LBZ Replacement Seats

[Jim Fierst]

Has anyone done some research on what late model seats might be a good replacement for the original seats. There are probably a lot but in case some one has done the leg work I don't want to re-invent the wheel.The foam in mine is crumbling, stitching is coming undone and it is time to do something.

[Jim Keller]

No but as soon as your done with the research, let me know what's best for a 6'2 but tall in the bodied not so much legs cripple will ya? LOL

I want something with decent upper side boolsters but pretty flat seat, down about 2 inches from stock in the seat height and much, MUCH firmer.......I need to be able to just turn, flop/pull my legs out, get them under me and stand up, I can not handle high side boolsters and small doors you have to climb out of like about every GM car made today, (or our new Ford Fusion's small/short doors I had to turn over to my wife because of same), after all the surgeries and the age thing and all, like I tell my wife and kids daily, I ain't 25 anymore!!!! LOL

[Jim Fierst]

I exhausted the local wreckers and looked to the I'net for other seats. I hit on a Las Vegas company ,All Japan Auto ,who said they had some black bucket seats . I made the trip ,about 140 miles there , and fought my way through the the Vegas Interstate construction to find the lot. Vegas is th city that, fill in the blanks, but for those of us that don't it is a perpetual interstate construction site, a nightmare.
I found the lot and the guys there were helpful. Lots of late model ricers but very few black bucket seats. I think this is the norm, so be advised that black seats are rather rare. I was shown a set of 2003 RX7 seats that were Very dusty. I wiped them and checked the all important drivers bolsters for wear but found none. Supposedly out of a 13,000 mile total. I bought them because the were generally the right size ,especially the rail width which was a half inch narrow than the LBZ.
When I got them home I hosed them down and found grey on the back of the seats and the bottom surrounds. I cleaned everything and started the fitting to the LBZ. The front mounting points can be elongated to fit the LBZ width but the length of the rails require major rear brackety making /modification. I used the SEM system to dye/paint the grey surrounds black and they turned out fine. The seats seem to be about 1 inch higher than the LBZ. I have the passanger seat installed and will have the drivers in tomorrow. I must say that fitting them has been a challange and while the end result should be good the effort is significant. This is due in large part because the LBZ rails have a 13 inch front to rear hole pattern while the RX has a much longer one.
There are probably better fits.

[chrisc]

Chris Bastows spider VX conversion had some seats out of an current alfa gtv, that said that probably doesnt help you much :) plus they had pretty tall side bolsters - good for if you were looking for seats for track use but maybe not if youre not so young anymore :P

[Jim Fierst]

I thought I would post a couple of pictures . One is a side by side with the stock seat and the other is the seat by itself. The more I think about it the more I believe that the front mounts can be elongated while the rear mounts need to be fabricated and welded in place so they can be bolted through the floor and backed up properly.
Also the seats only clear the top by less than an inch.

[SIMid]

Nice looking seats, but I guess I prefer to keep a Lancia as stock as possible. If I couldnt refix my seats (which will need new vinyl and foam), I would try to get a secondhand pair of Recaros, similar to the VX and get it redone in Leather or Vinyl.

Those look too modern, maybe something chunkier.

http://svc239.bne115v.server-web.com/images/parts/used%20parts/recaros.jpg

A bit more old school.

http://image.popularhotrodding.com/f/grandcherokee4me/6450652+w450+h338+cr0+re1+ar1/1966-buick-special-recaros-and-mercedes-to-the-res.jpg

or .........

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/tyler087i/recaros.jpg

[KeppelmanJ]

I guess it depends on what you have left with the old seats, but I would take the existing seats to an upholsterer and get them re-stuffed and recovered with something you like, fabric, leather, whatever. I've done that to both a Fulvia and a Scorpion. I prefer original every time.

[Jim Keller]

It depends also on what you want in the end. In the past, I have always had my originals redone and I am a stickkler to original if the car is in good condition, however, even though my current seats are in near excellent condition aside from a couple cotton thread seams letting go, due to what I am going for as an end result, I am probably going to install a set more like what SIMid posted in his first picture, I do not feel those are too modern, especially since several of my Mustangs of that era had Ricaro seats like those in them, and there is a Beta Coupe on Viva Lancia for sale with Ricaros in it that look to be from factory, (so they are not really too modern for an 81 Coupe if they fit and are to scale with the rest of the car, Stang seats would be too large for example), they were already being used in or about that time, if not well before Ford started putting them in as standard for the GT on other brand. My first Stang with those seats was an 84 GT350, (which Ford lost a lawsuit to Carol Shelby over for trademark infringements! LOL), and I think the first time Ford offered them in a production car,

[Will]

Love the pink seats, can you say "weight savings?"

