I'm just wondering how one would go about removing the stock seat covers on a base 98/99 Sunfire SE coupe. I plan on buying an SE coupe this summer, but I hate the stock cloth in the base ones. My brother has a '98 with the Sport Interior Package (Gives leather-wrapped wheel, handbrake lever, and shifter as well as the 'sport' GT cloth and driver lumbar adjustment). I realize that it is near impossible to find one with this package, so I was thinking that I would just 'make' my own. HaHa.

I've read on here that the carpeted panels on the door panels come off by removing a foam backing, and then bending staples. That is very good news and I shouldn't have a problem. The seats are the ones that are concerning me now as I do not know if the stock covers will come off easily or not. To get the driver lumbar support, would I be best to just get the whole driver seat with the good cloth, or is it possible to take it out of the seat and put it in the car I buy? I don't want to damage anything so I'm checking now while I'm still 'car hunting'. The shift knob is only held on by that little 'C' clip (I think it's a 'C' clip at least) and I already know how to remove that. The handbrake lever is another story though, as I've never really looked at it before. Is it just held on by a screw or something? The wheel will have to be done at the local dealer as I don't fancy messing with airbags, and I don't have the tool to take it off. That's no problem though. I'll probably just buy one off of eBay or something.

If anyone is able to shed some light on the seat covers, lumbar support, and handbrake lever, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks!!

just go to a junkyard and ge the interior you want. why pay someone to make it the way you want when its stock? you'll pay more to get it upholsted then you would to go to a yard.

ebrake handle your @!#$ out of luck. you can only get them off buy cutting it off unless you remove the whole assembly

So the eBrake is a no-go basically?

I wouldn't be paying anyone for anything. What I mean was that I'd have to go to the dealer to get the steering wheel swapped. I'd do the rest. I just want to make sure the seat covers aren't going to be damaged at all by removing them.

AWD GS wrote:

ebrake handle your @!#$ out of luck. you can only get them off buy cutting it off unless you remove the whole assembly

quoted for truth. i tried taking one out of a 98 gt a week ago, no way to get it off the shaft as far as i could see. tried cutting it off but the saw just kept walking all over and i ended up ruining the damn thing anyways.

this car had everything you speak of that you want.... i got a graphite headliner with sunroof cutout out of it.



Riddle me this... riddle me that...

Your best bet will be to get the seats from a junkyard. Why mess with re-upholstering them and trying to swap the lumbar adjuster, when you can simply go to the junkyard and take them out of the car there and re-install them in yours? Yes, it will cost more, but it will save you a lot of time and headaches. I got the front seats from a '00-'02 Sunfire GT for $60.00 for the pair and I'm sure you can get a rear seat for less than $50.00.

As far as the e-brake goes, the entire assembly can be swapped, but it's a major pain in the ass and takes A LOT of patience. I would highly suggest getting a Hayne's manual if you don't already have one. It shows you exactly how to remove and re-install the entire assembly which will make the process a lot easier.

As far as the steering wheel goes, it is really easy to remove. I was scared of the airbag too, but after watching my mechanic friend do it, there's really nothing to worry about as long as you take your time, disconnect both battery terminals and once you remove the airbag, set it somewhere with the airbag cover facing down, far away from anything so it won't accidentally deploy. Also, you can rent a steering wheel puller from Auto Zone. It's like $40, but when you bring it back you get your $40 back so it's actually free.

Just thought I'd throw my .02 in because I have an '02 Sunfire SE Sedan that I have already swapped the leather wrapped steering wheel, shift knob and e-brake handle into. I also have a pair of GT front seats and am currently trying to find a rear seat that's in good condition. I will also be cutting the cloth off the backs of a couple pairs of GT front seats at the junkyard to use to re-wrap the door panel inserts so everything will match nicely. I love the GT interiors. They have by far the nicest cloth of any J-Body interior. And the leather wrapped stuff looks so much nicer than the non-leather wrapped stuff.

If you need any more pointers or anything, feel free to contact me directly. Good luck with the swap.

Thanks a lot for the info guys. I really appreciate it. As far as the handbrake goes, I'll probably just leave it how it comes. If it takes that much hassle for something I'm just pulling up or pushing down, I don't really care. The wheel and the shifter are the big ones that I care about since they're the two parts you're always touching.

We don't have Auto Zones here so I'll just wait and see what happens with the wheel situation. Is the airbag really that fragile when out of the car? If so, I'm gonna just get someone else to do it. HaHa.

I'll just pull all the seats+door carpet+shift knob and offer them like $75. Perhaps they'll go for it, perhaps not. LoL.

The airbag is pretty fragile, but as long as you are careful and don't drop it or something like that you'll be fine doing it yourself.

The stock seat covers are glued on and have to be removed carefully to avoid tearing the foam.