John D.

I won't flame any of the vendors/sponsors who I've spoken with - as there are a LOT - and not one can assist. I thought it was an easy question? And pretty straight forward...? Guess not - and yes - I've searched this forum and site...

Can someone tell me exactly what I need to install sport seats into a stock 993...

The seats that fit my son and myself are Cobra Suzuka Pro Fit and/or Sparco EVO II. The drivers side needs a slider (two of us are driving) and the passenger side can be hard mounted without sliders, which would be fine? As well - thoughts on mounting hardware, brackets, etc - would be really appreciated as well...

Anyway - any help would be great and my son (Hockey1623) will be monitoring this thread - as he's buying..!

Thanks so much for the assist!

John D.

Mark in Baltimore

Good gosh, you must be new here...

John D.

Just trying to get used to this place.. Where am I again???




Best to you Mark!!

Mark in Baltimore

It's been a long time since I have had to deal with race seats, John, but I used Brey-Krause mounts for my old GT3 shell seats and then, with the Recaro Pro Racer HANS seat, used the Recaro side mounts. Both fit with very little trouble, IIRC.

Here is a link to one of my old threads. Part numbers in first post: https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...s-of-pics.html

Phil

What Mark says......

Bill Verburg

The EVO 2 should fit fine, the main issue will be to decide which of the available side mounts to use, the seat bottom measures 420mm(16.5") between the mounts, the floor holes are ~406mm(16') so you will need sidemounts the accommodate this difference, when I mounted my Recaro SPG XL(430mmseat bottom) I found that you wanted simple L shaped sides rather than one of the more involved shapes, Sparco has an HD version that looks good as does the 90 side mount, but it would pay to talk to someone that has used these specific seats.

next question is sub mounts, through the floor or GT3 style, if using the GT3 style you will want a selection of 3mm washers matching the ends of the GT3 subs, using these keeps the seat level. You may want these anyway if using the RS mount for the tunnel side 3 point belt connection which is also 3mm

RS seat belt mount

3mm leveling washers


thru floor sub mounts


GT3 sub mount, RS tunel side mount for 3 point belt



Since you have Sparco seats, Sparco sliders would likely be the best

W/ Recaro a lot of drilling was required because holes didn't line up well or even at all. Hopefully Sparco is better but be prepared to drill some holes.

Recaro does supply mounting hardware, Sparco probably does as well, but I didn't use any of it, I bought a lot of specialty gr 10.9 hardware w/ low clearance to keep the seats as low as possible, whether you need these or not depends on the space that the seat bottom bubble takes up.

Seats take a pounding, use Lok-tite and be sure everything is torqued to spec, it's a PIA to have to get back in there after ward.

here is the 964RS doc that shows where they put the harness mounts, 993RS is the same, you'll have some work to do to get into the tunnel to mount the reinforcements which are the same as for the sub belts, the GT3 sub mount is particularly nice if the seat has to be moved much, you want the sub mounts under or slightly back from the holes in the seat bottom, similar to what is wanted for the shoulder harness, slightly down w/o any interference from the seat.



There are any # of ways to do the door side belts I used a simple pad eys there, same as for the tunnel side harness mount, bothe stock 3 pt and the harness attach here


last issue is the tunnel side 3 pt receptacle, I used a 993 rear one through the side of my seats w/ the harness lap, both fit, it's a tad short but not much worse than the stock one in my Toyota truck. Depending on the bolster height some have used the stock one slightly modified(usually bent and/or extended) but w/ high bolsters this places the receptacle too high for correct fit across the pelvis, you'll have to play w/ yours to see what works best

nile13

John, great to see you again!

I had several different Recaros mounted in my 993, but they were all bottom-mount, so it's a different animal. Cobra Suzuka is an absolutely excellent seat. I bought one... and had to sell as it didn't fit into a narrow Miata. But it would be great for a 993 and the sigh support is exactly what i was looking for.

