Jason Staley

I was wondering what your guys thoughts are on some seats. I currently have a firethorn/white interior with white leather seats, which I really do like. However, the seats don't accomodate a 5 point seat belt that I would like to install along with a HANS device during HPDE's.



I have narrowed my choices down to the following seats due to me being quite a large guy (6'2") and it is a dual purpose car that me and the wife takes trips in so full out racing seats are out of the question. Got to keep the wife happy .

Also, I don't want to swap between the factory seats and racing seats when I go to the track for two reasons: (1) its an additional pain I don't care to deal with, and (2) I am thinking about installing a roll bar so I need a seat with a high head rest for safety issues when I don't have a helmet on (i.e. street driving).

After I get the new seats fitted, I intend to have them changed to white leather to keep the same factory color scheme. Also, I'm probably going to hard mount the seats without tracks to get them as low as possible, plus I'm debating about lowering the floor board about an inch (or two).

Here are my favorites so far.

Corbeau Moab seat and shave the base to get the correct ride height. I know this one is the worst for the track, but with the correct stitching in the custom cover, it would look fairly close to factory.


Recaro Speed S


Sparco Steel


So what are your thoughts .

jpatrick636

I am not familiar with your choices but I would like to offer some advice.
I put C5 seats in my 75 and although only 1" higher than the stock seats, they put my 6'-0" head into the T-top. So you may already know this but pay attention to the height.
Whichever you decide on, you will love the improvement over the stock seats. Good luck.

G dad

I did new foam & Covers in my 79 these seats are awesome very comfortable

Jason Staley

I've already replaced the foam and covers on my stock seats back about 6-7 yrs ago. I don't find them uncomfortable, they just don't have a high enough back and accomodate the 5 point harness I want to use for track events.

If it wasn't for safety concerns, I'd just leave the stock ones in there. However, I really want to add a roll bar, racing harness, and HANS device just incase the worst happens and I hit something.

On the height issue, yeah I already sit too high in the car and have to remove the T-top interior piece just to wear my helmet. I'm looking at doing the following all at one time as a complete "system" change:
1. move fireway and pedals forward
2. new seat
3. lower floor board
4. roll bar
5. 5 point harness

jpatrick636

It looks like your pretty serious about this.

Modifying the stock seat brackets to fit the new seats helped me. They are lower than most.

RobRace10

Have you looked at C5 seats with cutouts for a 5 point harness?

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...-converts.html

Jason Staley

Yeah, I've looked at the C5 option. They are kind of my backup plan, if I can't make one of these work. One reason, as mentioned earlier, is that they sit a bit high which would mean customizing them for height also.

1mpalss

Jason,
Please do a writeup - with lots of pics - to chronicle this buildup. I've considered doing a roll bar in my vert, but I'd rather not have it bust my head if I'm not wearing a helmet and I could definitely use more leg room (I'm 6'3").
Is your floor/footboard metal or fiberglass? I've read that some C3's have metal and others have fiber floors. Sounds like you are moving the firewall forward. Any thought of moving just the lower footwell forward? I think the it could be cut and moved forward several inches but the pedals would have to be modded to cover the extra distance. All quite "doable", I think, but I've never seen pics of anyone's attempt at this mod yet. Mrvette did something like this to his footwell for more legroom.

Z-man

The Corbeau Moab is much different from the Recaro and the Sparco. If you are looking at those two, why not look at the Corbeau A4s? They have seat brackets already customized for C3 Vettes.

How long are your trips? My A4s are pretty comfortable for four hours or so...

Don't know about white leather - you'd probably have to get them custom covered.

Jason Staley

Well this project won't start for several months, but I will make sure to take alot of photos when I finally get to it. I have to finish building an engine for another vehicle first or my wife will kill me .

- I intend to fabricate a SCCA legal roll cage, so it won't be NHRA legal. SCCA allows a little more variation than NHRA and I'm trying to minimize the impact to the interior.

- I have a steel floor board and I probably will only lower the seat area to the same height as the front foot well due to my current exhaust (1 or so inches).

- Actually, I was only going to move the footwell area of the driver side forward of the firewall. I want to move it forward for several reasons:

1. My throttle pedal is too high to perform heal/toe shifting due to a previous modification to obtain 100% throttle with my BG carb (and no I won't go back to a Quadrajet - good carb, but I can't tune them).
2. The clutch pedal keeps hitting the high beam switch, and I would like to lower it some more anyway.
3. I would like to incorporate a dead pedal area next to the clutch pedal
4. I need to revise all the pedals anyway, so while I'm at it ....

