mounting my Recaros. Ideas inside

[WSSix]

So I picked up a pair of Recaro seats today. I think I did just fine. Paid $350 and I think I can run them as is for quite some time before I get them recovered. They sure do feel good to sit in.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr90/Speed_Hound/recaros_zpsc9rgp5ri.jpg

Anyway, I've got some ideas and am looking for opinions on how I can mount them in the TA. Here's a picture of the sliders on the seats with the factory brackets on there as well.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr90/Speed_Hound/recaro%20mounts_zpsxpd6rapk.jpg

Those factory brackets are 3/16" steel. I think I might be able to drill out the spot welds and remove them entirely. However, I know that's going to be a lot of work. My thoughts were to simply cut them off as close to the slider as possible. From there, I can weld new brackets on to the slider on the bottom. The brackets I'll have made will be more flat. How does that sound? Do I need to go 3/16" or can I get away with 1/8"? I would extend back along the slider a couple inches so I can have a lot of area to weld.

My other issue if what to do with the floor of the car. The new seat tracks are 16" wide where as the factory seats and thus holes in the car are around 12". Not to mention, there are height differences between are four mounting holes. So a bracket is going to be tricky. Doable but tricky. Here's a picture of the floor.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr90/Speed_Hound/floor_zps4srhzcui.jpg

My thoughts are to raise the floor in the front on the outside so that it's level with the inner front bolt hole near the trans tunnel. To do this, I would cut out the floor all the way across to the tunnel. The reason for this is there's a factory floor brace under the car right there. I could get rid of the floor, add in a thicker piece of metal, 1/8", on top of the brace, and effectively box in that floor brace. I'd tie into the door sill area of the car and build sides as well that go down to where the floor is now. This would allow me to drill the holes where ever I need them to mount the seat. I would either drill access holes from underneath or weld nuts to the bottom of the plate.

For the rear, my idea is similar but it involves adding bar stock the width of the floor pan above the floor. As it is now, the rear seat mounts are 2.75" lower than the front. I figure I can raise that up some instead of making a bracket with that much rise. I guess I'll almost be leveling the floor out through the seat area. There's another partial floor brace under the car in the area as well. Unfortunately, it's just forward of the seat holes now. I would be able to tie into it on either side of the floor pan so the bar stock won't be just welded to the floor. I honestly don't think it will matter if the bar is welded to the floor only though. I intend to lay some sheet metal down to try and blend the bar in to the floor a little instead of it just being a bar there. The only thing I don't like is the sheet metal I do add will be covering the original floor. I can't cut the floor out of the car entirely to do this. That's opening a can of worms I don't need. I'm not sure what size bar stock to use in the rear 1"x1" or 1"x2"? What would you choose? Again, this would allow me to drill holes where I need them to mount the seat.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks for looking.

[tubbed69]

Trey I dont think they will fit and you should sell them to me,Recaros are very comfortable,that was a good deal on them.

[JKnight]

In regards to the seat bracket material I can only offer one personal story that will drive my choices when it comes to seat brackets or adapters. A friend of mine was killed in 2004 when the drivers seat brackets ripped away from the floor in a highway-speed accident. From what I know, it was a Chevy cavalier, not modified in any way. He was thrown from the vehicle.

Since that happened, I've always been a bit paranoid about "custom" seat mounting brackets, especially DIY. I would always overbuild this part of your car. But I get that I may be more sensitive to the situation than most.

[MtotheIKEo]

Depending on how much cutting you are willing to do (sounds like you're open to the idea) I've been a fan of how DSE makes their seat mounts. I have done it in a similar fashion and it makes for a solid mount that can be tied in to other facets of the car.
Make them from 1"x3" tube and you can adjust the height/angle to meet your needs.
http://www.detroitspeed.com/Projects/craig-hardee-1969-camaro/data/thumbnails1/craighardee1969251.jpg

[68LS1]

Have you looked at Wedge Brackets?

http://wedgebrackets.com/seat-brackets-home/

[WSSix]

Trey I dont think they will fit and you should sell them to me,Recaros are very comfortable,that was a good deal on them.

lol, no way Jose. I missed out on the ones for sale in the for sale section that were also a good deal. I'm so excited to have these seats.

In regards to the seat bracket material I can only offer one personal story that will drive my choices when it comes to seat brackets or adapters. A friend of mine was killed in 2004 when the drivers seat brackets ripped away from the floor in a highway-speed accident. From what I know, it was a Chevy cavalier, not modified in any way. He was thrown from the vehicle.

Since that happened, I've always been a bit paranoid about "custom" seat mounting brackets, especially DIY. I would always overbuild this part of your car. But I get that I may be more sensitive to the situation than most.

Agreed. Which is why I don't want to throw caution to the wind on these changes.

Depending on how much cutting you are willing to do (sounds like you're open to the idea) I've been a fan of how DSE makes their seat mounts. I have done it in a similar fashion and it makes for a solid mount that can be tied in to other facets of the car.
Make them from 1"x3" tube and you can adjust the height/angle to meet your needs.
http://www.detroitspeed.com/Projects/craig-hardee-1969-camaro/data/thumbnails1/craighardee1969251.jpg

I like the way DSE does their mounts as well. I thought about doing that and incorporating the trans cross brace into the front section. However, I'm just not at that point with what I'd have to go through in order to make those changes. One of the down sides to doing the work in stages unfortunately.

