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I searched around here and found very few threads on this subject. I will be going to get some 2011 SS black leather seats, front and back tomorrow. I was told by someone it is a direct swap, but that does sound to good to be true. If the seat tracks need to be modified I will let the Forum know. Has anyone done this mod yet since the last thread that was posted here in the Forum?
My 85 Camaro had to have the worst stock seats ever offered in a car. Those seats were pure torture and I upgraded to a 2000 TA's seat setup which is 10X better then the Camaro's seats ever were, IMO. The new SS seats are even better to ride in then the 2000 TA's seats. So if you do drive your 3rd Gen car around alot, it might just make for a nice upgrade for your Camaro. I still have the original Camaro torture seats in storage, just in case I sell the car in the future.
Got the 2011 seats today. Passanger side of the SS was crushed in from a good T bone wreck. Passanger seat frame was toast but I got all of the other pieces from it so I just have to find a new frame for the seat. Back seat in perfect shape also.
To swap out the seats will take a little fab work to get it done. The 3rd Gen seats have wider frame tracks under the seat then the newer guys. The 3rd Gen cars have a cantered bolt setup for mounting their seats and the newer Camaro's are more in a straight line then the previous years. The newer guys have J hooks on the front of the seat track and just get locked into place by pulling the seat back into place and then fastening the rear of the seat frame to the chassis with a bolt. The back of the newer seat frames also have locating pins along with the bolts to make sure the seat is installed correctly.
I will cut off the old mounting tabs from the original seats that came in the 85. It will take a little time to figure out excatly where the old mounting tabs will have to go on the newer seat frames. The newer seats are very close in size to the 2000 TA seats, so there should be no problem with the seats fitting into the 3rd Gen. cars and looking good. I haven't had the time to check out the back seat configuration as of yet. The newer version has a solid mounting frame for the seat belts that goes the width of the seat. Has the drive shaft floor tunnel radius incorparated right into the design, hoefully it is very close and can be made to work.
Last edited by houstonvett; 06-01-2012 at 01:02 PM.
The back seat set ups are completley different. The newer version is 2+ inches wider, much flatter in design, then the 3rd gen guy and will not fit. Too much cutting and BS to try to make the newer version fit IMO. Better solution is to take the newer SS seat cover off and use it to cover the 3rd Gen's back seat with the same material as what is on the SS front seats. The 3rd Gen's car's back seat has always been suspect at best, the new Camaro is keeping that trend going, IMO.
any more info on this setup? im wondering about the height difference? you can make anything fit and look good while your at it, dont know why people say things wont fit if it hasent been done before! can you give us some different angle pisc? or just lay in it place and take a pic? thanks pal
Was wondering if G8 seats were on the same tracks and frame as the 5th Gens. Since I have a firebird I'd think G8 or GXP seats would look better. Would it be the same fabrications?
Did anyone find out any info on this? I got a full set of black SS seats that I'm going to put in. As far as size, the 5th gen seats are not too wide or long. But they are vary tall, so they sit higher than OEM.
Here is a pic with one head rest raised all the way and the other lowered
as you can see, the headrest is vary high when fully raised
This is not a good pic but as you can see the track/rails are off by about 1in, the 5th gen seats mount wider. I Normally would cut the hardware off the stock seats and put them on the new ones, but I'm not so sure I should do that in this case.
no end result? I wounder if you could just make your own 90 degree bracket with a mounting hole drilled in it and just weld it to the existing seat brackets/rails.
Would like to see if anyone has successfully pulled this off before I got and drop $1000 on some 5th gen seats lol.
I would just redo 4th or 3rd gen seats for that kind of money considering rear seats won't work anyways. 5th gen rear has like a bench style rear seat.
I am curious about this as well, my 4th gen cloth seats are ready to call it quits. Considering how long we've had 5th gens now, this must be extremely difficult to do
This is not a good pic but as you can see the track/rails are off by about 1in, the 5th gen seats mount wider. I Normally would cut the hardware off the stock seats and put them on the new ones, but I'm not so sure I should do that in this case.
Is their a reason your hesitant to put the stock mounting brackets on the new seats? How stable/wise would it be to Fab attempt an "extension" to that spot? Maybe even weld new bolts to the floor ? Looks too nice to pass up.
