83HOZ

This is correct 100% correct. I've done it: swapped seats and seat covers from passenger to driver. It's an excellent solution. Another good thing about doing this is that the "new" seat cover won't look "brand new;" it will have a little bit of age, which will help it be less conspicuous as a "new" seat because it will resemble the condition of the existing passenger seat.

Seats don't become "driver" or "passenger" until the hardware is mounted. Holes for mounting the hardware are in both sides of the all the seat bottoms and backs(covered by foam if not visible). Once they're covered, side-specific-holes are punched through the fabric, and the hardware is mounted. You'll just have to put holes through the fabric on its other side for swapping the hardware.

As for the holes in the material after switching the hardware, none will be visible to the eye in the finished product. They'll be hidden by the reclining hardware on the door's side, and by the console on the console's side. You will have to get a needle and thread to stitch-up the little slit on the backside left by the finger lift, but that's simple.

You can usually find passenger seats in good condition in junkyard cars. Find one in your fabric and strip the seat covers from it(or get the whole seat). Then just swap the seat covers onto your driver seat(or swap the whole seat, if you're not partial to the foundation your bumm has formed over the years). Either way, you'll have a "new" seat for very little cost.

If you already have an extra passenger seat, I'm sure it will be happy to sacrifice itself to become a driver seat, for TheGr8erG00d.

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

I don't know about their Firebird seats, but the seat covers labeled "cloth" under Camaro are the velour seats. Classic offers pretty poor reproductions as far as trying to achieve an OEM look goes.

And as for sacrificing the extra seat, I've changed my mind. It's too nice. I'm going to swap it for my original passenger seat and then swap that one! Ha ha. The color on it has survived much better than my original seats. Will probably trade out my original backs with these new seats, too. My car has clearly seen more sun than the donor car.

83HOZ

For another "trick," if you don't already have hog rings and hog ring pliers for securing the fabric to the underside of the seat frames, save your money; they're not easy to find anyway. Zip-ties will work perfectly!

When you remove the current hog rings, the holes they leave look very tiny. But the holes in the frame are actually quite large; they're just covered by foam. Tear away some of the foam, and you'll see. Zip-ties go through them easily, and you can secure the fabric as tightly as you want or need to.

nosajwols

iTrader: (1)

And the best part is the wear is on the entry bolster, so swapping side to side the thin part on the old passenger seat is now on the inside...

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

Ok, I give. How do I get the headrest off?

Edit: Never mind. It's funny what you can find when you utilize the search function.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Bringing it back--
I have a power driver seat
Can I swap the non-power seat back-rest over to the driver side power seat & still have power seat back-rest?

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

Yeah. The only difference that I noted when I switched a manual seat cover/seat to the driver side was the tracks on the bottom and the button panel on the side. The seats themselves are not different between manual and power seats. It is just the tracks that are different. They even use the same bolt/screw holes.

At least, this was the case for my car. I was working on my 89 and swapping in seats and covers from an 88.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Thanks a bunch!!

TheGr8erG00d

iTrader: (2)

No problem. That's the beauty of this forum! My swap turned out pretty nice, overall. I have a hole on the side from my seat originally being a passenger side (hardware switches sides for driver side as previously mentioned) but otherwise it looks great. I'll patch the hole once I decide how to go about it (small patch since it's not terribly noticeable or pull it back of and replace the panel). I also still need to dye the inserts and headrests back to their original black. They're a bit purpley. It's just nice to not be ripping the seat apart each time I sit in it.

kmcn47

hmm, you guys wanna talk about hard to find seat covers, its been awhile since i looked but i dont think ANYONE has ever made repro (even bad ones) of these

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

I've never seen center pieces like that!

Interesting...