Aftermarket seats help!

[Civic_Si]

Hi Guys :wave: ,

Recently I bought a pair of Sparco seats for my Honda Civic SI 99 - 00. It came without the adjustable sliders. I'm planning to get the sliders from Sparco for $99 each.
I don't think I can modify the existing seat brackets in my Civic now to fit the new Sparco seats. So I'm thinking of getting the aftermarket seat brackets for it. Again, I looked for Sparco and was quoted that it will cost about $150 each for the brackets.
While I was thinking of getting all these parts, I e-mailed a local motor trimmer in Sydney and asked them for a quote to do the installation. However, they replied me that they can't give me a quote as they may need to engineer something with the seats. That is where I'm stuck. :confused:

1. Does anyone reading this post know anything about engineering of the seats? Done it before on their car?
2. What work must be done? Is the reason because that the seats must comply to the ADRs?
3. Does anyone know how much does this type of job cost?
4. What will the engineer do to the seat or the seat brackets?
5. Do you believe that it will be worth buying the custom-made seat bracket from Spacro when it might need to be engineer to comply with the ADR? Or should I just get a $150 seat brackets from eBay?
6. Does anyone know where I can install the seats in Sydney for cheap?

My main concern about the whole thing will be the safety issue. I do not wanna to be flying out of the windscreen in case of any accident. Second concern would be whether the car will be roadworthy. Can it pass a normal police inspection when at road-block?

Thanks guy for taking time to read this full of questions post! And I also apologise for this long post. I really hope that someone out there reading this post would be able to help me out someway or another? Give me some advise on what should I do. Thanks a lot!

Regards,
Johnnie

[noobie]

Take a read of these guidelines, it may help....but i suggest you just pay for the sparco rails if they already adr approved.

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi06.pdf

I know whats involved with having non adr approved seats engineered, and its not worth the time and money...

[SlobberGoat]

Dont use sliders. Use the sparco fixed brackets and you'll be fine.
(take a look at your local track cars, all their seats are fixed)

The only disadvantage is that OTHER people who might wanna drive your car will complain cause they might not like your driving position, but the solution here is to not let anyone your car. :p

[BlitZ]

has anyone got ADR approved seat rails? can u get them>?

if u dont use sliders i do not know how the back people from your EM1... are going to get out eheheheheheh


all really depends on how much u paid for the seats and/or willing to spend on the seats to get them in...

I think its really hard to get seats ADR approved.. somehting about u have to get the orinal manufacturer involoved and they gotta test the mounts etc etc etc...

Getting an engineer cert isnt as hard.. but apparently with an engineer cert u still can get defect.. u just dont get the fine...

somehting like that.. .. correct me if im wrong.. but this is from what i remember reading

[Civic_Si]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your info! Unfortunately, my gf do sometimes drive my Civic to work. She is short and will definitely will have to adjust the seats forward to reach the pedals. So a fixed bracket is out of the question.
As BlitZ has already written above on how can the people get into the rear seats if the fronts are fixed! The only way they can get out would be to fold down the rear seats and crawl out from the boot! lol! Hmmm... That will be quite a sight!
Alright! Does anyone know where can I check whether Sparco seats, brackets, sliders are ADR approved? Thank you!

Regards,
Johnnie

[Limbo]

even if they are ADR approved i heard that you are still required to have them engineered. Spoke to an engineer and that's what he told me. ALso if you buy ones that are not ADR approved they will never be passed by an engineer.

[bizee_1]

Hey Johnnie,

i've got a Sparco Torino2 on the drivers side. I am using Sparco sliders, but the brackets were custom done i believe. They are engineered, but got them all done in one hit, so i don't know how much it would cost to engineer seat rails alone.

I'd 'assume' the sliders are ADR approved since they got engineered. i'd say the brackets are too. But more that Sparco would build things to a certain if not exceeding level of quality. Also, sliders/brackets etc are not that complicated.

As for the seats, this website seems to have approvals of the seat range:

http://www.m-msport.com.au/RacegearAndSafety.php?MenuItem=SPARCO_Seats

& this page has mention of TUV testing in accordance with ADR's :

http://www.tuvitalia.com/eng/product_testing/automotive/02pt_automotive.asp

As for safety, i've had the seats for 2 years now, even 5 outings at the track, and they are perfectly fine. Seats, rails, brackets and all.

For personal peace of mind, i wouldn't buy brackets from eBay. But that's me.
When i've been pulled over, if needed the engineers cert. satisfied the poh-poh's.
As Limbo said, even if ADR approved, still need engineering cert. As non OEM.

