3rd Gen Sparco Seat Build

[chrome91]

Thought i would make a thread just incase it ever comes in handy for someone else. For the last year, i have been wanting a pair of Sparco seats because of how comfy they are, and Top Racing at West Edmonton Mall can order in any seat from Sparco, Recaro, Bride, etc. They had a Bride seat for $900ish and a pair of Sparco Sprint seats for $700 with tax, i waited so long to get them because of the condition of my Maxima previously (rusty, dented) so i took care of the bodywork last summer, and someone was going to put a deposit on the seats so i went ahead and paid in full

First problem, Sparco is out of 3rd gen seat bases/brackets. I gave the guy the part number and he said honestly for the odds that Sparco will ever make more for 3rd gens, i would have to go custom. I ended up going to Speedtech, theyre one of the many garages here that specializes in custom tuning like engine swaps, forced induction, etc. I dropped it off a couple of weeks later, and they need the manual brackets for a 3rd gen, they dont feel the power brackets will be safe with the custom work and theyre all about safety, they want the seats to move too and with the welding the power seats wouldnt move.

So i went to the junkyard, out of 8 3rd gens, not 1 had manual seats. CapedCadaver has some manual brackets from a 3rd gen so it looks like i'll have to ship them in and use them. I got a harness off of a local ad, its Sparco too but its 4 years old so the FIA expires in 2010. Its in good shape though so i'll use it for a while, but i will not be using the harness until i can get a harness bar and other stuff, apparently its unsafe because you dont move at all if you wreck and it can fawk your back up. I'll just be using the harness for show at Nissan/Import meets for the winter until i get a harness bar

Theyre getting welded as soon as i get the seat brackets, i'll post some pics up when its all done. My stock cloth seats look brand spankin new and i found someone who can use them so i'm just giving them away. Ive got a few pics of a messy basement and the test fitting of the harness

[DanNY]

nice seats man....good luck on the project.

[chrome91]

Thanks, i'm trying to get stuff done over the winter for the Nissan meet next summer because i guarantee i will be the only 3rd gen Maxima there, other than that JSMax might be there in his 4th gen but its probably going to be mostly JDM 240sx, Skylines, 300zx, 240z etc. As long as i can get the seats done, lowering springs on, and the digital gauge cluster in i should half stand out. Gotta rep the 3rd gen , i think theres less than 2 dozen in the whole city

[chrome91]

forgot to mention the white squares on the sides are not the handles lol. theyre just protectors so you dont break off the adjustment handles during installation and pop off after

[CMax03]

Fabricate some brackets from scratch....

[CapedCadaver]

question(s)... what's "FIA"? Surely not FIA in the sense of Formula 1 Racing.....

also, got any pics of the bottom of these? just out of curiosity

[Gunther]

FIA = Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

I think they're working with F1 racing to bring F1 to Canada right now...

[CapedCadaver]

Originally Posted by Gunther

FIA = Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

I think they're working with F1 racing to bring F1 to Canada right now...

I knew what that FIA was, i meant when he said this:

Sparco too but its 4 years old so the FIA expires in 2010

[chrome91]

once the FIA expires, the harness is deemed "unsafe", and if i wanted to take the Max to the track they wouldnt let me on with FIA expired Harnesses, the one i have now was made in March 2005 and its lifespan is 5 years. Doesnt make sense to me because the harness has been used little since 2005, but its one of those safety standards. street use will be fine though but again i gotta find a harness bar, i'll use this harness for a couple of years. got it for $100 and its a $400-$450ish harness new, just because of the FIA expiry I got it cheap because its no use to track people anymore

i'll grab some pics of the bottom of them when i get home tonight, the garage is basically modifying the manual seat brackets for a 3rd gen and straight welding them

[James92SE]

I'm pretty sure Matt has Sparcos.. or maybe it's Recaros

[chrome91]

Recaro's are nice, any idea if Matt has pics of his? I would be interested to see how he did the harness install if he went with harnesses

[chrome91]

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

also, got any pics of the bottom of these? just out of curiosity

here you you go. do you know approx. when you would be able to send the brackets

[burhan92SE]

nice seats man....and which nissan meet r u talking about?....

[chrome91]

Originally Posted by burhan92SE

nice seats man....and which nissan meet r u talking about?....

i guess theres another one at Hawrelak park here in Edmonton next summer, i know some people with Skylines, Silvias, etc. so i think i'll know at least a few people there

[CapedCadaver]

Originally Posted by chrome91

here you you go. do you know approx. when you would be able to send the brackets

[aIMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w31/cocoa_pleco/base.jpg[/IMG]

i'll try and get them boxed up this weekend.

[NismoChi]

If making your custom bracket don't workout, try wedge engineering @ http://www.wedgeengineering.net/HOME...6/Default.aspx, they make bracket for almost any kinds of car. IIRC Matt has Corbeau CR1 in his Maxima, don't know about his S14.

