Fitting Replica GT3 bucket seats to 996 GT3
Discussion
I know that a few on here have replaced their sports seats with the replica buckets from ebay.
I am currently looking into doing this and am wondering which side mounts etc people have used. The person I bought the seats from suggested I use Recaro ones, but there are several designs, the sales assistant at Demon Tweaks couldn't help and said that all brackets were non-returnable as they are a special order item.
Does anyone know if I need to buy these from Porsche, or Recaro, of if there are any universal ones available?
Thanks in advance for any help.
I am currently looking into doing this and am wondering which side mounts etc people have used. The person I bought the seats from suggested I use Recaro ones, but there are several designs, the sales assistant at Demon Tweaks couldn't help and said that all brackets were non-returnable as they are a special order item.
Does anyone know if I need to buy these from Porsche, or Recaro, of if there are any universal ones available?
Thanks in advance for any help.
I have just done this. I bought the heavy duty side brackets from Design911, they come with seat belt mounting for each side too. You don't need new runners, I found out this the hard/expensive way. I bought a pair of OEM 997 part number GT3 runners, took them out the box and found them to be almost identical to the one's fitted to the existing comfort seats. Plus the new runners came with no bolts. All I did was undo the 4 torx screws and 4 bolts that attached each of the old seats to the runners and then used them to mount the side brackets, perfect fit. The four bolts holding the runners to the car are E12 torx socket type. Use this DIY from rennlist http://gallery.rennlist.com/gallery/albuq41
s_mcneil said:
I have just done this. I bought the heavy duty side brackets from Design911, they come with seat belt mounting for each side too. You don't need new runners, I found out this the hard/expensive way. I bought a pair of OEM 997 part number GT3 runners, took them out the box and found them to be almost identical to the one's fitted to the existing comfort seats. Plus the new runners came with no bolts. All I did was undo the 4 torx screws and 4 bolts that attached each of the old seats to the runners and then used them to mount the side brackets, perfect fit. The four bolts holding the runners to the car are E12 torx socket type. Use this DIY from rennlist http://gallery.rennlist.com/gallery/albuq41
Fantastic! That's exactly what I was after. Thank you very much for the advice!s_mcneil said:
hendy said:
Fantastic! That's exactly what I was after. Thank you very much for the advice!
No problem, should be an easy install, I fooked about for a few hours figuring out what to do with no bolts but then twigged I could use the old one's...Mr F
Mr Freefall said:
s_mcneil said:
hendy said:
Fantastic! That's exactly what I was after. Thank you very much for the advice!
No problem, should be an easy install, I fooked about for a few hours figuring out what to do with no bolts but then twigged I could use the old one's...Mr F
The seatbelt warning light would wind me right up!
Surely you could just splice the wires together though, it looks feasible from the instructions in that Rennlist gallery!?
dom9 said:
Mr Freefall said:
s_mcneil said:
hendy said:
Fantastic! That's exactly what I was after. Thank you very much for the advice!
No problem, should be an easy install, I fooked about for a few hours figuring out what to do with no bolts but then twigged I could use the old one's...Mr F
The seatbelt warning light would wind me right up!
Surely you could just splice the wires together though, it looks feasible from the instructions in that Rennlist gallery!?
Does seem to imply you join two wires together, but I would imagine you have to get them the right way round or you might end up damaging the airbag module...
mr F
dom9 said:
Mr Freefall said:
s_mcneil said:
hendy said:
Fantastic! That's exactly what I was after. Thank you very much for the advice!
No problem, should be an easy install, I fooked about for a few hours figuring out what to do with no bolts but then twigged I could use the old one's...Mr F
The seatbelt warning light would wind me right up!
Surely you could just splice the wires together though, it looks feasible from the instructions in that Rennlist gallery!?
Edited by s_mcneil on Tuesday 19th May 16:34
s_mcneil said:
(STUFF....) It really is easy. Passenger side no problem as no wire from seatbelt obviously. Drivers side, when you undo the bolts holding the seat down tilt it backwards so you can see under. You'll see the connector tied to the bottom of the seat. Do as the rennlist DIY and unclip by moving the side 'clip' to one side and then it should pull out easily. You'll then see you can pull a tab off the side and release the white pin connector which is for the seatbelt alarm. Pull this wire through the seat from the seatbelt connector end. When you fit the new seats take the wire under the back of the seat and reconnect making sure it's the right way, it will make sense when you do it. I secured it with electrical tape as there's nothing to clip it into, you'll know what I mean. MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HAVE THE KEY IN THE IGNITION WHEN DOING THIS DIY... It really is a simple DIY... Good luck and enjoy those new seats...
Sounds good to me... Will let you know ho wit goes when I receive the runners this week, so probably next week by the time i get round to it (have my airbox project on the go at the moment as well)...Edited by s_mcneil on Tuesday 19th May 16:34
dom9 said:
Sounds good to me... Will let you know ho wit goes when I receive the runners this week, so probably next week by the time i get round to it (have my airbox project on the go at the moment as well)...
Remember that you can use your existing runners, all you need is the side brackets, no supplier tells you that. It worked 100% for me using the existing runners from my comfort seats. I could have saved over £200 if I knew that before...s_mcneil said:
dom9 said:
Sounds good to me... Will let you know ho wit goes when I receive the runners this week, so probably next week by the time i get round to it (have my airbox project on the go at the moment as well)...
Remember that you can use your existing runners, all you need is the side brackets, no supplier tells you that. It worked 100% for me using the existing runners from my comfort seats. I could have saved over £200 if I knew that before...Just need to find some 6 pot calipers now. Seen some for a 997 but there £900+...
Mr F
Ah ha - You can use the existing runners, can you?
