DIY- WRX SEATS INTO SAFARI/PATROL
Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:42 pm
Lots of people have been asking this- and if they are anything like me they need lots of info before starting- so I'm gonna help.
The measurements and details below should make these seats a straight bolt in- however if you follow these instructions and kill yourself or somebody else and/or #### a perfectly good truck and/or seats its not my fault in any way shape or form and you must be an idiot.
You should know the following
After sitting in the seats for 1.5 hours today and having a play around it has become clear that a few changes may need to be made before you install WRX seats in your vehicle.
Note that these are not issues for me personally- however if you are of above average height or build they may be worth thinking about. I also tend to sit with my seat back fairly upright compared to many people and this is also a factor you need to consider.
1, The front of the seat is thicker than the factory seat. Although your ass seems to be in the same place as before- your legs are higher and it seems to lift you into a higher position overall. There is NO EASY WAY AROUND THIS unless you want to weld up and fit custom brackets and rails but even then you might not gain much.
You may end up around 1" higher than before. Its hard to tell.
2, The position of the seat in relation to the rails when you follow my instructions may not give you the amount of backwards movement you need. This is very easy to remedy- simply use the more rearward set of holes on the OUTER most rail and then re-drill matching holes in the flat bar and trans side rail to move that one backwards a corresponding amount.
You will need
- 2 x WRX or WRX STI front seats. Rails are not needed.
- 2 x Nissan Safari/Patrol front seats + rails.
- 4 x pieces of flat bar approx 475 long. My bar was 50mm wide and around 3.5mm thick because thats what i had around.
- 4 x steel spacers. 9mm ID and approx 25mm OD and 10mm thick.
- 12 approx M8 bolts grade 8.8 and around 25mm long. Factory bolts can however be used to secure most parts EXCEPT for the outside rails with spacers (minimum four 25mm long bolts required)
- 1 x small file so that you can elongate some bolt holes.
- 1 x 9mm drill bit with drill press (best) or hand drill
- 1 x dot punch and hammer
- 1 x Marker pen.
Alright. I'll do my best at this.
Pull your seats to pieces
Strip down your two front seats to remove the rails. The passenger seat has two extra wire links joined to a bellcrank which the rear passenger actuates by pulling a wire draw string. Cut through this rope at the bellcrank. The rest is self explanatory really. 3 M8 bolts on the outside rail- 2 on the tunnel side rail.
Mark out and drill your four pieces of flat bar
You need three holes in each bar as per this diagram. Drill the holes at 9mm so you have a little slop because things probably will not line up 100% correctly (my seats had holes a mm or two different spacing all round)
Very sorry about the poor diagram. Put the holes along the centre of the flat bar and evenly spaced from the ends, eg; if your bar is 475 long you will have 20mm between the centre of the end holes and the end of the bar.
Elongate some holes
the holes on the factory rails NEARLY line up with the holes on the STI seats. You need to file out the holes on the pressed steel rail extensions so that they match up with the STI seats. Use a small file and stretch each hole 2mm or so longer until you can unbolt them to the seat- then unbolt them.
The holes you need to stretch out are marked in white.
Start bolting stuff together
Lay your flat bar onto the base of your STI seats with the two close holes on the TRANSMISSION side of the seat. Bolt them nicely down on this side and then assess how far out the holes are on the other side. If needed you can bash the sheet metal of the seat base half a mm or so each way until they line up.
You then want to bolt down the outside seat rails (the ones you just stretched the holes on). You need to space them out from the flat bar using your 10mm thick steel spacers and longer bolts.
Next, grab your remaining rails and note that they are different lengths.
The passenger side needs to be bolted down with the front most bolt + factory hole and you then need to mark and drill out a new 9mm hole in the rear of the rail to match up with the hole in your flat bar. Bolt it down.
The drivers side rail is shorter and simply needs both holes stretched outwards using your file until they bolt to both pieces of flat bar.
Nearly there!
Hook on the thick steel wire links between left and right side rails so that both latches unclip together.... and you are then ready to fit them back into your truck!
Its a tight fit but the measurements given put it in the best possible place. You will find the seat rubs a little on the door handle- I'm going to swap to aluminum interior door panels with smaller handles so this wont be a problem.
Hope this helps everyone interested!
