Chaps, I know that this topic has been touched on in many posts, but has anyone written a definitive guide to fitting ford recaros into a Mk2 GTi? There are alot of places where this is half-covered, but no-one seems to have written a definitive article or How-To guide. If you can help, please do. (If there is a guide which I have missed, then point me in the right direction.) I am trying to fit some late-spec Escort RS Turbo Recaros into my Mk2 GTi. I don't want to have to buy additional subframes, I would ideally like to be able to use my existing seat subframes. Some people have suggested that this will make the seats too high and that I need to use scirocco or corrado subframes. Can anyone shed any light on this? Photos would be great, with ideas of where and how to cut. I will be doing this with the help of a friend who is a dab hand with an angle grinder and a welding torch. I would have thought that I just need to use the existing seat fitting gubbins to produce a frame to which I can bolt the new seats, which can't be too hard. The alternative would be to somehow use the Escort runners, and bolt them into the car. However, I think this would be too high, as the escort floor is flat whereas the Golfs have the beam going across the car. Again, if anyone can shed any light I would be most grateful. Oli.
when i owned a mk3 golf a few years ago i managed to bolt in some rover half leather recaros. I got some cheap subframes from raceland and bolted them to the seats and then bolted them to the mounts on the floor pan!
Can confirm Scirocco bases, remove everything bar the tubular frame, remove ford runners and weld seat base onto Scirocco tube base. Simple.
Mr OSVDub, Thanks for this. Not too difficult then. What's the difference between the Sciroc bases and the stock Golf ones? Why not just chop the golf bases down? (i.e. is there anything fundamentally different between the sciroc ones and the golf ones? I would like to save teh cash of buying another set of seats if I can ...) Oli.
I believe they sit a little lower, make sure you find a pair of height adjustable bases. You don't need to weld you'll find someone to do it for 20 max.
i done this with some help welding- below is the difference between golf and scirroco subframes very small difference but makes huge one when theyre on...u have to strip the seats completely to get to them. You have to cut/angle grind the "cage" bit off so youre left with just a frame... take all the ford runners etc off the recaros and the seat should sit in this subframe with the outer parts of the frame supporting the seat... this is where you need to weld it...so pullup/unclip the fabric from where its being held to reveal the recaro metal base, and prepare for welding. after welding dont 4get to hammerite or somethign to stop rusting etc... completed: i didnt have a digicam at the time of doin the seats which is a female dog! but if anyone wants, ill try and get some pics of the underside of the seat now-with subframe welded...
FyzGolf: It looks like you have the information I need - very many thanks! The photo was great - it looks like the sciroc seat bas is a little lower than the Golf one, which I guess is why people say you should be using it. When you say to grind the "Cage" off, do you mean the cupped piece of sheet metal with the large holes in - i.e. the bit which the seat foam actually rests on? If not, which bit do you mean? And the "Frame" is the curved bit of circular cross-section steel which curves around the front of the seat (at the front of the seats in the photo you posted)? If you could post piccies of the underneath of the seat with the new subframe on I would be most interested. It could be extremely helpful. The seats look the biz in your car - makes me all the more impatient to get on with mine! (Likely to be a month or so hence.) OSVDub - my drivers seat is height-adjustable as standard, can I use this base? The passenger side one isn't height-adjustable. Perhaps I should get a sciroc one for that side. Thanks again. Oli.
youve got it in one!!the cage bit is the cupped piece of sheet metal with the large holes in- you need to take this off completely, and the frame is also the thing yuo described...once you have cut the cage bit off the recaro seat should sit nicely in the frame.. im gonna take pics later today and ill post em up for ya. i had a set off leather recaro's b4 which were welded on height adjustable golf subframes but they still sat quite high-the headrests nearly touched the roof!!
I am not really interested if my passenger seat can go up or down...never going to be on that side anyway so stuff em!
