C5 Seat Rebuild - Better than new

[GFLVETTE2]

seat bladders

The base has no blatters. There are two on the back that pinch in around your waste and one in the middle to increase lower back support.

Its good you hear the motors. Then its a matter of taking the back apart to find if a hose came off the compressor or blatter or the blatter has tear in it.

Thanks Mez, I did that today and found a broken coupling leading to the side Bladder. It is a relitavely fix now. I just need the neoprene coupling (I hope). Having guys like you here on the CAC is great .I thank you for your advice and I'm sure your helping others like me to do
these tasks without much fustration. Thanks again. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me in the near future.

 

[Junkman2008]

A lot of times, those bladders go bad. GM wants $800 to replace them (parts only). When I refurbished my seats, I replaced those bladders with some medical bladders that are a little more stout that the stock ones. They work like a charm and give excellent support. I also reinforced my seat but I didn't buy any kit. I just made it up. It's funny how a kit mysteriously showed up on Corvette Central. You can make your own for less than $10 bucks. That's some serious Corvette tax that they are charging!

Here are the old bladders and the bladders that I used as a replacement. The old, leaky ones:

The replacements (cost was around $49)

Here's how I reinforced the seat. I covered the fiberglass edge and taped the hell out of it so that it would no longer bust through the bolster after replacing the foam and leather:

For the bottom, I bought some really hard carpet like you would find at the front door to the unemployment office and laid it on the springs. That was over 3 years ago and my seats are showing no wear in those problem areas. I drive the hell out of my car so it gets a lot of use.

Don't pay that Corvette tax!

 

[GFLVETTE2]

C5

Thanks for the Post. What kind of foam did you use to replace the old foam. Thanks.

 

[Junkman2008]

Thanks for the Post. What kind of foam did you use to replace the old foam. Thanks.

I used GM foam. The old guy that sold me my seat covers told me that there was no foam better than the original GM foam. He looked like he had been making seat covers since the Model T. I found some at Superior Chevy in KC. They gave me one hell of a deal compared to what everyone else wanted.

 

[Deke]

Seat Fix

Does anyone have a solution for the seat back falling forward on hard stops?

Thanks D

 

[Junkman2008]

Does anyone have a solution for the seat back falling forward on hard stops?

Thanks D

That's the ol' rocking seat issue. Click here. You may also want to look at this thread.

 

[Deke]

The entire seat does't rock forward, just the seat back. Of course the driver's seat doesn't fall forward because I'm sitting in it. Step on the brake with just a little firmness and the passenger seat flops forward then back.

 

[Junkman2008]

It is supposed to move a little bit but you really have to stop hard. The only other seat issue that I can think of that you may be experiencing is the twisting seat issue. That issue is covered in this TSB. If what you are saying is that the entire back of the seat flops forward on hard deceleration, that's something that I haven't seen or heard of before. The seats are locked into place when in the upright position. Are your seats stock? You should NOT b able to raise them forward without using the lock release tab on the back of the seat. Are your lock release tabs present?

 

[Deke]

It is supposed to move a little bit but you really have to stop hard. The only other seat issue that I can think of that you may be experiencing is the twisting seat issue. That issue is covered in this TSB. If what you are saying is that the entire back of the seat flops forward on hard deceleration, that's something that I haven't seen or heard of before. The seats are locked into place when in the upright position. Are your seats stock? You should NOT b able to raise them forward without using the lock release tab on the back of the seat. Are your lock release tabs present?

The seat does't flop all the way to the dash, seat lock and release mechanism prevent that, however, it does fall forward enough to obscure vision through the passenger window. Is this the "little bit" you refer to? The lever at the top of the seat must be pulled to allow the seat to move all the way to the dash. Examined the lock mechanism where seat back meets seat cushion, there seems to be about a half inch of play that causes this forward movement on braking, otherwise locking mechanism works. Is this just the way GM designed these seats to work? I'm hopeful you"ll say something like "No, you've lost a small bushing that slips over tab on locking mechanism."

Dave

 

[Junkman2008]

The movement I'm talking about is ONLY a inch or so. Definitely not enough to block your view and you really have to stand on the brakes to get that. How far is yours moving forward? If it does it when you brake hard, you should be able to move it the same amount while sitting still and using your hand. Can you?

