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The factory panel is easily removed with a panel popper, or simply a flat screwdriver. There is no need to remove the entire console. The factory switch is held in place in the panel wih a few clips surrounding it--you can use a flat screwdriver here, too.

You can use any number of tools to cut the factory switch panels. I used an air-powered die grinder with a cut-off wheel. You can also use metal-cutting shears, as seen in this picture.

What you see here is the half of the switch panel that I did not use. The first cut was made using the die-grinder, to get a smooth cut. The small piece to the right of the shears is being cut to use as a support on the rear of the new panel. Pics of this will follow. I HIGHLY suggest that you cut your panels to the RIGHT of center, that way you can sand down the excess to get a perfect fit.

After the panels are cut, you need to make many trips in and out of the car to check for fit. To trim/file the cut panels to the proper length we used a flat metal file which we mounted solidly and ran the plastic pieces over it (instead of holding the file in-hand and filing, which could leave imperfections). This allowed us to get super-flat edges. Here are the results before gluing.

Use whatever glue you feel appropriate. We used super glue between the cut edges, and glued that trimmed scrap piece (from the above shear pic) underneath for added support.

Underside after gluing, before addition of support panel.

Chances are, you are going to have some glue that has been squeezed out through the top of the panel. Not to worry. Let everything dry WELL--maybe overnight, in some cases. You don't want to crack your glue joint in the middle of finishing it. All I did to finish the panel was sand the top, using a medium-grit multi-purpose sand paper. I concentrated primarily on the joint, since that's where the glue slag was, and due to the fact that the pieces were just a hair off in eveness. After that, I had to figure out how to match the paint. A trip to the local Pep Boys provided some paint that was very close in color, but they were all metallic paints. So, I could get the color close, but it was speckly-shiney, and that wasn't going to work. Next I headed to the local hardware store (Home Depot), and picked up a can of flat primer gray, flat black, AND semi-gloss clear (actually, the can is labeled "Frosted Glass"). I sprayed the black and gray paints into a container and mixed periodically until I got a color that I thought was close. Using a paint brush, I applied the paint to all visible surfaces. As the paint was drying, I continued stipling the piece to add a texture to the center area where I had glued/sanded. After that dried, I applied the clear. Here is an important trick I was taught once: after you have a thin coat of the clear on the piece, pull your hand/spraycan about 18-24" away from the piece--then spray from there. This allows the particles of clear to dry before they reach the panel, which adds a texture very similar to OEM. Another alternative to mixing the paint this way is to go to an auto paint supply store and get some paint made to the exact interior color, and put into a spray can for you. At the time I did this, there was not an auto paint shop nearby, so I made do with what I had.

Voila--the fiished panel

O.K. That's done. The switch that comes with the heater kit has three positions: Hi, Low, and Off. There are three wires coming out of the back of it: blue, black, and pink. If you look at the switch, black is the common ground, the pink wire is on the side of the switch that is associated with the 'Low' position of the switch...and the blue wire is on the 'High' side of the switch. HOWEVER, there is an opposite relation to the wires, as I figured out later on. Read the instructions that came with the heater. It says that in the 'Low' position, the black and blue wires will be closed, and for the 'High' position, the black and pink wires will be closed. SO: Blue = Low, and Pink = High. Remember this. A quick glance at the factory switch shows you that there are 6 pins on the under side of it. Using my service manuals, which have a diagram of the switch, I was able to determine that there IS NOT a separate wire for 'High' and 'Low' on its output. One of the wires is blue, and becomes hot when you turn the switch on either 'High' OR 'Low', so it is determined elsewhere in the factory circuit whether to put the heater on high or low. This is very important to realize. The other wires to make note of include the brown wire, which is Positive Constant (+), and the Black wire, which is the Ground. There is another pink wire, which I could not determine a useful purpose (for my needs, anyway), and the last wire, which is used for light dimming. There is one other pin which isn't used, which is why I only listed 5 wires. The basic construction of the OEM switch is relatively simple. It is a rocker switch with a center-off position. If you look inside the switch, there is one piece of copper that is moved back and forth by the rocker itself, and this piece makes contact to various locations on a printed circuit to close certain circuits. This really difficult to explain, so please bare with me.

Sorry about the crappy resolution; my digital camera wasn't cooperating. As you can see, there are three LED's, one for High, Low, and the last for the symbol in the middle. There are four contact points on each of the four corners of the board. The upper right-hand contact is the only solid panel (which is in contact at all times), and is for the positive wire (brown in the factory harness). The other three contacts are each divided up into three separate pieces, one for high, low, and off, which is in the center. If you look REALLY close at the circuit board of the switch, you can see printed words of what they do, i.e.--LED high, or LED low should appear, etc.

