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quote:
Originally posted by Garvino:
.....Any other ideas out their in the Pantera world?

I'm 6'1". Stock floor pans. Put in a nice set of late 80's, early 90's Porsche 911, 944, 968 seats. They have a nice period look to them with the perforated leather. Had to gut them all the way down to the frame. No sliders, no motors, but a fine seat that is comfortable for hours and hours of driving, supportive, and has a proper set back latch! I have about 1" headroom.

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Thought I would post some of what I have found while looking for seats for my car.

I was looking for something more supportive but not full on race, since my car is going to me mostly street.

I was conisdering the Corbeau TRS and CR1. The TRS was more comforatble to sit in and about 20" wide. The stock Pantera seats are about 19" wide.

I took measurements and built a little mockup to test in the car and boy they did not fir all that well, but they might have been able to work.

I then looked at Sparco's R100 and R505. They both look like nice seats, but not the lightest out there. Best of all they have a width of 19.6" and 19.2". These look to be a pretty good fit. My problem is that there are no shops or anything in my area (maybe Chicago or somewhere in NJ according to a distributor) to actually try out the fit of them and I am not going to buy them.

For now I found a set of Fiero seats that I am buying and going to use these for the planning stages. Not much of an investment if I choose to re-sell for something else. I will hold off on Mr Mikes skins until I am ready.
My seat dilemma still continues. I just looked through this entire thread again to see if I could come up with any conclusions.

After looking at all the different options I really like the looks of David B’s recovered & recut original Pantera seats, and I also like the BMW Recaro seats that David Nunn is running. I know that for the Pantera purist that this may not be their cup of tea, but to each his own.

I guess the real issue I have with the original Pantera seat is that there is no rake adjustment. My wife is only 5’5” and I would like her to be able to slide the passenger seat a little forward and recline the seat back when we take one of our long road trips to northern Wyoming (I have done the bulkhead reduction modifications so her seat will go all the way back against the firewall).

I also would like the seat to fold forward and have a “map” pocket behind it (not that I will be putting maps in it). This also would make it easier to access the front of my motor. Unless there is a modification or a conversion so my seats can easily recline and fold forward I maybe stuck trying to find a reasonable decent set of BMW’s Recaros to recover. I have been watching there prices lately and they seem a bit high on the internet.

I did have a chance to make a very fast stop by Pantera International last week when we were on a family vacation to Disneyland. They had quite a few Panteras, two Mangustas (very cool), a T-Rex, and a Pantera that some guy was having converted into a Audi R8 (I think I have some pics I can post later).

Pantera International also had a set of original Pantera seats (see pic below) that they can convert your seats into. They put in new foam, widen the bolsters, and cover them in the material of your choice. These were really nice looking seats, but once again there is no reclining or folding them forward.

Thanks to the guys at Pantera International for letting look around there shop and giving me some suggestions for my car.

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quote:
My wife is only 5’5” and I would like her to be able to slide the passenger seat a little forward and recline the seat back
you want her to able to lie down? Razzer

My $0.02 is that I loved my non-reclining orig seats in my previous car. Fit me perfectly. In my new Pantera fancy seats that recline, tilt forward etc are installed. I had to remove roll bar, some of carpet, some of seat cushion, spacers, cut and reweld all handles on the seat (tilt forward and move forward), cut off one of the wheels that adjust the recline (the inner), move the handbrake ½" inwards and reinvent a cover. And am I now more comfortable than before? No. So my advice if you want new seats, is to buy seats like somebody already has in their Pantera, so you know if they'll fit, not just take the vendors word for it.
Thanks David B, Cuvee, and Mikael for the information and suggestions.

Also I did not realize that the newer GT5 cars had seats that actually reclined and tilted forward. So far it looks like I’ll probably end up with a newer GT5 seat or a BMW Recaro seat.

Does anyone know if the mechanisms for a GT5 seat that allow it to recline and flip forward will bolt right up to a stock 74L seat and/or if they are available from any of the vendors (or does anyone have some out there in Pantera land that they want to sell)?

