Rear seat mod - going to a G8 style rear seat

Discussion on body issues/mods, appearance, interior/trim, and detailing (i.e. how to keep your car looking showroom new, or a reasonable facsimile thereof...).
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elc32955
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Rear seat mod - going to a G8 style rear seat

Post by elc32955 »

One thing that I do NOT like about the Caprice is the rear seat. The G8 has the hatch that folds down so you can accommodate long loads, the Caprice does not. I've been thinking about finding a used G8 rear seat in cloth and getting the Omega seat trim from Oz, reskinning the seat, and swapping the upper. Unless you do the whole car in leather the G8 leather would look like a mismatch. I've found a few matching sets of seat trims off EBAY, but as usual with Holden parts shipping is pretty expensive. But I still like the idea of having that expansion hatch if I need it as sometimes I carry antenna parts for radio stations, those are usually long aluminum rods.

The other thing I really, really want to add is the OEM coathooks. There is nowhere to hang any dry cleaning in the interior! Who sells any car without coathooks these days, even the Crown Vic had coathooks in the back seat area... As far as I know the frame is slotted for the hooks, just need the hooks, screws, and retainer clips to take the screw threads into the body.
System Manager and your tour guide for the day. 2015 Caprice w/LFX, former NC DPS staff car. Partial hybrid G8/SS/Camaro SS interior mods, SS MyLink radio upgrade, 2016 Camaro V6 rims, GMPP Malibu chrome exhaust tips, otherwise bone stock for now.
gregc
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Re: Rear seat mod - going to a G8 style rear seat

Post by gregc »

My problem is worse. I have all vinyl seats in the back and cloth in the front.

elc32955 wrote:One thing that I do NOT like about the Caprice is the rear seat. The G8 has the hatch that folds down so you can accommodate long loads, the Caprice does not. I've been thinking about finding a used G8 rear seat in cloth and getting the Omega seat trim from Oz, reskinning the seat, and swapping the upper. Unless you do the whole car in leather the G8 leather would look like a mismatch. I've found a few matching sets of seat trims off EBAY, but as usual with Holden parts shipping is pretty expensive. But I still like the idea of having that expansion hatch if I need it as sometimes I carry antenna parts for radio stations, those are usually long aluminum rods.

The other thing I really, really want to add is the OEM coathooks. There is nowhere to hang any dry cleaning in the interior! Who sells any car without coathooks these days, even the Crown Vic had coathooks in the back seat area... As far as I know the frame is slotted for the hooks, just need the hooks, screws, and retainer clips to take the screw threads into the body.
Navy Lifer
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coathooks/overhead grab handles

Post by Navy Lifer »

elc32955 wrote:The other thing I really, really want to add is the OEM coathooks. There is nowhere to hang any dry cleaning in the interior! Who sells any car without coathooks these days, even the Crown Vic had coathooks in the back seat area... As far as I know the frame is slotted for the hooks, just need the hooks, screws, and retainer clips to take the screw threads into the body.
G8 rear seat overhead handles with hooks are PN 92189691- same part used on both sides. They are not cheap, and they are black/onyx finish. C.P. would be able to supply "proper" light urban parts, or SEM paint could accomplish the same thing, if color coordination was desired.

In several exchanges with C.P., and some picture sharing, it is clear that the molded headliner for PPV is unique, but it does appear that the handles will work. I do not know if anyone has actually installed them yet, but Steve Eckart was going to, if he has not already. I have the parts but have not gotten to that point yet....was waiting to hear from Steve on his success or what the difference was between installing these parts on the PPV vs other models (G8 or Holden WM).

I was able to buy a pair of used G8 handle/hook assemblies from Cleveland PickAPart - I just checked and the handles are not listed, but if they have any G8 cars there, and the parts are there, they will pull and sell them--very good service.

http://stores.ebay.com/Cleveland-Pick-A ... 34.c0.m322
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elc32955
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Re: Rear seat mod - going to a G8 style rear seat

Post by elc32955 »

There's a wrecked G8 over in Orlando at Beeline Auto Parts, but it's one of those yards that doesn't really want to deal. They had a fairly nice cloth back seat that'd been out in the open for a little while, but even tho it was weathered they wouldn't come off a $125 price. Made them a fair offer and told them it was going to be trash shortly since the interior was open but they didn't care. I could check to see if it's still there but I shudder at the thought of dealing with those guys.

Here's an idea. I saw where CP has a forum section dedicated on the Florida G8 board he checks off & on. If he's interested in working with the Caprice owners, I'll set him up with his own forum section for parts info & deals. There's enough of us wanting things to where down the road it would probably be worth his while. Bill, if you know him & want to make the contact go for it, just let me know what happens.
System Manager and your tour guide for the day. 2015 Caprice w/LFX, former NC DPS staff car. Partial hybrid G8/SS/Camaro SS interior mods, SS MyLink radio upgrade, 2016 Camaro V6 rims, GMPP Malibu chrome exhaust tips, otherwise bone stock for now.
gregc
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Re: Rear seat mod - going to a G8 style rear seat

Post by gregc »

I get my G8 seats tomorrow. I got both front and back cloth seats. It came off a salvaged G8 with 10 miles. I'm going to replace the entire thing because I want all my seats to match. Katskinz makes covers for the G8, I so might order a set depending on the price and the install. But I will get SS embroidered on my headrests and the leaping impala in the center rear seat to replicate the the tri-9 Impalas look. The PPV seats I'll probably use for a project later on.

Update. The seats arrived today and I installed them. They bolt right in without any modification. You do need to get 4 new nuts to secure the middle section of the seat back though. The seat bottom pulls right up and comes out easily. The seat back is secured with 4 nuts. Once you remove the 4 nuts pull up on the seat back and it pulls right out.

To install the G8 seatback, you need to install the center section first. You need 4 nuts to secure the hinge. You need M8x1.25 nuts. If you bought the seats at a salvage yard, make sure you get the striker and the trim too. If not you can still buy them new. Here's the part numbers.
http://www.tonkinonlineparts.com/showAs ... ring=seats

Even though I have a cloth rear seat now, it still doesn't match the front cloth seats. The PPV has that heavy duty cloth. The G8 cloth seats has that cloth found on base model cars with cloth seats.
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elc32955
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Re: Rear seat mod - going to a G8 style rear seat

Post by elc32955 »

There's a few sellers on Ebay Aus. selling new, as removed seat trims from VE Series 2 cars in black. I was going to pick up one of these sets so I could have the G8 cloth removed and the VE cloth added by an upholstery shop. It's only the back that won't match on my car, the seat bottom should still be able to be used. Thanks for the reminder on picking up the striker & trim, know that has to be grabbed. When I go up to Strickler Bros next month I'll have to see what they have left.
System Manager and your tour guide for the day. 2015 Caprice w/LFX, former NC DPS staff car. Partial hybrid G8/SS/Camaro SS interior mods, SS MyLink radio upgrade, 2016 Camaro V6 rims, GMPP Malibu chrome exhaust tips, otherwise bone stock for now.
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