I'm getting ready to pull a pair of power seats out of a fairly new Lincoln or Caddy from the junk yard ... but before I do, I thought I fish for any advice I can get from those of you who have done this before.

How many wires should I expect? Is there just one wire going to them for power, or are there more? Also, should I look for separate wires/sources to each seat?

Any tricks to removing the plastic trim pieces that go around the bottoms?

Any and all tips are greatly appreciated!

I saw two seats from a new Lincoln that would REALLY have done the trick! -- gorgeous leather work, nice power adjustment features, great color, and didn't even look used -- but I passed on them because it was a 4 door and the seats didn't fold forward. So, I'm just going to the yard once a week and checking on new wrecks until I find what I'm looking for. At $45 per seat, this is gonna be one great addition to my truck's interior!

Anyway, thanks in advance!

Eager Alan
54 Chevy Pickup

Alan,
Be sure and get the Switches that match the seats, some are mounted on the seat and some are on the door panel. I like the controls on the seat as then you usually only have a couple of wires to hook up. My 2 cents worth.

Earl

Thanks, Earl

The seats I was lookin' at had the controls on 'em. A "couple of wires," eh? I can't imagine there being more than a positive and a ground wire ... right?

Alan
54 Chevy Pickup

Alan
I used ones out of a mercury Topaz in the 36 and that is all they had. By the way there is another thread, I think it is in the interior section with a question about 5 inch gauges and I thought you might be able to help him.

Earl

I just mounted a set of mid-sized '80s Olds 60/40 bench seats in my '53 truck. Had to make a little stand of 1 1/4" square tubing but no big deal. I looked for a long time but finally got exactly what I wanted; gray plastic trim, from a 2-dr so they tilted forward, controls on the seat. The ones I got are perfect. In fact the upholstery is so good I may be able to reuse it. The factory covers unzip so I'll wash them and see how they look. Very clean to start with. Only two wires - black ground and orange power. I hooked mine up to my battery charger and works great! Only fault I found is the driver's forward drive won't go without some coaxing so I probably need to replace that. Haven't investigated what is involved but can't be too difficult.

Hey, Earl
I caught the other thread ... thanks.

Hey Willys36
I'm gonna have to build stands for the seats I get, too ... not being a welder, I thought I'd make 'em out of hard wood and make drawers under each seat for stuff while I'm at it. I know what you mean about waiting and getting what you want - man, some of those Lincoln and Caddy seats are REALLY top-shelf!!! And the ones I saw were clean as a whistle, too! I figure what ever color I get, I'll match in the interior either as the main color or the accent color (I'm planning on 2 colors when I do the interior panels, handles, etc.).

I'm GLAD to hear there are just 2 wires -- I've got wires/fuses from the EZ-Wire kit (power windows, for one) that I'll be applying to the seats. Man, I can't wait! The seat in my truck now is so ridiculously low I'm sitting on a book AND a pillow and it SUCKS!!


Alan
54 Chevy Pickup

For safety sake I recommend you make the stand out of steel, bolted to the floor. You can still have drawers in it. Mine is so low there is no room for drawers which may be what you find too. I'll post pictures of mine tonight. It is simple enough to make you could cut all the parts of tubing and have them welded at your local blacksmith's shop.

Thanks, bro' ... I will follow your advice. I thought I might be off track with that idea ... now I'm sure of it.

I hope the new seats are taller than the bench seat I now have -- it's horribly low for a pickup -- I need another 5-6 inches in height, man!

I'll look forward to seeing your pics. What do I use for tubing? Is it something I might find at Home Depot?

Alan
54 Chevy Pickup

Home Depot may have something, I usually go to the local metal shop it is normally quite a bit cheaper. I would use either square or retangular tubing. FYI I am using buckets out of a late 80s chevy pickup (non power) and had to cut the stock mounting bases down.

Here's the mount I made. Welded the heads of the bolts to the frame to make it easier to screw the nuts on. As you can see, there isn't a lot of room for a drawer - this is all the height I needed to get the seat in perfect position. Put on all the plastic doo-dads, an upholstered panel or two and it will look spiffy!

THANKS, guys. The seat I have has no frame like that under it ... just some blocks of rectangular tubing ... and up front only.

Thanks for the pics, Willys36! I can see how the frame will get me UP there, too! How tall are you, man? I'm only 5' 7" ... the PO was 6' 3" (thus the LOW seat, I believe).

Alan
54 Chevy Pickup

6'3".

Willys36 : This just came up on another thread, so I thought I'd ask you here ... do we need a relay for this application -- should I look for a relay when I take the seats from the donor car??

Alan
54 Chevy Pickup

Nah. Relays are needed when you have a high current draw device that would overload a stock switch. The expensive and hard to reach dash switch then works with the few milliamps needed to power the relay's exciting coil and the contacts on the easy to reach, relatively inexpensive relay handle the heavy duty current going to the end user. Power seat motors are relatively small and direct wired to the switches if the switches are on the seat. A relay on a seat like mine would serve no purpose 'cause it would be in the circuit B4 the switch it is supposed to protect. Be judicious with the use of relays; only use them where absolutely necessary. After all, they cost money and they add another place in your system where things can fail. Also they MUST go in the circuit between the actuatign switch and the end device or they serve no purpose except to cause maintenance headaches.

VERY cool -- thanks, bro'!

Alan
54 Chevy Pickup