G8 seats

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...).
wigid
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:39 pm

G8 seats

Post by wigid »

well I just did the change over from ppv seats to Pontiac G8 seats. I used the G8 electric forward and back with the Caprice rear recliner.

Ok before I start this is for amusement purposes only. I am not responsible for any damage, blown airbag or illegal modification to your car. this is not for the novice. thios is not advice or a guide to do anything. it is just for amusement only.

ok so you will need the back frame of the PPV seat and the airbags, seatbelt tensioner and the wiring loom in the base of the seat. the rest is the G8 seat.

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remove the seat trim and foam from the seat. First remove the rear panel. then unclip the cloth trim

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then remove the headrest (push button on headrest and put paperclip in the side of the other headrest post as pictured

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then you have to pop out the headrest slides. this is done by putting a thin flat screwdriver down the side of the post and the slide should pop out pretty easily.
08 Pontiac G8
12 Caprice PPV
13 Vf Commodore ute
15 Chevy SS sedan
17 SS VF commodore wagon
wigid
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:39 pm

Re: G8 seats

Post by wigid »

then the trim and foam should slip off and you have the bare frame

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you then remove the two side covers and unbolt the backframe from the base

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you will have make sure you do not damage the airbag wiring.


Next you do the same to the G8 leather seat
08 Pontiac G8
12 Caprice PPV
13 Vf Commodore ute
15 Chevy SS sedan
17 SS VF commodore wagon
wigid
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:39 pm

Re: G8 seats

Post by wigid »

then it is time to reassemble the seat

Take the Pontiac base and bolt the Caprice back frame to it. then slide the Pontiac G8 leather trim and foam over the Caprice frame. You have to keep the electric lumbar support as the manual one will not fit the Caprice back frame. I used a sikaflex to glue the manual lumbar support knob in place to cover up the hole in the G8 trim.
next remove the runners from the seat.

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then remove the heated seat wiring loom.

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the loom for the seat adjustments will have two wires going to the motor that moves the seat forward and back. these two wires are gray

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take the two wires out of the plug that goes to the switch on the side of the seat

Image
08 Pontiac G8
12 Caprice PPV
13 Vf Commodore ute
15 Chevy SS sedan
17 SS VF commodore wagon
wigid
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:39 pm

Re: G8 seats

Post by wigid »

you then remove the rest of the Pontiac loom and discard it.

then get the loom you have previously removed from the Caprice seat and put that in the seat runner frame. take the two gray wires and put them on the two unused holes in the Caprice switch plug

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Make sure they go in the right positions as shown otherwise the seat will move in the wrong direction

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Now the great part is that the switch we already have in the PPV Caprice seat is already right. You just have to elongate the hole in the trim.

From This

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to This

Image
08 Pontiac G8
12 Caprice PPV
13 Vf Commodore ute
15 Chevy SS sedan
17 SS VF commodore wagon
wigid
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:39 pm

Re: G8 seats

Post by wigid »

once you have elongated the hole then reinstall the switches

Image

Now I changed the knob from the Caprice with the one from the G8 as well (left is caprice with the ledges to stop the switch working and the right is the G8 one)

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then I just replaced the seatbelt tensioner with the Caprice one

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and reinstalled the switch panel

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Your seat is now ready to bolt back in and enjoy
08 Pontiac G8
12 Caprice PPV
13 Vf Commodore ute
15 Chevy SS sedan
17 SS VF commodore wagon
Navy Lifer
Administration Staff
Posts: 1724
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 6:30 pm
Location: Canton GA

Re: G8 seats

Post by Navy Lifer »

OUTSTANDING! It CAN be done!

tell me where you're located--as much as I'd probably be OK to do it myself, I'd really hope to have the expertise you've shown to do the swap on mine. I've had a set of G8 seats for a couple of years, just waiting for this revelation!
CrashTestDummy
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:31 pm
Location: Pearland, Texas

Re: G8 seats

Post by CrashTestDummy »

Other than adding a heated seat bottom by using the G8 seat, could one simply remove the seat rack and bolt it to the PPV seat? Power seat rack would be awesome, but I rarely need heat in Texas!
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
2012 Caprice 9C1
1992 B4C 1LE Camaro
2018 Tahoe PPV (her car)
1995 DGGM Impala SS
1985 Firebird - 310 LS1 C Prepared autocross car.
1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge
And some others
Do YOU have my SPID?
wigid
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:39 pm

Re: G8 seats

Post by wigid »

Navy Lifer wrote:OUTSTANDING! It CAN be done!

tell me where you're located--as much as I'd probably be OK to do it myself, I'd really hope to have the expertise you've shown to do the swap on mine. I've had a set of G8 seats for a couple of years, just waiting for this revelation!
I am in Nashville Tennessee. It is pretty easy to do just took a bit of working out for the first seat. the hardest part was working out how to get the headrest and headrest tubes out
08 Pontiac G8
12 Caprice PPV
13 Vf Commodore ute
15 Chevy SS sedan
17 SS VF commodore wagon
wigid
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:39 pm

Re: G8 seats

Post by wigid »

CrashTestDummy wrote:Other than adding a heated seat bottom by using the G8 seat, could one simply remove the seat rack and bolt it to the PPV seat? Power seat rack would be awesome, but I rarely need heat in Texas!
I did it because my Caprice seats were in bad condition and I wanted the extra support and the leather. Just did a 1200 mile round trip to Minneapolis and the G8 leather seats were awesome
08 Pontiac G8
12 Caprice PPV
13 Vf Commodore ute
15 Chevy SS sedan
17 SS VF commodore wagon
CrashTestDummy
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:31 pm
Location: Pearland, Texas

Re: G8 seats

Post by CrashTestDummy »

Thanks, Wigid, I can understand. I recently did a re-upholstery job on our SVO, and am really NOT interested in replacing the fabric. That, and the seats in our car aren't in that bad a shape. I was just wondering if the seat rack replacement was a plug-and-play job, as I'd be interested in that. I haven't looked over this post in detail, but it looks like the wiring is doable, with just a couple of wire moves. Does the rack bolt to the seat bottom, and the rack bolt in to the body with any mods?
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
2012 Caprice 9C1
1992 B4C 1LE Camaro
2018 Tahoe PPV (her car)
1995 DGGM Impala SS
1985 Firebird - 310 LS1 C Prepared autocross car.
1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge
And some others
Do YOU have my SPID?
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