I'm about to purchase some seats online and am wondering how people get on when they are tryin to fit them WITHOUT subframes. Do you remove the ones from the bottom of the original seat and make them fit?

Ross

What sort of seats Ross? Are you looking at base or side mounted, as this will give you different options?

In my experience, there are no Coupe specific sub-frames available for base mounted seats , although I have a feeling that one of the other Fiat models may fit (Tipo, I guess). As such, you may have to use a universal one, and I'm not sure how good they would be, and they wouldn't offer tilt or slide.

If you are looking at side mounted, I can PM you some photos of my set up, even if it is a bit 'Heath Robinson' .

Phil

As Phil says we really need to know what kind of fitment your seats are, side mount or bottom mount. Also what make are they? Many makes are the same, but Recaro is completely different from Cobra, but Cobra is the same as Corbeau for example.

To be honest its a totally unknown make. Cant find any info on them. Its base mounted.

Ross

Ok, fair enough. Can you take some measurements? Hole to hole.

Hmmmmmm, what about the distance from each hole to each hole if you catch my drift.

Dunno. Not got them yet!!!! Is it easy to make them fit, if they have "unusual" fitments?

Ross

Hmm, I would be a bit wary about buying some seats without knowing how you are going to fit them in the car . I'm sure that you could bodge some sort of sub-frame, but you also need to think about the seatbelt mount, which is integral to the standard seat. Bear in mind that whatever you put in will need to pass an MoT at some point .

IIRC, the customised sub-frame that came with the group buy seats wasn't ideal and some people found that the seat wasn't quite right for them (too high, I think).

Phil

Hmmm. To be honest i have checked with a garage who said they can make any seat fix (for a price) but was just wondering how other people got on. As for the MOT the car will have a new one by the time i get it back so that wont be a problem for a while.

A few people have mentioned the height thing.

Ross

My seats do sit slightly lower than the standard ones, but you soon get used to it. The subframes I used where actually for a Brava(o)Marea, and they came with a seatbelt buckle mount.

So i'll need "some" fiat subframes to mount them onto? Why cant i strip the subframes off my old ones? Also, anyone want 2 front black leather seats?

Ross

The frames on the original seats are a nightmare to get off IIRC.

Ross, buy mine on e-bay, they come with coupe subframes and seatbelt clip attatched (drivers has pretensioner).

I have the GB seats. Very good but as Phil said they do make the seat a bit higher than the original. However they've broken in well and I'm getting used to them. However many people have modified the base to sit a little lower. The seat belt stalks are so important make sure they fit properly, at least the GB seats take the standard stalks into consideration.

In my experience universal subframes are a complete nightmare, stay clear! Ive heard of a few people modifying Marea frames to suit the Coupe now so thats probably your best option.

Well...... you guys aint offering leather seats, in yellow and black brand new, reclining and easy tilt for £200 delivered are ya?

Ross

No, sorry.

Ross, you should be able to modify the coupe subframes to fit. I fitted Sparco's to mine, first one was a nightmare (about 6 hours) then once I knew how to do it the second one only took an hour to sort out.

one word of advice with bucket seats. not everyone can get comfortable in every design so make sure you physically try the seats before you buy.

My girlfriend had some bucket seats in her Cinq and i was fine with them. im not a fatty like some oldies on here(FLAME SUIT ON) so i can pretty much get comfy in most seats.

Thanks for the advice Arthur, that was my original plan.

Ross

I have been looking at putting aftermarket seats in my coupe
has anyone got any pictures of them after fitting.

do a quick search you will find some pics but here you go
http://www.wilson10.nildram.co.uk/seats.JPG

Kev

i had these in my coupe, extreamely comfy and tight, however not very practical with 2 kids.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l319/craig1690/ffa3b0e2.jpg

Oh go on then.

One

Two

I had a chance to look at some seats today and was almost
going to buy a BRIDE , full CF bucket (non-reclinable).

the back had the clear gelcoat where you could see the
cf weave .... drool .....

edit : I think that it was this one :-


http://tees-usa.com/images/full_zeta3_detail.jpg


but ... they hadn't any idea about a Coupe mounting and the
seat actually comes stock with the adjustment rails
mechanism , so they were saying that they will remove
entirely the stock seat and rails and with suitable
'brackets' , match the BRIDE rail to the Coupe's 4 mount
points.

will see how tomorrow , maybe I'll go pickup the seat.

cheers..

Oh don't you start about my photography skills, or should I say lack of.

They were taken with my phones camera I'm afraid so thats my excuse.

Lol. Stick to that excuse....

Ross

im desperate for some seats too
busa 1300 where did you get them from and how much???
what subframes did you use? and at a quich glance i thought that the subframes would be ok to remove from the standard seats

Cool looking seats Benmuir, what make are they as they are just what I am looking for to replace my leather ones.
how hard were they to fit and what subframes did you use.

Johnboy,
Just sold them at weekend, they are the standard subframes that were on the cloth seats. I bought them just after the previous owner had fitted them, he did say it was not to difficult however usage of the back seats is limited. Shame i have just fitted leather !

Pics

from outside

Closer

Right. Got my seats through and built them up. Took my passenger seat out and checked the runners would fit onto the original subframes. Perfect!! The holes match up perfectly.

But there is a problem. The actual runners are positioned too wide on my new seats. Ie. its like having a train that is too wide for the tracks. Anyone got any ideas on what to do??

Ross

last time i fitted buckets i had the same problem. I had to fabricate two stainless brackets about 2 inches long.
I fitted them to the bottom of the bucket on one side pointing towards the centre of the car then mounted the runner on them, thereby moving the runner in line with the cars bracket, bolted down the other side in the correct holes in the car and all was good
Hope that made some degree of sense?

It makes sense. Thats my idea aswell. So just make a bracket to gap the distance? Bolt the runner to the bracket and then the other end onto the subframe? Both seats need it so im gonna have to make 4 of them. Probably get my garage to do it, because they are exhaust specialists and will have all the equipment. Should i weld it onto the runner????

Ross

I was going to take mine to a garage but they said £250 to fit them....so metal cutter and some 3mm stainless, it really is easy!
You could weld them however, i just drilled two holes in the bracket and used some uber aircraft grade bolts (cheers liz) to attach them to the seat and subframe respectivley, working on the principle that bigger is better when it comes to the safety of the seats.Fair the seat up first then make a template out of card or something just to make sure u get the length etc right. Took 30 mins to make the brackets from start to finish.
Good luck!

Not got any metal cutters of stainless steel. The garage i use are pretty good. I'll see what they say!!

Ross