For a few years now I wanted to replace my original black cloth front seats. They had the usual wear, some rips on the drivers side seat and some color fade. I didn't want to have them recovered because it didnt seem worth the $, and didn't want to do the typical 4th gen seat swap. After doing some research on the usual fbody sites ... I found a set of affordable black cloth seats. Jim from thirdgen.org (Jim85iroc) has a company that sells lots of parts for 3rd gens, and I went through his site.

The seats are by a company called Yonaka (which is Japaneese.. and I wish it wasn't, but they are solid and far less expensive than american brands for seats). The model seat is "samurai", and I got them in all black cloth. They don't have all wild logos onthe front or the name embroidered in the headrest.. so they are nice and clean looking. They cost $350.00 for the pair, which after shipping was only $420 total. The main reason I got these.. is because they actually WILL fit inside the seat "pockets" for third gen camaro cars (between the door handle and center console and lower seat belt mounts). Many other seats from other companies will not fit because of the width.

old seats;


old seat next to new one. rear view. i will be making the wite letter black so it is not seen:


front view.. the new seats are a few inches taller than the old ones:



underside view:



because the new seats will obviously NOT line up with the seat bolt mounts for the stock seats.. I had to make my own brackets out of some mild steel ... i know the welds are not perfect. im only a few months into learnign to mig weld.. using a Lincoln 140-T welder with .030 flux core wire











one mount (pass side) with the standard type sliders that the seats comes with... mounted to one bracket

 

more photos continued from the post above...

the brackets for the drivers side seat:


passenger side all painted up:


pass seat brackets mounted... view from underneath;



---and yes, the metal flatstock on the one bracket had to be offset the way it is, so that the bolt holes would not be at the edge of the flat pieces



drivers side brackets from underneath:

 

seats now installed in the car:



fully slid back to the rear:





they don't stay that far back. i keep them slid up a few inches more...for a normal look, but they slide fornt/back enough that a person could actually fit in the back seat





drivers side view



from the trunk:







again.. ** THESE SEATS WILL NOT DIRECTLY BOLT IN.. you either have to build your own brackets... or modify your original stock sliders.. if you modify your stock brackets/sliders... the seats will probably hit the roof.. since they are so much taller.

they are comfortable but not as soft/comfy as the old ones.. which is fine. these have the side-bolsters that actually keep you seated in place when you corner hard too.

the only thing I need to do is throw a few 1/4" spacers under the drivers side seat so that it is exactly the same height as the passenger side seat..


-the other thing I need to look into is for a shoulder-area seat belt guide.. you know. that triangle plastic piece that sets the height of the belt by your shoulder. I do NOT want to use the stock ones.. they are very large and obtrusive. I'm looking for something sleek and clean looking. It can be from any make/model vehicle.. I'll find a way to mount it if it looks good.

anyone know of any seat belt guide/retainers that are similar to ones i am looking for by any chance?

 

Real nice job on some sweet looking seats. I always like seeing something new and different.

 

i just put the same seats in mine . i love them . nice looking job on yours !

 

My seats were pretty ratty, so I went the typical route with 4th gen seats. They were from a wrecked 2000 firebird....I paid $75 for the pair. The driver seat is power and are very comfy! Direct bolt on. Dark grey cloth seats.

 

Man those came out looking great! Glad they worked out for ya!