Should have posted this here originally.

I have a pair of Sparco Evo2 seats on their way so I'm starting to think about installing them and what that all entails. I have been doing some reading and know that there is a bunch of hassles of the base and getting something custom fabricated, etc.

What are your thoughts on just bolting the seat directly to the floor using the Sparco side mounts? Is this possible (and safe)? Has anybody done this? The car is not daily driven and never driven by anybody else - the seat will never need to move. I'm tall (6'3") and the extra headroom and lower seating position would be welcome.

 

IIRC Andy Hope's seat looks like it goes THROUGH the floor... now that I'm thinking about it- I have no idea how he mounted his seat. He's fairly tall also, and maybe he'll chime in.

 

i was close to mounting mine to the floor also. but im sure you might need some backing plates.

 

Do not mount directly to the floor. The metal used there is fairly thin with very little ridgidity to it. Once you remove the forward oem 'mount' it will be a flexy flyer. Not safe at all!

Since you are so tall, I would suggest having something welded in. Make sure that it, at a min., spans from the rail to the tunnel from side to side. Attach some material parrallel to the rail onto the new 'supports'. Either have 'studs' sticking up to match the seatmounts or leave room to bolt it in. Should be cheap to do as that will be a relatively easy fab job.

 

i'm in the same situation. i test fitted the evo 2 in the car, and mounting it on the stock rails will give me less headroom than the stock seat. i don't want to hack those pieces of metal on the floor that the seat rails bolt to off, becuase of what he said above. but removing these would put the seat at a decent height. i think if you used backing plates and welded a piece of steel all the way across the floor pan it would be ok.

but i'm probably selling the seat for a bottom mount. if anybody wants it, pm me.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1029182

Look at how Travis mounted his seat. This is the same way mine is done...works pretty well.

 

thanks for that link.

i like the way travis did it. but unfortuantely 6th gen civics don't have the same mounting as a crx. the back right mounting point doesn't have a little piece coming up - it just goes straight down, i could get 3 out of 4 done like that, but the last one would need to be fabbed.

hmm bottom mount is looking even better.

 

have an L brace welded on. so that the 4th point will work

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jwn7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks for that link.

i like the way travis did it. but unfortuantely 6th gen civics don't have the same mounting as a crx. the back right mounting point doesn't have a little piece coming up - it just goes straight down, i could get 3 out of 4 done like that, but the last one would need to be fabbed.

hmm bottom mount is looking even better.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have a '00 hatch that has the same problem. Just have to use a spacer to get the 4th mount to sit level.

If you are looking for extra headroom I don't see how going with bottom mounts is going to help. You already purchased the EVO 2's right? Just spend a little time and make them work...even if you had a shop weld in new mounting points with the square tubing (which you don't need to) I still think it would be cheaper than taking a loss on your EVO 2's and then having to purchase new seats with bottom mount hardware.

 

Here is an example from Realtime

Realtime Seat Bracket in Integra

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bomber &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1029182

Look at how Travis mounted his seat. This is the same way mine is done...works pretty well.</TD></TR></TABLE>

FYI, I still think my setup is too high and I'm about 6' even. I'm going to remove the front bracket and go lower when I get around to it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

FYI, I still think my setup is too high and I'm about 6' even. I'm going to remove the front bracket and go lower when I get around to it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Understandable...but I don't think bottom mounts would be a better alternative.

The CRX must have less headroom than EK hatch because I am 5'11 and I have gobs of space left. Of course its a smaller car so that would make sense.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bomber &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Understandable...but I don't think bottom mounts would be a better alternative.

The CRX must have less headroom than EK hatch because I am 5'11 and I have gobs of space left. Of course its a smaller car so that would make sense.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree about the bottom mounts. In the rear, the seat bottm is basically sitting on the floor of the car. A bottom mount would get me another 0.25" maybe. The front is the same. It's the front lip of the seat that keeps it too high, not the side mounts.

As for the roof, I have all the head room you can get from this little car since I have removed the sunroof and all of the mechanisms associated with it and I have welded a new sheet to the top of the roof. That's about all I can do up top, so it's time to move the seat down a little more.

 

I used some heavy angle iron and the local University's machine shop to make some custom brackets that mate the seat directly to the OEM contoured floor of the ITR, much like the brackets attached to the bottom of the OEM seat, only heavy-duty. ...But I also sold my EVO2 and purchased a Kirkey Road Race seat.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by XR4racer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I used some heavy angle iron and the local University's machine shop to make some custom brackets that mate the seat directly to the OEM contoured floor of the ITR, much like the brackets attached to the bottom of the OEM seat, only heavy-duty. ...But I also sold my EVO2 and purchased a Kirkey Road Race seat.</TD></TR></TABLE>

did you use any kind of backing plate?? i was thinking of re-enforcing the floorboard.

 

nope, drilled holes in the brackets(heavy guage steel) to meet the OEM holes in the floor. If it passed DOT it works for me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flux &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Should have posted this here originally.

I have a pair of Sparco Evo2 seats on their way so I'm starting to think about installing them and what that all entails. I have been doing some reading and know that there is a bunch of hassles of the base and getting something custom fabricated, etc.

What are your thoughts on just bolting the seat directly to the floor using the Sparco side mounts? Is this possible (and safe)? Has anybody done this? The car is not daily driven and never driven by anybody else - the seat will never need to move. I'm tall (6'3") and the extra headroom and lower seating position would be welcome.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll take some pictures of my setup this weekend and post them; I had the same needs as you (extra headroom since I'm really tall). Give me a day.

 

seriously guys, can i just cut a hole in the roof??

 

We welded and bolted the Sparco side mount brackets to both the floor pan and the cross brace for the REV. I am 5'11" and the clearance to the rollcage is real close. Any lower and we will have to lower the steering column (illegal for IT) below the maximum available. Backing plates may be appropriate if you plan to bolt everything in.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EauRouge &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here is an example from Realtime

Realtime Seat Bracket in Integra
</TD></TR></TABLE>



Holy BallastS BAtman! (looks like ~200 lbs...geez)