Installation of Recaro SPG using Universal Frames

I thought I'd document the installation of my Recaro SPG sidemount bucket seats as I went through a couple of options when deciding how to fit them.

First up I wanted a pretty light setup, I was initally wanting to retain the sliding motion, but as only I drive the car & it is a pure toy it wasn't essential.

I started with a set of cloth seats & ripped them apart for the subframes. There were 2 problems with this, first up it would require some welding to fit mounts to the original frames & 2nd the drives side are electric, I'd have to retain all the weight of the motor & beefed up frame (which I didn't want to do). So they went in the bin.

I had a couple of options, one was to buy Bride frames, but at over £200 each & a 6 week wait I thought I'd try another solution.

I ordered (from sportsseats4u) a pair of Recaro steel sidemounts. I went for steel as they came in black, but I wish I'd bought aluminium now, I'm waiting on Recaro for a weight difference between the 2. The steel sidemounts weigh 1.9kg per seat.

I also ordered a pair of Sparco universal mounting kits. These consist of 2 aluminium L shaped bars & 4 steel brackets.

So yesterday I set about making the seat fit, I finished today & took pictures along the way.

I'm no expert so if anyone can see any safety issues with anything I've done please say

Please bear with me as I document each picture.

OK this is what you get in a universal frame kit:

4 of these quite sturdy steel brackets. I guess you use them anyway you want.

2 of these aluminium L shaped bars, I'm guessing 4 or 5 mm.

At this point I didn't know exactly how I was going to do it so started by bolting the brackets into the floor.

I figured it would probably involve bolting the L shaped bar to these brackets giving 2 flat bars to which the seat sidemounts could easily fixed.

The first thing I noticed was the inner floor points were out of line, luckily if I rotated one of the brackets 180 deg, they would still be able to have a bar bolted between them (luckily parallel to the other bar too).

At this point I switched this rotated bracket from one from the other set so the brackets strengthening side were all facing each other. This obviously meant I'd done the same to the other set

So I decided the way ahead was to cut the tops of the brackets off at an angle so the L shaped bar could be laid ontop (bolted in place from the side).

The next problem was the bar from the kit wasn't long enough, so off I trotted to B&Q to buy some longer aluminium bar. The thickest they had was 2mm, but I had no other option so thought I'd do it with this & see how strong it was once in place. The good thing is that no seatbelt or harness points are taken off the seat or frame.

With the brackets bolted in place & laid the bar beside them and marked the cut line. Out came my new favourite toy, my angle grinder which made short work of slicing the tops of the brackets off.

The new bar was a bigger L on one side than the other, I decided to use the long side as the upright 1st, if the seat sat too high I would flip it round later.

Here are pics of the chopped brackets laid up against the new longer bar.

A couple of pics of the 1st bracket bolted in place.

It was this point I decided the carpet was preventing a flush fit of the bracket, so I cut some slits in the carpet to allow the bracket to slide underneath & sit flush with the underlying floor.

I also altered one of the brackets base to allow it to fit better.

Next the bars were drilled so they could be bolted to the brackets.

Finally the bar was bolted to the brackets. I've left the bars intentionally long as at this point & will trim them when I find the ideal seat position.

Next I started the other side. Same steps to get the front bracket done.

I decided to get that fitted, I would then sit the seat on the frame and mark the final bracket with the seat in place ensuring the seat is perfectly sat on both bars.

This shot is looking at that last bracket from the other side (passenger side), I just lifted this bar until both sidemounts were sitting perfectly on the 2 aluminium bars.

Here are a couple of shots showing how short the kit bar was.

Next the final bracket was bolted in.

The seat was again placed on the bars so I could mark the hole in the bar for the bracket.

Finally the bar was bolted in place

Woah that looks ropey. 2mm alum will flex like a bitch mate. You could probably flatten the middle part with your fingers. If your stuck with 2mm get stainless.

It was this point I put the seat on the bars so I could get some sort of feel for height & position.

Immediately I found it too high, I also found it wasn't tilted back far enough. I set to work getting the hight correct first, then I'd work on the angle, then the position (distance from wheel).

Woah that looks ropey. 2mm alum will flex like a bitch mate. You could probably flatten the middle part with your fingers. If your stuck with 2mm get stainless.

I know what you mean Scott (I only went with this as a last resort), it's actually turned out very solid, it doesn't move with my weight. I am however contemplating replacing the aluminium bar with a flat piece of steel welded to the brackets.

Actually just been out to bend a 1m length of the bar & it's impossible, you realise it's not flat but L-shaped, it has immesnse strength in both directions

So out it all came. Here's a couple of pics of the brackets laid against the bar.

I decided to rotate the bar and chop an inch off the brackets. Out comes Mr Angle Grinder

And the shorter brackets installed.

And I rotated the bar & used the short side as a vertical and the long side horizontal.

I noticed that I had the side mounts on back to front so putting them on the right way corrected the angle, so it was just a case of getting the correct driving position, drilling the holes & bolting up

As I say, I'm either going to replace the bolted aluminium bar with welded steel strip or get some 4mm aluminium which would have been my 1st choice (although the 2mm isn't budging)

Been out for a drive in it & boy does it make you feel connected to the car.

Just picked up another one from ebay this afternoon so I've got this to do again for the passenger side but I think I'll wait until I've got the drivers side perfect so I can do the passenger side in one go

nice one mate,was wondering how to do mine without buying expensive frames.very helpful.

It will be difficult to bend but it won't be hard to twist IYSWIM. It will be ok for a while but i wouldn't want someone shunting into the back of me with those frames on. Aint no seatbelt to stop you then, its the frames of your seat that hold you in place.

Definitely get it swapped out with a bit of stainless buddy. I would go with exactly the same design though, the L shape is, as you say, very very strong. Stainless just gives it that bit of rigidity that ally lacks.

Just a side note, i would add a couple of washers just to spread the load and take the tear from the nuts.

Seat looks MINT btw

Great posting ... and lovely pics ... I like your dash

It will be difficult to bend but it won't be hard to twist IYSWIM. It will be ok for a while but i wouldn't want someone shunting into the back of me with those frames on. Aint no seatbelt to stop you then, its the frames of your seat that hold you in place.

 

Definitely get it swapped out with a bit of stainless buddy. I would go with exactly the same design though, the L shape is, as you say, very very strong. Stainless just gives it that bit of rigidity that ally lacks.

 

Just a side note, i would add a couple of washers just to spread the load and take the tear from the nuts.

 

Seat looks MINT btw

Many thanks Scott,

I shall take your advice & get some 2mm stainless angle ordered (and bigger washers )

Cheers Lux

PS once I have the design perfected I will reduce the bar so it's less noticable, it's a bit of an eyesore at the mo but I need the felxibility incase I want to adjust the position of the seat.

Also the total weight of the seat + side mounts + custom frame = 6.5 + 1.9 + 0.8 = 9.2kg which could probably be reduced if the aluminium side mounts are lighter than the steel).

Many thanks Scott,

 

I shall take your advice & get some 2mm stainless angle ordered (and bigger washers )

 

Cheers Lux

Just when you had finished the hard work too

Worth it though, always better to be safe than sorry

Just when you had finished the hard work too

 

Worth it though, always better to be safe than sorry

TBH it's exactly why I posted this thread up, I'm a computer nerd & have no concept of what is safe or correct in mechanical situations

how much wider are these recaro seats than bride.

brides are too tight for me, are these the larger versions?