blueovalz Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I thought I'd replace the very effective, but uncomfortable aluminum racing seat(s) I've got in the Z, but after looking at the dimensions of the typical "racing" seats (padded and comfortable) I'm begining to change my mind. So far, the seats I've looked at are roughly 2 feet across at the widest point, and about 21" across at the front, which means a tight fit in the Z and about 1" between the two seats, and about 1" between each seat and the door edge (where a window would normally be). I'm afraid if I put these seats in the car (they look nice as well) that the two seats will look like a dang love seat being they will be so close together at the widest point (shoulder side supports) Any suggestions on an affordable aftermarket seat that will look good, be narrow enough to fit easily, hold me in place, and be comfortable? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolane Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 BlueovalZ, I am ready to order some seats for my 72. I went through the same thing, and even brought home a Jeep seat to check fitment. I was able to measure and compare the dimensions to those of aftermarket seats. I am going with the Corbeau CR1's. I know that some people have the A4's which I guess fit well. The big difference is the seat cushion thickness. The CR1's are a lot taller, making headroom less if using the stock seat mounting corssmembers. I will be making my own crossmember mounts, so I will lower mine to get the seat height correct. This is an important aspect that is not readily appearant. Good Luck on the quest...not an easy nor cheap one! Joshua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetride2go Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 check for older Recaro (spelling?) seats out of VW/BMW/european cars/etc, they fit w/ room and hold on to u tight and fit nicly... i personally (hence not beain able to find the recaro's i would find suitable), used the seats out of my AE 300zx, but any z31 seat should work. they will barly fit, just at the bottom in the back, but the rest of the seat is fine, and is farly comfortable, even on long drives. and u hav the creature comforts of the inflatable air bags in the seat along the sides, lumbar, and at the front of the seats, and newer ones hav motors for adjustment, front to bak, up/down, etc... if u happen to find the AE seats, they hav 8 speakers built into them, part of the 'body sonic system' in the AE's. so thats just kudos if ur into soundsystems, but odderwise it shouldnt make much difference. and pardon my abuse of english, lol.. to many years of Instant messaging has ruined all my english teachers work from long ago... haha... in ne case, good luck on seat hunting for watever u end uup goin with... =) ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Don't scimp with JY seats. You car is way too cool. I'd go with Corbeau A4's or Bride Brix II's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2126 Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Terry, when I was researching what seats would fit in the Z the easiest, based mostly on seat width, I finally went with the SPARCO SPRINT seats. They are non adjustable entry level certified racing seats and are REALLY COMFORTABLE. Corbeau and MOMO both have a similar seat. I can drive around on a Sunday outting for hours without any discomfort. Check then out! And, they are all in the $200.00 to $250.00 each price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Don't scrimp with JY seats. You car is way too cool. I'd go with Corbeau A4's or Bride Brix II's. Don't diss OEM. The best seats come from the big car makers. Remember, these guys have the bucks to do the proper product development. You can get an excellent design and then have a good upholsterer recover/repad them to your custom specs, often for less money than new after market seats. My seats came out of a Mitsu Starion. They are very comfortable and supportive. Adjustable lumbar, side bolsters, thigh support, headrest, as well as the standard rake and reach. And they are a great fit in the S30. I've put a leather covered pair of these in Steve Camerons Tomahawk as well and he loves them as well. The down side is that these seats are heavy. Even without any motors for power adjustments they are a pig. Also, there is a guy here on the board that blames them on a back injury he had in an accident. That's a call you have to make. I don't know if he had them in an S30 at the time. In my car I figure in an accident there are a lot of other things in my car that are going to hurt me before the seats do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dladow Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I bought a pair of Corbeau TRS seats and brackets. They are great seats and looked really good in my 73 Z, but (a) mounting them is almost impossible because you can't access the rear bolts except blind with the tips of your fingers; ( they are much higher than the stock seats so anyone over 5'9" bonks their head on the ceiling. I did eventually get them in, after much cursing, but then took them out and had the stock seats recovered. I really like the looks of Dan's seats. Are they low enough to give headroom to normal size people, and is their reasonable access to the rear bracket bolts? It would have been much easier if the seat cushion on the Corbeau seats could have been removed during installation and put back in with the seat bolted in, but that is not the way those seats are designed. