Looking to put RX8 seats in FD need help?
 

so ive purchases rx8 seats now looking to install them in my fd.have no clue where to begin.what brackets do i use or need any one in ny area to install them.i purchased just the seats from a junk yard without brackets.please someone lead my to the rite direction thanks guys

sorry my spelling is so bad

Look halfway through this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/anyone-do-rx8-seats-fd-yet-547001/

As far as seat swaps, this is a fairly common mod. PM helghast7 for info on the guy who helped him. I believe his name was titaniumtt or something.

I was friends with Dave, but that was such a hack job way of installing those seats.

It's not a fairly common mod to my knowledge. In fact, until recently, I thought it was generally accepted that they wouldn't fit?

To do it properly, in my eyes, be prepared to spend 8-10 hrs+ hours cutting, grinding, shaping, heating, bending, plasma cutting, welding, etc etc etc.

I did install the seats in Helgast7's car.

In fact, I'm going to go install a set in my 'vert today.... and tomorrow, and whenever I can find 8+ hours.

You're either going to spend way too much time fitting those things or you're gonna sit higher than you do in the stock seats. If you're not a tall guy, the job will be way easier. For a 6' + guy like me, it's better to hit the upholstery shop and redo the stock FD seats (which IMO have much better support than RX-8 seats ;) )


...and I miss the crap out of Dave and his shenanigans. :(

wait so its gona be a pain in the ass. damn i thought it would of been easy.dam 8+ hours i dont even got time to drive the car 10 min. k so does anyone know a local guy in ny who can do it?

Tremendous PITA. If you're lacking a plasma cutter and a MIG welder I wouldn't even consider doing it. I'm in CT and I've done it before. PM me if you're interested.

fairly tedious job... dave was the one that inspired me to do it.
i agree with TitaniumTT dave did a serious hack job lol.

i have the cloth version and they sit fairly well. im 5'9 180lbs my buddy is about 6'3 240lbs and fits snugly in the passenger side lol

you will have to hack away some of the rx8 rails to accommodate the FD rails. i wish i could post pics but my car is at the body shop getting completely redone.

bad pic but you can kinda see the seats

Guys, Dave (rest is soul) may have "hacked" the seats into the car. However, at least he posted how he did it. Instead of slagging his work and not posting anything constructive, how about you post how you did it? That would actually be constructive for future members looking to do the same as well as the OP.

Hey man!

I said it was a fairly common seat swap (meaning seats from another model car) not common mod. There aren't many seat swaps for the FD but the 8 ones I've read about for a while.

Read about them sure, until I did it, I had not seen it done before in the way that I did. It's also worth noting that the RX8 seats will not fully slide back unless you trim some of the lower molding either on the seat or in the car. Now, I'm 5'10" with a bad left knee so when I push the clutch, I want my leg fully extended. I did not have the seats all the way to the rear. They also bump you up a little higher.

OK, step one is jack the car up and make sure it's completely level. Side to side and front to back.
take a few measurements on the stock seats, how far do they travel forward, back, where is the centerline of the seat in relation to a few points, what angle is the base at
take the old seats out
Go take out your 4.5" grinder with cut off wheel and grinding disc, drill with spot weld cutter, ocy/ace torch, ball pien hammer, plasma cutter and spend hours cuting, grinding, drilling the all the mounting points, brackets, etc off of the RX8 seats. This WILL take HOURS. Don't forget you're throwing sparks all over the place so the chances of buring the seats is pretty high unless you have some welding blankets.
place the seats in the car in perfect relation to where the old ones were, you'll spend hours doing this as well taking measurements, building templates, remeasuring, etc etc
Now, go to your 3/16 and 1/4" stock of steel and with your plasma cutter in hand start cutting out brackets based on your templates.
Knock off all the slag, grind them smooth and file them to perfection.
Take out your welder and tack weld the first bracket to the base of the RX8 seat while it's in the car.... on top of your carpet, don't forget to move your welding blanket into the car so your carpet doesn't get burned.
Repeat this 7 times
remove seats and finish weld all of the brackets to the seats
allow to cool, test fit seat again.
paint
You've now installed RX8 seats in an FD

I didn't take pics of the job I did for a client.

i bought the seats to put in my fd and ended up selling them to Brian (Titainumtt) which im presuming are the ones he plans to put in his vert.

The seats definitely help out with anyone who wants to be higher up/ Feel less bumps in the road.
( they are very shock absorbent if that makes sense).

Plus the rotors in the seats are a nice addition when looking at the car.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...0/a6491c19.png
Kind of difficult although the homie has a good idea what needs to happen. Pro quality id say

i know this is a old post but im trying to get a hold of TitaniumTT but i cant seem to pm him does any one know if he is tsill around on the site????

IIRC, He as banned again for not following forum rules regarding conduct - insulting other members, flame wars and such.

I have RX8 seats but i don't have half this equipment T__T.....Don't have the free time or noise space to experiment on this. IF i get it done before i find someone with a good write up, i'll make a write up of my own. But until then....if anyone has some pics, tutorials, or ideas please share. RX8 seats are so appropriate for this car. Cheers~