Mounting my Recaro seats in a 1985 911

[TheSt|G]

There wasn't a ton of information on this subject when I was in my research phase, so I thought I would make a bit of a thread for future reference. I suspect most of this can be applied to other aftermarket seat makes.


Installing Recaros:

Since my passenger's seat was pretty shot, I decided to overhaul the seats in an effort to gain passenger comfort, additional functionality, weight savings, and a bump in headroom. After a few months of research, I decided to order a custom set of Recaros through their S08 program, as the cost wasn't much more($150+ per seat) than getting something that wasn't quite what I wanted.

I opted for:

Speed S Model
Black vinyl everywhere(zero maintenance)
Small black Recaro logo instead of the huge white one that is stock

It took ~3 months, but then this arrived(remember not to stack):




Sadly, this is when I discovered that the 935 seatbelt bracket that wanted to use did not clear the mounting points on the seat:




After a lot of research, I settled on getting the Planted seat brackets for my car, as they seemed to be the sturdiest units available. I'm perfectly happy to gain a few ounces here to have a safer setup.

Step 1 was to pull the stock seats out, which was pretty easy as this is effectively a car from the '60s in many regards. Only had a power seat cable on each side and a seat belt sensor on the driver's side to unplug:




For those who haven't installed aftermarket seats in a car, everything is universal fit, which basically means it doesn't fit anything without adjustments. The drill press, cut off saw, and grinder were my best friends during this.

Mounting holes being drilled in the sliders:




Mounting holes drilled in the planted brackets(which also had to have the seatbelt arm bent to fit):




Seat/bracket/slider combo all fitted together:




First seat in:




All finished!







I'll try to get some daylight photos of them up at some point later on. I really love how the custom order came out, and how they work with the car.

[bobt4945]

Nice, and great job mounting them.

[ClickClickBoom]

Love my Speeds, most comfortable seats I have ever driven.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by ClickClickBoom

Love my Speeds, most comfortable seats I have ever driven.

I really can't wait for the salt to go away so I can fully test them.

[Racekar]

Those seats look huge, do they really give you more headroom? How much, I could use an inch or two.

[mike27t]

Nice work stig, car interior looks great

[motofoto]

Looks great! I recently installed Sportster CS's into my 86, and love them. I used these BK brackets in the end to locate my belts. I had to bend them as well to clear the folding mechanism of the seat when sliding. Seems like they make all these for fixed back seats. Also had to drill the Recaro rails.

R-9005 Harness Mounting Kit

I got about a 1.5" of extra headroom, and the car feels so much more direct and solid. Didn't realize how much play there was in my stock seats until I installed the Recaros.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Racekar

Those seats look huge, do they really give you more headroom? How much, I could use an inch or two.

I would say I gained a solid inch, perhaps a bit more. Definitely shed weight as well.

The only real flaw for me was that in bending the seatbelt mounting point, I apparently ever so slightly bent the bracket itself. The result is that when tightened down it puts a bit of tension on the sliders, making seat adjustment stiffer than it should be.

[reesestewww]

Originally Posted by motofoto

Looks great! I recently installed Sportster CS's into my 86, and love them. I used these BK brackets in the end to locate my belts. I had to bend them as well to clear the folding mechanism of the seat when sliding. Seems like they make all these for fixed back seats. Also had to drill the Recaro rails.

R-9005 Harness Mounting Kit

I got about a 1.5" of extra headroom, and the car feels so much more direct and solid. Didn't realize how much play there was in my stock seats until I installed the Recaros.

motofoto,

I'm looking at these same Recaro seats for my 82SC. Can you share any pics of your install? Did you use the Recaro floor adapter and sliders?

Thanks!

[Bill Douglas]

I love those seats, they look so correct for the car.

[Taxi!]

Nice job. Looks good.

[motofoto]

Originally Posted by reesestewww

motofoto,

I'm looking at these same Recaro seats for my 82SC. Can you share any pics of your install? Did you use the Recaro floor adapter and sliders?

Thanks!

I didn't really take any during install, but I'll post the final product. I did use the standard Recaro sliders. It's pretty self explanatory one you have it all in front of you.

The holes in the sliders I have were a little off for the stock holes in my 911, so I drilled them. The standard sliders bolted to the seat are already the right width for our cars without a separate mount. I mentioned that I had to bend the BK bracket in a vise to clear the folding mechanism in the seat when sliding. I removed the inboard adjustment knobs on the seat too for more clearance. I also had to slightly enlarge the holes in my seat belts to fit over the BK mount, it was just ever so slightly too big around.

I only had to relocate the belts with that BK bracket because my 86 doesn't have the floor mounted in board seatbelts of the earlier cars. If you're installing in an 82, you can skip that step. Just the seats and Recaro sliders are needed, and keep your belts where they are. Much easier.

[reesestewww]

Originally Posted by motofoto

I didn't really take any during install, but I'll post the final product. I did use the standard Recaro sliders. It's pretty self explanatory one you have it all in front of you.

The holes in the sliders I have were a little off for the stock holes in my 911, so I drilled them. The standard sliders bolted to the seat are already the right width for our cars without a separate mount. I mentioned that I had to bend the BK bracket in a vise to clear the folding mechanism in the seat when sliding. I removed the inboard adjustment knobs on the seat too for more clearance. I also had to slightly enlarge the holes in my seat belts to fit over the BK mount, it was just ever so slightly too big around.

I only had to relocate the belts with that BK bracket because my 86 doesn't have the floor mounted in board seatbelts of the earlier cars. If you're installing in an 82, you can skip that step. Just the seats and Recaro sliders are needed, and keep your belts where they are. Much easier.

Just ordered my seats today! FINALLY! Only took me a damn year to decide what I wanted.

[CCM911]

Nice work, STIG.

When I first met the STIG, he had just purchased the car. It was in good shape, but really needed to be updated.

Looks like STIG did that and more.

Excellent work.

[MConn]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

... I decided to order a custom set of Recaros through their S08 program, as the cost wasn't much more($150+ per seat) than getting something that wasn't quite what I wanted...
...Small black Recaro logo instead of the huge white one that is stock..

Stig,
Please help - I have been trying for a week to get a set of Speed S seats ordered with the embossed Recaro logo instead of the large white logo, but the online dealer tells me that Recaro says embossed logos are not available on aftermarket seats. Can I get the name of your Recaro Dealer?

Thanks for any help - imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Mike

[seanscandalous]

Thank you, this is super helpful! Going to be installing mine this weekend... or next weekend... or... eventually. Damn home renovations sucking up all my free time!

[froggert]

There's a seat belt bracket from the 928 that's much cheaper than the 911 or Rennline pieces. Part number 92852106502. Definitely not as nice looking as Rennline's but it's also 1/8 the cost.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by MConn

Stig,
Please help - I have been trying for a week to get a set of Speed S seats ordered with the embossed Recaro logo instead of the large white logo, but the online dealer tells me that Recaro says embossed logos are not available on aftermarket seats. Can I get the name of your Recaro Dealer?

Thanks for any help - imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Mike

I don't mind you copying what I did in the slightest.

I used Vivid Racing via an excellent sales associate, Todd Schneider(really top notch). The Recaro logos are not embossed, they are stitched, just in a small size and black thread.

[MConn]

Stig,
Thanks for the help. The Recaro guys advised that the Speed model may not be suited to my body type (fat & old), so I have a set of Recaro Specialists on order. I will post picks of the installation details when they get here in about 7 weeks.

Mike

[faverymi]

Stig.

Can you post the seat bracket and rail combo you used?


Great job, thank you