Seat Swap

[davery]

I have found various threads about seat swaps over the past few years. I am interested (if possible) of replacing my seats without removing the seat rail attached to the car. I spent several months trying to make a pair of RX7 seats fit, so I know the issues with the seat height. On top of the rails, the seats were way to high. I tried to modify the seat so it sat down in between the rails, but the bracket proved to be too difficult to make. I found a pair of Miata seats that I like, but am unsure if they will work. I have also heard that Civic/CRX seats will work. If I can find seats the sit on top of the rail and not be too tall, I think I can fab a bracket. Any ideas what might work?

[jandarah]

Hi, in my Spider that I have owned since March, someone installed Suzuki Baleno seats. The previous owner told me that they fitted onto the original brackets well and they don't seem to sit too high. They will tilt forward and back. I have no idea of the year model. I bought some used Mazda open head restraints to fit in the top of the seats ..... all looks and rides ok.

Hope that helps

[burgandy81]

I have tried MX5, 914 and civic seats.

In the end I like Honda DelSol seats as they are the lowest option I found.

Adapters are 3" ×3" angle cut to shape.

Is budget allows, some of the aftermarket seats looks really good!!

[davery]

I have tried MX5, 914 and civic seats.

In the end I like Honda DelSol seats as they are the lowest option I found.

Adapters are 3" ×3" angle cut to shape.

Is budget allows, some of the aftermarket seats looks really good!!

Do you have the Del Sol seats installed? If so, could you post a pic? I currently have leather seats and would like to stay with leather. Most after market seats I have seen do not have tan leather.

[v6spider]

I have 89 firebird seats in my spider. I removed the seat rails.. And modified the firebird seat rails so that the seat sits low enough.. They need to be recovered though..


Cheers!
Rob

[davery]

I have 89 firebird seats in my spider. I removed the seat rails.. And modified the firebird seat rails so that the seat sits low enough.. They need to be recovered though..


Cheers!
Rob

Those look pretty nice. I would like to not alter the seat rails from the car. I may just try and repair the cracked leather on my OEM seats and use a bit of SEM paint. What did you do with the heater controls when you removed the center console?

[v6spider]

Those look pretty nice. I would like to not alter the seat rails from the car. I may just try and repair the cracked leather on my OEM seats and use a bit of SEM paint. What did you do with the heater controls when you removed the center console?

I'm in the process of designing and building a replacement console.. Heater controls and parking brake are staying in the stock location. BTW removing the seat rails makes it easier to adapt other seats. Otherwise you are pretty limited to what you can use. In your situation probably best to recover the seats..

Cheers!
Rob

[burgandy81]

Do you have the Del Sol seats installed? If so, could you post a pic? I currently have leather seats and would like to stay with leather. Most after market seats I have seen do not have tan leather.

Here you go. These are leather although I am told this was never a factory option and that some dealers had the seats done. In any case this is how I found them on Cl for $50 (they are beat up). Note that the leather pattern would not coordinate well with rear seats. Mine are gone so it is not as noticeable.

DelSols are not worth much so seats should be cheap. Leather will be very hard to find, maybe a kit???

They are very comfortable and work well for me at 6'2" and 220lbs.

[v6spider]

Looks nice burgandy81. What did you have to do to get them installed and at the right height?

Thanks!
Rob

[burgandy81]

Hi Rob,

Mostly I just cut off the existing brackets and bolted on some angle cut to shape.

Here is a profile shot showing the deep seat pan, similar to the Fiat.



Here is he brackets I removed. The plastic cover in the top of the photo can be re-installed in the Fiat for a more finished look.



And here is a shot of one of the angle brackets bolted into place. The scallop out of the middle of the angle is to make room for the seat pan. The bracket is required on one side only as the stock Fiat slider is bolted to the other side.



Hope that makes sense, those are the only photos I could find.

Cheers,

Jordan

[davery]

Thanks for the info about the Del Sol seats. One question, I noticed the Del Sol seats have a rather large piece hanging down under the seat. I have a bump in the floor board under the passenger seat for the cat, and I am understanding the earlier spiders did not have this. What year is your spider and do you have the cat bump in the floor board? I don't want to go out the buy a set of seats and not have them fit my spider.

[burgandy81]

Yes, that bump is there to make room for the catalytic converter.

My car is a Fuel Injected 81 and I also have the bump in the floor for a cat.

The seat does not contact the floor although there is not much room!!! You may need to be careful with carpet and insulation.

[Turbofiat124]

The best seat swap I've found are from an 87 Honda CRX. The distance between the tracks is the same. So you remove the seat tracks from the Spider seats and bolt them to the Honda seats and there you have it. They are way more comfortable than the original Spider seats. And the sitting position is about the same.

Although I realize finding seats from an 80s Honda is probably getting harder to find these days.



I first tried to die them with SEM paint but it quickly rubbed off, also the vinyl was starting to split:







Reclining mechanism is a tight fit.





I ended up buying some custom made seat covers from Coverking (I think):







I threw these in just for the heck of it. I removed the map pocket and attached a cup holder in it's place:

[rlmiller]

If you addressed it I managed to miss it. Do you sit any higher? I would love to replace my seats but I am right at the "fence line" now. If I raise my chin any higher than normal driving position ........ off goes the hat.

[Turbofiat124]

If you addressed it I managed to miss it. Do you sit any higher? I would love to replace my seats but I am right at the "fence line" now. If I raise my chin any higher than normal driving position ........ off goes the hat.

No the sitting position is the same. In one of the photos it shows the Fiat passenger seat and the Honda driver's seat side by side. The Honda seats appears to sit higher toward the front but when actually sitting the car, it feels the same.

I once tried using a set of seats from a 91 Saturn but by the time I altered the mounts, the seat sat 2" higher and my head touched the roof!

Years ago I had some Sparco Junior racing seats. I don't have any better photos other than these posted but have a better one if your interested.









These seats actually sat about 1" lower but were still quite comfortable. The problem was due to the bolsters, they were very hard to get into. Especially with the top up. With the top up, I'd crawl in, place my hands on the bolsters and lower myself into the seat. One day it was pouring down rain and I got soaked getting into the car because it took longer.

But they were quite comfortable. But you have to have a small butt to sit in them! Luckily I'm 5' 10" and weigh 155 lbs with a 34" waste.

One day a bunch of us when on a cruise threw Tellico Plains outside of Knoxville and when I got home my hips were bruised from where I was constantly moving sideways going around the turns.