Seat Bracket Dilemma

[sKwared]

I've started phase one of my recent 260 purchase; gutting the interior and getting the floorboards bare to evaluate/repair any rust damage. In doing so I realized that the stock seat brackets are sheered through at three of the four bolts. Considering I was going to move on to the POR15 process after floorboard repairs, this creates a dilemma. The stock seats are shot, so I'm not sure whether I'll replace with other stockers or go aftermarket at this time.

 

I know some companies (Corbeau for example) make brackets specific to our cars. Does anyone know if these are designed to mate to the factory brackets or do they replace them entirely?

 

If I hold off on any repairs or modifications to the brackets at this time, could I POR15 everywhere but the brackets and revisit them in the future? Or would it be wiser to hold off on POR entirely until the bracket issue is addressed by either repairing for stock or modding for aftermarket?

[JMortensen]

Recaro brackets bolt to the stock mounts. I believe Corbeau seat brackets do too. I would hold off on the POR until you have your new seat and bracket figured out. One problem with most of the aftermarket brackets is that they are generic. If you put Recaro brackets in a Z and bolt the seat to them the thigh part of the seat is leaned back WAY too much. I cut and welded the bracket (the Recaro piece, not the Datsun part) to fix lower the front of the seat, then set the rear at its highest setting. The problem with this is that you end up sitting higher in the car than you would otherwise, which could lead to helmet clearance issues if you're really tall. I was able to get away with it at 6' tall.

 

If your Datsun seat mounts are broken, I'd find the seat you want and then either buy the adapter and set it in the car and see if it's worth fixing the seat mount, or don't buy the adapter and fabricate your own mount that gets the seat to a comfortable angle.

[luseboy]

I agree with JMorteson, buy the seat and brackets first. Work on just cleaning up the floor panels were you can for now. I'd recommend just leaving the seat situation alone for now, and getting the rest of the car done first. That's what I've chosen to do anyways. Miata guys bolt their seats directly to the floor pans sometimes, I haven't seen anyone do this on a Z, but I know many people have put in aftermarket seats, so I'm sure there's some tricks out there. If the seat is too high up, you could always section the seat bracket mounts. I got to a similar point as you, and decided to leave it until after I've got the whole underside and suspension all done, you never know what you might need for a particular seat set up.

[zack_280]

I've got a kirkey seat bolted to a homade bracket on front that's welded to the original mounts to lean it back a few degrees. In the back I made a 'nut plate' and welded it into the original plate and bolted the seat to it. There is no slider, but I'm 6'4" tall and need all the head room I can get. Also the seat is really easy to take out. I want to get a Racetech seat, but that's going to be a bit of money, so I'm going to wait.

 

Based on my experience (and another recent experience fitting a RaceTech seat into a Camaro) I would suggest getting the seat fitted prior to doing anything final on the interior. It will be a bigger pain if you have to make modifications after you have a finished or semi finished interior. On the other hand if you are not tall, you could probably make do with a set of corbeau seats and brackets and just deal with the 2" or so less head room.