custom sparco seat brackets!!!

[alltracst185]

searching for some brackets to fit my new sparco seats and found this!

http://www.racing-seats-usa.com/sp.html

good place with decent prices

[wannabe toms racer]

NICE FIND GUY!!! wish i woulda known about that site months ago....

[CMS-GT4]

So you expect to pay close to $200 for seat brackets? That's a good price? Jesus. I was hoping to get away with spending $50 on sea brackets...

Now I am kicking myself for passing on those brackets I saw on ebay a wile back.

[turbo4wd]

Yea I found this site a while back, but in my case, I'd have to pay $275 for base, slider assy, side mount brackets, & fastening hardware.. This is before shipping mind you, which would cost about $80 for both..

So you're looking at well over $600 total for 2 seats.. even more if I had gotten the aluminum side brackets..

And even though these are Sparco branded, Sparco uses a vendor here in the US to fabricate their "custom" seat brackets - these are made to order, so there may be some lead time on these as well..

I ended up ordering a set of Bride seat rails direct from Japan and they are ST185 specific, one complete assy, includes all fastening hardware, and they are compatible with many different seats from other manufacturers. With shipping from Japan via EMS, I paid $550 total and it only took a week to get here..

[wannabe toms racer]

i dont trust ebay seat brackets (or much else on ebay for that matter) id much rather pay an extra couple hundred bucks to ensure i dont fly thru my windshield in the event of a crash...

[darthripley]

I ended up ordering a set of Bride seat rails direct from Japan and they are ST185 specific, one complete assy, includes all fastening hardware, and they are compatible with many different seats from other manufacturers.

I did the same thing - Bride rails fit older Recaro seats with an adapter & I find the Bride rails are a tad bit lower than stock as well as being a lot lower (very noticable) than other brand rails such as Recaro rails & Wedge Engineering - both from experience.

IIRC, the rails CMS is talking about on ebay were used Sparco rails + sliders.

[RedCelicaTRD]

Looks like I'll need to find a set of Bride rails also. I wanted something a little lower and was thinking about the Wedge rails, but it looks as though they probably aren't the way to go.

[darthripley]

in the MR2, i got a Bride Rail for the pass side & Joe got a Wedge rail for the driver's side.
the Bride rail is between 1/4" - 1/2" lower than the Wedge.
Not only that the quality on the Bride is FAR superior especially regarding the sliders & ease of use.

in the Alltrac I got a set of Recaro rails & sliders - the quality is great.
the bad part is since both Joe is 6' ft. tall & i'm 5' 10" the rails don't slide back far enough even being all the way back for us to drive comfortably.
I think the Recaro rails would be suited well for someone 5'5" - 5'7"

I'm waiting on the Bride rails to come in for the Alltrac.

[turbo4wd]

IIRC, the rails CMS is talking about on ebay were used Sparco rails + sliders.

Yeah, I just wanted to avoid having to put together a base, slider, and side brackets. The Brides came with the base/slider as one unit, and side brackets.

Here's what I got. If anyone wants the same, they MUST get the FO-type Kai - NOT the FO which is an older design. The FO-type Kai's aren't even sold in the US (not yet at least) - but they will fit seats from Recaro, Sparco, Bride, Cobra and others.

Note on the "TYPE" line where it says "RH" the other box says "LH". These things have a tab where you can mount the seatbelt buckle assembly which is why they indicate which is driver's and which is passenger's.

[darthripley]

good info there for those with full bucket seats.

since i just went with old school Recaro SR-2's (similar style to the older SRD's) reclining sport seats i will be getting the RO bracket & slider.
these are special order from Japan so the wait time is 4-6 wks as none of the distributors in the US have them in stock.
Unfortunately, they do not make the SL (Super Low) rails for an ST185
i am pretty sure the Bride RO rails are approx 15-20mm lower than stock.
Again, once I get the rails & fit the seats I can compare & measure for more accurate info.

if you do end up with the MO rails you can use the Import Adapter which runs ~$35 & allows the older Bride & Recaro seats to bolt up with no probs.

[CMS-GT4]

I guess the price is the reason some just get their stock seats redone.

I am kind of curious about modifying a y2k celica bracket, if those are cheaper. The brides are ~130 each on yahoo.jp.

It might be cheaper for me to get 205 seats.

[Mafix]

the reason these are so expensive is because they are approved racing brackets (as long as you get double sliders). i have these with corbeau seats. i would recommend them for anyone 6' or shorter. i had to remove my sliders and hard mount my seat and i barely fit. when i race i'm all scrunched up. one of these days i'll get to modifying mine to lower the seat another inch. at least then without the cushion on the seat i can wear a helmet and not be bent over.

[darthripley]

i've seen a pair of cloth ST205 seats run about $350-450 the leather ones are a bit more.

you could modify the 7th gen Celica brackets but those cloth seats aren't particularly comfortable imho. the leather are o.k. a bit better but they just aren't supportive on the side bolsters just for spirited driving.

i'd rather just spend the extra money, get good quality supportive cloth sport seats & high quality rails + sliders.
i've been spoiled too long to not have Recaro seats in our "fun" cars.

the weight savings is also a nice plus for those looking to shave a few pounds here & there.
stock cloth seats are pretty heavy ... i have the weights around here somewhere...
i'm not sure how much heavier the stock leather seats are.

[BNZ]

If anyone is interested here I've made myself custom seat holders/brackets : viewtopic.php?f=76&t=41113&p=390977#p390977

[sarnodude]

FYI: For anyone considering installing JDM ST205 seats in their USDM ST185..
bad news, they are not interchangeable..
I haven't figured out what to do just yet, but any swap is possible with enough custom fab work, I suppose.