Wow that looks like a lot of work. Great upgrade.

Yes it was. No single part was particularly hard to figure out, especially with the Vetteworks harness, but there were still a lot of little pieces along the way to figure out. The information is all out there but not in one place, so I tried to consolidate it with this thread.

I bought the seats having done about half the research I should have but a deal came up and I was committed to getting them in as factory correct as possible. I wish the side airbags could have been retained. I explored swapping the C6 bags into the C7 seats but that would have required more wiring in a system that is very sensitive to wiring changes.
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Outstanding tutorial, wish I knew all this when I put C7 seats in my C5.

Do we HAVE to delete side airbags when upgrading seats??

If there is a way to retain them, someone else would have to chime in. I would love to retain them too but I could not find out how to make it work and don't know the system well enough to figure it out myself. I suspect the wiring and airbags from the C6 could be transplanted into the C7 seat (or whatever seat you're using), but I did not attempt it.

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Would you say they set taller or about the same as the factory seats? Also how does the ventilation feel? noticeable?

A bit taller, for sure. I could see it being an issue for people over 6' tall. You are definitely welcome to sit in them whenever we cross paths. I am 5'10 and my only issue is seeing stop lights at some intersections. I either have to stop further back or lean forward to see under the top edge of the windshield.

Ventilation is noticeable and worth it in my opinion. There is a known issue with C7 seats that you would want to try to check on any pair you are buying. The wiring for the fans is integrated with the heating elements and over time, those wires can get pinched or frayed within the seat. If this happens, the vent fans either will not work or will work intermittently. Only way to fix this is to order a new seat heating element and swap it out.

Outstanding write-up, thanks for taking all of the time and effort for the rest of us.

wow, i thought these were drop in!

nice write up! definitely wish i could convert to a ventilated seat in the zr1......

Great info. The height issue is the one thing that has stopped me from getting a set. You aren't in the Texas area by any chance are you? I'm still looking for someone here that has done the swap so I can go sit in them and see if this is something I need.
I know the C7 seat is a bit heavier, but it is because the Lear design has a nice proper frame. I'm just curious if it is something you notice with longer drives or with spirited drives.

It is heavier but only by like 10#s. I notice the firmer bolsters and better support but not the weight.

Yea, you certainly wouldn't notice the weight once it is bolted to the car. I like the idea of the firmer bolster on the seat back. May you drive the car till those seats wear out too.

As much as the second paragraph makes me want these even more, the first paragraph seals the deal for me. I have ventilated seats in my daily driver and I love them, but I am 6'2", so I will stop thinking about this possibility.

Great write up though, I'm sure this will help others do this change.

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Thank you. One update is that I forgot I normally drive with the sun visors flipped down and all the way forward. Last week I flipped them up to the standard position and I can see lights normally again without leaning forward.

@C6_Prodigy Awesome write up, this is a great resource for swapping any seats (not just C7) into a C6. I did a C8 seat swap into my 2008 1LT earlier this year, and this thread would have been extremely helpful. C7 & C8 seats both seem to be made by Lear, the swap is very similar, but the C8 seat fans are slightly more complicated to get working.

I can confirm with 1LT you don't have to deal with the side airbag sims, but you will have to bring 12V power to the passenger seat. The seat circuit (at least driver seat) is always "HOT" in the C6, regardless of key position. I chose to power my driver seat movement with the stock C6 seat power circuit (always on), and I built an with ignition-on relay to power the driver/passenger seat fans, and also passenger seat movement. Overkill maybe, but I didnt want to forget the seat fans on and drain my battery, this way the fans will only work when the key is "ON". The relay and fuse block live where the stock GM radio amp was in my passenger footwell.

I reused the C6 occupancy sensor in the C8 seats and it hasn't impacted the seat cooling fans. I occasionally do parades/sunday drives with my young children so a functional airbag "off" sensor was important.

@_Rod_ figured out a way to swap the C6 seat position sensors onto the C8 seats, I copied this and it works flawlessly so far. Vetteworks makes sims for this, but I preferred to do what Rod did.

about powering C7 seats and re-using the C6 delphi connectors. Part #s and links are included in the video description. Again, Vetteworks adapter is slick, but it's possible to build yourself.

3 month update.

Still love the seats.

Getting in and out is a little more tricky with the more aggressive bolsters but there's no way around that. I can understand now why C7s have entry/exit seat position settings to make it easier.

I just got back from an almost 2000 mile road trip that I also did in 2021 and can say these seats are better in every way than the C6 seats.

I thought the firmness of the bottom cushion would be an issue but I think the extra support was actually better for me. I was more sore and ready to get out of my C6 seats in 2021 than I was in these C7 seats 2 years later. I spent about 6 hours in them without getting out during one stretch of the trip and have no complaints.

I keep the passenger seat belt buckled to stop the "buckle passenger" warning since the occupancy sensor is rolled up and the car always thinks there's someone sitting there. I may end up crafting a dummy seat belt plug that I can put into the seat belt receiver to stop the alarms.

I'm buying my seats tomorrow from a 2019 1LT to install in my 2008 3LT. I'm a little confused what you are hogging out with a 3/4" drill bit. Is it the plastic piece in this photo or something metal?I haven't taken my seats out yet or seen C7 seats in person yet. Just trying to understand what's involved instead of figuring it out on the fly.

​​​​​​​Not the plastic, you drill the metal piece behind that plastic piece that mounts the belt to the seat. The hole that this silver bolt goes through.

​​​​​​​So the C6 bolts are a smaller diameter where you can't reuse it? My c7 seats didn't come with the buckles or tensioners or the bolts holding them in place so I have to buy that.