 

[Deke]

The movement I'm talking about is ONLY a inch or so. Definitely not enough to block your view and you really have to stand on the brakes to get that. How far is yours moving forward? If it does it when you brake hard, you should be able to move it the same amount while sitting still and using your hand. Can you?

Yes I can.

 

[Deke]

The movement I'm talking about is ONLY a inch or so. Definitely not enough to block your view and you really have to stand on the brakes to get that. How far is yours moving forward? If it does it when you brake hard, you should be able to move it the same amount while sitting still and using your hand. Can you?

Yes I can. And you really don't have to stand on brake that hard to cause seat to move. Incendently, the drivers seat has the same amount of forward play when siting still.

 

[Junkman2008]

I have the back of my seats laid back almost to the waterfall. It sounds like yours are darn near straight up. Are they?

 

[Deke]

I have the back of my seats laid back almost to the waterfall. It sounds like yours are darn near straight up. Are they?

Yes

 

[Junkman2008]

One way to nail it for sure, make a short video showing your seats and how much they move. Then I can tell you definitely if you have a problem.

 

[rgsexaue]

Get The Kit Info

It is no secret that of the C5 & C6 seats have a reputation for being less than satisfactory in the area comfort and lateral support.

Over the last year or so, I've developed a repair procedure and want to share it with everyone. I wanted to see how it worked out in my car over time and can say the seat feel its 100% better than OEM.

There are two problems this fixes:

1. 
   [*=1]The bottom side bolsters from the factory do not have any support under them. So as you climb in/out of the seat, the outside bolster foam tears as it sits on the steel seat frame and quickly goes flat.
   [*=1]The steel wires in the center cut into the bottom foam and quickly cause the foam to sag and pinching around the hip area. I found this extremely uncomfortable after only few minutes.

Send me an email if you would like more information on where to get the repair kit.

Here are the photos of a recent rebuild on my C6 seat. The C5 and C6 seats are basically the same under the cover. The information below is just the high points.


1. Remove bolt covers and unbolt seat.

2. Disconnect wires harness and remove seat from car. This is a a photo of the C6 connector but the C5 connectors are similar.

3. Remove recline lever, remove side controls, cut numerous hog rings, peal back Velcro, and until string holding bottom seat cover then pull out bottom seat cushion.

4. Using spray upholstery contact cement, attach new ballistic nylon to the underside of seat foam. The center support wires cut into the foam quickly causing the bottom seat cushion to sag. This brings the OEM foam back to its original position and stops the wires from cutting into it.

5. Note the large gap between the support wires and the seat frame wear the bolsters are positioned. Using spray contact cement, attach the high density upholstery foam blocks A & C to underside of bolster area. This adds the missing support under the bolsters.

6. Add Blocks B & D in lower section. Attach jute pad on top of center wires to make the seat more firm. This is optional and you should try this out before reinstalling the seat to see if you like the firmer feel.

7. Reassembled and Finished. Note that the outer bolster is back to its original height and shape.

8. Reinstall.

I would love information on where to get the kit. I would incorporate it into the process of replacing the seat covers.

 

[Junkman2008]

I would love information on where to get the kit. I would incorporate it into the process of replacing the seat covers.

You don't need a kit, you can make your own. That's what I did with my seat rebuild thread. Don't pay the Corvette tax.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

I would love information on where to get the kit. I would incorporate it into the process of replacing the seat covers.

I would like to have more details sent to wcbarkdull @gmail.com I want to rebuild the drivers seat, passenger seat is good.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Junkman2008]

I would like to have more details sent to wcbarkdull @gmail.com I want to rebuild the drivers seat, passenger seat is good.

Thanks,
Bill

Why not just get the materials yourself? There was no "kit" when I did my seats, I just made it up as I went. Even did a write up here.

 

[hougland]

I had 3 bladders, 2 for the lumbar and 1 on the seat base. They are Sport Seats. I do know that the base did get firm when I hit the button, now it don't raise. There are 4 switches on the seat. Thanks and please advise.

The switch in the back position is for the sides to come in and hug you.