Fyz, Sounds like I am barking up the right tree. I will look hard at whether I can shorten the Golf subframes in any way. I guess it will be possible, the question is how much hassle I want to go to, as sciroc parts will minimise this hassle. It sounds convenient that the recaros fit so snugly inside the frame - designed this way, or lucky chance? I would ideally like to build a seperate subframe such that the recaro bolts to it, but this may not be possible, in which case it's welding gun here I come! If you could post the piccies of the complete job then I would be most grateful. jc.. Yes, I'm not fussed about the passenger side either, but the drivers side needs to be adjustable. I am average height (5'9") with average build, but Mrs zcacogp is 5'1" with little arms, and she needs to be able to raise and lower the seat (it is, after all, her car!) The alternative is to carry a cushion around, but paisely with recaros never really went that well ... Thanks again for the help. Oli.
at the mo, these are the best pics i could take need a better digicam lol.. i hope theyre helpfull underseat1 underseat2 underseat3 underseat4 i was planning to cut the subframes up a bit more,have extensions made and welded so the seats were bolt on, it is possible but very long -so if you were going to have it done by someone else it'd be expensive due to the time it takes... but if you can prepare it all yourself it'd be much cheaper. one other thing is, you have to makesure you position the seat properly in the subframe before welding it as you have to take into consideration the max it can move back and forward..if your not carefull there wont be much leg room in the back.. Edited by: FyzGolf
Fyz, Those are most helpful - very many thanks. Actually, 2 was not the most helpful (spent a good 90 seconds looking at it and wondering what was what ... !) but 1 and 4 were just what I wanted. You really have used most of the old seat frame, I see what you mean about the new seat just fitting into it. What did you do about the edges of the fabric not being able to clip down onto the seat? It looks like they are just flapping in the breeze. And you cut the back of the frame off the old seat by the looks of it. Given the relative heights of the two seats I can see now why the recaros sit so much higher in the car than the originals. I think in Photo 4 you can see the original pivot point for the back of the seat, and that is alot (2 inches?) lower than the new pivot point for the back of the new seat. That is where the difference is. I guess an alternative (more involved) way of doing it would be to strip the back legs and the front slide-adjust mechanism off the old seat and weld them to a flat frame, such that the frame is level when bolted into the car. You could then drill holes in this frame and bolt the new seat to it (the bottom of the recaros will sit flat on a flat surface.) This could use the Golf parts, but would be alot more involved and complex. It comes back to being a matter of how much time and effort you want to put into it. Thanks again for your help. Anyone have any sciroc seat bases they want to get rid of? (Please!) Out of interest, where are you Fyz? I'm in London, and going to be doing the work near Guildford. Oli.
yep, the fabric at the bottom is just flapping around at the moment...im planning on getting the seats and the rest of my interior fully retrimmed in leather in the near future so will hopefully sort that problem out. the idea of having a flat frame is much better than this as you can take the seats on and off, and im pretty sure a while ago i saw one made by recaro which was for sale on german ebay- it was exactly this- withthe golf runner but you can bolt on most recaro seats..but the pair sold for well over 150... im based in south lond/ croydon
Fyz, I know that recaro do make frames to fit their seats (which are a generic pattern, hence the simple 4 bolts at the bottom) into VW. (They actually do frames to fit these seats into almost any car, and the seats in the RS Turbos simply come with the Recaro-Ford subframes.) I have never seen a Recaro-VW set, but can well imagine that they come pricey! Given that I paid 50 for the seats (in a scruffy condition) then I won't be paying out 150 for the subframes. However, that doesn't stop me having an itch to try and make some myself. I can't think that it will be hard at all. Simply a flat frame with the runners welded on. The height-adjustment system may well make it a bit harder; I'll have to look into that as I do want this feature. However, I'll keep you posted and, if it works, I'll post some piccies up on here. On another note - would the mods care to put this up as a FAQ thread, or a How-To or whatever they are called? It is, thus far, the most definitive set of instructions on how to do this that I have seen, and others may be interested. Fyz, thanks again for your help. I owe you one. South London? I'm in the East End ... Oli.
