Sparco Seat Install Help

[dmartin]

I have ordered a set of Sparco Pro2000 seats for my ’84 911 SR Coupe and had some question about mounting them. The seats are very similar to the Sparco Evo seats and come with competition side mount brackets. There are some good posts in the archives that definitely help, but are geared more toward resolving headroom and back-bracing issues than simply mounting the seats. I’m 5’ 10” and have plenty of headroom in the stock sport seats even with my helmet on. I’m also not concerned with being able to adjust the seats once they are mounted. I’d like a solution that enables me to swap the stock seats and racing seats in and out as easily as possible. I’d also like to keep the installation as painless as possible and would definitely be interested in a bolt-in solution if one exists, although I’m told by the dealer and the manufacture that one does not. Both dealer and manufacture have been very helpful so far. This is a quote from the dealer:

“The seats come with the competition side mount brackets, most of our clients have been able to find a local fabrication shop to make them a subframe that bolts to their stock mounting points then these bolt to
them. Reported cost is between $50 & $75 per seat.”

This is a quote from the manufacturer:

“The dealer that you have contacted has supplied you with the correct information. You will need to find a fabricator to make you a seat base to mount the side mounts onto the floor of your car. We do not make a direct bolt in seat base for any side mounting seats.”

Is this a pretty straightforward job that most fabricators would be capable of performing? Does anyone have the specs and / or pictures of a similar application? Can anyone recommend a fabricator in the Sacramento, CA area?

I don’t have the seats in hand yet, so there may be some useful information included with the seats .

Sorry about the long-winded question. Thanks for the help.

[R22tech]

Don't have an answer tou your post but I thought I would introduce myself: My name is Doug Martin aka "R22tech". Your 1st name wouldn't happen to be Doug as well, would it?

[dmartin]

Well at the risk of starting an off-topic thread or something -- Yes it is! Middle name James. And I have a 85 Carrera Targa too! OK, maybe not exactly... Its a 84 Carrera Coupe.

[orbmedia]

Call Brey Krause. They make a bolt in side mount that works with the EVO seat. If yours is the same dimensions as the EVO it will bolt in. You can also use the Sparco sliders and the BK slider actuator tubes.

If BK is rude to you on the phone or unhelpful tell them you will never consider purchasing their products and would rather pay to have custom brackets made instead and that you would not purchase from them if they were the last custom-seat-bracket-maker on earth.

[R22tech]

cool middle name is kenneth.

[don911]

I'm also planning on installing the Pro 2000's. I assumed the side mount brackets bolted directly to the existing holes in the floor? Maybe that's what I get for assuming. I was planning the slider mounts for the drivers side anyway, but the passenger side I was planning on just bolting on. I'd be interested in a follow up after you get the seats installed.
BTW, where did you get your seats?

[dmartin]

Got the seats mounted yesterday. I mounted them in a fixed position using the side-mount brackets. I could do it again in about an hour or two, but I spent more like 8 hours because I tried so many variations. The problem is that the bracket mount points are narrower than the mounting points on the car. I finally just drilled a couple new holes into the brackets and bolted them to the stock mounts in the car. I can still swap them out with my stock seats, but it will take a little time. Using the stock sliders would be ideal, but would probably require some cutting / modification of the brackets to accommodate the hinge mechanism on the slider arm. I'm 5' 10" so would have just enough head room with the sliders and a helmet.

Thanks again to everyone for your help.

[bento]

i have a black 88 carrera and i must say that your red seats w/ the red door panels look great w/ the black exterior. can we get another shot or two of the rest of the interior? thanks

db

[don911]

Doug,
Seats look great! How's the leg room with respect to the wheel. I have long legs and the pro2000 really keeps my legs straight out. I love the seat but am worried that I couldn't get my legs around the wheel.

[dmartin]

It is a little tight but doable. This picture might give you a better perspective. Now, accessing the back seat is a totally different story.

[makaio]

Doug the seats look great!

I can tell you that Dougs door pannels are RED, and it looks great. He took me for a couple laps around Thunder Hill at the last DE I went to.

[cary]

Doug, I have Sparco Milano touring seats. I don't know if they have a different base ?
But I bought a pair of "adapters". They bolt to the existing Porsche mounting holes. Then bolt to the Sparco sliders. I could take mine out in about 6-8 minutes, drinking beer.

Bought them from SpeedWare Motorsports. They are called.
911 Cross Brace Seat Mount Set. Not cheap. $29.95 each.
Basically a strap of solid 3/8" aluminum strap.