This is not a good pic but as you can see the track/rails are off by about 1in, the 5th gen seats mount wider. I Normally would cut the hardware off the stock seats and put them on the new ones, but I'm not so sure I should do that in this case.
That will be really easy to fix, just weld a Y shaped tab sideways to the original rail. If you fab a U tab with a small extending lip that goes under the rail you can weld the side and a plug weld in the oriignal bolt hole. Really, if that's all that it's off...it's a super easy installation.
Too bad those seats are impossible to find here, I would rock those any day.
im picking up a pair of black cloth 5th gen front seats tomorrow and keeping my stock back cloth seats (black cloth),
got them for $120 and they will soon be a thread on third gen showing how i did it,the issue above i could have fixed new seats,just dust,no rips,no stains
in 10 minutes or less.
Last edited by 1986BANDIT; 04-19-2018 at 09:48 PM.
im picking up a pair of black cloth 5th gen front seats tomorrow and keeping my stock back cloth seats (black cloth),
got them for $120 and they will soon be a thread on third gen showing how i did it,the issue above i could have fixed new seats,just dust,no rips,no stains
i bought the seats today and got them home,now if the weather cooperates i will put them in.i need to do some stereo rewiring while everything is taken out of the car .some cool news though, i also found out both of these new camaro seats(2012 actually) are power!!!! im trying to determine what needs power and how to go about adapting this to my non power seat trans am.this car has no options,came with a mono am radio,rollup windows,hardtop,no hatch release button.its as bare bones as you can get other than it did have air(before i got the car it was mostly removed)
i ended up getting busy doing other stuff to the car and have been working six days a week.here is a before and after of my under-hood appearance.
before underhood pic,this spring 2018 after underhood pic,this spring 2018
i need to get a 12 volt external power source and sort out the mess of wiring connections and determine what they all do and what ones i need.
there's more electronics on one seat than there is in my entire car.
if you can figure out the power mechanism its cake to swap.i just am not good at electronic things with 5 connectors and multiple wires.but to physically bolt them in you just need a 1" x 2" x 1/4" piece of plate steel or strapping,drill two holes and bolt the seat to the adapter you made and the adapter to the car.
if you can figure out the power mechanism its cake to swap.i just am not good at electronic things with 5 connectors and multiple wires.but to physically bolt them in you just need a 1" x 2" x 1/4" piece of plate steel or strapping,drill two holes and bolt the seat to the adapter you made and the adapter to the car.
update,the two largest wires when tapped into will control everything on the seats(other than airbags obviously)
im about to go put these in because ive finally got a few hours free.this si what they look like installed in a third gen
Looks good for sure! But for all the effort, I would try to score some nice Z28 Recaro seats instead!!! They would look thiner compared to those bulky SS seats... I own an 2012 SS Vert and IMO the SS seats looks too bulky for 3rd Gen
Looks good for sure! But for all the effort, I would try to score some nice Z28 Recaro seats instead!!! They would look thiner compared to those bulky SS seats... I own an 2012 SS Vert and IMO the SS seats looks too bulky for 3rd Gen
recaro seats in decent condition are easily $1000,these were $100....see how the math works on this?
i think they actually slide down about another 1"-1 1/2" or so but i do agree they are a bit tall.
then again the 5th and 6th gen camaros are more like an suv than a sports/performance car
in the looks/size department so its much harder to tell how tall the headrest is when installed
in the 5th gen and up.
I know,that console looks incredible too,i wonder if its custom or stock 5th gen?the interior looks so much more modern but it doesn't look out of place if that makes sense.ive got to push myself to install the pair i have.i just wish they were leather and i also would like a rear set as well.the biggest thing holding me back is the mint grey cloth interior i just pulled out of a gta i parted out.i already installed the seats in my t/a and they look and feel great.i guess its always good to have a few options.ive got 3 sets of seats,4 sets of rims,3 spoilers,3 spare engines ,engine parts etc etc etc.im a bit of a pack rat for third gen stuff.
no,but if im not mistaken its a hawks car(i could be wrong though)it seems like it would be like any fabrication project,it takes time,trial and error.make it out of cardboard or masonite as a prototype,then make the real thing out of "whatever" delrin,aluminum????
05-31-2012, 05:43 PM