Have you looked at Wedge Brackets?

http://wedgebrackets.com/seat-brackets-home/

I contacted them years ago and never heard back. I know some people have their brackets and others have told me they are impossible to get a hold of. I think that would save me some trouble, but if they don't want my money, then I'll keep it.

Thank you all for the replies!

[Vega$69]

In regards to the seat bracket material I can only offer one personal story that will drive my choices when it comes to seat brackets or adapters. A friend of mine was killed in 2004 when the drivers seat brackets ripped away from the floor in a highway-speed accident. From what I know, it was a Chevy cavalier, not modified in any way. He was thrown from the vehicle.

Since that happened, I've always been a bit paranoid about "custom" seat mounting brackets, especially DIY. I would always overbuild this part of your car. But I get that I may be more sensitive to the situation than most.

If the seat belts were bolted to the floor pan bosses how would a broken seat bracket allow a person to be thrown from the car?

Was this a case where the belts were integral to the seats?

[JKnight]

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I don't know all the details leading up to the outcome. The seat information is one of the few details the family passed along.

[glassman]

Trey, i have the same seats as yours. The dimensions from Recaro really haven't changed much over the years. I went the Wedge route, they were kinda pricey, but super stout, as if you autocross or track, you'll need something beefy.

On your 1/8 to 3/16 question, this is one of those "safety" cases where bigger isn't just better, its also an insurance policy of sorts, its there when you need it.

Wedge is a small company, when i called, they answered from the shop, if you get my drift. They use a german slider (compatible with the Recaro spec iirc) and use their jig to weldd up

[WSSix]

Thanks Mike. I emailed them this morning. We'll see if they respond. I may try calling them next week too before I start making my own setup. If I do go that route, I hope I can use my current sliders. They look the same as the ones on Wedge's site.

[carbuff]

Here are a couple of pictures of the ones Eric made for my car. I needed them as low as possible, as I'm relatively tall and with a helmet, it's easy to get into the roof of a second gen. These were originally to be used with a Sparco seat, but I ended up with Recaros instead... Maybe they will give you some ideas:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/carbuff69/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/seat_bracket_zps51fb93a1.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/carbuff69/media/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/seat_bracket_zps51fb93a1.jpg.html)

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/carbuff69/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/update_0130_18_zpscc4c0643.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/carbuff69/media/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/update_0130_18_zpscc4c0643.jpg.html)

We did cut out and shorten the hump right under the seat near the front to allow them to get that low, and the spacers in the rear were required to allow the sliders height to move...

[WSSix]

I appreciate it Bryan. Does that bracket first bolt to the seat and then to the floor? That was one area I was concerned about using a bracket like that.

[randy]

I pretty much has the same exact seats and i know my mounts are identical. I have the fronts at the bottom setting and the rears at the second setting and still using my seat pans. Mine came with mounts already for a older camaro. The rear bar that connects the seat i mounted directly the seat pan by drilling a hole where i wanted the seat positioned and then added tabs the the front.

My seat brackets look like this
http://static.speedwaymotors.com/rs/sr/product/56/91070031_L_1563e04f.jpg

I removed the tabs where it would normally mount and did just like i said above. Im 6'2 and i have plenty of head room, and leg room.

[carbuff]

I appreciate it Bryan. Does that bracket first bolt to the seat and then to the floor? That was one area I was concerned about using a bracket like that.

I need to look to confirm, but I'm pretty certain that yes, we bolted it to the seat first. Then using the sliders, we move the seat forward or backward to access the bolts into the floor. We used the original mounting points in the floor as the attachment points.

I should have more pictures somewhere but I would have to dig for them...

[WSSix]

Thanks Bryan.

[71RS/SS396]

Trey look at how DSE did the Wedge brackets in my car http://www.detroitspeed.com/Projects/Tim-McGilton-1970-Camaro/Tim-McGilton-1970-Camaro-pg-3.html

[WSSix]

Thanks for the reminder, Tim. Your car is one of the builds DSE did that I get a lot of ideas and thoughts from.

[19,69camaro]

I have almost the exact same seats as yours and what I did was simply make an adapter that bolted the bottom of the seat to the stock gm sliders.

By doing so I didn't have to hack up my floors at all and was also able to build a 1.5" setback into the seat.

It was also very simple to make out of 1.25" wide 3/16th stock.

Sorry no pics

[WSSix]

Thanks. I'll take a look at that idea, too.

[WSSix]

I placed my order with Wedge a couple days ago. I'll modify their brackets the way DSE did Tim's car since I have through the floor connectors on my car as well. I believe I'll have them in about 2 weeks. I'll report back once I have them in my hands.

Also, from what I can tell, my sliders are "normal" Recaro sliders. I was thinking they were Volkswagen specific but they are not. Wedge said they just needed the spacing of the sliders to be able to build the brackets. So no modifications to the sliders should be necessary.

Thanks