Can you get a HANS for those?

[Jim Fierst]

I guess it comes down to each his own. The key problem as I see it is that the foam deteriorates and what do you do for a replacement for the upholster??
I like setting in these and hope to have the LBZ back on the road tomorrow. I am just not into keeping things original but that is me. i know that many are and that is fine.

[SIMid]

I guess it comes down to each his own. The key problem as I see it is that the foam deteriorates and what do you do for a replacement for the upholster??
I like setting in these and hope to have the LBZ back on the road tomorrow. I am just not into keeping things original but that is me. i know that many are and that is fine.

Go for it Jim! If your happy then do it! :)

But do take a pic with them in, I love to see how they turn out.

If mine are too nackered, I may get a pair of old Recaros (like the first pic) and leather them up.

[Jim Fierst]

Attached are a couple of quick pictures. I lightened the color to get better detail. They are black except for the rear which is grey. Because they are highbacks they come within an inch of the roof. The seat height on the drivers side is adjustable. Adjusted to its lowest point I have an inch of head room and I am 6-1. I am satisfied. My total coast was $250 plus 12 gallons of gas .

[davidb]

Glad you're pleased/they fit. Look REALLY tall to me though. But
whatya gonna do when a re-leather job [mid-grade skins] is what
$500+ a seat? $250 is a deal.

[Jim Keller]

The only things I am keeping original or close to original is the engine/driveline and most of the interior.......the rest I am doing modest mods to here and there, nothing over the top striking or anything, but touched all the same.....there are plenty of original ones out there, they don't ALL have to be restored to stock perfection! LOL I want to drive and enjoy mine!, not show it, I have pretty much lost all interest in sitting around hot parking lots sweating my butt of when I can be driving around back roads in a nice speed induced breeze! <Grin>

That being said, the seats fit great, look great other than the head rest height of corse. They are too high and wide form me but will protect excellent in an accident! LOL
Can those be removed and uhpolsterd over the top of what's left for a nice top of seat shape and rid the bulk?

[Jim Fierst]

I don't think you could reshape the back to get rid of the head rest. I still don't have the car on the road to do some driving to do a final evaluation.

[SubGothius]

How's the rearview with those Mazda seats? I've noticed the view in my mirror is framed by the stock headrests already, so do the wider headrests cut your view down even narrower?

Personally, I'd be all about the Recaros. The ones pictured earlier appear to be from an Alfa Milano Verde, and I liked those plenty fine in my dad's Alfa! Also more apropos, as Lancia fitted pretty much the same type of Recaros to Beta VX models (might even source the proper brackets from a UK junker?).

I might like to redo my own seats on the cheap somehow, someday; can't justify getting new covers resewn from scratch, but a seat swap or even just a swap for better stock covers might be in order. As for foam, they sell new lower-cushion foam for FIAT Spiders -- anyone know if late Beta seats are at all similar to Spider seats?

I actually prefer the vinyl sides with velour centers on my stock seats vs. the more typical leathers, but the vinyl is getting terribly brittle and cracked with chunks peeling off the backing already -- at least the stitching is still holding strong! I dunno if it's even worthwhile to try softening the vinyl and/or using some cracked-vinyl repair kit, might just go ghetto in the meantime with some generic covers and wooden-beaded seatmat on top of that to give some ventilation to my backside without a working AC!

[Jim Fierst]

The seats definitely block the rear view from the side of my head to the top of my shoulder. It does not seem to bother me..
As far as recovering goes I looked around for foam and upholstrey kits and could not find anything. I had done two Fiat interiors already so that didn't bother me.. When the local upholster said $40 an hour and materials that said other seats were the direction. I don't have access to any yards which might contain anything exotic like Recaro's and the ones I saw on Ebay all need recovering.

[OperaHawk]

When I was big into the Shelby/Dodges, I put manual seats from an '85 Chrysler Conquest (Mitsu Starion) into my '86 GLH. I did have to fabricate the braces for the rails (used square tubing), but they were great supportive seats. I think the seat from a riceburner would probably fit in an LBZ...

The seats going into Due (almost finished, too! Whoo Hoo!) are cloth - the last owner of Uno had the original seats redone in a houndstooth check - looks nice in the SE.

Oh, BTW - Uno will be parted out. Who wants what?

SBJ