Seat fitment with VAC mounts

#1

During the Tarheel BMWCCA school at VIR-N, I was talking with JP about seat brackets; at the time, I had my Recaro Pole Position seat mounted to the Recaro ‘adjustable’ (tabbed) sliders and a Wedge Engineering mounting base. JP mentioned that his experience was that the VAC mounts (which I’ve had in the parts bin for about a year) required modification to work with anything other than Sparco side-plates and a European-width (pronounced: skinny) seat.

Well, yesterday, with a little experimentation waiting for the cage paint to dry, I determined that an ‘American’-width Recaro seat, with the aluminum (flat) side brackets and the flat Recaro slider will fit on the VAC mounts using the stock mouning location without modification.

Use the holes that are shown larger on this diagram:

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In addition to shedding about 10lbs, this drops my seat about 5 inches, which eliminates a blind spot directly behind me (one which Carter has used to sneak up on me, twice).

#2

That’s great news. A five inch drop is quite significant. You might need a little time to get used to the new seat position but since you drive the car on the streets you’ll have plenty of time for that.

I might look into get these mounts for my seats. I am currently using a Cobra Suzuka seat with Cobra side mounts and a Wedge seat bracket. I had to do a ton of fabrication to get the seat where I wanted it and it still sits up about 2 inches higher than I want. If you get a chance do you mind taking a picture of the side mounts where they attach to the VAC mounts.

#3

I have them too. They work well, and my only complaint is that they’re way too perdy to hide under a seat!

#4

Ken, I’ll take pictures tomorrow. The distance between the mounting holes in the brackets are 15 7/8".

As for the VAC mounts, yeah, they are pretty, but I’m happy to hide them, so long as they keep my butt attached to the car.

An additional advantage of the VAC/Recaro flat combination is that the seat sits about ¾" further towards the centerline of the car, giving me additional clearance between the X bars and the lap belt.

Post edited by: sharkd, at: 2006/08/14 19:39

#5

Here’s the photo, sorry it took a little longer than I anticipated.

The circles are to help identify the corresponding holes in the sliders and the brackets (the contrast range didn’t pick up the holes in the black sliders too well).

The front travel of the sliders are restricted by the studs in the floorpan, but unless you’re under 5’4", it shouldn’t require any modification of the studs (just attach the rear of the slider first, slightly angled inboard, then slide it back, straighten the angle and attach the front.



Post edited by: sharkd, at: 2006/08/20 17:02

#6

Dan,

I’m glad you got it worked out.

With my experience with the "American" width seats, the one set of outer holes you described in your diagram are the only ones that I could use. I didn’t have to modify the VAC mounts themselves, but did have to modify the Sparco side mounts to fit the holes (outermost holes in the VAC mounts)

After being infuriated at my inabilitly to use the Sparco side mounts as plug and play, I read the VAC description of the base mounts which clearly states that they are made to work directly with the MOMO side mounts. The MOMO side mounts allow you to use the full range of mounting locations on the base mounts ONLY if you have a "European" size seat. (I’ve lost some weight and now use an EVO vs. the old EVO2)

I was really having issues because I couldn’t use sliders due to the extra stack height they provide. Without the sliders I can fit in the car. I can’t make it under the roof without that extra inch.

JP

PS - I had Chris take off the tops of the mounting studs to open up the full range of movement.

Post edited by: 155mph, at: 2006/08/20 19:26