the way, i kept it like stock location for this mock up. both tilt, seatbelt, and most electric operations work. i will have to do the c6 belts as to get clearance right now the seat is adjusted high. I would like them both to sit lower. I still have to play with the belts for clearance, or possibly just swap the L and R. but in the current configuration it is a snug fit. These seats are larger than the stocks. but they have a firm feel to them. Especially the bolsters. Night and day over the OEM.
you undo the trim clips and front trim pieces to get the front 2 nuts off. then use the power to get the seat moved forward to access the rear 2. tilt the seat back, unhook the electrical connection. carefully remove the seat assembly. Then, get a good look at what kind of slobs owned the car before you. Vacuum to your desired level of completion. I had decided that i wanted to retain the factory functions, so i would need to retain the lower mount with all the motors for tilt etc. To do this once the seat is out, you need to pull back the lower cover and foam. there are 4 bolts that hold the upper frame to the lower. Once those are out, the 2 pieces seperate.
Once they are apart, you can get a good look at the systems. there is a control harness ( corvettes love their harnesses ), but i deleted the lumbar portions as they werent going to work and took up a decent amount of space.
To fit this particular seat to the lower motorized portions i was going to need an offset bracket. For long term, i think i am going to make some new steel ones. But i had aluminum on hand so thats what i used. took me a little trial and error with the layout. i think if i did it again i would build a jig to keep everything straight and square. the next picture is the bracket mounted to the new seat just for alignment.
during assembly you will see that there is 2 sets of bolts to get at in a tight area. i will be rethinking this when i pull it out to do the other bracket. but it takes some thinking ahead as far as order of assembly. this is the lower frame with the bracket mounted.
After both brackets are mounted to the seat bottom, decide how you want to mount the seat harness and everything. there is allot going on under the seat, and with moving parts the chances are high for a pinched harness.
So despite most people saying to switch L and R seats so that the pull tab for the back is not in the way, i kept it like stock location for this mock up. both tilt, seatbelt, and most electric operations work. i will have to do the c6 belts as to get clearance right now the seat is adjusted high. I would like them both to sit lower. I still have to play with the belts for clearance, or possibly just swap the L and R. but in the current configuration it is a snug fit. These seats are larger than the stocks. but they have a firm feel to them. Especially the bolsters. Night and day over the OEM.
I must say, those look nice in your car. I'm surprised, though, at how many people hate the factory seats. Yes, they tear at the upper seam, especially on the drivers side, the plastic wears so the seat slides back and forth, and the bolsters suck. But the one thing they're designed for, to sit in comfort, I think they are very good, at least for me and my wife. Maybe it's because we have.... Uh.....A bit more padding in the tush than we had 20 years ago!!! But I agree as far as NOT being a good sports car seat!!
Last edited by grinder11; Aug 2, 2021 at 01:47 PM.
currently they are sitting higher. But once i swap the seatbelts to the c6 ones it should lower all the way. with the spacers to clear hardware, it is 3/4" higher than stock
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Seat swap