Bill wrote an very detailed description above. I'll try to add 2 cents' worth of what I've experienced myself with different seats in different cars. For side mounts, look at https://www.kirkeyracing.com/product...71-SERIES-SEAT These are designed for Kirkey seats but should work on Suzuka, I believe. They are aluminum, light and about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of Sparco, etc aluminum mounts. For sliders, I'd look at stock 993 sliders or Sparco sliders. Also, Wedge Engineering out in CA makes a bunch of sliders for Recaro and is pretty versed in custom stuff.

One caveat, and it always seems to be the case, the seat will likely end up not centered against the steering wheel. Not a huge deal, but annoying. The reason is that stock seats are not really parallel to the rest of the car. This is, turns out, a common trick in modern cars. The driver's seat is slightly angled "in" to create an illusion that your chest is looking at the center of the steering wheel. Of course, the aftermarket seat mount points are square, so no such luck.

Finally, I'm sure you spoke to them already, but if not, try HMS Motorsports in Danvers. They do have Suzuka and EVO on display, so both you and John Jr. can sit in them, squirm around and see what feels comfortable. They can also give some mounting suggestions, but that's kinda... y'know. Also, if Jr. is doing any autocrossing at Devens this year, he can stop by DWW Motorsports, located right across the entrance to the airfield. Dave, the guy there, does a lot with race cars, so he might be able to help.

John D.

Hi folks,

Just home and..

Bill - that is *EXACTLY* the info I needed - and much more detailed than I could have hoped for - thank you!! Let me go through the details, but I have no issues making the mods - and your parts list is awesome.. I knew someone whould have the answer - thank you!!!

Also Nile - ummm - yes, we started at HMS and actually tried out all the seats, and, well - I'm guessing we don't have the right guy, as getting info hasn't been all that great? It's been an on-going dialog for well over a week, and we've had to initiate the follow-ups? I know folks have always spoken highly of them, so maybe it's their busy season or something? So, out of frustration - posted here..

Now - what's that about a "Miata"???

Anyway - you guys rock.. Thank you!

John D.

nile13

"Miata". Definition: a lightweight all-suspension, stock motor CSP car that can win Nationals fairly easily and wipes the entire local fields of Kaizer-cars with boring regularity. Oh, and it has a prominent Turtle sticker on the side

I've not been enamored with HMS, actually, so it's not surprising. But it's always a chance to sit in a few different seats to compare apples to apples. I wouldn't go into modern sales people... too depressing, professionally. It's like 90% of businesses don't need customers any longer

John D.

HEHE about that "Turtle" sticker...

As well - your second comment, I'm afraid, is right on target - or such is my experience, anyway? It's one of the reasons I posted this on Rennlist - so I could finally get assistance from those who actually know...

Anyway - my best to you always - and my thanks again!!

John D.

Ed Hughes

I looks like you have your answers, John, but this is from my good old '84, Ruby. I put a Recaro in, but used the B-K side mounts and Recaro double locking slider. B-K had seat specific, as I recall. It all bolted in nicely.

https://rennlist.com/forums/911-foru...race-seat.html

Good to see you slumming around still!

hockey1623

As always, great info..!

Thank you guys for all your help!

- John Jr.

Bill Verburg

Lots of folks do use the BK sidemounts

I tried them but they are made of a very tough ss metal, I had a full machine shop at my disposal w/ an experienced machinist, it was a bit**h to modify them for use w/ the Recaros, not something that could successfully done at home. I also tried several aluminum ones and 1 steel all were workable at home except the BKs

Here is a pic of part of the mod process w/ the BKs, other seats may not need this but due to the size and depth of the SPG XL base bulb these moads were necessary to get the seat as low as possible





Here are some weights

Ed Hughes

I had the Profi SPG XL and they bolted right up with no mods?

Bill Verburg

If you don't want the seat as low as possible way less work is needed.