Some '72 seat questions

wahoofan · 01-18-2006, 12:27 AM

I need to upgrade the seats in my '72T and would like to know if it is difficult to get later seats (80's or 90's) to fit. The best deals seem to be on seats out of SC's or carrerras. Also, would it be hard to hook up the 4-way power seats in an early car without power seats? I have a brand new optima battery, if that matters. Thanks for the help and any other suggestions!

Nitrometano · Nitrometano's Garage

I read in some place that you need to adapt late seat backets to the original of the car. In my '72 I have custom seat brackets to fits a pair of RX7 Turbo bucket seats.

pwd72s · 01-18-2006, 10:26 AM

Please! Don't do it! Highback seats in a nice early car like a '72 Targa? Don't do it! You might check out this thread:
http://www.early911sregistry.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8425

David E. Clark · 01-18-2006, 10:32 AM

Try this thread. I adapted late model seats, and moved them back 2 inches, in my 1973 without any problem. Good luck!

I really need an extra 2 inches !

By the way, I disagree with the last poster. Especially if your car is a driver instead of a garage queen. The late model seats are WAY more comfortable and, if you keep them, you can always go back to original. Just my 2 cents.

pwd72s · 01-18-2006, 10:36 AM

Everybody's entitled to an opinion...

Soterik · Soterik's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by David E. Clark
Try this thread. I adapted late model seats, and moved them back 2 inches, in my 1973 without any problem. Good luck!

I really need an extra 2 inches !

By the way, I disagree with the last poster. Especially if your car is a driver instead of a garage queen. The late model seats are WAY more comfortable and, if you keep them, you can always go back to original. Just my 2 cents.

I also concur that you shouldn't put the later "tombstone" seats in your car...certainly there's a period Recaro that can be found for reasonable $$ that would be a good alternative...I just don't think the later seats look "right". A seat that looks close to the early sport seats is the late 80's 3 series BMW sport seat, very plentiful, and I've seen them adapted in.

Eric

jkarolyi · 01-18-2006, 02:57 PM

I don't mind the later tombstone seats in the early cars. The E30 BMW sport seats are also a great look, and extremely comfortable.

PWD72S, not everyone can afford $4000 plus seats for their early car, beautiful as they are.

wahoofan · 01-19-2006, 07:31 AM

I would definitely prefer early sport seats, but I just don't have the funds. I'm trying to stay under 600-700 bucks for this, and the tall buckets seem to be my best option. Any thoughts on hooking up the power seats in my '72?

zotman72 · 01-19-2006, 07:47 AM

I have a set of "tombstone" sport seats rebuilt in black vinyl in my '72. They made a huge difference in the ride comfort. Though locally here in Colorado, I know of several fellas who found early sport seats for decent prices. I would recommend going with later seats and storing the original seats. I still stumble over the old "bucket" seats in my garage after five years. YMMV

wahoofan · 01-19-2006, 08:25 AM

Other than the "ricer" factor, would there be any reason to steer clear of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8031232923&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT
The price is right and the stitching would match the prototipo I'm putting in. Anybody familiar with this company?

DonDavis · DonDavis's Garage

I can't wait to get my car back on the road and try these seats. Not period correct but it's my car and I like these a LOT. Hey they're Porsche seats!

And if I had PWD's time capsule, I would definately stay with original equipment. But I don't.

Randy W · Randy W's Garage

For the money you want to spend I would go Corbeau seats. Tombstone seats look wrong in an early 911 IMO.

Soterik · Soterik's Garage

Here's one of Corbeau's "classic" seats, $200 each plus you'll need the bracket. Looks far better than a tombstone...., plus you get side support and a neet "scheel" race seat look as well.

pwd72s · 01-19-2006, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jkarolyi
I don't mind the later tombstone seats in the early cars. The E30 BMW sport seats are also a great look, and extremely comfortable.

PWD72S, not everyone can afford $4000 plus seats for their early car, beautiful as they are.

Jay, I paid about $700 for them...that was back in 1978 or so...

Tom F2 · 01-19-2006, 10:24 AM

There's a nice pair of Scheels on eBay, now, at $500. I think that they'd be perfect for your car, after you dye them black. You'll need to weld up an adapter to include seat belt mounts. One reason to go for the original sport seats is that they include the mounts. Of course, that's not the only reason.

RSBob · RSBob's Garage

What ever option you go with, please keep your original seats if and when you sell the car - the value will suffer without them.

Bobboloo · Bobboloo's Garage

Beautiful car Wahoofan.

What ever you do don't sale your stock original seats. Should the time come to sale your car having later seats will hurt resale. Having your car all original well bring the most money.

That being said, changing to later seats or something more sport purpose will greatly enhance the enjoyment of your car. I've always felt that the single best improvement to the driving pleasure of an early car (with stock seats) is to replace the seats.

You might want to consider getting the Nurburing model from GTS Classics or Motomotions. They are close to your price range and are light and comfy. Most importantly they give you great lateral support.

Here's a pic.

They sale for about $500 a piece.

If you've got a little more to spend then you could get the RS seat from Vintage seats. Very similar and almost indistinguishable from the original Recaro RS bucket. They're about $1000 a piece.

I bought a set of the Nurburings for my 73'. As matter of fact there's a set of late tombstones that are coming out of the car that anyone who wants can have for free.(pick-up only) I'll be using my sliders and brackets from them however.

If you need me to I can measure the adapters for you so you can fab a set to mount late seats. Just let me know.

wahoofan · 01-19-2006, 12:08 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions! Many of those seats would look great in my car, but I forgot to mention one other very important requirement - whatever I put in will have to both recline and tilt forward for easy access to the back(6 yr. old co-pilot). Oh, and I absolutely would keep the stock seats in the garage, along with all the A/C crap and front bumperettes I'm removing. The only non-reversible change I'm making is installing a 3-point belt in the back(again with the co-pilot), although I suppose I could always remove that and just redo the rear deck.

Any other thoughts on those ricer seats I mentioned above - $280 delivered!

zotman72 · 01-19-2006, 06:20 PM

Wahoofan, here is a pic of what highback (tombstone) sport seats look like in my '72T. Not as sharp as Paul's sport seats but I am happy with them. HTH

FrayAdjacent911 · 06:38 PM

Don't mean to hijack, but can anyone positively identify the Recaro seats I have:

The brackets they're on SUCK... they look like they were poorly rigged... I have a few pics somewhere... I'll try to get them up, I want something better! (the brackets, not the seats... I dig the seats!)