Once again, thanks for all the help and suggestions.
I'm in the same boat... looking for a more comfortable car seat. I contacted Stefan at ClassicCarSeats.com regarding the Monte Carlo. He sent back this image of the seats installed in a Pantera(looks great btw). He mentioned that the 2nd knob had to be eliminated on the seat and the handbrake box needed to be slimmed down in order to accommodate the seat. Anyway, if anyone has installed this seat in the car and has more details about it I would really appreciate the info. thanks
Al

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  • montecarlo
quote:
Anyway, if anyone has installed this seat in the car and has more details about it I would really appreciate the info


Glad you like my seats Big Grin
The picture is my car, it was taken when it was owned by Terry Morofsky. I think I'm a bit taller, so I had to do a lot:
quote:
I had to remove roll bar, some of carpet, some of seat cushion, spacers, cut and reweld all handles on the seat (tilt forward and move forward), cut off one of the wheels that adjust the recline (the inner), move the handbrake ½" inwards and reinvent a cover. And am I now more comfortable than before? No


Let me be more precise on why I did the various modifications:
-Due to my size: the roll bar, the seat cushion, the carpet
-Due to wanting ICE ignition box mounted on left of console and wanting a proper cover for the handbrake: inner wheel was cut off both seats. So left seat inner wheel could have been saved. Outer wheels are there still and work
-Due to not functioning handles for fore/aft movement and release of seat back: Both were so low they dug into the carpet and you couldn't get your fingers beneath them, had to use a screwdriver, so I cut and rewelded in another angle.

Now everything works, but it took a long time. Would I, knowing what I know today, buy these seats if the car had had orig seats? No. But if you have tons of money and time and need a challenge, go for it... Wink

Anything more you want to know, let me know?
Last edited by noquarter
Well, maybe the floorpans and inner rockers on my very early car are a little different than the later cars, but I had no problems installing my new Monte Carlo's (they are called NurnbergR from BFtorino in europe)in my pushbutton.
I used the original sliders. I order to line up the threads on the underside of the seats I had to drill new holes in one slider and fab and weld a bracked to the side of the other - that moved them outward by about an inch. No clearence problems with the handbrake box and they move freely all the way back - and forth.

I'm 188 cm (6'15")and still have about 2" clearence to the roof.

Not too good a picture of the pass side seat installed.

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Mikael, thanks for the helpful information.

Nice pictures Push 1267. The seats look really good in your car.

Stefan mentioned that the Monte Carlo seats are out of production right now since they're waiting to receive new hinges and revising the frame. They hope to be back in production in Dec. I'll order a set when the time comes and hopefully have a smooth install.If not, I'll be contacting you Mikael for some advice Smiler

I first discovered the Ferrari 355 Spider seats on this thread on page 5 (I think). Like many of you I had been searching for seats that were comfortable and fit the car. These seats are by far the best I found. Most are too big or sit too high for a car with stock floor pans but these are a very close fit. The seatbelts are integrated into the seats so I was able to cover the holes in the rockers and ordered my bulkhead reduction kit without provisions for the rear seatbelt retractors. It makes for a clean look.

I wanted to keep the ability to slide the seats back and forth so sliders were required. The Ferrari sliders are powered and I didn't see the point so I saved some money knowing whatever I used would require modifing. Sparco double locking sliders seem to be the best option. I bought 3 sets of sliders because I needed extra material to extend them. In speaking with Dennis Quella he recommended angling the seats slightly inward towards the pedals and foot well on the passenger side to make the car more comfortable. After sitting in the seats and moving them around in the car I opted to try angling them. It's hardly noticeable but it does make a difference.

Here's a look at the process:

IMG_0133Ferrari Seats 002
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I had to cut out the factory spacers to lower the sliders as much as possible.

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 I had to use flat top countersunk allen bolts to clear the sliders.

Ferrari Seats 018
 
Ferrari Seats 021
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Last edited by tsolo

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