Help with seat choice

[68EFIvert]

I am building a 1968 Volvo P1800 and will be adding an LS engine to it. I want to use the car for daily use on nice days but also want to be able to drive in in some autocross events. I am looking at different seat options but don't have a way of trying the seats out before purchase. I don't want a seat that is really high or that has shoulder bolsters. I will be using a 3 pt seat belt so I prefer not to have holes in the back of the seat. I am a little worried about the height of the back of the seat and headroom.

I started making a list of new seats last night. I included Cerullo GT, Scat Lumbar Elite, Recarro Expert and Corbeau GTS2. The Corbeau and Cerullo are about 35" high where Scats and Recarro are closer to 32" high. I have some Scats in my Mustang now and one issue I have with those is that they sit a little high. I jsut wish I could find a place to sit in each of the seats so that I can make an informed decision.

Can you guys give me some suggestions. My gut feeling is toward the Curello ro Rerarro. I will end up recovering the seats later in a leather that will match the rest of my car. Do you guys have any suggestions? Recommendations outside these options?

I have thought about getting some used seats from a Fiero, old BMW, Pontiac Grand Am, Datsun Z car or Porsche but am not sure if is worth it if I have to rebuild the seats.



http://www.cerullo.com/sportsSeats/gt.html
http://www.recaro-automotive.com/us/...ct/expert.html
http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/part...s/GTS_II/13823
http://procarbyscat.com/seats/Elite-Lumbar

[E-Vukets]

I would go with the Recaros 100%. I have sat in a lot of seats at auto shows and speed shops when figuring out what type of seat I wanted for my mustang. Whenever I really liked the seat it was always, always a Recaro. I have a set of 1986 944 recaros in my car and they still feel like new, and are one of the best seats I have sat in (second only to the new Shelby gt500 recaros). All the other seats on your list take their style from the Recaro, so why not buy the original?

Even if you do not end up choosing the Recaros I would warn you about going with the corbeaus. I saw a couple at a car show last year and all of them looked noticeably worn and faded. I was talking to one of the people that owned a set and he said they started fading the third month he had them, and the bolsters started losing their form after 4! I don't own a set and for all I know he could have gotten a defective set, but it really scared me away from them.

Seats are one of the things it pays to go a little out of budget on, you are sitting on them every time you drive your car and it can really change the entire experience.

Just my 2 cents

[68EFIvert]

Thanks for the help with the information on the Recaro seats. It seems like they are well respected and I get a lot of great feedback from those that have used then. I get a lot of mixed info on the Corbeau seats. I have some Procar seats i my Mustang and think they are just ok, not great. I haven't heard much about Cerullo seats though.

I looked at a set of Recaro seats today that were just crap. I have some time before I'll need the seats for driving. I was kind of hoping to get him now so that I could mock up my steering wheel as well as pedal assembly. Perhaps I should just buy one seat now and get the passenger side when I'm ready to do the interior work.

[67rally]

I have the Scat ProCar Rally's in my '67 Camaro. I had a custom set of brackets and sliders made by Wedge Engineering (http://www.wedgeengineering.net), because I knew the ProCar's were going to sit too high. They aren't cheap, but I think they can make sliders and brackets for just about anything.

[68EFIvert]

I picked up some seats today. They are Recaro seats from an E21 BMW. Looks like they'll need covers but to be in great shape other than that. I paid $225 for them. I will need to get some sliders and brackets for them. I will likely go to Wedge for those unless someone here has another suggestion.

[gtalum01]

I put 1990 Corvette Recaro's in my 68 Firebird and just playing around I took apart my factory seats and low and behold with the help of steel spacers the Corvette seats bolted directly to my factory rails and into the car, just a thought you might want to try.

[campindog]

Very cool. I had the same seats in my 68 mustang until one broke. I'm waiting on a different set now. You can get parts from this guy if needed.

http://www.2002parts.com/html/recaro_seats.html

If you still have the stock sliders, it's really easy to make them fit the E21's. I have pictures if interested.

[E-Vukets]

Beautiful set of seats, sorry my Fiero's didn't work out but these will look much better! Good luck not getting dinged on the upholstery of these seats, upholstery shops in my area were quoting 1k per seat due to all the separate pieces of foam on these types of Recaros

[Barrrf]

Recaro made the seats for the Cobalt SS. Just throwin that out there.

[68EFIvert]

I wish my sliders on the original seats were in good shape. Heck I wish I had all of the parts for them. The interior was in boxes when I purchased the car and I can't find at least one set of sliders. I think I will give it another try to find them or at least one side and see if they will work. If they do I assume it would be cheaper to find another original than purchase them from Wedge.