I stopped at the junkyard on my way home today just to see what they had that was new. I snagged a 90 Z24 rear spoiler for the reasonable price of $20. The super score of the day was a 96 Grand Am SE power seat unit that set me back only $25. I was originally looking for a power seat switch when I realized this entire power seat track unit might be a direct swap into my 87 Sunbird convertible. I went back home to measure the mounting stud distances to find they are the same.....whoooo hoooo! I got the entire power seat unit, tracks, hardware, mounting covers and wiring harness.
This is 90% a direct bolt in upgrade. The only real modification is that the female part of the seat belt latching mechanism is bolted onto the inside seat track, the one next to the console. The mounting bracket bolts on to the inside seat track. Once that is removed, the seat belt latch can be cut away with a 4 1/2" grinder and cut off wheel. There appears to be no other fabrication needed for this upgrade. The rest is bolt in and connect the power to the fuse box and the ground to the floor pan and your almost home. Bolt the seat tracks to the seat and then install to the original floor mounting studs and your ready for cruising.
Hint for seat track unit removal in the junk yard. You do not need to power up the seat unit to move it if you remove the unit in this manner.
1. Remove the seat track covers which are held in place with Philips screws
2. Remove the power seat switch plastic cover on the side of the seat
3. Remove the 4, 13mm bolts that hold the seat to the seat tracks, then remove the seat.
4. Remove the 13 mm nuts which are easily accessible on the floor that hold the power seat tracks to the car.
Hint. If you cannot easily access the mounting nuts, like on the inside track in the back, remove the 2 19mm nuts that hold the top seat track section to the lifting screws which move the seat vertically. This will allow the top mounting half to be pulled up and back out of the way.
Next remove the 2 10mm screws which hold the center horizontal seat moving transmission in place. This transmission makes the seat move forward and backward. This transmission is pulled straight up to remove it from the slot. Once removed the seat track can be slide front and back manually to allow access to the remaining mounting nuts that were not easy to get at.
I was going to do a conversion and fabricate mounting brackets from another GM power seat unit, but it was going to be a pain because of how they were located when mounted to the actual seat. A $24 bolt in upgrade, because I found a dollar of change under the seat, seems like a cheap option to me.
Does anybody know if the 1st gen and 2nd gen floor pan, seat mounting locations are the same?
If so, I think I want to try and score 2 more power seat units for my pair of 89 Z24 convertibles. That's just too cheap of an upgrade in my opinion and I know that someday these types of parts will not be cheap, if even readily attainable.
Woooooo.
i will go to the scrap yard as soon as i can to find thoses seats.
They must be more confortables than the cavalier.
Thanks for the hint.
If someone know if there is an other bolt on solution...please tell us.
Alain
Glad to hear of your good fortune and score!!
I had read somewhere that early N- Bodied seats were a swap - sounds like the later ones are good too!! I would expect Olds and Buick N-Bodies should be good candidates for power seat finds. I Love my power seats in my old J's and I hope that you do to!! The combo of the power seats and tilt column gives me a perfect driving position
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All jbodys have the same seat bolt patterns, along with cobalts, and other GM Cars.
On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Im waiting for another set of leather cobalt ss seats or saturn redline seats to show up to put back in my car.
On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Thanks for the write up.
Power seats don't sound bad to me
Great job!
I've got nearly everything to convert my 84 Cavalier to power seats, but I need the plastic trim piece to put on the seat to hold the switch. Maybe I'll try to pick a the U pick 'em joint near me and buy one if I can find one...
This picture shows the inner seat mount unbolted from the seat track and illustrates the attached seat belt latching brackettry which hits the tunnel that I cut away to clearance the seat track from hitting the tunnel. The earlier power seat tracks did not have the built in latching mechanism so I did away with it too.
This picture shows the mounting bracket attached to the seat track after I cut away the built in latching mechanism bracketry.
This photo shows the seat track bolted onto the mounting studs after it has been modified to clearance it away from the transmission tunnel. If you look closely, you will notice the double mounting hole option which allows the upper seat bracket to be used on two different styles of seats which is a dead give away if the unit might work in your car when searching the junkyard.
I like how the switch holder / hinge cover is only one piece and looks very similar to the one I took off when it was a non power seat.
I have yet to run power from the fuse box to the power seat unit, but hot wired it to another battery to test it in the car. I think in some instances, the factory had an inline fuse wired from the fuse box to the power seat unit which was located under the seat. I like this newer style power seat unit because it had a tie bar to connect the two seat tracks together to give them more support when removed beyond just the cables to hold them together. The top part of the seat track mount is steel, not aluminum as some older GM power seat track units I have. One side has a double mounting option which is crucial to spacing the track to locate it over the mounting studs in the floor. The older aluminum power seat units I have would bolt to the seats, but not space the tracks apart at the correct narrower location.
The power seat track movement transmissions can be taken apart and lubricated with simple hand tools and torx tip drivers. I even tore apart an older motor which did not work by bending the tabs back which held it together. I then cleaned the armature and lubricated it which got it running again. I also had to reglue the magnets to the case because they had come loose and stuck to the armature and rusted fast to it which prevented the motor from spinning. The motors are held in place with a rivet and large metal grommet. I ground off the rivet and pried the metal grommet away to remove the motor from the steel mounting bracket. I kept the large metal grommet and riveted it back on when I had repaired the motor. Any similar motor can be used from other GM power seat applications if you are not inclined to tearing one apart. They are asking $50+ for a single motor on ebay which is crazy money, so I figured I would go for broke, but fixed it instead.
I think anyone with basic mechanical ability could install a power seat unit in their car. The entire process, which included complete tear down and reconditioning takes about 4 - 6 hours when working slowly and methodically to do the job right with little regard for time invested. If you just wanted to do a drop and swap, it would take as little as 2 hours. There is no need to drive in any discomfort with such an easy bolt in upgrade. The trick is just being lucky to find one in a junkyard at a price your willing to pay.
Converted/repaired mine with some 86 Cimarron power units and it was a direct bolt in if you can find some. Lucky for me the Cimarron was brown and the Cav had brown seats that are just a slight shade of brown different. Although you do seem a bit high with the top down.
