Thread: Cadillac CTS Seats

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Anybody installed a set of Cadillac CTS power seats in their rod? Looking for suggestions, and or advice, on mounting, air bags and operation.

CTS SEATS.jpg

Gator,
I haven't done those, but they should mount through the floor with some reinforcement underneath to prevent tear out in a collision. Seat belts should be mounted to the same structure as the seat, i.e. if you tie the belts to the frame then you want the seats to be structurally tied to the frame, too. Doing otherwise can trap you between the seat and the belt if things start coming apart, and the belt has guillotine action. If it were mine, I would be sure that any air bag circuit is (edit) disabled, or even better that the air bags were removed. With no inertia switch or triggering circuitry you don't want any type of short or unintended contact to the wiring to trigger the bags.

My $0.02 after lots of thought & study when mounting seats & belts in a glass car.

Edit - disregard comments about belts & seats mounting. Your picture did not come up earlier, but now that it does they solve that problem by integrating the lap and shoulder belts into the seat, which is ultimate safety.

you can set off the bags just with a test light be very carefull they can hurt as well as save life have not played with any that had bags in them last set was late 90s caddy

NO NO NO, DO NOT have an open connector on the air bag! Find a real shop manual that tells you how to install a shorting plug across the terminals.....OPEN TERMINALS can set off the bag if static situation occurs (such as wiping across the connector). NEVER leave the bag side of the connector open....you can kill someone. IF you cannot find a real shop manual, go to the dealership and ask them how to safely handle a bag. PLEASE!

Originally Posted by robot

NO NO NO, DO NOT have an open connector on the air bag! Find a real shop manual that tells you how to install a shorting plug across the terminals.....OPEN TERMINALS can set off the bag if static situation occurs (such as wiping across the connector). NEVER leave the bag side of the connector open....you can kill someone. IF you cannot find a real shop manual, go to the dealership and ask them how to safely handle a bag. PLEASE!

when air bags first came out in large numbers of cars i was in a ICAR class on how to fix SMC body s mostly the van gm had . had one of the guys telling use about techs sending streering colums threw the roof s of shops and one guy getting both legs busted when he had is legs up on the drives set under the dash with a test light . yes they can hurt and can kill. i been out of the body business for 15 years i will not even get close to any thing with a bag. at one time i did work on cars with them every day. even with a book in front of me i would not fool with them seats . find a GM tech and pay him to make them safe . your not thinking of trying to make the bags in operational shape? hope not .i would not want them bags in anyway in a glass car or older steel car. the bags are made to work off the gm car cage/door frames /glass . platform.not a glass car. there was a case were somone did not put a windshield in right.the car was hit bags went off glass failed came out when a dash bag went off

Originally Posted by robot

NO NO NO, DO NOT have an open connector on the air bag! Find a real shop manual that tells you how to install a shorting plug across the terminals.....OPEN TERMINALS can set off the bag if static situation occurs (such as wiping across the connector). NEVER leave the bag side of the connector open....you can kill someone. IF you cannot find a real shop manual, go to the dealership and ask them how to safely handle a bag. PLEASE!

REAL SHOP MANUAL, printed by the automobile manufacturer cannot be over-emphasized. Those fosdick aftermarket manuals are not worth the paper they're printed on.

This is the company I've used for decades, for real, genuine factory shop manuals.....
Faxon | Shop Manuals for Car & Truck Owners | DIY Service, Repair or Maintenance


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Thanks everybody. A friend of mine in Maryland just told me that he has a brother that is a Cadillac tech in Vermont. Got a call into him. I do appreciate the replies.

Gator, I've liked the idea of the "integrated harness" seats for our streetrod/hotrods, etc for a long time but most of them have been so freakin' huge that it looks kinda like stuffing one of those 9' over-stuffed, dual recliner couches into an 8'x10' living room!!!

But since Cadillac and others have been streamlining their cars for sport & performance, it appears they've also made the seats into a more suitable size for such an adaptation.

The '02 and newer BMW 3-series convertibles also have an integrated shoulder harness that doesn't look bad. I've been looking for a deal on those for my '37 sedan.

Keep us posted on the Caddy seats and post up some more pics if you're going to use them.

Originally Posted by randyr

Gator, I've liked the idea of the "integrated harness" seats for our streetrod/hotrods, etc for a long time but most of them have been so freakin' huge that it looks kinda like stuffing one of those 9' over-stuffed, dual recliner couches into an 8'x10' living room!!!

But since Cadillac and others have been streamlining their cars for sport & performance, it appears they've also made the seats into a more suitable size for such an adaptation.

The '02 and newer BMW 3-series convertibles also have an integrated shoulder harness that doesn't look bad. I've been looking for a deal on those for my '37 sedan.

Keep us posted on the Caddy seats and post up some more pics if you're going to use them.

Yea, since my car is a 4 door sedan these seats will fit very nicely. I'll be building a console to run into the back seat area also. At the Daytona Turkey Run I saw a set in a 50 Hudson Hornet and they looked great. I'll post up what I come up with as far as the wiring and air bags.

Originally Posted by TerpnGator

Yea, since my car is a 4 door sedan these seats will fit very nicely. I'll be building a console to run into the back seat area also. At the Daytona Turkey Run I saw a set in a 50 Hudson Hornet and they looked great. I'll post up what I come up with as far as the wiring and air bags.

Those will be great in a 4 door. My '37 is a 2 door sedan so back seat access would be extremely limited if the seat back doesn't fold forward. I fabbed a '04 GTO seat for the rear. It's pretty comfy. If I find front seats with really nice leather & the right color, I'll just cover the rear seats to match and cut down on some interior costs....
seatswbelts7_1.JPG

WOW!! Those seats look GREAT in there! Could you give me the side to side measurements? I might have to steal that mod for my 39.

Originally Posted by TerpnGator

WOW!! Those seats look GREAT in there! Could you give me the side to side measurements? I might have to steal that mod for my 39.

Hey, thanks! They're right at 48-49" wide.

Thanks Randy. Where they difficult to find?

Originally Posted by TerpnGator

Thanks Randy. Where they difficult to find?

I found mine on Craigslist in SoCal. I have also seen them on ebay sometimes