converting a 71 to moveable seats?

[chief914]

Has anyone converted an early car to the later movable passenger seat. Do you just have to weld in the seat hinges or is there more? I know I will have to change the back pad and seats.

[rfoulds]

my 1970 914-6 had that. Just weld in the hinges. But don't forget the bracket in front. Its a piece of channel iron with a four-toothed piece of steel bolted to it. Just about any parts car should have one to donate.

[Lawrence914]

I thought about doing that... but the passengers I've had in my /6 are really amazed at the legroom of the fixed seat.

-Rusty

[gint]

You won't lose much legroom in the passenger seat by adding later units. I put a 6'6" guy in my 74 with the seat lowered flat to the floor and all the way back (mimicking the fixed early seat) and he commented on the abundance of legroom. Especially as compared to most imports that he gets in to. I'm definitely putting later seats in my /6.

[chief914]

Thanks for the info, I figured it was an easy mod. I've had mixed emotions making mods to my car, as it is an excellent example of a stock 914. The original interior is perfect and it has never been rusted at all. Somehow the 3.6 motor waiting in my garage is easing the pain though!

Thanks!

[krk]

My SO and I drove my '70 /6 down from Vancouver to San Jose over two days. We switched drivers every few hours, so I did quite a bit of time in the passenger seat (which I was not actually looking forward to). They are very comfortable, which was a surprise, and the drive changed my point of view on the older passenger seat.

But I do like the symetry and look of the later seats in pairs. It's definitely a sportier look, and upgraded in pairs produces a very sharp look.

'Bout the only look that I'm not sure I like is the stock '70 interior with an upgraded drivers seat.

krk.

[Racer Chris]

I did this back in '85 or '86, and was very happy with the upgrade.

Instead of buying new hinges, I machined my own that attached to the existing seat studs, and fabricated the front bracket with a bolt to attach it to the crossmember. That way no welding was required. After that the only required items were a seat, sliding rails, and a backpad.

I made drawings for the parts, since, at that time I thought I could sell the kit. I am sure I still have them kicking around somewhere. Also I probably have the parts I made stashed in a box somewhere. The battery and fire bottle are now located in that area, since the car became an FProd SCCA race car back in '97.

[krk]

Chris,

What a cool idea! I like the idea of being able to undo the change. At some point if you run across the plans, I'm sure there's more people than just me who would be interested!

krk.

[Kevin Powers]

if you do the change and decide to make it permanent i think you will be pleasantly surprised at the value of your good old style interior. remember they changed over in 72 and the number of old style interiors remainning is rather limited.

kevin

[gint]

Sure wouldn't mind seeing the plans Chris if you're of a mind to share them.

[Racer Chris]

Here's an original photo of the critical parts to be fabricated. I have 4 pages of engineered drawings that I scanned into my computer. Anyone interested should email me and I'll reply with them attached. I think each file is about 500kb in jpeg compressed format. Mike Mueller has some CNC equipment at home. Maybe he'd be interested in machining a batch of parts if there was enough demand.