Seat Swap

[tanis]

So, I've done some searching, here and on Mirafiori, but "seat" and "swap" come up in a remarkable number of posts. I'd like to put different seats in my '71 124.

I have heard of people using seats from the following cars:
'77 Porsche 911
Early 90's Miatas
All 90's Civics
Isuzu Trooper (weirdly)
Sparco etc Racing seats

Has anyone got a first hand experience with any of these...or something else. Successes and Failures? Other seats that might fit?

Thanks!

[vandor]

The problem with fitting seats from other cars is that most of them are too tall. Spiders seem to have short seats compared to most other cars. Maybe that is why Miata seats fit, as that is a similar sized car.

[burgandy81]

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... t=seat+faq

Lots of good stuff in that thread.

I am working on some leather Honda Del Sol seats that look very promising. They are narrow, site very low and have much better support without being too modern.

[ga.spyder]

I have a friend that has Porsche 914 seats in his Spider.They dont look substancial,but the feel when seated is great.They fit perfectly in the car.I have heard of Miata swaps,especially using the seats with the speakers in the headrests.

[BEEK]

914 seats are minimalist at best, fiberglass shells, with a very minimum of padding, i used them in some of my early race cars where we were required to use a factory seat, not a racing seat... got to love those rule makers... forgoing safety to make entry level racing affordable.. just bad a pad for the bottom and not the thicker 914 factory seat bottom. actually very comfortable.

[ga.spyder]

I thought the same thing,BEEK. When I saw them in his Spider they looked really uncomfortable.But I got in and drove it,and really liked them.They were an excellent fit.

[FiatMac]

I have installed '95 Miata seats. The seats fit into the space well and are comfortable. However, I had to make numerous modifications to the support rails and seat sliders to get a satisfactory install for the engineer in me (fabrication and welding on the support rails and fabrication, cutting and welding on the seat sliders). I made the modifications such that Fiat seats could be re-installed - just unbolt these and bolt the Fiat seats back in. Interestingly, the Miata seat mounting rails are not symmetrical from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat. The outboard slider on the driver seat is moved inboard by about 1" if I recall correctly.

[tanis]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I did get a chance to measure the seats form an early 90's Accord (much smaller car than modern Accords) and the dimensions seemed to line up. The seats are Velour, which isn't my first choice, but has advantages over leather. After reading through the other thread (thanks for finding that), I'm going to check out the honda civic seats as well. I like the way the Corbeau sets look installed, but unless one comes around locally those are probably out.

Anyone else with thoughts, I'll be watching, but thanks to everyone so far!

[divace73]

Like Csaba, I have found a lot of Aftermarket seats are too high, we have a problem here in Oz that we sit above the cat hump which is higher again.

I did have the following seats in my car for a while which were a snug fit but a little to high to make them work with the existing rails.


I have put the original seats back in but do notice that I slide around in them when on the track.

I will be cutting out the cat and lowering the floor so I get more head room.

[124JOE]

i was in a dewoo last week and i found them very similar to the fiat

i just dont know if they fit

[ga.spyder]

I just bought a Miata,and the seats are very supportive and comfortable.They even have nice speakers in the headrests,which are great when the top is down.The Miata forums are full of them for sale cheap.They should be an excellent fit for the Fiat.

[lanciahf]

Be careful Craig, Miata seats are great but when fitted to a Spider you sit too high. I went back to the stock seats.

[124JOE]

i recovered the stock seats with grey leather
from a chevy suburban the middle seat is just abit bigger than the rear seat
it cost me $100 per pannel total cost was $600

[nerdrage]

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... t=seat+faq

Lots of good stuff in that thread.

I am working on some leather Honda Del Sol seats that look very promising. They are narrow, site very low and have much better support without being too modern.

Any chance we can get a refresh on this url? as its a dead link.

[AFRetired]

Replace f08 in the link with f15 and try again