I'm looking to put a set of 4th gen seats in my 3rd gen convertible and have a few questions...

First, how do you handle the seat belt guides on the front seats? My car currently doesn't have any, and there are no holes from any being there previously, so what do you do with the ones that are stuck on all the hardtop seats? Leave them there but don't use them, or can they be used without looking bad?

Second, my rear seats have the split back. Will a solid back bolt right in, or do I need to limit my search to split back only? I personally don't care which one I put in.

Finally, can any of you convertible owners post a pic of what the side(sail) panels should look like? Mine each have an empty rectangular hole below the armrest, which I have assumed used to contain the switches to release the tonneau. There are some kind of actuators behind each panel, which is what led me to this conclusion. If I'm right, does anyone know where I can buy new switches? There is also a small hole in each panel about three quarters of the way up the seat back, that appears to have had something round in it. What was that? I'd really like to complete the look in my back seat.

Sorry if any of these questions have been answered recently, I did try a search but I really don't feel like reading a thosand threads. There should be a convertible-specific forum

 

Anyone.... ?
Please help!

 

Hey,

Got a 91 RS vert and I'll get you a pic of my sail panels.

As for the seat issues....
Can offer any "real" advice since I don't have 4th gen seats in mine, but I can offer this though.

All verts started off as T-top models before they went to the butcher shop. And common rule around here is that 4th gen seats fit perfectly into any 3rd gen.

As for the split back or solid.
Either will fit with no problems, if you lay your seats down you'll notice it's completely flat back there and a solid back seat would fit fine.

As for the front seats.....
There are Three areas of convertible interior parts that are unique to the verts. (there might be more but I can think of them if there are.)
1) The front seats.
2) The rear sail panels
3) The rear seat belts.

Out of these 3 items the only thing that can be a direct fit without modifications are the front seats.

You could use the guides, but it would look pretty crappy with the top down. And I'm not sure if the front belts are long enough to make that stretch and still be able to click.

Since you haven't bought seats as of yet, I'd suggest finding a 4th gen vert as your parts car. They made plenty of them and you'll find one sooner or later.

There is a guy on here who did a 4th gen to 3rd gen all vert interior swap. It all fit very well and looks very nice.
Do a search on convertible interior in either this forum or the apperance and detailing forum. He's got tons of pics of the swap.
I say swap, because he put his red 3rd gen interior into the 4th gen car if I remember right.
He bought the 4th gen really cheap and sold it after he did the swap.

I'm doing some work on the car today so I'll get you a pic of the sail panels.

Later...

 

I recently did a 4th gen seat swap in my vert.
Now, my car did not have split rear seat before, and nor is the new one. However, I have read numerous times on here that if you want a solid rear seat in a thirdgen that originally had the split seat, you have to remove the bar that is found right behind the split. That's it.
As for your sailpanels, I put some newer sailpanels in the back of mine, and there are lights identical to the one in the trunk found below the armrest, in front of the seatbelt. That is probably what those rectangular holes are for.
Regarding the front seats, my new seats (97 TransAm) came without the seatbelt guides, and it looks fine like that.

One thing that I posted about recently is the fact that there IS a difference between 3rd and 4th gen seats, and it is much more noticable in a vert than it would be in a coupe.
The difference is that the rear seat back is lower on the 4th gens (at least some!) than the 3rd gens. As you can see in your vert, the top of the seat back is partially overlapping with the "front" of the tonneu cover. But, when you install the 4th gen seats, there will be an opening between the top of the seat back and the tonneu cover.
This may not make a difference to you, but I was a little disappointed in that since I had always read that they were identical.

Hope that helps,

Ken

 

Thanks so much for the info guys. I guess I'll keep looking until I find seats from a vert. I really want to go leather, but I don't really want to pay $700 for the covers.
Ken- how big is the gap in the back seats? Where'd you get the new sail panels? Know any place that sells those lights?
sunbitz- I'd really like to see a pic of the sail panels if you get a chance

Thanks again.
Vinny

 

I put non-convertible 4th gen seats in my convertible. No issues. Look at the photos of the rear seat; there is a gap, but I hadn't even noticed it until it was mentioned in this thread.

My earlier post:
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=110964

The seats (front/rear) are from a 95 Z28.

 

Vinny,
The difference in height is about an inch. See the pics below.
Here is the original rear seat:


Here is the new rear seat:



Regarding the rear panels,
I bought some used ones on ebay. The lights are the same as the one in the trunk compartment, so you should be able to get that at any dealership, at a junkyard or from gmpartsdirect.com

Hope that helps,


Ken

PS! If anyone needs a set of rear sidepanels for a project, I have a spare set for sale.

 

Do you not know where you're switch is to release the tonneu cover thing? I noticed you thought that the switches could have been where the seat belts come out of or the lights in the back? I just sold my 91 rs vert in march, and my switch was on the driver side tonneu thing in the back seat area. Others are in between the window switches. I now have a 97 rs vert, and my leather seats DO have the seatbelt retainers just like the hardtops and t-tops. I took them off because one broke, and it's just a very small screw hole there, not really that noticable. So I wouldn't worry about the seats you get having the retainers or not. Good luck.

 

Ken- Your tan/grey interior looks really hot in the red car! The gap in the back seat wouldn't bother me at all. I have the split back seats right now and there's already a gap that size in the center. Gonna have to find those lights.

camaro 22- Thanks for pointing out that switch, it is on the driver's side of the tonneau, but it doesn't work so I always thought it was for the trunk. Now I'm gonna have to trace out the wiring to find out why. Thanks for giving me another project!

89 Iroc Vert- Your interior looks awesome! That's the kind of difference I'm looking to make in my car. :hail:

Thanks for all your help guys.

Vinny

 

Vinny,
I don't know if this will help you or not, but my switch didn't work either. I had to always release my cover manually. My problems was my rear wheel wells rusted through a little which let water in there where the release things were which is what you seen by the holes in the side panels. Mine were bad from getting wet and rusted. I thought It was a bad switch at first too. Good luck.