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I really like the looks of Dan's seats. Are they low enough to give headroom to normal size people' date=' and is there reasonable access to the rear bracket bolts? Dave[/quote'] Well first off, "normal size people" are 5'7" and under. I was able to mount them as low as the stock seats. Rear bracket access is up to you. You will need to cut off the Mitsu brackets and fab your own. In the front all you have to do is drill holes in the rails and bolt them up. In the rear I used a simple 1/2" square tube and drilled and bolted. It was tough getting to the bolts to tighten them. Terry is a superior fabricator though and I'm sure he can come up with a better, more accessable solution. P.S. I like the look of them too. They're ... different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Well first off' date=' "normal size people" are 5'7" and under. QUOTE'] Damn! I'm under normal!! I have 3A Racing seats, Pep Boys special, fake leather. The only problem was the width at the shoulders, they would hit the door panel. I think I mentioned in my writeup that the doors would still close, it was just the squeaking of vinyl on vinyl (seat and door panel) which I hated. So I made FRP door panels with an indent for the shoulder. Miata seats are nice, as are 3rd gen Rx7s, leather too I believe. For cloth I would go with Del Sol or 240SX seats. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Wait a minute, forgot whose post this was! Terry, you need to create some totally custom seats out of FRP or carbon, no off the shelf stuff or JY stuff for you! I envision a bucket seat with little arms that swing forward over your eyes, like a targetting system in a fighter jet or something Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 - Recaro SPG (my favorite, but it is very narrow and i'm skinny) also very $$$ - Sparco Sprint - Momo Start - Bride Zeta I, Zeta II the cheapest ones from that list are the Momo and the Sparco, around $250 - $350 each I believe. The others are about $800 - $1000 each new. a bit much, but they are awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Early '90s Acura Integras have some really great factory seats. Look for the pre-projector light cars, I believe '90-93. They are very close to a Flofit, but with more side bolstering. I put a set into a friends Mustang, and they always get comments. (can't find the pics, unfortunately) I think we paid $35, in like new condition. Plus, I know how much you love raiding the junkyard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 stock seats: FD RX7 seats Aftermarket: anything bride and recaro you cant beat. sparco makes some nice ones too. but do some look to wide.. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I've got honda CRX Si seats in my 75 280. (the recaros) The door panel touches a bit, and they sit slightly higher than stock but they hold WAY better than the stockers.. I had to use the drivers side on the passengers side, and vice-versa to get the recline handle to fit, but they work. There are a lot of choices, and alot will fit better but I wasn't going to complain about $25 for the pair! (I have some friends in wrecking yards ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Datsunlover, These are the current model Si seats, right? For that kind of money, you may have a friend in Connecticut, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Ahh.. I don't think so.. I replied to your PM before I noticed your post here (pop up said I had mail, I went right to it) I'm thinking the seats I have are from the previous generation Si's.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I've got 88 Acura Integra seats. They are very comfortable and fit the interior nicely. Had to fab adapters to fit the original Datsun rails to them though. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZHeadV8 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 911 seats should drop straight in - I am just buying a pair of black leather seats from a porsche 996 turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 What about seats out of an S30? Everyone seems to ignore the fact that they can be bolstered to improve lateral support and they obviously will fit. If the car is being raced on a crooked track and extreme support is required then I can see a racing seat and would definitley go in the direction of some of the recommendations above. Racing seats are not a good choice, though, if the car is more of a daily driver because of the difficulty of getting in and out of them. My S30 drivers seat has been lowered just over an inch (I'm 6'-4" and 240 lbs) and the bottom sides are being slightly bolstered (about 3/4" high). This will make the car, and seat, much more comfortable for me and give additional lateral support for my occaisional forays onto the track and still be easy to maneuver on a daily drive-to-work basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclark999 Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I'm looking to change seats for my Vello Rosa. I bought a pair of Miata seats from Stan the Handyman and liked the idea of having speakers built into the headrests. Now that I have the top cut off the car, the Miata seats look too short. The headrest just barely clears the side of the car. They need to be shorter and look like period Cobra seats or taller. So I'm thinking of switching to seats from the first gen 300ZX, but only if they are a direct bolt in. If I have to fabricate a mounting for them, then I will open up the options to something else. I've seen the 300s in another Vello Rosa recovered in leather and they looked great in it. So, do the 300zx seats need a fabricated mount? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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