Front seat interchangability

I've been keeping my eye out for a front seat for a while and I came across one on ebay from a 98 riv. After looking looking at the pictures of them I realized they are a little different than mine in my 97. The buttons are slightly different and the passenger seat has a lumbar button that mine doesn't have.

Here are pics of my own. (1997)



Here is a link to the pics of the ones I'm looking at from a 1998.
http://cas07.businessflow.ms/Current/media/item_image_sheet.aspx?domain=lkqonline.com&item_guid=d45aa86e-c340-4714-85f7-250cc9a759f7&image_guid=484e42c4-e50a-402b-95b9-0b797340cbe7

My question is would I have any compatability issues here, especially with the passenger seat having an extra function. Is the wiring and stuff the same?

I'm in the market for new seats because my drivers side seat has a decent tear in the bottom cushion and the lumbar doesn't work. The passenger seat seems to have lost its ability to tilt forward recently. I'm at 191k mi so I guess this kind of stuff should be expected.

dont have the answer to your question but just curious as to your future seat choice will be? aftermarket or oem.
i am probably going to buy a corbeau driver seat the "GTS 2" and when $ allow maybe the passenger seat as well. ill be sitting on a good pair of oems in that case and will let them go for cheap...mine are dark charcoal

robotennis61 wrote:

dont have the answer to your question but just curious as to your future seat choice will be? aftermarket or oem.
i am probably going to buy a corbeau driver seat the "GTS 2" and when $ allow maybe the passenger seat as well. ill be sitting on a good pair of oems in that case and will let them go for cheap...mine are dark charcoal

OEM
Those pics are what I'm considering for replacements. It's too much money to just guess on though so I wanted to see if anyone would know if they are directly interchangable. Didn't some rivs have a heated passenger seat too? Mine doesn't

mine are heated and every other gizmo they could fit in there. would be good to talk to a gm dealer and find out if you can just plug a higher optioned seat in there? maybe morad would know. shoot em a email,they allways respond quick...

I have a 98 schematic if you have 97, we can compare wiring. I can't see there being an issue as long as no additional wiring is needed. Probably all ran through similar pigtails. Lumbar may be the only issue.

I've thought along these lines myself, because I'd like to swap the driver & passenger seats to even out the wear. The various issues are:

- The passenger seat didn't get heat or lumbar until '98.

- The seats themselves, with the exception of the cutouts & mounts for the switch panel and the shoulder belt guide, are interchangeable. And frankly, unless the driver is rather short, the shoulder belt loop is unimportant... The first thing I did when I bought my car was unscrew it and get the belt out of it, because A) I found it annoying, and B) it makes it harder to 'snap' the belt and activate the comfort feature, and I hate having a belt tugging on my chest all the time...

- The tracks are not interchangeable because they are mirror images of each other, matching the mirrored contours of the floor pan.

The heaters and lumbar motor are within the seats themselves, so with a little work to relocate the switch panel, a '98 or '99 passenger seat could be transferred to the driver's seat tracks, and the original switch hole would be out of sight against the console. Of course, if a car didn't have the heater option, and someone didn't care about the power lumbar adjustment, any year passenger seat would do...


[AA, Rick, Bert, feel free to double-check me on this, because I just spent the day removing, cutting, lowering and welding the brake pedal arm and reinstalling it, and it required a Robaxin, a Flexeril, 2 Indocin, 2 Percocet and a Dilaudid... I'm in great shape for 68, unfortunately I'm only 45 ]

One thing I noticed in the pic of the seats...WTH happened that a dude gets a hole in the center of the seat like that.

playa wrote:

...WTH happened that a dude gets a hole in the center of the seat like that.

Well, if you're wearing thin shorts and you forget to take the plug out...

Eldo wrote:

playa wrote:

...WTH happened that a dude gets a hole in the center of the seat like that.

Well, if you're wearing thin shorts and you forget to take the plug out...

I really HATE that
ran out the door to work because I was in a hurry and I totally forgot to take the plug out. At least the seat took most of the damage. Then I guess I finished it off with the trip home from white castle.

