Bielstein/Gran Turismo seat update. They are in the car.

[Shuie]

Ok, I finally got finished my brackets yesterday and got the seats in the car.

A little background on the seats:
I bought these from Stefan at Gran Turismo Motor Sports in Nevada. For less than $1200 delivered in vinyl and basket weave with sliders, tilting brackets, and five point sub strap holes. I didn’t know it at the time I ordered mine, but Pelican carries these also. Stefan is a great person to deal with and Pelican is a 1st class outfit so you can’t go wrong either way.

Other seats I was considering were the Corbeau Classic IIs, real vintage sport seats, and seats from vintageseats.com. I went with the seats from Gran Turismo after weighing price, availability, etc. Stefan's seats seemed like the most bang for the buck.

Since these seats do not recline, they can limit access to the backseat area of the car. Stefan sells a tilting bracket that helps out with this problem. I only bought one of the for the passenger side. I just tested it out and I can still climb in the backseat with this in place.





The sliders for these seats sit in a much narrower track than Recaro's or the factory seats do. An adapter bracket is necessary to actually bolt everything to the car. Stefan sent me some pics of the brackets he sells suggesting that I make my own bracket for half the cost of his.

I used a 3ft piece of 2" angle, a 3ft piece of 1" angle, and a 3ft piece of 1.5" flat steel to form the brackets on each side of the car. I use the 1" angle as a shelf to support the flat steel that the sliders bolt to. This way the seat height is dropped about 2". I’m basically a midget at about 5'9 and my car is a non-sunroof coupe so I already have plenty of headroom, but I figured the tall people would appreciate this .

Here are some initial pics so you guys can see what I was trying to describe with the brackets. I’m going to pull everything back out and paint it since the it is carbon steel and already has surface rust on it:



I also removed the seat belt receiver brackets from my stock seats and bolted them to my new brackets at the factory bolt locations that attach the whole assembly to the tub.




My MIG welder would not burn this stuff (1/8" carbon) so I just bolted everything together. Total cost for both sides was about $40, not too bad.

Here are the seats in the car:





Thoughts and opinions on the Bielsteins so far:

One of things I didn’t like about the Recaro’s that were in my car before is that their high backs slightly interfered with my vision when I looked over my shoulder to change lanes in traffic. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was something that I never adjusted to for the short time they were in the car. They also seemed like they were blocking my view from the rear view mirror. The low backs of these seats do not obstruct my vision at all.

These seats are awesome. The construction is very solid and they really seem like a quality product so far. They are comfortable and provide good lumbar support.

These seats are very lightweight. The SRDs are not a really heavy seat, but these are probably close to half the weight of the SRDs. I chose steel for the brackets becuase I thoguht I was going to weld them. If you want to be obsessive compulsive about the weight, you could do the brackets lightweight junkie style in Aluminum or even Titanium pretty easily if you have access to the material.

Overall, I’m very happy with the seats. Stefan was great to deal with. I really appreciated his honestly and willingness to show me how to save a few bucks by making my own adapter brackets instead of just selling me two sets of his.

[72 four door]

Sherman nice work they look really nice, cant wait to get mine as the old originals [very nice and for sale] were just not syling enough for me. Very nice job and thanks again for your recomending stephan

[724doorE]

Those babies are just what I want. Those, a black prototipo and RS door panels all fit so well. and they are light too....

What would be wrong with just bolting them to the floor with some aluminum backing plates underneath?

[Shuie]

Originally posted by 724doorE

What would be wrong with just bolting them to the floor with some aluminum backing plates underneath?

The floorboard shape is not really flat, but you could probably do it. I wouldnt want to drill holes in my floor, but there is probably nothing wrong it. I think you would have to either delete or cut your carpet to fit a little different if you bolted the seats directly to the floor.

[Shuie]

Good question. Heres a shot of the stock seats. They had been recovered when I bought the car. The houndstooth was Porsche correct, but not correct for this car. Neat seats with a lot of character, but very uncomfortable.




And here are the Recaro SRDs that the Bielsteins are replacing. These are great seats, just not quite right for this car. Another Pelican has these in his car now.



The original seats looked really cool, but they were honestly shot. the SRDs were intended for a project car that has been abandoned so I gave them a try. Nice seats, but they had to go.

My original plan was to have a custom pair of the Bilstiens made in Brown leatherette with houndstooth center pads to match the original seats. Stefan said he could have them done that way but it would involve more money and a significant leadtime. Im still thinking of doing this, but the vinyl/basketweave seats are good for now.

I went with the vinyl/basketweave becuase they were in stock and were a great bargain. These seats are also available with corduroy center pieces instead of the basketweave, but Stefan told me that the basketweave actually breathes a little better.

[Jim Richards]

Shuie, how's the lateral support with these seats? Will your body slide around during aggressive cornering?

They sure look great in your early car. I may want to go this route in mine.

[724doorE]

Shuie, Your solution for seat attachment is perfectly acceptable, I was just wondering if bolting to the floor would allow you to save a few pounds. I don't think the floor mount would be as stiff though. Maybe polished aluminum angles to save weight.

I am also curious as to the size of those seats. How wide are they?

Those Bilstein's make the recaro's look like, well, stuff I don't want anyway...

Thanks,

[sundaypunch]

Those are great looking seats. I'm surprised that the basketweave would breathe better than the corduroy. I do think they look better.

[Cornpanzer]

Those seats are fantastic! I want a set for my car...... maybe next year!

[Shuie]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
Shuie, how's the lateral support with these seats? Will your body slide around during aggressive cornering?

They sure look great in your early car. I may want to go this route in mine.

Thanks Jim! Honestly, I dont know about the lateral support. They seem like they would be ok. I know Stefan has these in a car that he runs in vintage racing and rally events, so I guess they work pretty well. He could probably tell you more though.

Originally posted by 724doorE
Shuie, Your solution for seat attachment is perfectly acceptable, I was just wondering if bolting to the floor would allow you to save a few pounds. I don't think the floor mount would be as stiff though. Maybe polished aluminum angles to save weight.

I am also curious as to the size of those seats. How wide are they?

Those Bilstein's make the recaro's look like, well, stuff I don't want anyway...

Thanks,

You could definitely do the brackets in a lighter material. Lowes has the Aluminum angle. I went with steel because I thought I was gong to be able to weld the brackets up. Im not setup to weld Aluminum. Titanium would work out nice also, but they dont have Titanium angle at Lowes.

Measurements are ~11" wide across the center panel. Total width of the seatback is ~20". If there are specific measurements you want, let me know and I'll post them.

The Recaro's are a really nice and comfortable pair of seats, but I think these Bielsteins look a little better in this car. I'm still thinking of having a set of these made to match the original brown/houndstooth seats for my car

Originally posted by sundaypunch
Those are great looking seats. I'm surprised that the basketweave would breathe better than the corduroy. I do think they look better.

I was very surprised at Stefan's recommendation for the basketweave. I would have thought Corduroy would breathe better also. It gets really hot here and I have no AC in my car. Comfort was the first thing I mentioned to Stefan when he asked me which material I wanted. He lives in Nevada so I trusted that he knew where I was coming from on the comfort issue.