View GarageI noticed that there are not a lot of threads on fitting after market seats into our torry's.
When i was researching this topic there was only a little info on putting seats in using the standard torana bolt holes.
Recently I put some SAAS Kombat seats into my LX hatch.
These seats are a rather aggressive seat, compared to the GT and the Vortek. Good for a person about 75 - 85 kg's. Perfect for my weight and driving conditions. All of these seats fold forward for hatch backs and are ADR Approved.
I would imagine most seats of any brand would be able to be fitted the way I have done.
I stared by getting some old Torana seat rails as I did not want to cut up my old ones as I am putting my old seats into storage for when I want to convert it back to a Sunday cruiser.
First step is to drill out the rear mounts on both seats. There are 2 pins that connect them to the rails. Once done , ditch the old rails.
The standard Torana rails are no good for the conversion. They are bowed and are hard to work with. I got some Autotechnica rails from Repco as recommended from other posts on this topic. 639F is the part number.
Attach the new after market rails to the seats.
I did not get how the bolts provided worked, so I used some high tensile Allan key bolts.
The kit also came with some spacer things. The instructions are very poor and I could not figure out how to use them.
The bolt holes on these were about 3mm too short, so I had to drill them slightly bigger.
See Pic.
The standard front Torana bolt holes are 440 mm apart from centre to centre and the SAAS seats are 350mm.
Get some flat bar. I used 50mm by 5mm and chop it just over 440mm in length. Centre it and drill holes at 440mm apart so it can bolt into the Torana bolt holes. Do the same with the 350mm SAAS width.
You have to drill one side 2 bolt holes wide for movement as you are mounting these things to carpet and it’s really hard to get them lined up perfectly.
I’m sure if you are super accurate with all your measurements you can avoid this , but im not that accurate. Make sure when you are bolting it all together you are using washers and nylock nuts or spring washers on your nuts.
See pics
Now that the front is sorted put the old rear Torana mounts on the rear position of the floor where it used to originally sit with the old seats. Take a bolt out of the new flat bar adapter and swing it 90deg so it is level and resting against the old mount
.
See Pic.
This is where you have to cut to make it level with the front mounts on the raised floor.
It is approx 45mm from the floor of the car (with carpet) Draw this line in and cut with a grinder.
See pics
You will need to make a little box on the inside edge of both mounts so you can get a spanner in there to tighten up the bolts to the rails. You should have something like this.
See pic
Cut it out. Make sure you clean the surfaces with the grinder that you are going to weld on as it is vital to get a good clean surface to weld on.
You will have something like this.
Cut some of the left over plate you used for the front mounts to the length of the mount and put it on top of the cut off area to make a flat surface to mount your new rails too. As the plate is wider than the original mount, make sure it hangs over to the inside of the seat as the SAAS bolt holes are narrower than the Torana ones.
IE: The outside edge should be flush with the vertical side of the mount and the overhang on the inside.
Make sure you are using a spirit level through this process. Tack it either side first so it doesn’t warp.
Weld the top plate on and you should have something like this. Clean the whole job up with a file and wire brush. (please excuse my more than average stick welding.) TIG machine on the xmas list.
Dummy fit them into the car.
Put the seat in aligning it with the front bolts first and resting it on the rear mounts.
Mark and drill the holes in the rear.
See pic.
Once fitted all up , Paint the brackets.
Install the seats
I am pretty happy with the job and the seats are very supportive in a performance environment.
If anyone has any other tips or ideas , or a way to improve this way, Please post.
I hope this helps.
Evan.
Edited by Evan, 19 June 2010 - 12:56 AM.
