Recaro seat transplant

[bgiller@xxxxxxxxx (Bruce Giller)]

	After much fiddling around, I finally got the BMW Recaro seats (off
a 320) to fit in my GTV.  The seats are a bit wider than stock but are able
to slide back and forth easily on their Spider tracks.  I put them in for
my last track session at Summit Point and they are well worth the effort.
They held me in better than stock but also positioned me a bit lower than
stock.  Now all I need are a 5-point harness and I'll be set.

	The BMW rails would not fit the GTV (one side was taller than the
other by about 2") so I removed them.  The stock GTV rails don't lend
themselves to being removed and fitted on the Recaro seat.  I determined
that Spider tracks would fit the mounting points in the floor so I got a
set from my local Alfa mech.

	To determine how high I needed the seats to fit, I removed the
stock drivers' seat from the car.  I placed the Recaro seats in, using the
same mounting points and placed boards underneath to raise/lower it and
then I sat in test the height.  I measured the distance, subtracted the
depth of the track which determined the thickness of the mounting bracket;
3/4".  However one of the side of a Spider track pair was 1/4" thicker (the
one with the seat position control) than the other so I needed a 3/4" tall
bracket and a 1/2" tall bracket per seat.

	The distance between the BMW mounting holes was 17"; I needed a 15
3/8" spacing for the Spider tracks.

	And just how to make this 'bracket'??  I thought about using an
aluminum box or a Z channel.  But I settled on an U channel with different
length legs; see below:

	----       <-- 1" width
	|
	|
	-------    <-- 1.5" width

	The 1" part would be attached to the seat and the 1.5" part would
hold the Spider track.  I needed 1.5" so that I could space the two tracks
at the correct distance.

	The local sheet metal shop couldn't make U channel with uneven legs
so they bent me a L bracket with a 1.5" leg and 3/4 and 1/2 legs.  They cut
me some 1" sections which I welded to the L bracket to make the complete U
channel.

	Before welding up the 1" sections, I used the same mounting
locations as the BMW tracks used and drilled the holes.  I used studs
instead of bolts to attach the U channel to the seats because there was no
way I could get bolts into a 1/2" space without trapping them or drilling
more holes in the 1.5" section for access.

	With the U channel attached to the seat, I measured and drilled
holes to attach the tracks to the U channel.  Because of the design of
these tracks, special 8mm pan head screws are used - I had to order some
for a metric supplier.  I still had to grind down the screw heads to get
the proper clearance for the tracks to slide properly.

	The best part was when I put the seat in the car the first time and
all four holes lined up!  All the measuring and careful attention to
details paid off.  The same pan head screws (except that they are longer)
were used to attach the seat to the car and these had to be ground down to
allow the tracks to slide properly.  An offset ratchet screwdriver had to
be used to screw them down since these seats are lower to the floor than
stock; these made it harder to install/remove.  And the pan head screws are
only Phillips; I'm thinking of getting news ones with Allen head instead.

	The seats need to be recovered since the foam is showing in a few
places.  They are currently out of the car awaiting a trip to the
uphosterer - they'll go when I get the top off the Spider to have a new
rear window sewn in.  All scheduled to be done sometime this fall before it
gets too cold.

"Is dis a system???"  Mr. Natural

Bruce Giller
Takoma 'Radiation-Free-Zone and Finally ReUnited' Park, Md
'73 Alfa GTV 2000
'86 Alfa Spider
'72 Moto Guzzi Eldorado

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