My brother and I are finally making good headway on the 29 roadster project. the car will never have a top or heater in it as long as I own the car, and since we live in Alaska ( no the car will not be driven in late fall, winter, or early spring) there are some days that may be a bit chilly, so we are considering seat warmers. Has anyone here installed any heated seat kits in their cars, and if so what did you use, how did you like them? any info on your experience good, or bad , and ease of installation would be appreciated . Any particular kit better than others? Thanks for any information. Jim, Palmer, Alaska
I wish I had good info. I have used seats with oem heaters with good results. Wise Guys Seating has some that might be better than the ebay and amazon specials. Sorry I'm not more helpful.
wfo guy, thanks for the input. I am aware of some offered by summit racing, but have not researched it to much further so far. I thought I would try here for some information
chevy57dude, Do these have a " High and Lo " position on the switch? Can you control the back section separately from the bottom? Just curious, my only experience with heated seats is with my Chevy Silverado where the work independently. Thanks for your input. Would you know the part #, I can not seem to get them to come up on the Speedway on-line catalog --- Jim
chevy57dude, thanks for checking, I thought maybe I was going loopy. I checked the on-line site and my latest catalog, and came up with nothing. Thanks for checking.--- Jim
This thread is another example that can be summed up by " too cheap is too cheap". An example of this is Autoloc products. Many items, variable quality. If you are picky and have high expectations, avoid, period. Most oem units last a few years and are probably spec-ed to a higher standard than any of the universal units. Keep looking until you see something that can be verified as good quality. It's simple to install when doing the seats but a real pain to redo if they fail in short order. I try to be real careful on components that aren't easily replaceable.
wfo guy, thanks for the input. I am still searching trying to find what all may be available. I am in no rush to buy just trying to gather up components, and ideas as to what will and what will not work. Thank You.--- Jim
Have you considered boneyard parts? Rob some out of a late model/low mileage vehicle. Quality should be better than some add on units. Use your tape measure. Get the switches from the same vehicle. my cents. .bjb
Jokester, there are not many wrecking/salvage yards left in Alaska, and even fewer that will let you roam the yard and look to see what may or not work. most everything is parted out by the yard operators and stored inside. inventory is computerized. you go inside and ask for what you want to see if they have it. there are alot of good parts that get crushed, because they are not considered worth the trouble to disassemble. it is a sad situation these days. Not the way it was when growing up. it is almost like the chain part stores anymore. not listed by make and model, it does not exist. I envy you guys in the lower 48 states I miss the days of roaming the yards in southern California when I was a teenager, and in my early 20's. You are lucky to find a car that is even 10 years old in a yard anymore, they all end up in the crusher.
Alaska Jim, Our Wrecking/Salvage yards aren't all as user friendly as they all used to be. We have a couple in our area and one is somewhat flexible and the other is totally not. Life has changed all over unfortunately for our hobby. I think after market is the way to go but have no experience in heated seats, wish I could help more.
I put a set in my Wife's OT daily, got them from ROSTRA, kit came complete with OEM style switches and wiring. Good quality, easy to install and have been working great for 2 years now. FWIW, Mitch.
When they 1st came out in new cars, I think they were only available in leather seats. True? Is it still an issue? Gary
My current daily and the one before it has/had leather, my Wife's has cloth and it has'nt been an issue. Mitch
mitch 36 thanks for the recommendation on the Rostra seat warmer kit. It is one I have been considering. I have heated seats in my daily driver GM pickup. it has cloth seats. it is the second p/u with cloth seats and heaters. first on got wrecked by a red light runner
My 21 Camry has heated cloth seats. Leather isn't required anymore. If someone was going to drive their car when it's cold out, seat heaters would be a nice option.
A few years ago I bought some cheap universal heated seat covers off Amazon, took the heating pad/element out of them, and installed the elements under the stock cloth seat cover on the bench seat in my little daily OT truck. The factory heater works great, but I wanted to be able to have a warm seat in the cold mornings before the engine reached temperature. Wired them to a fuse/relay/switch, and now I've got a warm butt in the wintertime. I like them so much that I plan to buy another set and do the same thing in my '56 F100.
Got ours on Amazon also have a set in my wife's Jeep 4 years now and also in our Dodge pickup 3 years now. Both have worked flawless. A lot of kits are available a lot are the same just re labeled.
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