Power Seats to Manual. Good or Bad idea?

[tdw28210]

I got a good deal on a set of powered 993 seats in black leather. I am putting in plaid centers and in stalling them in my 87 coupe. As long as I am bastardizing them, I was wondering how hard it would be to get some manual seat rails and lose the weight of the adjustment motors.

I am guessing the seats will be "stuck" in one position if I do this. Anything else I should be aware of? Or is this just a bad idea all the way around?

[cabmandone]

Wouldn't you have to lose the transmissions to see much real weight loss in the seats? The motors in my 85 don't weigh much but I'd think all the drive mechanisms and mounts as well as the motors could add up. Also don't know about the seat you have but I have a motor behind the headrest that adjusts the angle of the seat back. That one would take some work to remove. I know, I had to replace mine.

[4flyboy]

Memeber Marko may weigh in on this - He's played with this idea and is an expert in recovering our seats.

I've pulled the powered seats out of two 3.2 911's. There is a temendous difference in weight, not scientific but I do remember being Shocked at how heavy they are.

I'll give Mark a heads up and see what he has to say about this......

BTW, I love the idea of 993 seats with plaid centers.

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Scott

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by 4flyboy

Memeber Marko may weigh in on this - He's played with this idea and is an expert in recovering our seats.

I've pulled the powered seats out of two 3.2 911's. There is a temendous difference in weight, not scientific but I do remember being Shocked at how heavy they are.

I'll give Mark a heads up and see what he has to say about this......

BTW, I love the idea of 993 seats with plaid centers.

subscribed

Scott

Thanks Fly. I look forward to Mark's input. And FYI, I won't be using the original plaid fabric. Going with something that fits the overall color scheme of the coupe (carmine ext. /linen and black int.). And there were some FUGLY combos from the factory back in the day. : )

[marko]

Next to the 85-94 8way sport seats, the standard 8ways are the heaviest porsche seats I've handled. I believe the 993 standard frames are the same. Changing the passenger rails to manual is easy enough, but the driver came standard with power so you wouldn't be able to find a manual rail set. A set of manual passenger rails for the driver won't work as the fore/aft lever and seat belt recepticle will be on the wrong side. You could always modify a set of 4-way driver rails to work.
Looking forward to seeing your finished seats.

I did the centers of mine in Pascha.

[Cook&Dunning]

Those are great looking seats. Nice work!

[marko]

Thanks!

tdw28210, these should work for your driver. They are 4-way rails without the power parts. If you do get these, ask the seller to include the little white plastic pieces that hold the cross over rod in place.

Porsche 911 968 944 Turbo Seat Slider Rail Track Driver Left | eBay

[tdw28210]

Thanks Marko. So BOTH of my 993 seats are both 8-way adjustable seats. What is special about the 4-way rails that allows them to convert to manual? Or are you saying that the best I can do is make them 4-way adjustable (tilt/height) with a manual front-to-back adjustment with the conversion to 4-way rails?

And thanks for the evil-Bay link. The seller specifically states the white caps are not included. : (. Are those things hard to come by or super pricey new? Got a part number handy?

Thanks a TON.

[marko]

I believe a standard 993 driver is an 8-way seat. I haven't seen one that wasn't an 8-way.
I don't know about the passenger seat though.
The 8-way rails don't have a lever to move the seat fore/aft, but the 4-ways do. So if you were to strip down 4-way power rails, you will at least be able to move the seat fore/aft. The bottom seat heights will still be fixed.
I musta missed that about the white caps not being included on the ebay listing. Those caps break very easily when you try to take them apart. I broke two of them last weekend and I was being careful. I have a whole garage full of these seats so I have plenty of spares. I haven't seen them for sale anywhere but I haven't looked very hard. If I run out, I'll just use a mold to make more. There are probably other ways to secure the rod to the lever holes that they fit in.
I'll post some pictures tonight of the different seats and the plastic white cap business.

[Cook&Dunning]

White plastic part numbers from seats katalog

N 902 514 01 clamping sleeve
N 902 515 01 guide bush

need 2 of each per seat

[marko]

Here are some pics of the seat differences, the first is an 8-way, 2nd is a 4-way, 3rd is the two piece white bushing/sleeve that holds the rod onto the rail release levers. Notice the 8-way doesn't have this section.

[tdw28210]

Awesome. Thanks Marko.