David Hooper
New member
Have just fitted a pair of Recaro seats from a Vectra GSi circa late '90s to I think about 2002ish.
I've never been happy with the original 968 Sport seats and mine had "squashed" a lot.
I was trawling through fleabay when I realised that the Vectra seats looked exactly the same as a pair I had in the old CS a few years ago.
Not long after that an old GSi turned up at Measham auction so I measured the runner width and it was the same as my originals.
Then bought a pair from a scrappers in Brum for £51 off fleabay. At that money, well it was worth a try. They came with everything attached and also had full length spacers with the floor holes slightly wider that the seat runners, I presume to drop in the Vectra. They are tiltable but with mine you have to press both handles on either side of the seat to get them to work. C'mon £51[&:]
I wired up the motors to check operation, they have electric rise/fall plus air pump lumbar support and adjustable thigh support. I had to raise them on the motor so I could see better when I placed them in the car for an initial trial fit.
Two holes at the front lined up and two holes at the back. Those of you who have had your seats out will know that there is 6 holes in the original seats but I deemed 4 enough as it is for most cars. I also used two spacers, removed from the aforementioned Vectra bits, at the back as when the seat is fully lowered it was just, only just, running on the carpet when sliding back. This wasn't a problem on the old CS due to less soundproofing under the carpet. It would have been possible to use the Vectra mounts by slotting them but when I placed them under the runners in a trial fit, they were too high and I would have been banging my head getting in and out.
The Vectra has pretensioners on the seat belt buckle, an explosive device, well more like a cap gun really, that I removed from it's mounting. I then used a seat belt bolt with a shoulder, from a scrap 944 at PH, with the original seat belt buckle, spring and nylon washers so it could swivel as original. This also ensures your seat belt warning light still works. If you want it to[&:]
The electrics under the carpet for power seats came in handy to wire them in of course. Again on the old CS I ran a wire from a heavy feed somewhere to power them up.
They are harder than the originals in a modern Recaro way but immensly more comfortable for my spine and I can now see over the steering wheel[
]
Have obviously kept the originals but if you have a bad spine or want to do the grand tour in your CS then they make a cheapish replacement.
I presume they would also fit a late 944.
Electric question is regarding the feed to the seats. I'm using the original connectors under the seats but I've noticed that this is a constant feed as the switch is permanently
lit. I would have thought that the feed went off after a time as in the electric windows and interior light?
Any answers gratefully received.
Cheers
Dave
I've never been happy with the original 968 Sport seats and mine had "squashed" a lot.
I was trawling through fleabay when I realised that the Vectra seats looked exactly the same as a pair I had in the old CS a few years ago.
Not long after that an old GSi turned up at Measham auction so I measured the runner width and it was the same as my originals.
Then bought a pair from a scrappers in Brum for £51 off fleabay. At that money, well it was worth a try. They came with everything attached and also had full length spacers with the floor holes slightly wider that the seat runners, I presume to drop in the Vectra. They are tiltable but with mine you have to press both handles on either side of the seat to get them to work. C'mon £51[&:]
I wired up the motors to check operation, they have electric rise/fall plus air pump lumbar support and adjustable thigh support. I had to raise them on the motor so I could see better when I placed them in the car for an initial trial fit.
Two holes at the front lined up and two holes at the back. Those of you who have had your seats out will know that there is 6 holes in the original seats but I deemed 4 enough as it is for most cars. I also used two spacers, removed from the aforementioned Vectra bits, at the back as when the seat is fully lowered it was just, only just, running on the carpet when sliding back. This wasn't a problem on the old CS due to less soundproofing under the carpet. It would have been possible to use the Vectra mounts by slotting them but when I placed them under the runners in a trial fit, they were too high and I would have been banging my head getting in and out.
The Vectra has pretensioners on the seat belt buckle, an explosive device, well more like a cap gun really, that I removed from it's mounting. I then used a seat belt bolt with a shoulder, from a scrap 944 at PH, with the original seat belt buckle, spring and nylon washers so it could swivel as original. This also ensures your seat belt warning light still works. If you want it to[&:]
The electrics under the carpet for power seats came in handy to wire them in of course. Again on the old CS I ran a wire from a heavy feed somewhere to power them up.
They are harder than the originals in a modern Recaro way but immensly more comfortable for my spine and I can now see over the steering wheel[
]Have obviously kept the originals but if you have a bad spine or want to do the grand tour in your CS then they make a cheapish replacement.
I presume they would also fit a late 944.
Electric question is regarding the feed to the seats. I'm using the original connectors under the seats but I've noticed that this is a constant feed as the switch is permanently
lit. I would have thought that the feed went off after a time as in the electric windows and interior light?
Any answers gratefully received.
Cheers
Dave
