Styling Probably already done to death already, but about the Sabelt seats...

[mj2k]

I did it

It's not been tested by my other half so I don't know if it's got the 'seal of approval' yet, but I worked out how to lower the passenger seat without butchering the seat base.

Might make this stuff into a 'howto' if anyone's interested, but first stage was replacing the airbag / seat foam in the damaged passenger seat, and stripping down the donor seats for parts.

Removing the plastic trim was the second hardest part of the operation, the FSM is incorrect on this so it was a matter of playing it by ear.

Remove the adjuster lever (3x torx screws) and carefully pry off the seat back adjuster with some big screwdrivers.

Turn the seat upside-down and undo these two 10mm bolts, and slide the seat base free (be careful you don't damage any cables attached to it)

Then it's a matter of wriggling and prising the plastics free, the FSM is no use at all for this step and I haven't worked out how to fit / remove them without a lot of swearing, but the below pic gives an idea of where the clips are:

Then free off all the cables running into the seat back, if you're taking the back off.

Next stage is to remove the seat back - undo the two larger Torx screws. Be careful - these are held in with thread locker so will take some force and it's easy to damage the thread. You'll also need to use thread locker when you put them back in:

Next stage is to detach the seat lock cable - this one's a bit of a fiddly beggar since you need to depress the plastic clips on the mount and push it free, then turn the cable by 90 degrees to disengage the shoulders. Refitting is the reverse, and equally as fiddly.

Next stage if you're dismantling the seat back is to free off the fastener on the bottom of the seat. Just unhook the two parts. And then fold up the bottom part of the seat fabric (unzip the zips on the back if fitted to make this easier) and unhook the two metal bars which attach the fabric to the seat foam. Slide the fabric up some more, and unhook the other end of the bars from the upper end of the seat foam. Tricky to get pics of this so there are no pictures I'm afraid.

Move the fabric up further still, and prise the three hog rings (little o shaped bits of metal) open with a pair of needle nosed pliers, before unhooking them from the foam. Be careful not to break them, you'll need them on reassembly. Move the seat fabric up as far as you can, and you'll then have access from the back to reach the seat adjuster lever. Undo the screw on the top and pinch the tabs from underneath, and it'll come free. Then it's simply a matter of unhooking the cable from it, and it'll come out.

Next bit depends on whether it's an Abarth seat or not; I did it on a standard 500 seat so the method's different but you'll basically need to work out how to remove the silver bit which a 3 point harness would go through if it was a proper race seat. On the standard 500 seats it's a matter of reaching up under the top lip, pressing in the plastic tabs which hold the headrest, and pulling them out (requires some force, so careful not to snap them!)

They're handed so make sure you take note of which way round they go.

Once this is done you can finally slide off the fabric and foam, and repair / replace as necessary.

You can also replace the airbag if it's gone off at this time by undoing 2x 10mm nuts, but PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU DO THIS AND USE A PROPER HAZMAT DUST MASK PLUS GLOVES AND GOGGLES - if the airbag has split you could be exposed to some extremely nasty chemicals. At best, if the airbag has gone off completely, there will be sodium hydroxide powder about (which turns into caustic soda when it comes into contact with water, e.g. in your eyes or mouth) and if you're extremely unlucky and the airbag's only partially deployed, Sodium Azide powder, which turns into an acid based on cyanide when in contact with water. If you breathe this dust in you're either going to be spending some time in intensive care and end up with permanent lung damage, or end up dead.

Ok, so in my case, after following all my own precautions, binning the seat foam and steam cleaning the frame / fabric, I restitched the side where the airbag had burst out, and reassembled the seat. But I would suggest, unless it's a particularly rare / expensive seat in perfect condition (like the above GQ edition) don't bother with this - too much time, hassle and risk, you'd be far better off binning the seat and getting a new one after the airbag's deployed.

Next stage is the interesting bit....

 

[mj2k]

For this you're not going to need to remove / disassemble the seat back, just go as far as removing the plastics, removing the seat base and undoing one seat back retaining screw (do the side away from the cable - it'll save you a lot of faffing).

Once this is done, unbolt the seat base rails from a donor driver's seat, and prise off the big clips on the rear rail (be careful not to damage them, you'll be needing them later).

You'll then be able to split the donor seat base after undoing a couple more small torx screws. Discard everything (including the adjuster lever) and just keep the two rails.

Unbolt the two rails from your passenger seat:

And split the seat base frame after disconnecting any cables. Fit the two rails from the donor driver's seat, and refit the clips to the rear part using a hammer and large socket.

Reassemble the frame, and then there's only one other step (might be wise to do this before fitting the replacement rails) - cutting off a lug which fouls the seat adjuster cable.

