Hi all,

I have an opportunity to purchase some suede Recaro seats for my Fiero. Here's a pic:


I test-fitted these in my Fiero today, and they physically fit, but I don't know what I am going to do about mounting them.

Here's the bottoms:




As you can see, mounting would be quite different from the stock setup. Another thing that makes this process a little more difficult is that I'm 6'3" and I can really lose any height. I sat this seat on top of the Fiero brackets and I fit ok. I felt I was up maybe 1/2" from stock.

I know some crafty people who can weld so here's my potential solution. I think the best way to go would be to utilize the recaro sliders, cut off the horizontal mounting brackets and weld floor plates onto all four corners big enough to then adapt them to the Fiero mounting studs. It seems like this would be possible and it might even put the seat lower. I don't see using the stock Fiero brackets. We discussed a number of potential solutions, but ran into issues with each one.

Another potential solution is this place:
http://wedgeengineering.net...id/5426/Default.aspx

I will call them on Monday and see what they can do for me. If they can put something together that'll work without increasing seat height, I might just drop the coin and go that route.

So, does anyone have any other potential solutions for this? Has anyone mounted recaros in a Fiero before? If so, could you please share your experiences and/or mounting solutions?

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'88 GT- 257rwhp 319rwft/lbs 12.95@106.1mph

[This message has been edited by AkursedX (edited 05-03-2008).]

Well since no one replied to ths thread for possible solutions, I will show you what we did for future reference.

In the end, we adapted the stock Fiero sliders to the recaros.

The recaro seat has 6 mounting point on it. Two hole about an inch apart in the front and a hole in the rear on each side. In comparison to the stock Fiero seats, these holes are about 7cm wider total.

So what we did was take some pieces of 2" wide 1/4" thick stock, cut 8 pieces of it about 2.5" long (I can't remember any of our exact measurements). We then used a drill press to drill holes to mount them to the Recaros.

From there, it was a matter of lining up stock brackets, tack-welding them on, and test fitting. We found that we had to offset the brackets towards the inside since the seats were a bit wider than the stockers. We also had to cut down part of the upper plate that we used in order for the levers that the sliders use to have full movement.

The final modification we had to do to the brackets was to notch the mounting holes on the floorplates, because once again, the seats were wider and have more leg bolster.

I would like to thank my friend Matt of the Michigan Volkswagen Enthusiasts who did the welding and most of the fabbing.

Heres the obligatory pics to help explain what I typed:

Stock Seats:


This is a pic of the brackets with the four plates tack-welded on awaiting final welding. You can see the notches we had to make for the levers. You can also see the notched floorplates.


A couple more closeups of the plates both before and after final welding:










Action shots of Matt welding:




The completed brackets mounted on the Recaros and ready for installation:


Installed Seats:







I do sit a bit taller in these seats due to more padding, but there is no sacrifice in range of motion. I'm 6'3" and I still fit ok, but it's just a bit more snug now. But the seats are far more comfortable.

Hope you enjoy.

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'88 GT- 257rwhp 319rwft/lbs 12.95@106.1mph

Those maybe the best aftermarket seats I've seen installed in a fiero. They look like a perfect !
How do they feel?

quote Originally posted by Kyle1016: Those maybe the best aftermarket seats I've seen installed in a fiero. They look like a perfect ! How do they feel?

Thanks for the compliments. They feel great! There is alot more cushioning on the bottom and the side bolsters and leg bolsters keep you nice and snug. I also like the length adjustment on the bottom.

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'88 GT- 257rwhp 319rwft/lbs 12.95@106.1mph

excellent write up and solution.

I had tried the same thing with some other aftermarket seats but they ended up being slightly too wide for my liking. I ended up buying sparcos and it just so happened that the brackets lined up perfectly with the width. I only had to drill two holes in the stock brackets to adjust the length of the mounting holes.

The recaros are very nice quality. Good job!

anymore pictures of the whole car ?

To be perfectly honest, I don't really have any good pictures of my car in it's current state. Here's a couple from last year. I've been meaning to get out and do a good photoshoot.

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'88 GT- 257rwhp 319rwft/lbs 12.95@106.1mph

I have heated Recaros in my Fiero pretty similar to yours ..just installed it yesterday and man did it make a difference on how the car feels. I feel much more secure and it makes the car feel much better handling wise as well as being comfortable ride wise

Those Recaros go for about $250 pr. They look great and are a good buy. Too bad that the rails need so much work to make these seats fit.

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87GT - with 3800SC Series III engine, 4T65eHD
87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H
" I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: Those Recaros go for about $250 pr. They look great and are a good buy. Too bad that the rails need so much work to make these seats fit.

Mine were very easy to mount ..just used the Fiero track and welded 4 small tabs that line up with the Recaro mount holes

quote Originally posted by Erik: Mine were very easy to mount ..just used the Fiero track and welded 4 small tabs that line up with the Recaro mount holes

Pretty much the same. If you have a friend with a welder, it's not much of a problem. It took us an afternoon.. The first seat obviously took us the most time with some trial and error, but once we knew what we needed, the second seat went in real fast.

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: Those Recaros go for about $250 pr.

Where??? I'd like to find a similar pair at that price.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 05-29-2008).]