[James92SE]

Originally Posted by NismoChi

IIRC Matt has Corbeau CR1 in his Maxima

Ahh, yeah, that sounds more like it

[chrome91]

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

i'll try and get them boxed up this weekend.

sweet, sounds awesome

these will for sure work, they went as far as getting my stock seats off before they saw they were power seats and want the seats to be able to move. they said the manual seats will weld up perfect. thanks anyways for the link

[chrome91]

i just went to the junkyard, and got the RPM pod out of a 280z (fkn sweet) and felt like walking around a bit. long behold, they just got a few more 3rd gens in this morning and one had manual seat brackets sorry Cadaver. just incase you have to ship them to someone else, the drivers side can split into 2, you just have to pry off the washer thingies. thanks anyways for going to all the trouble though

anyways, i called and the guy said he will get a chance to install the seats next week or the week after, he has 2 engine swaps to do first

[chrome91]

funny thing is i was just watching a music video to Tokyo Drift and i noticed i have the same harness as DK look at 0:40 in the video and 1:17



anyways, i forgot tomorrow is a holiday so i'll be calling the guy Thursday and most likely i'll be dropping everything off Monday or Tuesday and have it all back Wednesday/Thursday

[chrome91]

the cars getting dropped off Tuesday and i'll have it back Wednesday. On another note, i found some nice rims for cheap. A guy is parting out on his JDM TT 300zx and the Momo rims are still on it, he said they were on when the car got imported from Japan. He wanted $50 each with 2 of the 4 having good rubber but one has a spit on it and another has a bit of curb rash so he's going $45 each which is $180 for the set. i'll be getting them fixed up in the winter and using them as summer rims, my stock rims just got new rubber so i'll be using them for quite a few more winters

[chrome91]

dropped everything off this morning and called the guy a few hours ago, he said i grabbed all of the right parts and it will all fit

those rims i bought though definitely wont fit lol. The fronts are 235 which would most likely work on a 3rd gen, but the rears are 295, so they would only fit on cars that can take 285-305 on the rear like 350z and 300zx. still bought em though because i'm buying a R32 GTR in a while and i'll get em to fit on that

pics to come tomorrow night of the seats/car since i havent posted any car ones since March i think

[Garf]

Originally Posted by chrome91

dropped everything off this morning and called the guy a few hours ago, he said i grabbed all of the right parts and it will all fit

those rims i bought though definitely wont fit lol. The fronts are 235 which would most likely work on a 3rd gen, but the rears are 295, so they would only fit on cars that can take 285-305 on the rear like 350z and 300zx. still bought em though because i'm buying a R32 GTR in a while and i'll get em to fit on that

pics to come tomorrow night of the seats/car since i havent posted any car ones since March i think

nice mang, you getting RHD r32?

[chrome91]

Originally Posted by Garf

nice mang, you getting RHD r32?

yep, R32 are my favorite. Always liked them, and a few people by me have JDM ones and theyre insane. My cousins friend has a JDM R32 GTR and he let me check it all out, he was gonna take me around and show me what it can do but he blew the engine a few days before doing a burnout and had to rebuild it himself, he should be done by now though.

i know people who import Skylines for a living and theres one that mainly imports R32 and he has some parked infront of his place all the time. when i do get one it will be a summer car only, but there are people who drive them year round. theres a junkyard 7 hours away from me that is Nissan only and has R32, Z31, Z32, Silvia, and other good stuff so its either pay around $6-$10k for a R32 GTR, $2500ish for a GTS-T (4dr would be cool), or get a scrap GTR that has some minor damage and fix it up

i was at my cousins apartment and in the underground parking theres a white 240z, not JDM but it has no rust and looks to be in perfect shape. it was last registered in 2003 and its running because every few months you have to drive your car out for a few hours so they can clean out the parking. i'm extremely tempted to leave a note asking if he would consider selling

turboing my 3rd gen is the 1st thing to do now though, seats are done so just need to 5spd swap, then get a Z31 turbo going. build my 3rd gen to around 300hp and i'm happy

[Matt93SE]

Late to the show, but yeah I have the Corbeau CR1s and Corbeau 2" bolt-in belts. (pretty ricey, but they did the job back then).
http://blehmco.com/pics/car/interior/seats/

The FIA stuff he mentions is a certification standard for race parts. Just like helmets, firesuits, and other safety items, they all have expiration dates for wheel-to-wheel racing, but I have never had anyone look at my belts in my car at the track for DE days and whatnot. If the belts are in good condition and not damaged from UV/sunlight, then dont' worry about using them at the track unless you get to competing. They also don't allow tube-and-cloth type seats like your Sparcos for race use. They must be a 1-pc bucket/shell type seat with a back brace attached to the roll bar. You've got a lot to worry about if you want to race the car, but it won't be a huge deal to take it to the track as-is.