Which of the seats do you think would look the best? I am really trying to keep more of a vintage look to the car, so the Recaro's right now are my LEAST favorite, but I'm keeping an open mind. I just found out there is a dealer here in town that carries these companies, so I'm going over there to take a "test drive" of them to see how they compare. Regretfully, they probably don't have the exact styles I'm looking at.

I looked at the A4's, but I am not crazy about the style (they are ok, but not my first choice) and I really need the wide version that looks like it might be a fitment issue with these C3's interiors being so small.

RunningMan373

the A4s will fit , as do the CR1s. I had installed a CR1, and at 6'0", even after shaving 1" of foam, seat height was still too high. Eyes right at the top of the winfdshield if you sit up straight. had to keep the seat at a recline,, looking getto fabulous. A4s seat height is like the CR1s. At 6'2, you'll have a problem, and the seat bottom springs are the cause, they are too high for the C3 interior. I liked the seat, but had to pull it. If you could drop the floor 2",a nd shave 1" of foam, they should work for you though.

Jason Staley

Nice pics of the A4's but I would prefer to have the A4 Wide seats which I think would be a fitment issue. That's why I'm looking at these other options. The A4's would be the easy way, but I'm looking for something a little more tailored to my needs.

RunningMan373

It would be tight, but i think they would fit. Pictured are CR1s, not A4s. the key measurments are accorss the bottom seat and at the widest accross the top. CR1s are 20.5 and 21,, wide A4s are 21 and 23 resp. that's 1/4" over on each side than the CR1s and 1" out at the top. I'm sure they would fit at the bottom, but not sure at the top, considering the side of the interior. Don't remember what the clearance was from the extrusion on the side of the seat to the interior wall. C.

Jason Staley

So 21" wide will fit at the bottom, that's good information to have . I've been measuring the interior and I thought that 21" would work but it looked pretty close. I sure wish these interiors were slightly larger. It would make getting a roll bar and new seats in here alot easier.

Yes, I see the difference now. The CR1's have higher thigh supports than A4's.

TheSkunkWorks

Haven't tackled this issue on my shark yet, so don't have any specific BTDT experience on this one, but on the off chance something I offer may help your decision process...

I'm a bit tall in the saddle for my height, and have had my driver's T-top liner out for some time, so I'm a good candidate for lowering my seat as well. Fortunately, I haven't any legroom issues, and don't envy your possibly having to extensively rework the pedals and floor. One thing that might help is to consider a higher knee position, which could reduce legroom needs if you're OK with and able to angle the seat base enough to make a difference.

As for specific seats, I thought I'd seen some more A4s in a C3 not too long ago, but can't remember the details of the installation (lowered? wide or std?). Will GTS IIs fit our cars (if they work for you)? Lastly, have you given thought to the Recaro LS (I assume they're still available)? Multi-adjustable, a fair amount more attractive than the Speed S IMHO, and still having decent bolsters; they've been high on my short list ever since I first saw a set in a C3 decades ago. I very much like the option of having an adjustable headrest, as well, as I'm rarely satisfied by where those of one-piece seat backs tend to hit me.

In any event, it should go without saying 1) that the less compromised is your position the less physical energy will be required to drive near the limits, and 2) that you need to finalize the seat before touching the pedals (which you simply must get sorted for proper H&T). BTW, the dead pedal is on my list, too.

Hope something here is worth $.02.

SuprJames

Here are my leather A4's in my '72. Can't comment much on height as all the interior isn't in and these aren't the wide ones.

Jason Staley

Yeah, I have to run without the T-top liner at HPDE just so I can wear my helmet.

I can't find those seats listed on Recaro's website. I think they may have quit making those.

Those A4's do look better in all leather. A couple of good things about Corbeau's is that I can have them shaved 1" and covered in custom white leather from the factory, which would be less of a headache than finding a local interior shop to do it.

1mpalss

Anyone tried lowering their floor yet? I've read that '82s with electric driver's seats had a lower floor pan. Maybe something like that could be grafted into an older C3? I'm thinking that some sheet metal could be shaped for the floor and then glassed into the existing structure. I'd hate to do it and be wrong - butt dragging on the highway when the floor falls out! Also, I don't see a lot of extra room to lower the floor anyway without it hanging below the frame and crossmembers.
A local friend is parting an old '71 race car with major rot in the frame and birdcage, but the cage is good. When I sit in its stock worn-out seat, my head is a couple of inches below the main hoop. I'm afraid if I welded the main hoop in my '70 and installed decent seats (I'd really like some C5 seats!) that my head would be too high for safety's sake.

Ironcross

For those of you having seat problems, I suggest calling Al Knoch Corvette Interiors as he has available modified seats to suit special applications involving Corvettes...