[El Paso GT]

Does anyone in the TX / NM area have a good set of seats for a 1970 GT that they are willing to part with?

 

[opelgt21]

seats

Good seats are VERY hard to find. I need one for my 72. Fiero seats will fit very easily, but they're also not so easy to get anymore. Miata seat will work too.

 

[madhatterpdc]

Those Fiero seats look like a good idea. The speakers built into the headrest are like wearing headphones that allow you to hear other stuff (like the exhaust ). Now you can enjoy both without having to drown the other out. Also allows decent sounding speakers and maintain an other wise stock appearance.

Good idea for my next dumpster dive. Wait... we may have a junk Fiero somewhere in the pile of cars at my dad's shop...

 

[West Coast GT]

Miata Seats - replacement

Here's the diamensions.
Because I don't know the proper term for those box thingees the rails mount to, I'm gonna call them "box". OK? And I'm not gonna spell check because I'll thak too long and get bounced off and lose my message -

72 Opel GT -

Transverse box is 17.5 inches long.
Longitudinal boxes are appro 20".

Rail mount holes are 11.5" center to center.
Rail mount holes front to back are 13.5" ctoc.

Clear space from the door sill to the tunnel is 18" in back between the seat belt anchors (including anchors & covers.

Seat Bottom dimensions
19" seat front bolster to bolster
18" seat back
22.5" front to back

Seat Back diminsions
19" wide at the bottom
14" wide at the top
30" tall

Miata
Rail mount holes
12.5 across center to center
16.5 inches front to back of rail (approx 'cause it was difficult to measure with the seat still in)

Seat Bottom
19" wide at front
19" at the back (20" with the tilt hardware)
26" front to back

Seat Back
19" wide at bottom
12" wide at top
30" tall

 

[El Paso GT]

Seats

Well i got my hands on some Miata seats at the local junkyard today. They are in great condtion: leather with no cracks and the speakers in the headrests. Anyways, thanks for all the dimentions West Coast, but here's the kicker: how much jerry-rigging do i have to do to get them in to my '70? Are the seat rails going to fit in the floor holes or am i going to have to do some drilling?

 

[opelenvy]

The latest copy of the Blitz actually has a tech article on "Miata seats in an Opel GT" by Gene Hertel
It is a good article and says with some steel bar stock or aluminum 2" wide, 14-18" long, 1/2" thick (2/side) you can make some adapters.
Guess that $45/yr is worth something!

 

[kwilford]

OMC Membership to learn the tricks of the trade

Join the Opel Motorsport Club. Now. Just do it. Quit stalling. Go to:

http://www.opelclub.com/

Oh, wait, Gary (the overachieving Web Meister) has been tinkering with the OMC site, and the links are all broken. So e-mail the OMC Membership Treasurer, Dick Counsil, at [email protected]. Tell him I sent you. A yearly membership is only $45 USD ($47 USD by PayPal, payable to [email protected]) , and an "on-line" membership (where the Blitz is e-mailed in .pdf format, which is my membership option of choice) is only $20 ($21 USD by PayPal). When I joined, for a small extra fee, Dick sent me a CD with the past two years of Blitz's. Worth MUCH more. Did I tell you to mention my name when you e-mail Dick?

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

MX5 Seats for GTs

Was sent down to the garden centre for trellis.
Mazda dismantler next door - so came home with MX5 seats for the GT. Best Lady approves of the colour - lucky me!

The Gt seat rails adapt with 10mm spacers between them and the seats made from 2" long by 1" wide bar with holes to fix them to the seat and tapped holes about 1/2" further apart as the MX5 rails are closer together by about one inch. The Mita rails are too far up into the bottom of the seat with the centre hanging down between them. The new spacers above the original GT rails lift the seat high enough to clear the GT original sheetmetal mounting rails on the GT floor pan so the seats canslide for and aft.

The new seats are magic - much more comfortable and radio speakers built in - two in each seat at head height.

