Rear seat delete - confirmation

[bennyboy]

K guys, I've spent the last hour using the search function in a desperate attempt to confirm something for me - the lower half of the rear seats, it's just glued-in right? I really don't want to just tug at it and realise it's bolted in somehow???

 

[Fred Hindle]

Just glue, no hidden bolts nor screws.

I have used aerosol adhesive when replacing mine.

Cheers,

 

[Peter Empson]

Fred's spot on.
Once you've remove the seat belt buckles it should be possible to ease it away from the metal, I just worked in sections forcing my hands in between the two and eventually it became free, but it is pretty strong glue! If you're going to drive without it you'll find it does deaden the sound quite a bit, so expect a lot of gearbox noise and make sure you put the bolts back into where the buckles came out of, otherwise you'll get even more!

 

[bennyboy]

Fred/Peter, thanks, Peter - what sort of noise are we talking? Sort of touring car gearbox whine (quite cool IMO) or a bit more unpleasant? I'm not being pedantic, but I may not remove the bench just yet if it's that bad. Thanks.

 

[Peter Empson]

It's difficult to describe, but without the sound deadening there you can hear the sound of the clutch/tube and gearbox, so there are lots of noises to contend with, not just the box (you'll hear any trasnmission slack very clearly for example). The noise isn't that bad and wont be noticed with a crash helmet on, but might get on your nerves when just cruisung.

With those bolts removed I heard a really unpleasent high pitched whistle and whine which I couldn't stand, so they went straight bakc in.

I'd suggest trying it and see what you think, the glue should remain tacky enough that you could replace it straight away without problem (removing the glue is a whole load of fun too if you want to keep it out []).

I have a 968CS seat delete that I drop in for the road, which I just lift out when on trackdays, it weighs 4 kg or so (probably the same weight as the original seat base but much prettier).

Before taking my car to the bodyshop I removed every shred of sound proofing from the rear footwells backwards and was surprised at how bearable it was. It sounded great to my childish mind (i.e. sounded faster!) but did make conversing very difficult with anything more than a light throttle opening (although I can think of some moaning passengers I've had over the years where this would be a positive benefit []).

 

[Peter Empson]

BTW, talking of transmission noise, have you seen this Video?
Nice!!!

 

[bennyboy]

That touring car is absolutely unbearable! Earplugs required (and new eardrums I would think!). I've been on the look out for a 968CS rear seat delete but can't locate one just yet. RE the glue removal - any tips?

 

[Peter Empson]

When I did mine I used the 3M adhesive remover which was great, but I had a job getting it in the UK (the firm that I got mine from were useless so cannot recommend them, trouble is I can't remember who they were now either!).

I tried a lot of other removers when getting rid of the rest of the sound deadening recently, but please be careful with a lot of them as they often remove paint (which didn't bother me for obvious reasons!). There was one called something like 'sticky stuff remover' which seemed safe although not as powerful as the 3M stuff. Be prepared to spend lots of time and make sure you do it outside as the fumes will get to you... A heatgun and plastic scraper are also worth having to hand.

 

[sawood12]

Peter, what shape is the floor once removed? Is it flat or contoured? I considered removing the rear seats but getting some sound deadening in there and have it carpeted over so it can be used for extra storage - not that I need extra storage, but then again I don't need the rear seats so may as well get rid. I was going to rely on some form of bolt in roll hoop to stop things from hitting me in the back of the head in the case of an accident.

 

[Peter Empson]

The floor has contours that follow the shape of the rear seats (as does the 968CS piece I have). It's great for putting shopping in as it stays put pretty well and doesn't actually look that bad.
On some 968's they had an extended flat luggage area (an option I guess?) which is quite handy as it stops stuff in the boot coming forward and provides a larger loading area, but this will add in more weight again.
I did think of going with just carpet myself, but I think you'd still want a lot of sound deadening there if you're bothered about noise levels (the factory piece I have is inches thick in places), plus I thought it'd be more fiddly to remove for trackdays.

 

[sawood12]

Well i'm thinking that by removing the seats you are just simplifying the interior. I'm sure modern sound deadening materials are much lighter and more effective than the shag pile Porsche used 20yrs ago so there may still be some weight advantage to gain.

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

Peter, what shape is the floor once removed? Is it flat or contoured?

This shape ( not my car by the way) :-

 

[bennyboy]

Thanks for the advise Peter, and the picture Muddy, luckily my car is black so I may be able to get away with the bare metal look, until such time that my ears (or my missus) can't stand the noise any longer!

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: sawood12
shag pile

WARNING! OVER-ACTIVE SWEAR FILTER!

([])


Oli.

 

[Neil Haughey]

Probably slightly OT but I took mine out, then put the base in because I got fed up with the noise, then found that the sprint rules down here state that all the interior has to be in place i.e. including rear seats, belts etc. The only allowance being that bucket seats and I guess roll bars are allowed. Just a point to bear in mind what the intended use of the vehicle will be in the future. Also with the rear seat folded down it provides just enough usefull luggage space for carrying a spare set of wheels/tires to trackdays.