Thinking of changing seats

Started by Scooby250, June 23, 2019, 21:28

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Scooby250

Hi All,
My seats are showing signs of age now and the drivers side one is close to breaking through to the foam underneath so I'm thinking it's time to consider changing them.
I have looked on eBay and other sites and most of the used ones are looking tired or a couple of refurbished sets are £350.
I have also seen some RX8 seats that look pretty good for £180ish the only thing I'm not sure about is that they are completely electric so how easy would it be to fit electric supply for these?
What other options have you guys used?
Any advice welcome.
2005 Sable FL, 2zz engine, Cobra quad exhaust, Malian sports cat, TRD spoiler, tte/gb body kit, T-Sport Leather Seats, 17" Rial TX Alloys, Toyo Proxie TR1, KYB shocks and Tein springs

The Other Stu

I have Honda S2000 seats, but they're normally pricey too. They fit perfectly though with a bit of fettling.
Dick Sloan refurbishes seats and he's very reasonable. I think £350 is a bit rich for decent seats.

Failing that, might be worth looking up local companies that repair leather seats. They may be able to do them fairly reasonably.
No Longer Here

Snelbaard

Apparently it's not very hard to swap in some Celica seats. It's something I'm considering.
Follow me on instagram for all my Spyder products @snelbaard

ManInDandism

OP - you don't say what seats you have but Dean at Rutland MR2 sells the back part of a (black) leather seat on ebay for £69 posted. Passenger side and driver side are the same part number so is from a breaker, and as we know, passenger side is usually unworn. Does also sell just the cover for cloth seats as well.
Black 2004 Roadster
Previous: Black 1994 Mk2 Turbo

Scooby250

Quote from: The Other Stu on June 24, 2019, 09:10I have Honda S2000 seats, but they're normally pricey too. They fit perfectly though with a bit of fettling.
Dick Sloan refurbishes seats and he's very reasonable. I think £350 is a bit rich for decent seats.

Failing that, might be worth looking up local companies that repair leather seats. They may be able to do them fairly reasonably.

I had seen that some members on here had used the S2000 seats I have to say they are nice but a little pricey for me at the mo.
2005 Sable FL, 2zz engine, Cobra quad exhaust, Malian sports cat, TRD spoiler, tte/gb body kit, T-Sport Leather Seats, 17" Rial TX Alloys, Toyo Proxie TR1, KYB shocks and Tein springs

Scooby250

Quote from: Snelbaard on June 24, 2019, 12:57Apparently it's not very hard to swap in some Celica seats. It's something I'm considering.

I have looked at a few celica seats as I thought it looked very similar the way the seats attach to the vehicle. If they are a straight swap and will fit I may look more at them.
2005 Sable FL, 2zz engine, Cobra quad exhaust, Malian sports cat, TRD spoiler, tte/gb body kit, T-Sport Leather Seats, 17" Rial TX Alloys, Toyo Proxie TR1, KYB shocks and Tein springs

Scooby250

Quote from: ManInDandism on June 24, 2019, 13:41OP - you don't say what seats you have but Dean at Rutland MR2 sells the back part of a (black) leather seat on ebay for £69 posted. Passenger side and driver side are the same part number so is from a breaker, and as we know, passenger side is usually unworn. Does also sell just the cover for cloth seats as well.

At present I have red material seats which I quite like but they are showing signs of wear and tear. I think I would prefer leather ones as the MR2 is a small sports car and most sports cars have nice leather seats.
2005 Sable FL, 2zz engine, Cobra quad exhaust, Malian sports cat, TRD spoiler, tte/gb body kit, T-Sport Leather Seats, 17" Rial TX Alloys, Toyo Proxie TR1, KYB shocks and Tein springs

Snelbaard

Well I don't think they're a straight swap but pretty close to it. The effort involved in making them fit is similar to S2000 seats I think. Then it comes down to what you want out of them: Celica seats are more comfortable, sit a bit highter and are a bit heavier than stock. S2000 seats are a bit more supportive, sit a bit lower and weigh less than stock. Also there's the issue of looks, I think celica seats aren't very good looking. Finally there's the price difference to consider of course. Personally S2000 seats are starting to look tempting to me..
Follow me on instagram for all my Spyder products @snelbaard

