1970-71 911 Seats and Belts

Recently I purchased a pair of seats from a 1071 911E, sight unseen and had them shipped to me from TN. When they arrived I was both pleased and dis-pleased. The seats were 100% complete including lap belts and the covering was in a lot better shape then my current seats. The dismay was that the side plates for the seats were not chromed! They were painted a krinkle flat black finish and the seat release lever was located on top instead of on the side like the chrome unit. My question is 1) are the seats the same and are the parts all interchangeable? 2) If changing to new seat belts (retractable) do the seats have to be removed to attach the belt to the seat? Thanks for your help.

I'm not sure, but I think you bought seats from a 72/73 car. Porsche switched from the chrome side pieces (1969-71) to flat black paint for 72/73. I do not think that the parts are interchangable, but I will try to check on my cars. I have a 71"S" and 73"S" that have the different seats. I don't want to assume anything as far as which type of seats you have. If you have an 71"S" then sportseats were standard. Any other version of the car has the lowback seats standard with the sportseats as options.

The seats are low back and the only other difference I've noticed is that the head rests are almost twice as deep as the ones in my 70T. I had an individual that does interior restoration tell me he can completely restore the seats (including installing my new seat belts) for $900. That sounds a bit high to me even for completely custom work. What do you think?

For the low backs that sounds a bit high, unless they need a ton of structural work. My seat parts were not interchangable between my 71 and 73, although any early seat can be used in any one of the early cars. YOu should buy the book "The 911 & 912 Porsche" A Restoration Guide To Authenticity... written by Dr. B. Johnson. It has very valuable information on the early cars, although it is missing quite a bit. Seems to be the best book out there.