Author Topic: My new seat (some assembly required) (Read 21289 times)

Sly Bob · « **on:** May 26, 2009, 11:08:18 AM »

My new seat has arrived. Thanks to the great people at the Wilmington assembly plant that I spoke to at Mecca and one engineer in particular that took my issue into his own hands, I received my new seat today.

They asked me if I wanted it shipped to the dealer or to my home. As I am a "hands on" kind o' guy I figured I would tackle it.

This is a new seat frame design that supposedly limits the unintended vertical movement of the seat. My old seat height adjustment, because I leave the seat almost to the bottom of it's travel, would crash down every time I would go over a set of tracks or a big bump.

As the title says, there is some assembly required.

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I'll take more pictures as I go along.

The part number of the new seat that was put on new cars as of the end of April, 2008 is 20828529

Critterman · « **Reply #1 on:** May 26, 2009, 11:09:16 AM »

Looks like a fun project, keep us in the loop

DaveOC · « **Reply #2 on:** May 26, 2009, 11:29:51 AM »

Quote from: Sly Bob on May 26, 2009, 11:08:18 AM

. . . some assembly required.

The best laugh I've had so far today. How about "total assembly required"

MomsSol · « **Reply #3 on:** May 26, 2009, 11:37:32 AM »

Hmmm ... I had this done as a warranty repair. Total on the repair was well over $300.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #4 on:** May 26, 2009, 11:59:48 AM »

Quote from: MomsSol on May 26, 2009, 11:37:32 AM

Hmmm ... I had this done as a warranty repair. Total on the repair was well over $300.

For the part or for parts and labour?

2kwk4u · « **Reply #5 on:** May 26, 2009, 12:25:10 PM »

Cool! Do we know when this redesign was implemented on the assembly line?

Aspenrose · « **Reply #6 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:05:15 PM »

Quote from: Sly Bob on May 26, 2009, 11:08:18 AM

My new seat has arrived. Thanks to the great people at the Wilmington assembly plant that I spoke to at Mecca and one engineer in particular that took my issue into his own hands, I received my new seat today.

They asked me if I wanted it shipped to the dealer or to my home. As I am a "hands on" kind o' guy I figured I would tackle it.

This is a new seat frame design that supposedly limits the unintended vertical movement of the seat. My old seat height adjustment, because I leave the seat almost to the bottom of it's travel, would crash down every time I would go over a set of tracks or a big bump.

As the title says, there is some assembly required.
(Attachment Link)

I'll take more pictures as I go along.

Hmmm well, with this new design, you certainly will be able to SEE when it's gonna hit bottom

Gotta love the engineers on hand at Mecca, I know ripple may have gotten his wheel liner issue resolved thanks to the discussions he had with an engineer or 2 at Mecca last year

Quad4racer · « **Reply #7 on:** May 26, 2009, 08:24:25 PM »

please forgive my ignorance, but what is Mecca?

DaveOC · « **Reply #8 on:** May 26, 2009, 08:33:58 PM »

Mecca is Solstice-speak for the Wilmington, DE GM plant where the Solstices, Skys and Opel GTs are built. For the last three years there has been a get together of Solstice/Sky enthusiasts at the plant where there have been tours and opportunities to meet with some of the engineers who have worked on our cars.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #9 on:** May 27, 2009, 04:54:54 PM »

Quote from: 2kwk4u on May 26, 2009, 12:25:10 PM

Cool! Do we know when this redesign was implemented on the assembly line?

Broke into the change in the end of April, 2008

Sly Bob · « **Reply #10 on:** June 19, 2009, 11:23:12 PM »

Got around to changing the seat frame out the other day and here is how it's done. First of course you have to get the seat out of the car.

Remove the nuts from the front of the seat and fold the seat back forward. Use the wrench to remove the remaining nuts from the rear of the seat.

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After you remove the four nuts you now have to remove the seatbelt from the side of the seat. Prop the seat up at the back and remove the bolt on the outside of the seat with a T-50 torx socket. While you have to seat propped up you will also want to remove the wiring connection to the bottom of the seat. It simply clips in and pushing on the tab along side of the electrical connector will release it.

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You should now be able to remove the seat from the car.

Now that you have the seat out, the most difficult job is at hand. The switch that is at the front of the seat, if not removed properly will break and you will be looking for another. I know this as it happened to me. I was fortunate to be able to find all the parts to pop it all back together again. The tiny springs inside the switch would be REALLY easy to loose. The rep from Lear at Mecca told me that a lot of dealers break them when they remove them from the seat.

When removing the switch, pull it straight out from the front of the seat (A) just until you feel and see the switch disengage from the mounting bracket. When the clips on the switch are clear, it is then required that you slide the switch to the right (B) so that it does not get hung up on the bracket that it is mounted in. The switch will break of you remove it incorrectly so do this with caution and you should be alright.

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After the switch is removed and the electrical connector removed, you then have to remove the nuts at the back of the seat that the clips from the seat back clip into when the seat is put back to the driving position after having been folded forward. After removing the nuts it is necessary to remove the plastic pieces behind the nuts. Be aware of the position of these nuts as they are specific to either the left or right side and the side that is up when you take them off must be the side that is up when you put the seat back together.

