Power Seat Question

[matt1987]

I have a 95 GP 2 door and right now it has a manual drivers seat. What is required to put in a power drivers seat. Can I just buy an electric seat track or do I have to buy an entire power seat?? Thanks in advance for any help

[Regal_GS_1989]

I wouldn't go through the trouble of chaging the seat track. You can probably get an entire power seat at a j/y for the same price, if not cheaper than just the track (unless you already have one). As for the wiring, Some of the cars may be pre-wired, and some may not. I am not sure where the wiring would be located if yours is pre-wired though :oops:

[birdman]

if you get the kind of seat where the controls are on the seat itself all you need is to run a power wire and tada, power seats!

[Crazy K]

you can buy just a seat track. I recycled seat tracks when I've changeed interiors.

you have to pop off the upholstery of the lower portion of the seats to access some of the bolts (13mm)

 

Also, a manual car won't have the power wires beneath the carpet. there may be 1 or 2 ground points, but the wire is buried is a plastic tube that runs beneath the carpet (laterally near the rear seat hold down bolts) salvage this wire and make sure you save the wire harness connector. I was able to do this and link it an existing connector right above the right front passenger kickpad(plastic quarter panel thingamajig whose name escapes me) It uses a circuit breaker that may or may not be present in your vehicle.

I'd also recommend a newer type mechanism 95+(?) it will not have plastic covers blocking bolt access. but either should work.

And I use 8mm socket to remove the bolts.

that good enough?

[matt1987]

Alright Thanks. As soon as I get a day above 35 degress I will go to the j/y to see what I can find. I am sure there are a few of these cars laying around. Does the cutlass have the same track?? I have the deluxe interior if that matters.

[Crazy K]

nope it doesn't matter, they should all be the same, regal, lumina, gp, and CS as long as the use the same four torx head bolts (ie not 97+gp, I think)

I prefer the later design I mentioned above. it is made of stamped steel instead of extruded(???) steel.

it seems to me that regals most likely have Power Seats. AND often passenger power seats, if you want to get creative. (note that my cs harness has only one plug, while the buicks have two, (probably indicative that the CS may never have had power passenger seats. Good luck!

[DiscoStudd]

Power passenger seats were non-existant on the 1st gens that had dual-airbags. The brain for the passenger side airbag resides underneath the passenger seat, and would be an obstruction to a power seat track .

 

As far as getting just the track, make sure you get one from a car whose seat is identical to yours. I tried mounting a Monte seat bracket (manual track with lower cushion articulation) to my old GP's drivers seat, and the bolt pattern on the "seat" end of the track wasn't even close (the bolt pattern on the "floor" side was identical, however...)

[Crazy K]

was this a 2 door to or vice-versa four door seat mechanism swap?

 

I haven't tried that, but I've not had any problems in the ones I've done so far.

[DiscoStudd]

2-door 96 Monte to a 2-door 95 GP SE (with the shitty "base" seats.)

 

In the numerous seat swaps I've done between J-Bodies and N-Bodies, the seat tracks from both car lines swapped over to each-other's seats (whereas the floors' bolt patterns were different.) I kinda assumed that W-Bodies had the same bolt patterns on the seats as well.

 

Come to think of it, the Monte seat bolted to the track from the top (the threads were on the track instead of inside the frame of the seat.) The GP had the traditional GM "bolt-through-the-track-into-the-seat" with the threads on the seat frame...

[Crazy K]

interesting! all the ones I've delt with bolted from the seat to the track, although I think they may have had two bolts that went the oppostie way as well? I will check tomorrow.