KMASS993

Soo... I was thinking today about what to do with my seats after the Surflex application didn't come out so well (my fault, not the Surflex)... the wheels started spinning and I took a look through my PET program at the seats catalog and I noticed something very interesting. The only difference between the 993 standard seat and the hardback sport seat is the back frame and hardback shell. I did some digging and got some prices from sunset, for the foam backing, upper seat frame and hardback shell it comes out to around $867.00 for each side. Now, the bottom foam is no longer available from Porsche, but I think you could get away with the 996 sport seat foam or have some custom made. So if someone were to get new leather for stock seats, I can't imagine leather for sport seats would be a ton more. Also, of the $867.00, $415 is the hardback.

I think we need a brave soul to make some molds (fiberglass/CF) of the hardbacks, buy the frame and some custom foam, wrap some leather on there and sell the top half as a sport seat conversion kit, who's up for it?

David in LA

I've seen a conversion kits in ads in Excellence. The pics looked OK but for an incremental $1700 and the labor to convert the seats I think you'd be better off selling the seats and getting say CS Sportsters Sportseats are not that comfortable anyways nor do they hold you any better than the standard seats, but they do look nice...esp with painted backs!

RallyJon

Right. The whole value of 993 sport seats is that they're rare and most of all "correct" which you can't achieve by cobbing together your own. For the basic look and function, get 996 sport seats which are common and relatively cheap. For actual comfort and support, go aftermarket or 997.

titleist1

I have to disagree about comfort and 993 sport seats. I looked long and found the 993 softback sport seats, made by Recaro and they are very comfortable and hold well.

viperbob

I have a BUNCH of hard back shells.... All brand new.

Cactus

I want the stock seat but with hardbacks so I can paint them GR!

KMASS993

Cactus,

Now that would require some heavy duty work... Do you not like the sport seat upper portion?

Cactus

Not really. They remind me of someone with a swollen face!

bobesser

There are a couple of companies that will take your regular seats and convert them to softback sport seats. Bigger bolsters all around, new foam, and new leather. Figure about $2500 for a pair of seats.

KMASS993

I really like the look of the hardbacks because of the color coding as well as the fact that they look a little more modern in comparison to the soft backs. From the pricing I put together, $2,500 sounds about right, but at that price, if I was going to have one of 2 conversions I would rather go for the hardbacks.

Also, Bob you have a PM.

KMASS993

http://lltek.com/PRS_bin/porbox_seat..._compare_Z.jpg

Those look terrible. Depending on what Bob is doing with all those hardbacks, this may become a reality for me very soon. I think that I will try the drivers first and if it works do both.

roche

i really like the look of the soft-back sport seats.

were those an option in '95 only? they seem to be more rare than the hardbacks...i've never seen a pair for sale.

KMASS993

You could always buy these and have them recovered in the 993 pattern.

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/pts/1077103155.html

verboten

Are they factory HB's and for sale/conversion?

mike993c2s

Paging ViperBob! You have a PM (although it's unrelated to hard back shells...)