taken19

I found a way to have the best of both worlds... Keep the stock C6 seat which retains the power features, airbags, and lumbar support while being able to use a 6 point harness safely on the track. This will provide that middle ground for the members who aren't ready to convert to a race seat yet but still enjoy the track.

Here's an attempt to take a picture journal of the seat grommet install I did yesterday. The pics are on the passenger seat but is identical for the driver seat as well. I'm skipping the info regarding seat R&R since the info can be found elsewhere.

The grommets are from a Viper ACR. Part numbers are as follows:

Front half - 5179161AA
Rear half - 5179162AA

The total cost is about $65 shipped from any Dodge/Mopar website.





Start with seat out of car. Remove back pad. Push in and slide up.
The two clips will release and you will end up with this.





Next, remove the plastic piece on the seat back. Use extreme caution as the plastic clips break easily. I slid a flat head screwdriver underneath to wiggle loose.





Unzip the rear. It helps if you loop a zip tie in the zipper head for future use.



Next, remove the two 10mm bolts on the side airbag if equipped. Be very careful with airbag module. You are only removing the white nylon from around the module. Reinstall airbag back in bracket once nylon removed.



Next, the two front metal bars that run on the edges of the remaining leather. Pic of the back, The bars need to be slid up so the clip portion released then wiggled out of the hole in the seat fiberglass.



Remove the upper leather and you have this. There are about 10 of those christmas tree things that will need to be removed.



Remove the foam piece. 2 more push inserts on the back of the head.







Set rear bezel against and draw outline. The final holes will be much large, but this is a good starting point. The "order of magnitude" initial cut. A dremel tool works very well.



Now time to slowly open up holes using the rear bezel as your template. Keep going until the rear is within 1/4-1/2" of being flush with seat fiberglass.







Note that the release cables will need to be moved towards the center of the seat. Don't worry, they will still work fine.

Next, reinstall the foam and cut. Be sure to start the hole small. The foam should fit the bezel snug. If possible, try to angle the foam cut so the bezel is angled slightly upwards when looking at it (front face sits just lower that rear face. I managed to cut perfectly level, and feel that it would be a better fit if the foam cut was 3-5 degree slope up from front to rear. See how the top lip pinched the foam in just a hair?



Reinstall leather cover. Now time for the nerve racking part...Cut your leather! Use your fingers to feel where the foam has been cut away underneath and cut a horizontal line about 1" short of each edge. Then angle cut to within 1/2" of the corners. Do NOT over cut! Test fit over and over until the front bezel just fits in, You only have one chance to get this right...





Do the same for the rear. When the halves are fit in the leather cuts, snap them together in the seat. You will notice that the seat contour and the bezel shape aren't a perfect match. Use the foam that you cut away as filler. I cut into 1" strips and stuffed around the gaps to fill in. The front looks like it came from the factory. The rear isn't perfect but you won't notice once it's back in the car. I suppose you could buy some additional high density foam from a craft store to make it perfect.

Reinstall leather, and lumbar.







There may be easier ways to do this, and stuffing more foam will certainly fill out all leather wrinkles and gaps.

Hope this helps. Total cost? About $65 and 2-3 hours of work.

Sean

carlrx7

Very nice!!

What about the sub/crotch belt?

-Carl

taken19

I have them extended all the way and run them between the top and seat portions of the chair. So basically, you sit on the sub straps and they loop around through your crotch to clip into the cam lock. The Vette Works harness mount works well with this setup.

I like this better than routing around the front of the seat. That option really doesn't prevent submarining at all in an impact. The method above is nice and snug.

carlrx7

ahh, i c, like the pilot harness. any pics of the mounting, and where to get the vette works harness mount?

taken19

What pics would you like of the mounting? Passenger seat is still not attached but I have the driver seat in the car.

I think there are a pair of these mounts for sale in the autox/RR section for $100 each. Otherwise, check this out. $150 new

http://www.c5racer.com/catalog/corve...1997-2012.html

JUIC3D

That's a cool write-up Sean. Thanks for sharing

taken19

Anytime. You should be thinking of this with that new rocket you call a car!

1fastbob

Sean, Nice write up. Question? Doesn't cutting up the seat pan near the headrest make the headrest weak? Wouldn't this modification reduce injury protection to the head and neck in the event of a rear end collision? Just wondering if you had thought of that?

JUIC3D

My car only goes fast in one direction

taken19

Yeah, I did think of that for a bit before cutting. After the first one, I did a quick comparison between the modified one and stock one by pushing back on the headrest portion - not much difference that I could see. Now I'm 100% positive that there is some loss of strength but most of it is carried in the edges that are folded at a 90* to the seat back. Strength increases as a cubed term in that respect. I initially thought of attaching some form of reinforcement between the holes that were cut or along the sides, but chose not to. With the harness bar behind the seat, it can't go back much (about 3-4").

Joe_G

Great write up, thanks for sharing. Takes some stones to cut the expensive seat covers up!

vettekid05

nice! Thanks for the write up!

taken19

It took quite a bit of courage to take a blade to the leather. As long as you start the cuts small, the potential for a mistake is smaller.

taken19

No problem. In the balance of what I have learned vs. what I have contributed to the forum, I'm still WAY behind in contributions!

How is your build coming BTW?

carpe dm

Joe_G

I recommended this thread for the DIY thread sticky...and you as Tech Contributor status.

Thanks for taking the time.

taken19

Joe, I'm extremely flattered that you think so highly of my abilities here on the forum. I'm not sure I would qualify as a Tech Contributor... I learn most of my stuff through trial and error, not the years of schooling I suffered through.

Thank you, that made my day!

Joe_G

That's how most people learn...those with the nerve to try at least... and of course of us most screw up along the way...but when someone takes the time to document their journey it's a boon for us all!

Folks like you (and of course many others who contribute what they've learned) make the Forum great.

Oh and don't sell yourself short...how many people swap their engine in their garage, or travel 8 hours to help a forum buddy swap his clutch...you're a 1%'er!!

5280Racer

awesome write up...

taken19

Thanks man. If you decide to give it a try, let me know nf I'll give you my number in case you have questions.

The problem I've noticed is that I go off on a project and take crappy pics during the process which leads to an ok write-up. I should plan on documenting my projects better so others can have good info, not crappy pics...