Since there is only one output wire to determine high or low with the factory circuit, we cannot use that output, since we have two wires (for High and Low) for the new circuit. The switch in the pic is positioned how you would see it in the car ( I think). So when you turn the switch on 'High', the metal contact under the rocker is moved DOWN, connecting the bottoms of all four contacts. Here is a diagram of the switch's circuit board lay out.

Another View

The yellow circles indicate the LEDs, with the top being the 'High' LED. Since I can’t use any of the OEM wire locations, I needed a way to tell the new heater circuit that the ‘High’ position has been selected, and that the ‘Low’ position has been selected. When you use the factory heater, you notice that when you put the switch on ‘High’, the ‘High’ LED lights up, and vice-versa for the ‘Low’ position. Also, I needed a common ground that always made contact, regardless of switch position….Remember what I explained earlier?? The Positive contact on the circuit board is the only contact that is solid, and therefore in contact at all times.

Therefore, the OEM positive location has just become my common ground for the new circuit. You can solder the black wire (of the new heater's switch) somewhere along that trace's path, or to the corresonding pin on the under side of the switch. And what did I just mention about the LED’s? The only part of the original circuit that becomes active when you switch on the ‘High’ position is the ‘High’ LED. The only part of the original circuit that becomes active when the ‘Low’ position is selected is the ‘Low’ LED. As I mentioned before, the OEM blue wire becomes active when either one is selected, which will not work for our purposes. So, I soldered the Pink wire (‘High’), from the GP Store heater kit switch, to one of the contacts of the ‘High’ LED, and the Blue wire (‘Low’) from the GP Store heater kit switch, to the one of the contacts on the ‘Low’ LED. No other wires needed to be soldered. You can solder these wires either on top or on the bottom of the circuit board…just make sure you pay attention to the fact that there is a piece of metal that slides on top of the four contacts to make the connection…place your wires accordingly.

I moved the blue wire to the surface--same contact, though.

The ground. Normally, this is where the positive constant (brown) wire goes. Notice I shaved the plastic from around the wire tabs.

Now, if you look at the picture, you’ll notice that I actually had the blue and pink wires backwards—this is why I told you earlier to remember the use of each wire. After I put everything together, putting the switch on ‘Low’ would make the seat heater turn on ‘High’, and vice versa. Instead of re-soldering, I just cut the wires down the line and made the switch.

Now, you can put the switch back together. You’ll have to cut some recesses for your new wires, though. If you are wondering, I did not tap into any of the wires of the existing driver’s switch for anything…power, ground, or dimmer. The way I showed you makes the OEM switch work just as the switch that came with the kit. Unfortunately, the LED’s will NOT work with this set up.

Assembled switch

This part of the install was somewhat easier than the rest. To remove the seat, there are two large bolts at the rear of the tracks. You can use a couple of different tools for these, but I used a socket. After those are out, undo the seatbelt bolt at the base of the seat (I’m not sure if Coupes are the same as Sedans in this aspect). Recline the seat back, and lift the entire seat up and tilt it forward. Then lift the seat up and back while in this position—this unhooks the front tabs from the floorboard.

If you turn the seat over, you can easily see how the leather cover for the bottom is held on. At the edges of the fabric, a plastic J-shaped piece has been sewn on, which snaps over metal rods that run the length of the front and sides. Releasing the front and side is not a problem, just takes a little muscle. The side that faces the door is another story. There is a plastic trim piece that covers this edge, as well as the recline handle. If you look at the front and back of the plastic piece (on the edges facing the windshield and the rear), you’ll see a screw on each side, which need to be pulled out. The recline handle is held on by a horseshoe-type clip, similar to the clips used the ‘60s and ‘70s GM vehicles to hold door handles and window cranks on. However, it’s in too cramped of a location to use a panel-popping tool to get to it. I used a screwdriver and pushed it out. It bent the clip a little (which is just made of spring-wire), but I was able to bend it back. You’ll probably lose the clip, but don’t worry, you’ll discover it when you get the panel off. The recline handle should now just slide off. There are teeth on the handle mount that you’ll notice when you pull it off. Don’t worry about putting it back on exactly as it came off, because there is actually a key way that will guide it back on.

View of the edge-sewn plastic J-clip. Same concept on all sides

Screwdriver pointing to clip location for recline handle

Now, all that is left for this panel are two clips that are a SOB to get off. Bring out that trusty long screwdriver, and start prying. Heed my words when I say that these are tough—they are!! They are kind of like the clips that hold the dash cover on, but worse. You can get to the back side of the clip that is front-most on the seat. Here, you can use a pair of pliers to help squeeze the clip out. You just have to pry like heck to get the rear clip out. If you bend them, just use a pair of pliers to straighten them out. Once you've got the panel off, proceed to remove the leather.

