Power seat controll swap - into Town Car seats

[85crownHPP]

How to turn a door panel controlled power seat into a seat controlled power seat

step 1 : score town car seats



step 2 : install seat mount swtich bracket (to be continued...)

[Grand Marquis GT]

[boXman]

I found some nice red leather seats in a TC, at Harry's in Hazleton.

[85crownHPP]

this bracket was riveted in the seat frame originally, but I put it on the town car frame with a nut & bolt in one hole and a zip tie in the other(clearance reasons).
I also cut out a chunk of foam that looked in the way of the wire harness connector.




Looks like the towncar seat recline lever is closer to the front than in my style seat... they overlap a little but they clear.



Installation pending dry weekend daytime

[grandpaslincoln]

[gadget73]

Good deal. You pull those switches out of your Vic seats or did you have them laying around already?

[85crownHPP]

I pulled the bracket and switch from a vic and the yard, so I wouldnt be without mine while I play plus - if my current seats find a new home, the switch will go with them
Im 95% sure that type are all the same

[gadget73]

Probably right. I don't see why they would change around a whole bunch. If you want to get fancy, you could drop in a passenger side motor and make them both shagadelic power. Yeah baby!


I want pics of those seats installed. They're purdy.

[Archangel]

If you want to get fancy, you could drop in a passenger side motor and make them both shagadelic power. Yeah baby!

Pete, you MUST deffinitely do that - a car with one power seat only is kinda crippled. That's how my Townie came, tool care of it in less than an hour with less than $15 of junkyard parts. I also gave the seat-track fronts a 2" lift (17x2x2" bars + longer bolts), so now at base angle (no front or rear tilt) the seats are like the lazyboy recliners in front of the TV at home

[85crownHPP]

Pete, you MUST definitely do that.. took care of it in less than an hour with less than $15 of junkyard parts.

what donor parts did you use? Will only a passenger seat control style track work? or will a driver side work on the right?
I dont know if my local yard will have boxes with side controlled seats anyway... they were crushing things last time I was there.


Oh, and if I raise the seats any I think id hit my head on the headliner. Thats a good idea though, I bet they feel like captains chains in a van

[Archangel]

I used the motorizd tracks assembly and the door switches assembly from a Signature Series TC, don't know if a driver's side track will work, but for your side mounted controls I bet you can use a river's side assembly, the plugs on my TC looked exactly the same for left and right. BUT, does your car have the harness for the passanger power seat? In mine wiring was already there (so it was just plug and play), but that's cause SS and Cartier Townies have factory dual power seats, is it the same with the CVs and the GMs?

[85crownHPP]

I dont know if mine is wired for power under the passenger seat - but I recon that could be remedied
It definitely doesn't have any wiring for any switches, which makes finding the seat mount donor so crucial.

[gadget73]

I think the passenger and driver seat motors are the same. Least they're really similar looking.

[85crownHPP]

Got them all installed today, and they are great!
As far as I can see, the left and right seat tracks look symmetrical and interchangeable.

The seat control setup is completely stand alone, and as seen here (using crown vic/grand marq tracks and switches) only needs power and ground to operate.
I still don't know if the towncar tracks/motors will plug into this type of seat control switch, but I hope to find out soon.



installed pics are in my readers rides thread

[Archangel]

The big brown plug looks exactly like the ones on my TC. I have the smaller grey plug too, it is for a pair of lights that bolt under the seat's metal frame - you can get those from a TC too, look for a Signature Series or a Cartier donor.