turboluvr

Greetings All,

This is my first post, but I've been reading the forums for good info for years. I've had my Blk/Blk 96 Turbo for about 4 years and it's a street car that see's the occasional DE. Rennlist helped me get through my exploding rear window and numerious other small issues, so I figured I'd give a little back and post a how to on 997 seat installation. I ran into a fellow who stripped a new GT3 to make a GTA club racer while at a DE at VIR. He still had the seats and they seemed like a great way to keep my butt from sliding around in the corners and still look good in a street car. I've relied heavily on the 996 GT3 seat installations from numerious members, but the 997s are a little different. They have rather substantial 1/4 inch steel angle brackets that have to be modified. I was worried about the seats being to high, I'm 6'3" and with a helmet on the stock seats were at the limit. I found that the 997 GT3 seats give me just as much headroom as the stock seats and are very manageable with a helmet. My head still hits the roof a little, but no worse than before.

Tools:
-6mm hex socket
-Rachet with small extention and wobble joint
-17mm box end wrench
-Side grinder
-Bench vise
-Large hammer
-14 guage wire (red and black), spade connectors, tube connectors, quick splice connectors.
-Crimping tool
-Utility knife

Step 1: Remove the seats with the 6mm hex socket and disconnect the power connection (large black plug that splits in two). The drivers seat will also have a smaller connection for the seat belt light.

Step 2: Use the 17mm box end to remove the old seat belt assemblies off the stock seats, you will need these as the 997 pieces are not compatable. Be careful with the seat belt bolts, they have very thin heads and will strip easily. I found that the box end worked better than a 6 point socket. Sit on the seats while doing it. Put the old assemblies onto the new seats.

Step 3: Prep the 997 seat rails. Remove the seat return spring. Use the side grinder to cut off the rear locating posts and cut and modify the front mounting brackets as shown in the picture.

Step 4: Prep the electrical connections as shown in the picture. Reattach the drivers seat belt light wire into the stock connector.

Step 5: Bolt the seats in. The one front bracket that you removed can be spot welded back to the rail, but it does a pretty good job clamping the rail down without it. The 997 rails are much longer that the 993 rails and will extend into the rear passenger area. Not an issue for me, but you could trim them to keep someone from cutting themselves on the ends. You may need to drill or enlarge some holes in the rails to get more than one bolt in per side. Reattach the seat return spring once you have bolted in the bracket. I found that a loop of wire was essential to pull the spring into place.

Step 6: Enjoy your new seats!

Thanks
James

sparetireless

I want to do it too. About how much would they cost??

turboluvr

I picked up this set for $1500. I got a good deal, they came out of the GT3 the night the owner drove it home from the dealership. I've heard of them going for $1000 a seat, but I also know one guy that got a set from a dealership for $600 plus shipping.

turboluvr

Go to DEs and club races and talk to the guys with GT3 race cars. They tipically order the car with the cheapest seats (these with the manual raise/lower lever and the power backs) with the intention of pulling them out for a full cage and race seats. Some dealerships pull them for customers for the same thing or for custom street cars. Get in good with the service manager and have him let you know the next time a set comes available.

-CD-

Nice work and great look!

Greetings Christian

WHB Porsche

Those seats were the best thing about the 997 GT3! I'll have to look into this.

eclou

nice job and thanks for the writeup

DM993tt

sweet!

chris walrod

Thanks for taking the time to post a DIY guide! Well done!

vincentdds

NICE work. I look forward to do the same with a set 7GT2.

md11plt

Here you go! Post pics.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...spagenameZWDVW

993inNC

^^^^ what he said ^^^^^

BTW, weren't you the guy that sat with a buddy of mine and I for lunch at VIR a couple w/e's ago? You were there with your dad IIRC? Mine was the car you said you kept looking at each time you'd go by (cars look like twins )

OldGuy

I have had a 993TT and a 996 GT3 with Euro GT3 seats and now my 997 GT3 with USA GT3 seats.
I havent had any desire to buy the EURO GT3 seats for this car. The new USA GT3 seats are great and work well on the track in my limited experience with these GT3 seats.
I think its a nice upgrade for a 993. If you were going to be serious about your tracking then the 996 EURO GT3 seats might be better but then if you want to use the car the back seat area is gone for storage.
997 USA GT3 seats would be a nice compromise for the 996 EURO seats.

turboluvr

Chris, yes that was me. Great to hear from you and I look forward to seeing you at future DEs. Let me know how the DACH Turbo exhaust turns out.

OldGuy, I agree on the Euro seats. I think these make a good compromise for a street car; ease of getting in and out of, back seat access, relatively stock look...plus they were available.

Thanks all for the positive feedback, I'm very happy with this mod.
James

shadow993

This was a great write up!

One thing I did different... On the return spring bracket, I just left it attached and made the cuts as directed.
It bolted in just fine and I didn't have to mess with attaching that spring.

One point: To get the return bracket forward enough to mount the seat, I put the seat on the floor with a 2x4 under the spring loaded side. I then push that side down to move the bracket forward. On the other side it moves easy. You will see what I'm talking about when you try it.