Here is an inside view of the panel. You can see the two screw holes on either end, big hole in the center for the recline handle, and the two clips mentioned above.

The seam for the seat back is directly under the place where the seat back and seat bottom meet. It’s almost impossible to undo the fabric while it is attached to the bottom. There are two giant bolts on either side of the back that hold it in place to the seat bottom. Undo these, and you can lay the seat completely flat back. The seat back return springs should not give you any difficulties. This seam is a little more complicated. Again, they used J-shaped pieces, and inter-locked the front and back pieces of fabric together. It’s not that bad once you figure out what I mean.

Finger pointing to one of two bolts holding seat back on

Peeling the leather/fabric back is not a big deal, but you need to pay attention to the super heavy-duty velcro in the seams of the seat. You need to work it back with one hand on the half of the velcro that is attached to the foam, and the other hand on the fabric, pulling. This stuff has enough strength to separate itself from the foam, which would really make for a bad day.

View of velcro in seam

The install instructions on the GP Store site showed the installer cutting the elements to fit within the seat. I really didn’t want to do that. If you look at the pics below, you can see how I arranged them to fit within the velcro seams, without having to cut the elements. After you get them where you want them, peel the backing off of the adhesive, and stick ‘em down.

Seat bottom and element.

View up into seat back (from seat bottom), and element. The wire will follow the velcro seam down the right side, along the dark corner where the dark line is, directly below the bottom right corner of the element

Decide where you’d like to run the wires within the seat before you replace the fabric. Keep in mind that the plugs for the elements need to end up close to each other because the harness provided with the kit has wired the two plugs closely. Replace the fabric, using a little tension, placing pressure on the velcro. Reattach the clips on the under sides of both the bottom and the back. Re-bolt the seat back to the seat bottom. This takes a little fishing to get the bolts/holes to line up, but is not that bad.

Now you have to put that plastic piece back on. Go ahead and snap the two clips into place, then replace the two screws. Put the wire clip onto the recline handle as is would be if it were already installed. Line up the key way, and slide the handle back into place on the seat. You should hear/feel the clip pop back into place. If not, try again. If you bent the clip while removing it, then you need to make sure that you re-bent it back tight enough to hold the handle in place. It took a few attempts for me to get the clip snug enough. You can either reinstall the seat now, or you can wait until you have the rest of the wiring done.

View of reassembled seat, and the two elements' plugs. This is the side of the seat that abutts the console

Now you have to wire the control module. There are three wires that you need to connect: a ground, a positive constant, and a positive switched. I just grounded the box at one of the seat bolts at the rear of the seat, since the box is going to be under there, anyway. For positive constant, I ran the wire through the firewall to the auxiliary power post, not forgetting to use the fuse provided in the kit. The fused lead that is provided includes a fuse tap, which I cut off and used for the positive switched wire. For positive switched, I also ran that wire through the firewall to the fuse block. Using the fuse tap, I tapped into fuse number 21 (please forgive me if I am wrong). To determine this fuse, I used a tester light, and touched various fuses while someone turn the car’s ignition off and on, without starting. I know that tester lights are somewhat defunct in this day of digital multi-meters(DMM), but that is all I had at the time. You should use a DMM for more than accuracy reasons, but also for safety reasons. If you are installing a security alarm/remote starter/etc., devices such as a test light or even a ‘logic probe’ can interfere with a circuit enough to cause harm—i.e., deploy your airbag, if you are not careful. DMM’s do not interfere with any circuit, and are air bag safe. You will need to run your wires under the edge of the console on the passenger’s side, so that everything can tuck neatly under the passenger’s seat.

View of positive constant and positive switched. Should have used flex loom for protection. Ignore the 1/0 gauge wire

Switched fuse location. The wire is red because I stole the fuse tap from the positive constant. The fuse that was tapped was the 15 amp blue fuse, between the two relays. This is a view from the front of the car, with the engine to the right

The new switch that you made will not pop directly into the new panel that you just made, without a few modifications to the switch clips on the back of the panel. There is a key way which needs to be trimmed off, and a little portion of one of the clips may have to be trimmed to make room for your wires. All of this should be obvious once you get there.

And there you have it! Plug all of the heater kit’s plugs together, and see if it works. I apologize if this is too long, but I wanted to describe what I did to the best of my abilities. Good luck, and feel free to email me with any questions.