Empi race trim seats

[av8shunmeckaneck]

Installed some Empi Race Trim, adjustable head rest seats over the weekend. I'm impressed with the seats and would recommend them. Figured I would post my install in case anybody else was considering them. I've taken them on a couple decent length trips so far and they are very comfy. Its also very nice to have a bit of a bolster to keep you from sliding off the top like the original seats.

I cut the sliders off the old seats and tacked things together with them installed on the tracks. I used 4" long pieces of tubing and 1" angle iron for the majority of the frames. I made the passenger frame first and used some 3/16" round stock to form an X in between the sliders.This was to prevent the sliders from racking themselves when sliding the tacked frame off the rails. When I made the driver side frame I didn't use the horizontal X between the sliders. The front and rear use 1/2" x 1/8" flat stock to form the trusses at the front and rear.

[av8shunmeckaneck]

Update on the Empi seats:

They are still doing great and very comfortable on long trips.

Previously I had cut the sliders off the original seats and welded them to a frame that bolted to the Empi seats. I wanted the seats lower than original but in my haste they ended up very very low. Im 6'2" and my shoulders weren't visible above the doors, lol.

I made new frames and used the most common sliders found on Amazon. They're mostly advertised as NRG seat sliders for some reason. The frame is 1-1/8" tubing mounted with rivnuts to the tunnel and door sill area. I eyeballed down the tubing to align it with the slight cant inboard that the original seat frames have. The tubing was spaced up off of the original rails to retain the rear downward tilt. I didn't have any issues with the previous setup but I have to say that this feels much more rigid.

The angle iron rails have an X between then to keep if from racking the sliders and is bolted to the 4 tabs on the seat. The angle iron is bolted to the top of the sliders. The sliders are bolted to 1-1/2" x 1/4" flat stock that is welded between the fwd and aft tubing sections. When I put the new floor pans I won't be putting the original seat rails back in. Mounting the seats like this had freed up a bunch of room underneath now. Now I'm thinking a lockable storage box under woukd be nice.

[jakokombi]

Nice work, maybe you could fit one of those gun safes under there.

How are the seats themselves holding up? I have heard of some loose stitching after a time on the EMPI.

At some point I'll probably copy your setup, but at 6'-6" I'm a little concerned about just what seats would be best and I'm glad for reviews from taller folks.
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70 Sunroof Kombi
69 Tin Top
73 Thing
72 Baja

[Bryan67]

Are these the wider seats?
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If you`re going to do something, do it right.

[av8shunmeckaneck]

Seats are holding up great. No loose stitching. The car is parked outside with the top up all of the time. no sun fading that i can tell (read some reviews that mentioned fading). The foam feels just the right stiffness. I haven't taken the upholstery off but from what i see on the bottom, they are made pretty well. The frames feel well made too. I don't feel any flexing of the seat itself. The headrests are made well and the up/down mechanism is good but the headrests themselves don't serve any function for me. Maybe for smaller passengers but they are too low for most adults i think.

I give em 2 thumbs up.