What "sport" seats will fit?

take a look at the parts for sale section on this bulletin board. There is a guy named Gary who sells reupholstered C-4 corvette seats with all of the hardware, instructions etc. His post was dated 5-14-2004. Search using "corvette seats" in the parts for sale. I tried Fiero and Mazda Miata seats, both were too tall to use without the lowered floor pans. I replaced a set of Scheel sport seats (like Recaros) They were too wide to move fore & aft easily. I bought a set of original seats from the back of the POCA newsletter and had foam added and professionally reupholstered. I may do the C-4 seats next year.

Good Luck
Gary #06984

I have seen a set of Gary's seats in person at last years Seattle Concours. It is by far the most "correct" looking seat I have seen, and since they are recovered, they do not scream CORVETTE SEAT! In fact, I had to ask what they were. If you are looking to replace your seats, get these, you can't go wrong. Gary's seats are on my wish list.

hehe you kno what seat is my dream seat so far? The carbon fiber red leather covered ferrari ENZO seats hah... I was actually looking at the sparco ones until i borrowed my friend's s2000 to take my girlfriend out for a drive for her b-day, and she told me she actually likes the leather seat (she told me she doesn't like leather before that), so I was looking for the red factory s2000 leather seats however when I saw one in person, it was darker then my ferrari red painted pantera. Then i saw the ferrari enzo seats and was like wow...

Haha the question is, how much are they and if I can even get them without ownership of a Enzo... now that's for my dad's body shop to figure out; if that car is half a million, you think the seats might cost around $20,000? haha..

Larry

Ditto in regards to Gary Herrig's Corvette C4 seats. I have a '74 with stock seats that have been recovered. They're fine if you want the original look and you won't be in the car for more than 45 MINUTES. I'm 6'2" and have been considering dropping my floorpans, but after sitting in Ron Egidio's car with Gary's seats, I'm SOLD. Quality workmanship. Even with the seat tracks installed, I could comfortably fit with about an inch of headroom.

Nils....(anyone). The C4 seats, are they really that low in the "butt plantage" area? Right now mine are the originals that have neen redone, but they are basically flat overall. (the originals look to have a nice dip in the rear.

I have my tracks off, and the seat directly mounted to an aluminum baseplate...... and with a helmet on I just touch the roof liner.


Bob

I have a set of seats from Gary and they are wonderful but be prepared to keep our head cocked a little if you wear a helmet. You get used to it after a few seconds. Vince

Bob,

I have a set of Sparco, Torino seats in my 72.
The seats do have tracks under them, but are bolted directly to the carpet without spacers under them. Makes it pretty tough to move them. These are great seats, ---- Butt ----, I'm 5'10" with pretty short legs, my floor pans are stock, not lowered, if you are taller than me, or have long legs, you wont be able to drive my car. If your taller than 5'4", you wont be able to sit in the passenger seat either. I have about 3/4" between the top of my head and the roof, haven't tried to get in with a helmet on, afaid I might not be able to get back out.
The drivers seat fit in pretty well, even was able to move it a little more centered on the steering wheel than the stock seat. The passenger seat, sets forward because of the firewall bump, (stock), and I had to remove the adjustment knob from the left (inner) side of the seat back to clear the em. brake lever surround.
I would like to convert to the notched firewall set up to give this seat more room, but since my wife fits just fine, I'm not really motivated to spend the money required to modify the car.
These are a touring style seat, and have some bolster at the seat and back, not as deep as some of Sparco's other style seats. Also, they are covered in a material Sparco calls "Alecantero"? not sure of the spelling, it looks like suede lether, charcoal gray and black, and is an expensive upgrade from the standard seat covering. So far, it looks great and wears well.
I'm real happy with how comfortable and how good the seats look, but for a taller driver, these would not be a good choice.
Hope this information helps you make a good choice.

Take care,

DT

I have Corvette seats too. They feel really good. I removed the bottom springs and bolted them directly to the floor. My stock seats hurt my butt and gave no lateral support. Im 6'1 with short legs, long body too. Glued my headliner directly to the roof and I fit. Probably could wear a helmet without cocking my head. Rec Corvette C4 seats.

FWIW, I had my stock 72 Pantera 3-piece seats reupholstered in black leather, re-padded & re-engineered. The rear crossmember was bent into a hallow semi-circle for tailbone clearance, the slots that fasten the back to the base were slotted so the assembly now adjusts for rake by means of knobs that replaced the allen bolts. The seats obviously fit perfectly, the base is now an inch lower than stock so my helmet clears the roof, the look is correct and so comfortable, both my wife & myself are able to drive 8 hrs at a stretch without backaches. She's 5'4" and I'm 6'2" but the rake adjustment makes all the difference. I also replaced the rubber-steel seat rollers with nylon & the seats now adjust at a touch. All this for $300 a seat (some years ago) from Mike Cook in Norco CA. I thibnk most of the CA vendors do this work, probably from the same upholsterer. Worked for me.

The best seats I've seen in a Pantera, are in Frank Jerome's--Flofit, yet no one seems to talk about them, only the desire to put Chevy seats in their cars--not me. Yes, the company is still around.

Recently there was a silver GT5-S on Ebay for sale, looked like a Wilkinson car. It was advertised as having Guara seats, something I never knew was possible or even available, for Panteras. They looked very good--and they are DeTomaso!!

When I purchased 6328 this last winter, a set of Gary's seats were the first major thing I did. I mounted them to the original seat tracks with minimal fab work, but as I am 6'+, 32" inseam, I did disconnect the springs under the butt cushion, and I have about 1/2" room at the top. Look for an add in the next issue of POCA quarterly, with some pictures of the seats in 6328. I've known Gary personally for 3+ years, and you can't go wrong. Any color you want, cloth inserts, the black vinyl matches the original interior for color and texture. You can get a set for half of what one Reccaro or FLofit would cast you. You can reach Gary at glherrig@yahoo.com.

quote:

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Originally posted by Fire & Isis:
[qb]You can get a set for half of what one Reccaro or FLofit would cast you.[/qb]

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Yeah, but then you'd have Corvette seats in your Pantera!! Sorry, just a personal thing with me.

BTW......thanks much for all of the replies so far.

I just got finished doing some rework on both seats, basically lowering the center padding so I now sit in more of a pocket. (the seats were redone quite nicely, just not comfortable).

I'm still pondering all the seat choices, and also plan to visit the local Corbeau dealer next Saturday morning. I'll remove my seat(s) and temp mount one of the ones that may fit.

The easy part is, that I've already removed the tracks and mounted the seats to aluminum plate. (forward/rear adustments are just bolt spaced 3/4" apart)

(editorial comment/questin. I gotta say that from what I've seen in MikeD's website pics, the standard seats look outstanding. The question becomes, why are there no replacment covers made?)


Bob