Scooby250

Well I have been looking at the s2000 seats again and I think those are the ones I want to get. Can anyone tell me what do you have to alter to make these fit?
Also does it mater what year seats I get are any years easier to fit then others.
2005 Sable FL, 2zz engine, Cobra quad exhaust, Malian sports cat, TRD spoiler, tte/gb body kit, T-Sport Leather Seats, 17" Rial TX Alloys, Toyo Proxie TR1, KYB shocks and Tein springs

tony=m=

#9
Quote from: Scooby250 on June 23, 2019, 21:28Hi All,
My seats are showing signs of age now and the drivers side one is close to breaking through to the foam underneath so I'm thinking it's time to consider changing them.
I have looked on eBay and other sites and most of the used ones are looking tired or a couple of refurbished sets are £350.
I have also seen some RX8 seats that look pretty good for £180ish the only thing I'm not sure about is that they are completely electric so how easy would it be to fit electric supply for these?
What other options have you guys used?
Any advice welcome.

not sure what this guy is asking but might be worth a look ? if there still there , just noticed it was posted 28 days ago :(

https://www.gumtree.com/p/car-replacement-parts/toyota-mr2-mk3-roadster-black-leather-seats-door-cards/1341513287
Nothing is impossible when you don't know what you are talking about.

Petrus

I am awaiting RCC Mk.3 lightweight buckets seats made by Luso Motors. Price for the bare buckets 185 €uros.
Ordered ´alcantara´ covered pad set.

The plan is to fit them to modded OEM rails. I sourced a second set.
The OEM set is as rigid as sliders come and I retain the driver´s seat tilt adjustment.

Aim to be 15 kilos lighter with better seats.


Beachbum957

Quote from: Snelbaard on June 24, 2019, 16:15Well I don't think they're a straight swap but pretty close to it. The effort involved in making them fit is similar to S2000 seats I think. Then it comes down to what you want out of them: Celica seats are more comfortable, sit a bit highter and are a bit heavier than stock. S2000 seats are a bit more supportive, sit a bit lower and weigh less than stock. Also there's the issue of looks, I think celica seats aren't very good looking. Finally there's the price difference to consider of course. Personally S2000 seats are starting to look tempting to me..
We have Celica GT seats in our 2002 MR2 and they are actually slightly lower that the stock seats and much more comfortable.  The swap is simple as you just reuse the stock MR2 rails and lower frame and swap the Celica seat cushion and back

Snelbaard


QuoteWe have Celica GT seats in our 2002 MR2 and they are actually slightly lower that the stock seats and much more comfortable.  The swap is simple as you just reuse the stock MR2 rails and lower frame and swap the Celica seat cushion and back

Ah good to know, thanks!

QuoteWell I have been looking at the s2000 seats again and I think those are the ones I want to get. Can anyone tell me what do you have to alter to make these fit?
Also does it mater what year seats I get are any years easier to fit then others.

it's actually very straight forward. just bolt on the rear holes of the rails to the floor, then drill a new hole in the front of the rail that lines up with the one in the floor. It's only about a half an inch off.
for more info and pictures:

https://www.spyderchat.com/threads/s2000-seats-installed.42207/
Follow me on instagram for all my Spyder products @snelbaard

Newbie57

There are some celiac cloth seat on gumtree for £30. In Norfolk

Scooby250

Thanks for all the feed back so far.
I have been looking on eBay and Facebook and the RX8 seats really are starting to grab me. Does anyone know if the RX8 or MX5 seats would fit into the MR2? I have seen that a MK2 MR2 member on MR2 owners site have fitted them to that version.
2005 Sable FL, 2zz engine, Cobra quad exhaust, Malian sports cat, TRD spoiler, tte/gb body kit, T-Sport Leather Seats, 17" Rial TX Alloys, Toyo Proxie TR1, KYB shocks and Tein springs

The Other Stu

Quote from: Scooby250 on June 24, 2019, 20:35Well I have been looking at the s2000 seats again and I think those are the ones I want to get. Can anyone tell me what do you have to alter to make these fit?
Also does it mater what year seats I get are any years easier to fit then others.
I'm pretty sure I've documented this somewhere.

It's fairly simple. 3 of the 4 points are already there.
Unfortunately, our cars 4th mounting point is vertical and at 90 degrees and therefore needs a metal part either fabricating or stealing from old seats. I did the latter by visiting Dean at Rutland MR2. He throws out old seats that can't be repaired and will lend you an angle grinder and some glasses.

Looking at the driver's side (for instance), on the rear right, you'll see where there are 2 spot welds before the 90 degree bit. They are in the perfect position, so angle grind off before the spot welds and then drill the welds out. Widen the hole and it'll line up.

