1992 SSEi
158,000 miles (and never ran so good!!! )

My drivers seat is torn in two places... which I notice is a common problem for a seat this old. I'm having trouble locating a gray AL7 leather front seat to replace the drivers seat. Are the driver and passenger seats interchangable (ie: swap in a good passenger seat to replace the torn drivers seat)? I'm thinking the mounting points and/or electrical connections might be an issue?

Please advise.

Thanks and Happy New Years!

I know for my 92 SSE they are! I'm looking for a frount seat as well... What I'm thinking is looking in a junk yard... Also people part there cars all the time... you might want to look on the sale and trade forums... Good Luck!

From my experimenting, the seat as a whole is not easily interchangable but the seat covers are to some extent. The backs are fully interchangable but the bottoms are slightly different. The fabric loop that holds the seatbelt close to the seat will now be on the other side. This means that you will see the loop when you open your dirver'* door and the seatbelt will hang out a little more.

As far as the electricals I can't say for certain. The air pump is under the passenger'* seat and the seat control module is under the driver'*. This alone makes for different electrical connections. Obviously you would have to remove the pump (I need one so if you decide to do the swap, I'll buy it) and install the seat module from the torn one. I don't know for sure if the connector going to the three motors is the right gender and pin-out. I'll research this a little further for you. To overcome the electrical issue though, you can remove the seat from the tracks. The air lines should be the same in either seat. There are only 4 bolts that fasten the seat to the tracks. Then you will only have to deal with the seatbelt loop thing. It'* not really bad. It should look OK.

Thanks Randman. I can see from your 'cardomain' site that you've done some extensive interior work on your '93 SSEi (and did a very nice job I might add!). This gave me pause with a few questions to boot...

Seat covers? Are you saying I might be able to change the back seat cover instead of the whole seat? How is that accomplished? The back of my seat is shot (in the lumbar area closest to the door - a typical spot for wear in most of the seats I've seen lately) but the bottom is in great shape ( )

What about swapping the WHOLE seat back (headrest and all) instead of just the seat cover? Do you think I'd be able to change the seat back with a good one... any issues here?

I'm not clear on what you mean by the 'fabric loop'. All I can see that would be an issue in replacing the whole seat (other that what you've described is UNDER the seat - a whole different issue than what I'm getting at here...) is the seat belt mechanism itself would be on the wrong side of the seat. I can't imagine that would be a show stopper to change out would it?

These are the questions I have so far... You're welcome to any extra parts I may have if I go through with this as you were the first to ask!

Thanks again...

yes you cna take the seat cover off nad just change that if you so desire OR you can change the entire seat back. If your bottom seat cover is sitll in good contition, i would reccommend just to change out seat covers.

Excellent. Just what I want to hear... do I have to remove the seat to change out the seat back or can it be done with the seat in place?

I believe that you can take the seat covers off with the seat intact

I hope you like pictures.

This is the beginning of seat back cover removal. I never had it fully off but there are plastic strips that lock it together some of which you can see. The vertical black srtips along the bolster pads. Also, the fabric loop can be seen hugging the seat belt latch to the side of the seat. Once you remove the headrest and the locking strips, the covers come off like removing a straight jacket. There is some hook & loop fasteners too.


The whole seatback can be removed but this looks like a lot of work to me. The bottom cover would have to be partially removed and I don't like the looks of the retaining clips:


Here'* a couple more shots of the locking strips:




This is not the AL7 seat cover but it looks similar when removed:

Thanks again Randman, you really came through for me. The pictures are great. Getting the seat cover off doesn't look like *too* much work and still might be easier than trying to replace the entire seat back. However, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge, so if the seat back can be removed, it will be! I should be able to get whatever clips I need from the local stealership if any of them break in the process.

I see now what you mean by the seat belt loop. Must be easier to see with the seat removed...

Thanks again to everyone who'* posted so far. This club is great and is THE main reason I'm considering buying a new Bonneville GXP the next time around!