Now to finish the paint job and get door trims that match the light brown leather on the MX5 seats - no black seats to be found.

 

[calvin]

The seats out of the Honda Insight work well also.

http://www.hondacars.com/models/interior_gallery.asp?ModelName=Insight

click on the seat picture for a larger view of them. I have them in my Manta. The were $50 for a the pair. They bolted right onto the standard Reccaro frame for the Opels.

Calvin

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Seat Photo

Thanks for that info - have downloaded it and had a crash course
in using anothe rbit of new fangles technology - it's hard on us oldies (well younger "boomer" oldie!).

With luck here is a pic of the seat adaptors - the front one has to be squared off yet - but I was busy with new software ........!

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

The Whole Picture

OOps! That was the rear adaptor *!!* - or words to that effect!

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

MX5 Seats for GTs

Been away to the body shop with the adapted seats to check the fit. Look like they were made for GTs!

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

MX5 Seats - another view

A different angle:

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

MX5 Seats - last veiw

This is as good as it gets

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Seat Adaptor Drawing

Here is a rough drawing of the seat to rail adaptors I made for fitting the MX5 seats to the GT rails.

Made from ali so don't over tighten the mounting screws and use flat washers under the spring washers!

M8 bolts 30mm long to attach adaptors to MX5 seats and M8 allenhead capscrews for the GT seat rails to the adaptor. There is an extr hole needed to be drilled in the rail for the rear one to lock everything in place - thats why there are two tapped holes in the rear adaptor.

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Here is the Mita Seats Adaptor Drawing

Here is the thread for the fitting of Mita seats to a GT - with a bit of luck the Manta has similar seat rails and dimensions. if not, here is the idea anyway.

 

[Wolfman3002]

Well, I just scored a beautiful pair of '99 anniversary edition Miata seats. They are black leather w/ blue suede inserts, and are in near mint condition (see pic below; BTW, the sweetheart in the picture next to the seat is my new lab, Star). I have removed the seat rails, in preparation for making the rail adapters for the stock GT rails. I made up some wood mockups of the brackets, to test fit until I get my aluminum bar stock.
But I noticed that on the driver's seat, the bumped-out section of the seat pan comes real close to the track mounting hole, and the mockups don't seem to fit there (see the circled area on the 2nd pic below). Did this cause any of you any problems? Did you have to make mods to the seat pan, or were you able to modify the bracket to fit the seat pan contours?
Lastly, I see that the September 2003 Blitz had an article for mounting these seats. Does anyone have this article, and if so, was there any good info I should know before cutting up the barstock (which I have yet to get)?
Thanks All,
Randy

 

[Paul]

I've got a GT that someone installed Miata seats into. They used the stock Miata rails but drilled their own mounting holes:banghead:. The one thing I can say is, tahe seats are WAY too tall. Ther horizontal surface where your butt will sit will be at least 2" higher. I'm 6'1" and my head is into the headliner. My daughter is 5'10" and her head just about rubs it too. If I had planned to keep these seats in the car, I would remove the bottom cushion and remove some thickness and then have the upholstry resewn. However, I'll be replacing the Miata seats with GT seats...

 

[Wolfman3002]

Since I'm removing the Miata seat rails and using the Gt rails, it will sit lower than w/ the Miata rails, so I shouldn't have to take any foam out. Also, I'm only 5'5", so I don't mind if it's a little higher than stock.
Randy

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

But I noticed that on the driver's seat, the bumped-out section of the seat pan comes real close to the track mounting hole, and the mockups don't seem to fit there (see the circled area on the 2nd pic below). Did this cause any of you any problems? Did you have to make mods to the seat pan, or were you able to modify the bracket to fit the seat pan contours?
Randy

Hi Randy, The seat base on yours look a bit different to the ones on mine.
All the mounting points on mine were in the same plane wityh no 'bumps'.
It looks like the LHS of yours are set deeper up into the seats so you will have to pack to compensate and get things level.

HTH