How-to: Lancer Evo Recaro seats on stock seat rails
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these were in the 1982-1984 recaro trans am. they were dark brownish gray in 1982 and ligher brown in 1983-84
1984 Recaro T/A
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First off, great write-up, seats look great...now you got me thinking about doing this. Couple of questions though, you mentioned its more of a royal blue...does it look funny with the NBM paint (mine is nbm as well)?
Also do you have pics of what you did with the power controls for the driver's seat?
Also do you have pics of what you did with the power controls for the driver's seat?
I don't have pics yet of the power seat controls. I trimmed the large gray piece about halfway down, since it was too long. I'm not happy with how it looks, though. I like having the controls on the seat, so I have to figure out a way to make it look good.
I'm also trying to figure out a way to lower the seats. I think they ride a little too high. I'm considering cutting off the "spacers" on the bottom of the seat frame, but that will only get me maybe 1/4" or so.
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The plastic trim piece that covers the controls and side of the seat is too long for the Recaros. You'll need to trim it down, or remove it completely. I trimmed mine, but I'm not happy with how it looks. I'm trying to come up with a better way to do it.
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I just picked up two front seats from an evo for $200...I'm gonna paint them black and install them too. They both came with the seat rails...would it be simpler to just bolt the rail to the floor board? or should I get an fbody manual seat rail and make an adapter to fit that to the evo seat?
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I just completed this swap and gotta say, the seats are night and day different. Great write up...the only thing I noticed is that the seats seem to be tight against the center console and have some extra space on the door side. So if I were to do it over again, I might offset the holes for mounting the stock rails to the seat brackets. about 1/2 in towards the doors to better center the seats.
Also still trying to figure out a way to mount the power seat controls.
Also still trying to figure out a way to mount the power seat controls.
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I just picked up two front seats from an evo for $200...I'm gonna paint them black and install them too. They both came with the seat rails...would it be simpler to just bolt the rail to the floor board? or should I get an fbody manual seat rail and make an adapter to fit that to the evo seat?
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I just completed this swap and gotta say, the seats are night and day different. Great write up...the only thing I noticed is that the seats seem to be tight against the center console and have some extra space on the door side. So if I were to do it over again, I might offset the holes for mounting the stock rails to the seat brackets. about 1/2 in towards the doors to better center the seats.
Also still trying to figure out a way to mount the power seat controls.
Also still trying to figure out a way to mount the power seat controls.
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I'm out of town for the holidays, but will try and fab up something for the seat controls and get some pics of it early next week.
Still can't believe I drove around for 10 yrs with those stock seats! Definitely a great upgrade, plus you were right, the blue matches the NBM exterior pretty well.
Here are some pics of the install, sorry for the crappy quality, it was taken with my phone,
Still can't believe I drove around for 10 yrs with those stock seats! Definitely a great upgrade, plus you were right, the blue matches the NBM exterior pretty well.
Here are some pics of the install, sorry for the crappy quality, it was taken with my phone,
Last edited by peterlawl84; 11-23-2010 at 11:38 PM.
#37
I would suggest switching to manual driver's seat rails if you can, as doing this install with the power seat probably wasn't worth the effort. It's a lot simpler to use the manual rails. Either way, I'm happy with the final product, and I'd highly recommend these seats to anyone looking for a cheap upgrade.
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They are also lighter than the factory seats.
As far as the power set up, it's easier to not reuse the factory stuff because the seat would end up sitting too high with gm power rails
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The seat will be slightly higher with the power seat rails, which could be an issue for taller people. The power seat works perfectly fine, just as good as stock. The Recaro seats are more solid than the stock seats. They don't move around at all, and do a much better job of holding you in place.