Another question here, can you actually remove the headrests from the front seats?

turtleman wrote:

Another question here, can you actually remove the headrests from the front seats?

Yes you can. Raise the headrest all the way and then use a stiff wire or large paper clip to press in the catches via the small holes on the front of each headrest-post guide.

In researching this question I found another alternative for replacing the upholstery. If one can believe the manual (because it doesn't have full photos) both the bottom and rear seat covers can be R&R'd without sewing skills... The bottom cover mainly has wire "hog rings" holding it to the underside of the frame, and the back cover has hog rings and a long retainer strip at the bottom that can be accessed when the back & bottom are separated.

You'd have to buy a $20 pair of hog-ring pliers, but if you found a seat with good leather but no heat or lumbar you could still transplant the upholstery. As before, if the donor was a passenger seat, the shoulder belt guide would be on the wrong side, but there would be no need to remount the seat switches...

Eldo wrote:

I've thought along these lines myself, because I'd like to swap the driver & passenger seats to even out the wear. The various issues are:

- The passenger seat didn't get heat or lumbar until '98.

- The seats themselves, with the exception of the cutouts & mounts for the switch panel and the shoulder belt guide, are interchangeable. And frankly, unless the driver is rather short, the shoulder belt loop is unimportant... The first thing I did when I bought my car was unscrew it and get the belt out of it, because A) I found it annoying, and B) it makes it harder to 'snap' the belt and activate the comfort feature, and I hate having a belt tugging on my chest all the time...

- The tracks are not interchangeable because they are mirror images of each other, matching the mirrored contours of the floor pan.

The heaters and lumbar motor are within the seats themselves, so with a little work to relocate the switch panel, a '98 or '99 passenger seat could be transferred to the driver's seat tracks, and the original switch hole would be out of sight against the console. Of course, if a car didn't have the heater option, and someone didn't care about the power lumbar adjustment, any year passenger seat would do...

I didn't get the impression that he was asking about swapping the drivers seat for the passenger seat and vise-versa. I thought he was just asking about using a 98 or 99 seat equipped with adjustable passenger lumbar support and Heat in his 97.
As was already mentioned above, you would have to look at the wiring diagrams for the 97 and 98 to see.
I would think the lumbar support would be pre-wired on your car as it was an option, But IDK for sure. It would be easy enough to wire using the later wiring diagram though.

Eldo wrote:

[because I just spent the day removing, cutting, lowering and welding the brake pedal arm and reinstalling it, and it required a Robaxin, a Flexeril, 2 Indocin, 2 Percocet and a Dilaudid... I'm in great shape for 68, unfortunately I'm only 45 ]

Other than all the necessary med's, how did the modification go.
Do you still have enough pedal travel without hitting the firewall or floor.?????

turtleman wrote:

OEM
Those pics are what I'm considering for replacements. It's too much money to just guess on though so I wanted to see if anyone would know if they are directly interchangable. Didn't some rivs have a heated passenger seat too? Mine doesn't

Just out of curiosity, what are the used replacement seats going to cost. They are not in perfect shape either. But I do realize they are hard to come by.
And as you know by some of the other responses, I think heated seats, drivers and passengers, were available from 95-97 as an option and standard on the 98-99.

Rickw wrote:

Other than all the necessary med's, how did the modification go.
Do you still have enough pedal travel without hitting the firewall or floor.?????

Yes, I believe so. I took 1-1/8" off the pedal height.
I'll let you know after I drive it again... if I can stop.

Trial by Fire.
I love it, good luck.

Or possibly Trial by Fire Engine...

Turtleman, I just looked up the GM Part Numbers for the seat tracks and the 97-99 have the same P/N's.
I don't have any data on the seats themselves but I think the seat adjuster (track) p/n's are encouraging.
Also, it only list's one P/N for the under seat wiring harness for all years.

