kawal

After a 5 week, 8500 mile road trip this summer, my wife complained about the passenger seat in our Z06. I too, found it pretty uncomfortable for long "days in the saddle". So I decided to see if I could adapt some new LT3 Coupe seats that have full power and lumbar support for the both passenger and driver.

I thought it would be easier, but I did get it done after a lot of frustrating hours. Here is the result:





The seats work and look great and I'm anxious to try them on another road trip.

For details on what I learned and what I went through to make these work, try this link:

http://www.kawal.net/power seats.htm

Email me anytime if you have questions.

Ray

Toonz

Very nice write up, thanks for sharing!

jvp

Nice work. I guess having 2007 3LT seats made the job a heck of a lot easier. I'm still trying to figure out how to put 2005 3LT seats into mine. I may have to just give up and sell them. :-(

A couple of questions:

1. With the On-star module, could you have conceivably left it there if you raised the seat up (using its motor), then moved it all the way back (again with the motor), bolted it down, and then returned the seat to the down position? It would seriously hinder seat forward/back movement, but, it's a passenger seat. It's unlikely to be moved much anyway, right? If the seat were all the way back, would the motors clear?

2. Does anyone have the pin-out diagram for the 2005 3LT seats? Both driver and passenger?

Thanks!

jas

foremaw

kawal

Jas,

I can only speak for the 2007 LT3 seats, because that is what I have. But are you sure that there is a difference? They might be the same seats.

The motors and lumbar support module almost touch the floor - there is almost no clearance at all. Also, when the motors move, the seat mechanism also moves in various places and would damage anything that is below those parts.

At first, I too thought about raising the seat, or even repositioning the Onstar module slightly. But the Onstar module is 2 1/4" high, so basically you would have to raise the entire seat with spacers about 2". This not only wouldn't look good, but I don't think it would even be comfortable or provide adequate head room.

All of the pinouts for every plug under the seat are in the Service Manual, as well as all of the schematics for the various components. It is all pretty complicated, so I ended up making copies of every page and then studying them carefully to understand each component. I can provide you with any information about the seats, but which area are you interested in, since there are so many?

If you have 2005 seats from a coupe, but you have a Z06, aren't you also going to want the Z06 seat covers? This also adds complexity to the job, because changing the seat covers isn't that easy the first time you do it. If you do change them, keep one seat original as a guide while you work on the other one.

Is your goal only to add the lumbar support? To both seats? If so, why not rob the parts from the 2005 seats and install them on the 2007(?) seats you have in your Z06? I can help you do this if you don't want to move the Onstar module.

The LT3 seats have the lumbar support modules in both seats, so you can use those modules and parts on your existing Z06 seats. On the drivers side, you just plug in the module and add the switch/bezel in place of the existing bezel. On the passenger side, you'll need the wiring harness from the LT3 seat as well. But you can use the existing manual seat which will provide the clearance for the Onstar module.

Email me and we can discuss your goals.

Good luck,

Ray

9C1

Is there no memory function in the passenger seat for any year or model?

jvp

Thanks Ray. Email sent.

jas

Cobra4B

Very nicely done... since you simply recovered the C6 seats/foam w/ Z06 skins, could you tell if the seat/foam was any different? I keep hearing that the Z seats have more side bolstering than the coupe seats.

Lead Foot 66

Ray,

This fix deserves to be a permanent ZO6 forum sticky.

What a wonderful solution, albeit a lot of careful engineering and work.

Thanks for sharing.

kawal

That is correct - no passenger seat memory.

Ray

kawal

The seat frames and structures are identical. The Z06 drivers seat even has the wiring harness for the lumbar support already there.

I bought these new LT3 seats without covers (skins). I bought new Z06 seat skins as well. As far as I can tell, the foam on the seats is exactly the same - Z06 or LT3, except that the LT3 foam bottom cushion is shaped a bit differently on the passenger side to make room for the switches. I would like to have a bit stiffer foam for more support, but I believe only the skins are different.

The skins are in three pieces. The outer seat back skins are identical except for the Z06 logo and the red stitching. The inner seat back insert is identical - Z06 or standard. The seat bottom cushions are basically identical except for the stitching color, but along the side where the control buttons are, the passenger Z06 cushion does not have a cutout for the switches, because the standard Z06 seat is manual. So I had to cut out the side for the new switch - no big deal because it is covered with a plate to which the plastic bezel/switch is attached. I couldn't use a standard bottom cushion because of the stitching color.

octane_n_veins

Minkster

I assume if you don't have Onstar, the module isn't there. I felt under the pax seat and didn't feel any lump under the carpet.

kawal

Then you are probably in luck for using a full power seat. That area is completely flat except for the Onstar module, which means a power seat should bolt right in.

However, you will likely still have to run the power wire from the 30 amp circuit breaker to the seat harness. Do you also have seat heaters? If so, you should have power to the A6 pin on the seat harness connector C382. It is pretty easy to pull apart the connector with the seat in place if you can get your hand under it. Check both pins A4 and A6. Both of those pins should be hot (12 volts to ground). A4 is for the power seat motors and A6 is for the seat heaters and lumbar support module. You need both for the full power seats. I'm guessing the wire is there for the A6 pin but it is likely missing for the A4 pin, as shown in the photos I put on the website.

It turns out that it really isn't a big deal to install the power wire. This is because the circuit breaker panel is easily accessible and easy to splice into. But moving the Onstar module is more work - so you lucked out!

Ray

Minkster

I installed sport seats in my 2000 FRC which also had a manual pax seat. I actually got the seat harness for the sport seat and wired it in per the Shop manual schematics via the stock wiring harness to the fuse box in the pax foot well. When I was done it looked like the car came that way from the factory, so I have some experience with this mod, and know what you went through. Thanks

kawal

As I'm sure you learned, these mods are not that difficult - the second time around! But it is time consuming and often frustrating trying to make modifications without guidance from a manual, and you discover issues and problems along the way. But that's why forums like this are so beneficial to everyone. When someone learns something new, they can pass it on to other owners who may have the same concerns.

Ray

Erix

Wow! That's all I can say.

Ray, I admire your drive and commitment to making a project happen. And for brining the information forward with some nice documentation.

Great work

kawal

With the help of Paul Pearson, amazing forum member talon90, I was able to find the Delphi part number for the seat connector terminal that will make this modification almost like it came from the factory.

I've updated the website accordingly:

http://www.kawal.net/power%20seats.htm

Thanks, Paul. And also thanks to Bob Wendorff, the expert Parts man at forum dealer Fichtner Chevrolet for sending me the terminals.

Ray

Minkster

ZL-1

Dave Hill specified limited options for the Z06 for minimum weight / optimum power-to-weight ratio. Impressive, but it deprived non-racers of comfort features. Dave's gone now. You overruled his decision and added dual power seats with lumbar. I think thats really cool, looks like a beautiful installation. Although 5 or 6 additional pounds might hurt Dave's goal, I'm sure there would be no measurable impact on performance.