Hope any of that helps mate...
:)
Ray

[Civic_Si]

Hi Ray!

Thanks so much for your reply! Where did you get the custom seat bracket from? Did you have the engineering cert too? Sparco is willing to do the custom seat bracket for my Civic but that will take about 1 month and cost $150 each.
Do you know where I can get the seats install and get the cert cheap somewhere in Sydney? Thanks again!

Regards,
Johnnie

[Eclipsor]

I just recently got a seat fitted. So the answers to your questions as best as I can giver are:
1. Not quite sure what sort of qualification you'd need to engineer them. But you'd need something.
2. The engineer checks the safety of the seat and the quality of the custom work according to standads. The seat itself should comply with the adr's aswell.
3. I paid $150 for one seat to be engineered. Would have probably been cheaper if I got other stuff done at the same time but it was all a 21st present so I didn't want to have to pay anything on top ;)
4. The eng will probably take the seat out check the welds, check the bolts used are up to scratch. Check any other related fabrication work.
5. I paid about $350 for the universal rails I got to be modified to fit my car and to have a new seatbelt supplied and fitted. Just on this note. This is another issue I definitely didn't think about beforehand. Can't remember what my civic was like but if the seatbelt buckle is attached to your oem seat rails, like my accord, then you will have to get a new buckle fastened to the floor and maybe a whole new seatbelt like I did so that the buckle fits together properly.

I guess it's up to you whether you get the bay ones. The issue is that possibly when you take it to get engineered they will fail them. However, if you get them custom made, usually you would go to an engineer first and get them to design the brackets then get them fabricated. Or like the place I got them done at, the fabricators do alot of work with this engineer so they know what he requires.

Finally, the engineer said that mod plates don't really mean much to cops at road stops. They will defect you anyway unless you actually have the certificate that you get with the plate. Never been defected myself though so can't really comment any more on this.

good luck.

[incoming]

question.. fixed bracket = not reclinable??

are u putting non reclinable seats into a hatch??
if thats the case.. its a big no no

you'll get defected hard

[Civic_Si]

Hi Eclipsor,

Thank you sooo much for your information! You have really made me start thinking how serious is it to change the seats. Not to forget, the money too!
So I should get the Sparco brackets and sliders first, and bring the them including the seats to an engineer for him to check it. And when I get the green light from them, I then can bring it to be install at a Motor Trimmer. Am I right? Do you know of any engineer who will do that?
As I have written before in the previous thread, Sparco will custom make the seat bracket for my Civic. According to Ray (bizee_1), Spacro design the seats and other seat related parts (eg, bracket) to European safety regulations and America (FIA) standards. I'm not sure whether Sparco did it to comply with ADRs. Does anyone know where can I check it out? I have asked the Sparco dealer in Sydney and they are not sure about it too.
Lastly, to answer incoming's question. The seats I got have reclinable and have a quick release latch for the passenger sitting at the rear to come out. My Civic is a coupe. SlobberGoat's meaning of fix bracket means that the seat can't slide in front or back. The position of the seat will be fixed. So if your friend wants to drive your car, they must be kind of the same height. So troublesome...
Anyway.... Need help with these seats! I didn't think of all these stuff before I paid $1299 for the seats! Damn....

Regards,
Johnnie

[Eclipsor]

yeah that sounds like it could be a plan. It would at least save you installation money if the engineer dosn't like them. You could probably install them youself if you get the brackets made to fit your car. But yeah, you'd still be taking the risk that the eng wouldnt like them. However, Sparco is a big well known brand and probably sell a lot of these, so chances are that they would be well made and would be fine.

I'm in Brisbane so I don't know of anyone down near you. I sort of looked around for an engineer in the phone book and called one. They said they didn't want to do it, but gave me another ones number. This went on for about 3 guys until one said they do that sort of thing.

[bizee_1]

Hi Ray!

Thanks so much for your reply! Where did you get the custom seat bracket from? Did you have the engineering cert too? Sparco is willing to do the custom seat bracket for my Civic but that will take about 1 month and cost $150 each.
Do you know where I can get the seats install and get the cert cheap somewhere in Sydney? Thanks again!

Regards,
Johnnie

g'day Johnnie,

Charlie from Good Performance Centre in Yennora fitted the Sparco seat to my car. He supplied the brackets. At the time, my car was in for an engine transplant. So i got a eng. cert. for all the mods in the one go.

Give Charlie a call : GPC 9681-6788
He can help you out with the seat fitting & engineer's cert.
:) gl with it all