Also, don't waste too much money buying old belts. You can get a brand new G-Force 6 pt belt for about $150 or so online. Sparco and Simpson cost more, but the G Force is just as good..

As for my S14... I use a Kirkey Intermediate Road Race seat in it with a G-force 6 pt cam-lock harness. For the passenger side, I just have the factory seat and an out of date Simpson belt.
http://blehmco.com/pics/240SX/roll_cage/DSCN0217.jpg
http://blehmco.com/pics/240SX/roll_cage/DSCN0218.jpg
http://blehmco.com/pics/240SX/roll_cage/DSCN0219.jpg
http://blehmco.com/pics/240SX/roll_cage/DSCN0220.jpg

[chrome91]

lol this car will never really hit the track, after the 5spd swap and turbo i have a few old scores to settle but thats about it

i'll look into those G force belts, i'll probably end up using one of those on the drivers side and the expired 6pt on the passenger side because i never have passengers really and if i do the stock belts will still be there for a while.

would you happen to have any pics how you bolted in the harness without a harness bar? thanks

[Gunther]

Matt do you have a page anywhere about your 240?

[chrome91]

i found a 280z running for cheap, might consider it but want a 240z more

http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...AdIdZ169682672

i called a few hours ago and theyre almost done, they better be done quick though because i have to be at work in a hour and need the car to get there

[chrome91]

had to take a cab to work yesterday, they were still working on it when i left. they screwed up something minor and its taking a extra day to fix. it should be done today but i have to have it within 2 hours again to get to work, worst case is if its ready later i pick it up tomorrow since i'm off.

overall he said it went good, he said the sliders were a PITA and theyre awkward/a bit difficult to adjust but i rarely ever move my seats unless i need to work on something on the inside and need more room

[chrome91]

at last, it was ready a hour before i had to leave for work. it was more than i expected, i thought around $400 but the total was $750 , he charged me for 5 hours of labor (he said when i first went there that if it was over 5 hours its not worth it) but he said he put in 10 hours because it was so difficult. 2 sliders, angle brackets, welding supplies, and other crap made it expensive. he at least gave me props for doing to a Maxima what no one in the city has ever done. he himself has owned 10 Z31, has 1 now and a 260z and a 240sx.

these seats are awesome, beyond comfy. my stock seatbelts couldnt stay because the part you clip into had to go so i had to sign a waiver that if i flip the car on the way home with no belt its my fault since my harness was at home. i'm getting to that now and i'm taking the car to rip on the highway tonight

i'll get some pics tomorrow

[Garf]

Originally Posted by chrome91

at last, it was ready a hour before i had to leave for work. it was more than i expected, i thought around $400 but the total was $750 , he charged me for 5 hours of labor (he said when i first went there that if it was over 5 hours its not worth it) but he said he put in 10 hours because it was so difficult. 2 sliders, angle brackets, welding supplies, and other crap made it expensive. he at least gave me props for doing to a Maxima what no one in the city has ever done. he himself has owned 10 Z31, has 1 now and a 260z and a 240sx.

these seats are awesome, beyond comfy. my stock seatbelts couldnt stay because the part you clip into had to go so i had to sign a waiver that if i flip the car on the way home with no belt its my fault since my harness was at home. i'm getting to that now and i'm taking the car to rip on the highway tonight

i'll get some pics tomorrow

nice man, i'm subscribed for phots

[NismoChi]

$750?? That include the price of the seats, right?

[chrome91]

i wish , the seats alone were about $700, i got them new because i didnt want cut up, jizzed on stained used ones. include the welding installation because stupid Sparco cant be bothered to make bases for 3rd gens anymore, and the cost of a new harness (getting a new drivers in a bit and puting my current one on the passengers) and youve got alot of money

[Matt93SE]

eh.. I just took the seat buckle off the old seat and bolted it to a spot on the new one. no problems there using the stock seatbelts.
glad you got it done.. but maybe next time you won't bother with the sliders. just pick a spot you like and weld them in place. It's what everyone that races does.

[chrome91]

they were picky about making it move, i said that i'm not selling or getting rid of the car and i'm the only driver so just find a sweet spot where its fine and i dont need sliders, they said they need to move hence why i had to find manual seat brackets from another 3rd gen

you can bolt the buckle to a bolt like you hook the harnesses too? i might do that for the passenger side for a few weeks then, just use the stock belt. they never gave me the buckle back but i can run to pick n pull tomorrow and take a couple just incase

i'll try to get pics tomorrow, ive had to work/work extra on a couple of days because a manager has Swine Flu or something and only me and a few other people can take over for them