I'll see if I can find some pictures.
No Longer Here

Dev

s2000 seats are worth the high asking price primarily because they excel in all areas of looks, comfort and light weight.
 The best thing about this is they don't look like aftermarket seats and from the back it looks like you have a style bar.


Scooby250

Right well it's been a little while but I finally fitted my drivers seat so my RX8 seats are now all fitted.
I ended up buying a fabric set from a guy in Birmingham for £45 and swapped the leather seats from my electric one onto the non electric base. So that left me just needing to cut of all fixing points from the seat frame and then cut of the points from my original seat and fit them to the new seat. Only took me 4 hours to do all that then fit and if I do say so myself the Seats definitely suit the car.
On a plus point I managed to sell the other fabric set of seats for £95!
2005 Sable FL, 2zz engine, Cobra quad exhaust, Malian sports cat, TRD spoiler, tte/gb body kit, T-Sport Leather Seats, 17" Rial TX Alloys, Toyo Proxie TR1, KYB shocks and Tein springs

Gibla

Quote from: Petrus on June 24, 2019, 22:18I am awaiting RCC Mk.3 lightweight buckets seats made by Luso Motors. Price for the bare buckets 185 €uros.
Ordered ´alcantara´ covered pad set.

The plan is to fit them to modded OEM rails. I sourced a second set.
The OEM set is as rigid as sliders come and I retain the driver´s seat tilt adjustment.

Aim to be 15 kilos lighter with better seats.



What are your impressions of these seats, lots of time has elapsed to give a good appraisal, were any other seats on your horizon ?
stock 2001 Dark Green MR-S (6R4)
stock 2004 Black - repurchased from guy who bought yellow 'un

Petrus

Quote from: Gibla on May 16, 2021, 17:22What are your impressions of these seats, lots of time has elapsed to give a good appraisal, were any other seats on your horizon ?

I had no limits on the horizon. Considered from the cheapest kit car platic, alumium WW2 bomber replicas, mid range ´sports´from say Corbeau to the same carbon ones in the Noble. The latter are stunning value for money seats btw, just a lot of money.
I would by these same seats again, with the same inserts.
Also again the combo of LHD ad RHD OEM driver side rails as those give ideal adjustment options for the buckets.
This way you have akin to adjustable back buckets, competion level side support and no issue with the 3 point belts.
Also a geat plus for road use is that they do not hinder looking back over your shoulder.

Dev

The RX8 seats look better than stock and the Celica seats design wise but they look like its going to add a lot of weight by the looks of them being thick and having air bags. They do look comfortable.




Gibla

#21
Quote from: Scooby250 on September 15, 2019, 18:03Right well it's been a little while but I finally fitted my drivers seat so my RX8 seats are now all fitted.
I ended up buying a fabric set from a guy in Birmingham for £45 and swapped the leather seats from my electric one onto the non electric base. So that left me just needing to cut of all fixing points from the seat frame and then cut of the points from my original seat and fit them to the new seat. Only took me 4 hours to do all that then fit and if I do say so myself the Seats definitely suit the car.
On a plus point I managed to sell the other fabric set of seats for £95!
Long time has elapsed, I notice you now have different seats than the RX-8 ones you installed here. Would you give any feedback on the RX-8 seats please ?
stock 2001 Dark Green MR-S (6R4)
stock 2004 Black - repurchased from guy who bought yellow 'un

Gibla

#22
Another alternative:- Who has installed Toyota GT-86 seats/ Subaru BRZ or could comment on seat comfort etc about these seats? 

OR indeed any other suggestions for a 'full' figured ie fat guy, but needs a bit of side support and importantly are comfy....alcantara material ideally!!
stock 2001 Dark Green MR-S (6R4)
stock 2004 Black - repurchased from guy who bought yellow 'un

Alex Knight

Quote from: Gibla on September 19, 2022, 09:56Another alternative:- Who has installed Toyota GT-86 seats/ Subaru BRZ or could comment on seat comfort etc about these seats? 

OR indeed any other suggestions for a 'full' figured ie fat guy, but needs a bit of side support and importantly are comfy....alcantara material ideally!!

I know someone who added GT86 seats.

They sat very high indeed. Do not recommend.

Dev

The problem with almost all seat conversion candidates including custom rails is the height and too much weight.
Most of them sit high, only a few come close like the ones from the Celica and S2k.
Aftermarket seats on the other hand are made for little girls not for portly people.

I found the S2k seats to be perfect for a wide frame.

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