thrown several tools in frustration today over installing Recaros
 

A while ago I purchased some RECARO SE seats to put in my car. I thought the factory sliders would work. ...I thought wrong.

The slider handle needed to stick forward about another 3 inches to work. As it is there is no clearance to install the tracks. ...hope this is sort of clear.

so off to the local sports car Recaro dealer store here in Houston. They sold me the sliders that work on Porsches ....well either I'm an idiot or they sold me the wrong sliders or maybe both.

These are the sliders with the bar that runs all the way accross the front of the seat from corner to corner.

Well after wrestling with this for an hour or two ...maybe three, I got one installed.

These would be fine if you had two foot legs. If you try to recline all the way the slider handle interferes with the factory seat rails causing it to bind up and release itself from the actuating pin for the spring mechansim on the sliders. Now the seats are slid all the way back and ...well let's just say I'm frustrated and done for now.

I hate to tell you this... but, althought the levers seem too far back to work, they work just fine. You need to reach a bit, but they work. At least they did in my 84 with SRD's.

Not to rub it in, but my install took less than an hour. I'd try bolting them up and putting them in. Should be fine...:)

The original sliders didn't work. I tried to make them work by drilling a new hole in the slider to create a new mounting point. ...wasn't happy with the results.

Geof33, did you have problems with the seat belt nut? I have an 88 that the belt attachs to the side of the Recaros. the factory bolt is too big and won't thread into the seat. This is a special bolt with a smooth larger shsnk neat the top of the bolt that allow the seat belt (clip portion) to move. Thanks, jeff

look 171,

I recently installed SRD's in my 84 coupe. I just used the original seat belt mounts. I had to do a custom job to fit myself (6'2" 225lbs) and the seats with helmet clearance --- there's a DAS rollbar involved, too. Rotary tools are awesome!

............

jmz,

A couple pics of the sliders may help us out. Mine have a bar across the front that slide with the seat. Hang in there, patience is a virtue with installing seats. Mine took ~10 hours of labor to do to my satisfaction. I absolutely love them, and the cleaning lady said they are cute. ;-)

Best of luck,

Jojo

Jtcmuga, is your seat belt mounted to the floor. My seat belt nut that's mounted to the side of the factory seat is like 3/8 or more in diameter. It had a 1/2 smooth shouder near the top of the nut. I tried calling Recaro and their dealers, not one return phone calls. Maybe there's just not enough $$$ in Bolts? Thanks anyway, Jeff

Jeff,

I went through Dan Nahas at CDOC for I-bolts since I needed the hook-up for my 5-pts. The seat bolt is 7/16" grade 8. I think he can hook you up with your hardware needs

I sent you a PM with his info...

Jojo

My seat belts attach to the center channel. (my car is a Targa) but my 82 is the same... Your belts attach to the seat??? That seems odd. I didn't know Porsche did seat mounted seat belts at all. Seems that it would be much less strong.

yeah, at least some of the carrera 3.2s (and 964s and 968s and 993s, for that matter) have the belts attaching to the seat. Either they weren't doing it yet in '84, or for some reason the targas didn't have it, I bet the former. All the SCs seem to have the floor mounted belts. If I guessed I would say it started in about '86. WAG.

Ahh seat installation. Huge PIA every time...

-Wayne

Jojo, thanks very much for the info. I will give em' a try tomorrow. Jeff

Andy,

My 84 3.2 coupe has floor-mounted belts, but my friend's 86 3.2 Cab has seat mounted belts. I'm not sure how the 85's are setup.

Jojo