-Nathan
Also many thanks to Skid for arranging transport of the seats to me and to Muzza for posting pics of his install which helped give me the general idea
The measurements and details below should make these seats a straight bolt in- however if you follow these instructions and kill yourself or somebody else and/or #### a perfectly good truck and/or seats its not my fault in any way shape or form and you must be an idiot.
You should know the following
After sitting in the seats for 1.5 hours today and having a play around it has become clear that a few changes may need to be made before you install WRX seats in your vehicle.
Note that these are not issues for me personally- however if you are of above average height or build they may be worth thinking about. I also tend to sit with my seat back fairly upright compared to many people and this is also a factor you need to consider.
1, The front of the seat is thicker than the factory seat. Although your ass seems to be in the same place as before- your legs are higher and it seems to lift you into a higher position overall. There is NO EASY WAY AROUND THIS unless you want to weld up and fit custom brackets and rails but even then you might not gain much.
You may end up around 1" higher than before. Its hard to tell.
2, The position of the seat in relation to the rails when you follow my instructions may not give you the amount of backwards movement you need. This is very easy to remedy- simply use the more rearward set of holes on the OUTER most rail and then re-drill matching holes in the flat bar and trans side rail to move that one backwards a corresponding amount.
You will need
- 2 x WRX or WRX STI front seats. Rails are not needed.
- 2 x Nissan Safari/Patrol front seats + rails.
- 4 x pieces of flat bar approx 475 long. My bar was 50mm wide and around 3.5mm thick because thats what i had around.
- 4 x steel spacers. 9mm ID and approx 25mm OD and 10mm thick.
- 12 approx M8 bolts grade 8.8 and around 25mm long. Factory bolts can however be used to secure most parts EXCEPT for the outside rails with spacers (minimum four 25mm long bolts required)
- 1 x small file so that you can elongate some bolt holes.
- 1 x 9mm drill bit with drill press (best) or hand drill
- 1 x dot punch and hammer
- 1 x Marker pen.
Alright. I'll do my best at this.
Pull your seats to pieces
Strip down your two front seats to remove the rails. The passenger seat has two extra wire links joined to a bellcrank which the rear passenger actuates by pulling a wire draw string. Cut through this rope at the bellcrank. The rest is self explanatory really. 3 M8 bolts on the outside rail- 2 on the tunnel side rail.
Mark out and drill your four pieces of flat bar
You need three holes in each bar as per this diagram. Drill the holes at 9mm so you have a little slop because things probably will not line up 100% correctly (my seats had holes a mm or two different spacing all round)
Very sorry about the poor diagram. Put the holes along the centre of the flat bar and evenly spaced from the ends, eg; if your bar is 475 long you will have 20mm between the centre of the end holes and the end of the bar.
Elongate some holes
the holes on the factory rails NEARLY line up with the holes on the STI seats. You need to file out the holes on the pressed steel rail extensions so that they match up with the STI seats. Use a small file and stretch each hole 2mm or so longer until you can unbolt them to the seat- then unbolt them.
The holes you need to stretch out are marked in white.
Start bolting stuff together
Lay your flat bar onto the base of your STI seats with the two close holes on the TRANSMISSION side of the seat. Bolt them nicely down on this side and then assess how far out the holes are on the other side. If needed you can bash the sheet metal of the seat base half a mm or so each way until they line up.
You then want to bolt down the outside seat rails (the ones you just stretched the holes on). You need to space them out from the flat bar using your 10mm thick steel spacers and longer bolts.
Next, grab your remaining rails and note that they are different lengths.
The passenger side needs to be bolted down with the front most bolt + factory hole and you then need to mark and drill out a new 9mm hole in the rear of the rail to match up with the hole in your flat bar. Bolt it down.
The drivers side rail is shorter and simply needs both holes stretched outwards using your file until they bolt to both pieces of flat bar.
Nearly there!
Hook on the thick steel wire links between left and right side rails so that both latches unclip together.... and you are then ready to fit them back into your truck!
Its a tight fit but the measurements given put it in the best possible place. You will find the seat rubs a little on the door handle- I'm going to swap to aluminum interior door panels with smaller handles so this wont be a problem.
Hope this helps everyone interested!
-Nathan
Also many thanks to Skid for arranging transport of the seats to me and to Muzza for posting pics of his install which helped give me the general idea
