[72LS1Vette]

I posted this on the 'other' forum also but I thought I would post here as well in case anyone is interested in soing something similar.

This wasn't on the top of my list for things to do on the 72 but my son found a pair of 1999 C5 seats for a good price so I grabbed them. I'm not planning on spending a lot of time installing these so I should complete the updates pretty quickly.

I had to spend ~5 hours driving round trip to bring the seats home and we started fitting them into the 72 right away. So far it looks like a pretty easy install even with the power adjustments on both seats.

Here are a couple of pics of the seats. The passenger seat has the mounting brackets removed so you can see the difference in height. I'll post more pics this weekend as I fab mounting brackets for the seats. There are a couple of things on the power seat mechanism that need to be ground down also.

There have been some other threads on C5 seat installs but it seems like everyone was modifying the floorpans to make them fit. I don't believe in modifying anything that isn't absolutely necessary (my whole LS1/T56 install involved drilling maybe 6 holes and cutting the trans tunnel a bit) so I think I can do this with no mods to the floorpan at all.

:cheers:

Rick B.

 

[lsejlowe]

looks like they're in GREAT shape for being 10 years old! Do you mind telling us how much you gave for them? The biggest trouble I had with the C5 seats was the height. If you're over 6' you'll have to make some special efforts to reduce the bracket height as much as possible. I ended up mounting mine about 1/4" off the floor to give myself adequate headroom with the tops on and I still have to remove the liners to wear a helmet while driving.

Looking forward to the install :thumbsup:

 

[ylose]

fab a 2nd set of brackets for me, will ya? I need to secure mine in this winter, but I have limited tools in this arena. :smack

 

[Art Jett]

I just made some adaptor plates for the rear of the seats out of 1/4" x 1 1/2" flat bar and bolted the seats right to the tracks out of my 77. They slide forward and back and I still retained the power lumbar and side bolsters. I love them.

 

[72LS1Vette]

looks like they're in GREAT shape for being 10 years old! Do you mind telling us how much you gave for them? The biggest trouble I had with the C5 seats was the height. If you're over 6' you'll have to make some special efforts to reduce the bracket height as much as possible. I ended up mounting mine about 1/4" off the floor to give myself adequate headroom with the tops on and I still have to remove the liners to wear a helmet while driving.

Looking forward to the install :thumbsup:

I paid $350 for the seats. I thought that was a pretty good deal since it was going to cost $450 or so to rebuild the originals and Fiero seats with new covers would have been over $600.

They are higher than the stock seats, but my stock seats are pretty shot so I can't give an accurate estimate of the difference. None of us in the family are over 6' tall so we will all fit OK. I'm the shortest one of the bunch so I'm looking forward to the improved visibility. The brackets on the left side seat have been cut off so you can see the difference in height. The rails aren't all that much thicker than the C3 rails and the seat motors hang down into the rear well. There is a pointed piece on one part of the mechanism that acts as a vertical height stop that needs to be ground down to clear the floor. No way you would ever raise the seat that high in a C3 anyway.

I'm thinking of just using 1/8" flat stock to extend from the rails to the mounting holes. The C5 rails are spaced closer together than the C3 rails. A simple power and ground connection will get the motors working. I'm not really concerned about memory functions.

:cheers:

Rick B.

 

[1Fordman]

I made my own mounts and the power drivers side seat sits lower than the manual passenger side seat.

I also used studs in the original seat bolt holes so i just plop the seats onto the studs and nut and washer them down. It's a lot easier than trying to fish a bolt through the carpet and padding.

You're going to like those seats, they are ever so comfortable!

 

[72LS1Vette]

I made my own mounts and the power drivers side seat sits lower than the manual passenger side seat.

I also used studs in the original seat bolt holes so i just plop the seats onto the studs and nut and washer them down. It's a lot easier than trying to fish a bolt through the carpet and padding.

You're going to like those seats, they are ever so comfortable!

These seats are both power. We hooked up the passenger seat to move the rail last Sunday and there is a wide range of adjustment. I was concerned that the driver seat might have an airbag but the seller confirmed that there was no bag. I'm hoping that I don't have to wire the 2 seats together because the driver seat has the SCM (seat control module I presume) and the passenger seat has a relay module. The passenger seat works fine with a power and ground connection. I'll be trying the driver seat next weekend.

I like the stud idea. I'll look into using that for these seats.

:cheers:

Rick B.

 

[lsejlowe]

I like the stud idea. I'll look into using that for these seats.

:cheers:

Rick B.

studs will require drilling out the threads in the original floorpan holes. Something to think about regarding non-permanent modifications. Here were my two attempts at mounting mine:
C5 seats in a C3 (version 1)
C5 seats in a C3 (version 2)

 

[1Fordman]

studs will require drilling out the threads in the original floorpan holes. Something to think about regarding non-permanent modifications. Here were my two attempts at mounting mine:
C5 seats in a C3 (version 1)
C5 seats in a C3 (version 2)

I used 5/16 coarse thread studs (same thread as original)and threaded them into the stock mounting points. Used Locktite and double nutted the top part to torque them into place.

No drilling required and can be easily unthreaded if required.