Pictures of the 12-way seats in my car. The 6-ways look almost identical.
Locating Seats | Installing 6-way Seats | Installing 12-way Seats
Locating Seats | Installing 6-way Seats | Installing 12-way Seats
Background Information: It was at the 1997 International Auto Show in Detroit that I got my first taste of the ultimate in GM production bucket seats. While the Bonny seats are still technically 45/45 split bench seats like those in the stock Impala, they are more luxurious and at the same time much more supportive. From that day, it became my quest to see if I could adapt a set of these to my 96 Impala SS. I started by making several trips and phone calls to the local Poncho dealer. In my research, I found that the '93-95 Bonneville SSE and SSEi offered virtually identical seats in leather, with gray or beige being the only color options. The gray leather for these 3 years is a perfect match to the Imapla SS interior. In 1996 and subsequent years, the light gray option was replaced by a medium gray. There are actually two option codes for these seats, the AS6 seats are a 6 way design and like our Impala's came with either power driver and manual passenger or power on both sides. The top of the line seats (so-called 12-way) are option code AL7 and include power recline, 3 different power lumbar supports and power adjustable side bolsters in addition to the standard positioning functions. Also, the headrest on the AL7 seats tilts manually, whereas the AS6 headrests do not tilt at all. I have installed both types.
Acknowledgements: Since I first reported on this mod in May of 1997, a number of others have done the same. I have to thank Scott Knight for contributing most of the digital images in the following installation instructions, that Mavica rules. Also thanks a million to Mike Mullin for turning me on to the sources for both sets of AL7 seats I bought. Mike currently has my AS6 seats in his car. I met Troy Dukes at The Gathering and he has installed 12-ways in his 9C1. Here is a link to his write-up . Larry Law, Dave Zeckhausen and Mitch Posner have all done this mod too. Click here to read Dave Zechhausens comments on his install. David Wambolt has even installed the rear Bonny seats in his 9C1 and has an excellent write-up at his web site. Allan Saltman also provided some very helpful feed back that has been incorporated into this site. Thanks to all of these folks have contributed to the following installation details. Enjoy!
I would appreciate your comments on this page! -Mike Reily