Rickw wrote:

turtleman wrote:

OEM
Those pics are what I'm considering for replacements. It's too much money to just guess on though so I wanted to see if anyone would know if they are directly interchangable. Didn't some rivs have a heated passenger seat too? Mine doesn't

Just out of curiosity, what are the used replacement seats going to cost. They are not in perfect shape either. But I do realize they are hard to come by.
And as you know by some of the other responses, I think heated seats, drivers and passengers, were available from 95-97 as an option and standard on the 98-99.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/98-Buick-Riviera-Tan-Leather-Seat-Set-NICE-OEM-LKQ_W0QQitemZ390130953724QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5ad59dedfc

A lot
but that's actually less than morad to get the same thing and I'm trying to get them to find me some other interior pieces I'm looking for off that car to make it more justifyable. The only thing that isn't perfect on those from what I can see is the slight wear spot on the side of the seat which is no big deal especially in comparison to everything else I've seen.

Most of you have interiors that are in good shape so I guess spending a few hundred on seats seems silly but I'm a picky guy that bought a car with 150k on it and promised myself I'd fix the broken stuff. Trying to keep up with the bullshit is frustrating enough without having suitable replacement parts available. Stuff's getting old and breaking and I have nothing but expensive junk to fix it with, if that.

You might want to try finding an upholstery shop to "section" your seats.

What this means is they get leather to match your seat (this is way easier than it souned, if the shop whines about it find another one) and then take off hte seat cover, use a seam ripper to take out the bad section and use it as a pattern to cut out the leather for the replacement. Ties it up for a few days /- depending on how busy the shop is.

Best way to find one is probably to go to a place that sells a LOT of *used* cars (not necessarily a new car dealer) and ask them who they use to repair upholstery on cars they are putting on their "front line." If they have more than one name, take it.

I am not sure how it is wehre you are - but in Pittsburgh (where I moved from) for instance, around each concentration of car dealers (McKnight Road; Coraopolis; Monroeville for instance) there is at least one good upholstery shop and several good body shops. The pointer you get will lead to one or more of those. Also you could ask at those body shops.

My thinking is that if you are going to spend good money to get your riv straight, you should get great value for your good money. It might take a while to find someont who can do "sectioning" but you are going to be floored when you see the results. A good sectioner will make the seat upholstery look new (they will clean and condition the part they don't replace). I used a shop (Royal Auto) to repair seats in a Volvo I used to own (Volvo dealer referred me). Holy cow! it was amazing how well the repair went. I drove it several more years and then sold it. It was still in great shape.

Good luck

Albertj

I've considered getting them redone but that only takes care of the visual problems. I still have no lumbar in the drivers seat and the passenger will not tilt forward anymore - only backward (which I suspect may be fixable)

Overall though I don't mind spending a few bucks to get seats that are not only in better shape but also an upgrade in options from what I have and like Rick said, this stuff is only getting harder and harder to find.

I'm with you, Cody. Considering the prices of some of the mechanical/electrical parts, I'd say that the seats are totally justifiable...

It sucks that we always have to buy two, but if your passenger recliner is effed up, that actually makes sense for you. I don't know if you've been searching for a long time or not, but I might be tempted to wait for set with better driver's upholstery.

Large guys with jeans tend to eat up the leather, while a car from someone smaller who usually wears slacks/skirts can still be pristine when something happens to send the car to the wrecking yard...

I didn't think $300.00 for a pair of seats, in the color you need, was too much.
I don't know if you have to have them shipped or are they close enough for pick up, but if you can pick them up then it's a really good deal, I would say.
If I needed seats, I'd pay it gladly. Just try to buy all the motors and switches used and you'll pay at least that much.

save a ton of weight and get a set of corbeaus?

robotennis61 wrote:

save a ton of weight and get a set of corbeaus?

How much are they $$$$
And do you have a web site I can look at. I've thought about taking my seats to an upholsterer and having the seat bottom and bolster's done to hold me in the seat better.
Seem to slide around too much during turns and such.
Just hasn't been on the top of my list for where dollars need to be spent, but who knows could be this year.

www.corbeau.com
i plan on buying a GTS2 when possible. and then the passenger side sometime after. no power gizmo's there though. but i have sat in them and they are dynamite. really supportive