Once this is done, refit the bolt holding the back to the base with loctite, refit the plastic trim (even more of a faff than getting it off) and refit the seat base.

There will be no adjustment and it'll sag to the lowest possible position, but it gives a good 4cm lower at the rear of the seat. Note - front is unaffected (the 500 seat base front just pivots) so this will suit people with long legs more, but it's about the best you'll get for improving headroom without going aftermarket...

 

[mj2k]

...And the finished article. I'm really hoping this does give enough headroom for my other half because the GQ Edition interior is very comfortable on long journeys and gives more rear legroom, at the expense of not being quite so supportive in the corners.

But just in case I've done a mock-up of how it'll look with the Sparcos - not too shabby, though I'm guessing they won't be terribly comfy for long journeys:

 

[mj2k]

Loosely fitted one of the Sparcos, ran out of time to do both or complete fitment for soon-to-be-obvious reasons.

There aren't any instructions and the 500 seat base and Sparco runners / seat can be fitted together in multiple ways, 16 altogether. Guess how many attempts after putting in a couple of bolts took me. Go on, take a wild stab (I felt like doing that after the 15th failed attempt) in the dark...

Anyway, after I'd finally fitted the rails the correct way round with the base I put one in the car:

Rear is 2 cm below the height of my standard seat mod, but the front is considerably lower, which should give a lot more headroom. Legroom in the back isn't affected much and it felt reasonably comfy in the passenger side, so Sparcos might be the right way to go. Only issues I noticed was the seat back hitting on the b post trim if the seat was right back and you try to recline it, and the seatbelt routing isn't ideal since the shoulder supports get in the way.

Need to check the weight (another thing I didn't have time for) and fit the driver's side together (which hopefully won't be such a silly faff) and take it for a longish drive before I make any final decisions, but they seem pretty reasonable to me so far.

 

[A3jeroen]

Things will always be right at the last attempt...
After that you'll stop trying

Edit: And you'll probably need (Sparco) 5 point belts.


gr J

 

[mj2k]

Things will always be right at the last attempt...
After that you'll stop trying

gr J

Just like "you'll always find it in the last place you look" when you're looking for something. Well, yeah, there wouldn't be much point in continuing the search after you've found what you were looking for

Edit, they should be fine, these Sparcos are designed for road / track use. I couldn't use 5 point belts on the road in the UK anyway though - it's an MOT fail.

 

[mj2k]

Done the other seat now:

Interior matches quite nicely

And rear leg room's decent enough (seat back is squishy so it's fine if your knees touch it), though rear access is a pain since the seat doesn't slide forward when you release the backrest.

I'm yet to test it in action, but the seat feels comfortable enough, and is certainly more body hugging than either standard 500 seats, or Abarths. Guess if my other half finds it more comfortable I'll be using them no matter what though - there's a ton of extra headroom. And since the seat base is nearer to the ground it should have a small positive effect on the Abarth's centre of gravity, hopefully enough to offset the negative effect of the sunroof.

Weight's nothing special with the seat bases on though - it's 20.1kg, which means the two seats save me a massive 2kg vs the standard 500 seats. Wow. Still, that's about 5kg less than the Sabelts...

 

[mj2k]

Took it out for a quick spin with the Sparcos fitted, I felt much more confident slinging the car into corners, and definitely finished my favorite road trip much faster than I've done before. I don't know if it's a placebo effect because you can feel the road better through your backside dynamometer, the extra support, the altered view through the windscreen making it feel safer, or if the slight front-end weight decrease combined with the better roll centre to make some genuine difference, but it definitely made some difference to me

The front of my legs doesn't feel so well supported (feels like the seat needs extra padding there) and the seatbelt was a right pain to reach but settled into the 'gap' it was supposed to fit into fine, so otherwise felt perfectly useable in a 'daily'. Only slight issue was the prolonged extra cornering speed made me feel car sick, which is the main reason I've never got involved in motorsport - even if I was able to put in F1-class lap times I'd still come last by a long way if I had to stop for a breather every few laps

 

[mj2k]

Wohoo, my other half has signed off the Sparcos

Only comment was she wanted a cushion because it was a bit uncomfy (I might try and make a new seat base pad using memory foam to fix that, I could do with it too) but she has plenty of headroom now, so I'll return my GQ Edition passenger front seat to standard and put those up for sale.

 

[mj2k]

Finished redoing the seat bases (at last), the Sparcos now feel a lot more comfortable for everyday use. Final job, if they continue to annoy me, is to remove the sides of the headrests and restitch the vinyl there to allow better seatbelt access.