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You will now have to unclip the leather cover from the seat frame. Along the four sides of seat you will see that the leather cover is held on with plastic clips that are stitched to the cover. Remove the clips from their attachment points.

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At this point you are now ready to remove the leather cover from the bottom cushion. Carefully peel back the cover and remove it. It is fastened on to the bottom cushion with Velcro but it comes off quite easily.

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Now that the leather cover is off the bottom, you can remove the bottom cushion. It's not fastened at all and it will lift right off of the frame. All that is left is to get the seat back off the frame.

To get the seat back off you need to simply remove the clips that hold it in place at the bottom. I simply inserted a small screw driver as illustrated below and flipped them off. They are easy to remove.

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Now that the clips are off, all we have left to do is to remove the seat back. Simply pull the seat back bracket at the bottom outward to clear the pin and repeat it on the other side. I found it easier to fold the seat forward it this point so I could support the seat back.

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Well that's it. All that you are left with is a seat frame. On the left in the picture below is the old one. At the right is the new one. Reverse the procedure and enjoy your new seat.

I don't know though if there really was anything wrong with my old seat frame. When I was disassembling my seat, the nut that held the plastic piece in place that the seat back clips into wouldn't come off. The bolt that it was attached to was loose. The bolt is a main bolt on the frame assembly that held the pivot that allowed the seat to raise up and down. The bolt being loose would explain why my seat felt as loose as it did. All is well now and the new seat is working great.

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HAMMER DOWN · « **Reply #11 on:** June 20, 2009, 05:14:37 AM »

Nice write up

Make me want to add this option to my 07.

Mike

Sly Bob · « **Reply #12 on:** June 20, 2009, 09:25:04 AM »

Thanks Mike, I appreciate it. The height adjuster is a nice feature. If you were to add one to your car I would suspect you would have to wire in the seat to the cars electrical system but that shouldn't be to difficult.

GregGXP · « **Reply #13 on:** June 20, 2009, 10:17:37 AM »

Nice write-up Bob, thanks. Any chance from your photos you could point out exactly what bolt it is that was loose? Thanks in advance.

Greg

Sly Bob · « **Reply #14 on:** June 20, 2009, 01:24:18 PM »

Greg, the bolt or stud (B) that was loose was the one that I have highlighted in the picture below. The nut (A) that retains the plastic piece that the seat back locks into is sandwiched between the nut and the stud. When I tried to get the nut off the side of the seat I couldn't do it because the stud kept turning. I had to hold the back of the stud with vice grips to stop it from turning. It was pretty obvious at that time that the loose bolt was likely the problem.

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Here is another picture from a different angle. You can see the back unthreaded part of the bolt that I was able to get the vice grips on.

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I hope that answers your question.

GregGXP · « **Reply #15 on:** June 20, 2009, 02:54:07 PM »

Bob,

Perfect, thanks mate.

Greg

2kwk4u · « **Reply #16 on:** June 20, 2009, 06:14:43 PM »

So does the new one move around at all? I have to leave mine adjusted all the way to the floor b/c the vertical motion is annoying. Gives me the sensation that my tilt steering isn't locked in or something...

Sly Bob · « **Reply #17 on:** June 20, 2009, 06:25:31 PM »

Even if my old one way on the floor, going over a bump it would come up a bit and you would feel it slam back down.

I have yet to feel any movement in this one but it's only been a few days and haven't done any big bumps or railway tracks. So far so good...

Yamatr3 · « **Reply #18 on:** June 20, 2009, 09:13:05 PM »

Great write up Bob! I guess I'll follow it LOL.

DeepBlueGXP · « **Reply #19 on:** June 21, 2009, 10:43:39 AM »

What did you do with the old seat rail, perhaps if you still have it, sell it to a guy who doesn't have the adjuster.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #20 on:** June 21, 2009, 04:10:32 PM »

If I did Joe, then Yamatr3 would be pissed!

Yamatr3 · « **Reply #21 on:** June 21, 2009, 04:23:59 PM »

Quote from: Sly Bob on June 21, 2009, 04:10:32 PM

If I did Joe, then Yamatr3 would be pissed!

Thanks Bob, LOL. I can't wait to install the seat. No hurry though.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #22 on:** June 21, 2009, 05:44:12 PM »

I have it boxed up but I have to get more packing tape tomorrow. I had to take the seat belt off the side of the frame to get it to fit the box. PM me your address and I will figure out if it's cheaper to ship from here or to take it to the U.S. to ship it.

I think I know the answer already...

Sly Bob · « **Reply #23 on:** June 21, 2009, 08:59:16 PM »

Quote from: 2kwk4u on June 20, 2009, 06:14:43 PM

So does the new one move around at all? I have to leave mine adjusted all the way to the floor b/c the vertical motion is annoying. Gives me the sensation that my tilt steering isn't locked in or something...

Went for a good ride to Niagara-on-the-Lake and the seat is solid. No movement like I experienced before. If your seat moves vertically check that bolts that I had loose on my seat frame. You would think that you should be able to check and tighten them without removing the seat from the car.

I have updated the first post to indicate the part number of the new seat.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #24 on:** March 30, 2010, 08:11:24 PM »

fixed the pictures on the thread that got corrupted with the upgrade.

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Author Topic: My new seat (some assembly required) (Read 21289 times)