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ELR Seats for the Volt -

7K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  saltsman 
#1 ·
I'd wondered since introduction what are ELR seats going to be like? how's power adjustment? Same support? Other differences? And - Can I put ELR seats in my Chevy Volt?

To answer that last question first, no, not easy at all.
-Cadillac Parts said seats aren't discreetly sold, but are lots of different part numbers
-The part numbers don't yet exist, before the eyes of dealerships, and may not until a call for those parts is made
(ie they have to break, first)
-I'm not worried about bringing a 12 volt supply to the seat, but it is another hurdle, as would be any difference in airbags, or sensors.

The ELR seats offer good and bad. Having sat in one, here are a couple of my own opinions:
Good
-Lower bench offers a +1 inch extension
-Power changes the rake significantly, for taller drivers wanting thigh support

Bad
-They don't seem to go as low as the stock seats. Could be because of needed room for motors, etc
-The cushions, and spacing of lateral supports are almost identicle to the Volt. Not bad, but not much softer, IMO.

I'm sure others can add much to these several observations, and it's all subjective afterall. In my case, I really wanted more bench rake (the front part higher, rear part same) than the Volt offers. I'm 6', w/tall inseam, and the weight doesn't distribute despite the small increase in rake as Volt seats go down. The solution looks like it is going to be welding pieces of angle iron to the two front mount points for the seats, at the rails of each side. The point being to get a new front hole, about ~1in higher. Most check-out, when welding comes up, so I'll stop there.
 
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#5 · (Edited)
Well, "only adding metal, no cutting" was a noble idea, anyway. I added metal and cut metal, to raise the front of the bench 5/8", at its lowest setting, and ended up with 7/8". For anyone doing this, it's "fabrication" and that means trial and error, with heavy metal shaping and welding. Tools are 4" grinder/cutting wheels, Mig welder, drill press and the correct .55" drill bit. The job is involved and plays around with safety. You'll also need some .17-.21" flat steel stock. That said, here are some pointers.

-Manual Volt seats (they all are) combine the raise/lower function with bench rake, or the ability to tilt what you are sitting on, backward.
-Mechanically, there are four places that pivot, allowing one given height and rake, as a seat goes down. This is important and tricky, for later.
-To get desired front lift, first measure height from the rails to the bench sewing seam. This should be 6 1/8", at the low setting.
-Remove both front Torx bolts, disconnecting the seat front from the rails, and shim up to desired height. I was happy at 6 3/4", for a 5/8" goal, after getting in and out a few times.
-Now, how to raise the seat? I didn't attempt to permanently shim the front of the rails upward, nor did I do what I first thought might work which was to add metal to the rail, above the existing hole.
-If you look under the front seat, you'll notice the mount that is attached to the seat is actually a bracket with two pivot points. The front fixed rail mount goes 4.5" up to a fixed point attached to the seat. When disconnected, the whole piece swings an arc of that 4.5" radius.
-This is important to know for the next part, because you can't just make a hole center 5/8" below an existing .55" wide hole. There would be no room for the bolt flange, as they'd overlap, and there's another ~half inch of steel surrounding the original hole. These things make not raising the seat too much a problem.
-SAFETY WARNING - The metal surrounding this hole is what keeps your seat from "dumptrucking" you backward, in the event of a rear end collision, which is almost reason enough not to post what I am. Since the bench front would raise too much to leave it alone, and I wanted to keep the option of going back to this original hole, I did the following and, now having made this disclaimer, will continue.
-If you want only a half inch, or an inch, you are still apt to be best off cutting away underneath the existing hole. You want a flat landing for the bolt flange, whose diameter dictates proximity to the original hole.
-Tricky part. Because of the way the seat works, effectively shortening the 4.5" distance of the arm is something that enables you to get the hole further away from the original hole. If you look from outside the driver's door, locate the spot you'd want the new hole, and then keep going further down and rearward at a ratio that is 1:1 (down/rearward), or 1:1.5, to locate a clean spot for a new hole that will go into fresh metal stock. This trick keeps the holes from overlapping, and can produce the net height change you're after. I ended up overshooting by 1/4", which is why I'm suggesting a ratio of 1, to 1.5, might be better than 1, to 1. (I'm still much happier at 7", than the old 6 1/8" down to the rails).
-The rest is combat. Take the seat out:
-Dissconnect battery, in back. Disconnect seat buckle quick connector, disconnect the large floor mounted (yellow) plug underneath carpet square flap, disconnect rear outside rail connector by peeling back sheath, and pulling up small red tab before pulling off. You don't need to unplug most of the seat mounted connectors. Just the fat yellow one under the interior carpeting flap. You may cut some retainer straps and replace with tie-straps
-Remove seat, carefully
-place on bench, cut enough of the surrounding metal of the swing arm structure so that a "good weld" is possible for a new piece of ~.2" stock, underneath the existing hole. I left only about an 1/8" of the original metal surrounding the underside of the existing hole.
-Trace and shape a new piece to go under the original. Cut it out, and pre-drill the hole (nice if you have a drill press, here)
-clamp the new piece (maybe 3" long, by 1" wide), to the bottom of the arm you butchered with your angle grinder
-In my case, I had 240v MIG, ahem, that uses the same current you might already have in your garage for your Volt. Follow welding rules, drape non-flamables over your seat and tack the new metal fast, so that you, or the next guy, don't get dumptrucked in the future.
-Reassembly is the reverse of removal. You may find it easier to first thread all 4 bolts, before tightening.

Pre-cautions:
-Buy a 9/16 bit, don't "dremmel" it.
-These bolts are meant to allow freedom for arm movement, but you don't want their holes over-sized and you don't want to use metal stock exceeding the width of the non-threaded portion of the bolt shaft (~.2")
-Do not reconnect battery until all connections are restored, and do not turn the key with the seat out, as this often sets codes off that your dealer may have to reset.
-If you don't exactly match the thickness of the car's metal arm, aim to have the flush side be the one contacting the seat rails.
-Blue Loctite should be restored on the threads of these bolts, to keep them from backing out.

I've built my own safety harness bars, for the track, and wasn't too concerned about doing this. It is possible, and not even a days work if you have the tools. The thigh support makes a big difference.
 
#6 ·
I'm okay with the Volt seats except I'd like the driver side to be 6-way power. I considered maybe getting a Cruze power seat and looking at swapping out just the lower innards with the rails on the Volt seat. Since you've been in there with all of this, do you think it's possible to accomplish Cruze power mechanicals with Volt seat frames? How much would or would not be a bolt-on project?
 
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