I have the side mounts at the moment, just waiting for the (free) runners to come, but maybe I will have a go if they don't get here soon. I may take a look at the passenger side tomorrow, if I get some time.
Thanks for the help...
If anyone else does this over the next few days, can you update this topic with any issues/ success you have had and maybe some photos?
I have the side mounts at the moment, just waiting for the (free) runners to come, but maybe I will have a go if they don't get here soon. I may take a look at the passenger side tomorrow, if I get some time.
Thanks for the help...
If anyone else does this over the next few days, can you update this topic with any issues/ success you have had and maybe some photos?
Some (all actually) of the reolica GT3 seats I've seen are awful. Quality of the carbon etc looks OK, but the seats are weak and DANGEROUS. Noticeably flexible, which the Recaros are not.
Hendy - with the ones you've got, how much can you flex them with them on the floor?
FIA testing for race seats (the original recaros almost certainly reach this standard, even if not stickered) i use to incoude a 30g rearwards impact with a 75kg dummy in the car. That's 30x the 75kg bodyweight. (I have some experience of FIA seat testing at MIRA some years ago)
If you can flex your replica seats, then please consider what 5x, 10x or even 30x your entire bodyweight will do to the replicas.
The replica seats are not made to any standard, other than aesthetics. There are plenty of parts that I would happily use replicas, but seats are not one of them.
Hendy - with the ones you've got, how much can you flex them with them on the floor?
FIA testing for race seats (the original recaros almost certainly reach this standard, even if not stickered) i use to incoude a 30g rearwards impact with a 75kg dummy in the car. That's 30x the 75kg bodyweight. (I have some experience of FIA seat testing at MIRA some years ago)
If you can flex your replica seats, then please consider what 5x, 10x or even 30x your entire bodyweight will do to the replicas.
The replica seats are not made to any standard, other than aesthetics. There are plenty of parts that I would happily use replicas, but seats are not one of them.
robmug said:
Some (all actually) of the reolica GT3 seats I've seen are awful. Quality of the carbon etc looks OK, but the seats are weak and DANGEROUS. Noticeably flexible, which the Recaros are not.
Hendy - with the ones you've got, how much can you flex them with them on the floor?
FIA testing for race seats (the original recaros almost certainly reach this standard, even if not stickered) i use to incoude a 30g rearwards impact with a 75kg dummy in the car. That's 30x the 75kg bodyweight. (I have some experience of FIA seat testing at MIRA some years ago)
If you can flex your replica seats, then please consider what 5x, 10x or even 30x your entire bodyweight will do to the replicas.
The replica seats are not made to any standard, other than aesthetics. There are plenty of parts that I would happily use replicas, but seats are not one of them.
Hi Rob,Hendy - with the ones you've got, how much can you flex them with them on the floor?
FIA testing for race seats (the original recaros almost certainly reach this standard, even if not stickered) i use to incoude a 30g rearwards impact with a 75kg dummy in the car. That's 30x the 75kg bodyweight. (I have some experience of FIA seat testing at MIRA some years ago)
If you can flex your replica seats, then please consider what 5x, 10x or even 30x your entire bodyweight will do to the replicas.
The replica seats are not made to any standard, other than aesthetics. There are plenty of parts that I would happily use replicas, but seats are not one of them.
Thanks for the advice. I haven't received the seats yet, I am expecting to take delivery today. I will see how flexible they are once I receive them and will only fit them if I feel happy. Otherwise, they may be going back on ebay where they came from!
Cheers,
Simon
hendy said:
robmug said:
Some (all actually) of the reolica GT3 seats I've seen are awful. Quality of the carbon etc looks OK, but the seats are weak and DANGEROUS. Noticeably flexible, which the Recaros are not.
Hendy - with the ones you've got, how much can you flex them with them on the floor?
FIA testing for race seats (the original recaros almost certainly reach this standard, even if not stickered) i use to incoude a 30g rearwards impact with a 75kg dummy in the car. That's 30x the 75kg bodyweight. (I have some experience of FIA seat testing at MIRA some years ago)
If you can flex your replica seats, then please consider what 5x, 10x or even 30x your entire bodyweight will do to the replicas.
The replica seats are not made to any standard, other than aesthetics. There are plenty of parts that I would happily use replicas, but seats are not one of them.
Hi Rob,Hendy - with the ones you've got, how much can you flex them with them on the floor?
FIA testing for race seats (the original recaros almost certainly reach this standard, even if not stickered) i use to incoude a 30g rearwards impact with a 75kg dummy in the car. That's 30x the 75kg bodyweight. (I have some experience of FIA seat testing at MIRA some years ago)
If you can flex your replica seats, then please consider what 5x, 10x or even 30x your entire bodyweight will do to the replicas.
The replica seats are not made to any standard, other than aesthetics. There are plenty of parts that I would happily use replicas, but seats are not one of them.
Thanks for the advice. I haven't received the seats yet, I am expecting to take delivery today. I will see how flexible they are once I receive them and will only fit them if I feel happy. Otherwise, they may be going back on ebay where they came from!
Cheers,
Simon
Mr F
robmug said:
My experience is that they flex significantly more then the recaro. And they are not made to a standard. Seats are safety critical items.
Would you buy a replica Arai helmet?
I wanst knocking your post, mearly stating that you would not be able to fully test the flex untill they are fitted, and that there is some flex in the GT3 ones. Would you buy a replica Arai helmet?
If they flex, and bend where the seatbelts are fitted, then they are fit for the bin.
A seat is also only as good as its fixings. If the brackets are s
te, then the seat is compramised if you can flex and twist the seat, its ste etc etc.Mr F
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff