STi Seat Conversion (Possible DIY)

[Letze]

I'm a member of Flat4VA and Flat4NC and one of the members was selling an STi passenger seat cover for 50 bucks and he said he had the padding and frame if any one cared for it. and well for 50 bucks I could atleast have a bitchin office chair with a little work. So after getting it I spent quite some time trying to fix the torque in the frame caused by the air bag explosion... after several hours I grew tired and gave up. Rather than ending up as a "cool story bro" on the VT car club's website grew curious of the similarities of the RS/L/WRX seats with the adjustable head rest. and to my supprise... There were structural changes but glorious glorious news.

The man component from the STI seat that set it apart from the detachable head rest version was the additional bar!*

if you feel around the for the frame you'll wind up finding that the vast majority of the back portion is identical. wile the bottom's main difference lies in its bolster supports and the cushion.



Seeing as I'll be going to a good friend of mine to help get the cross member cut and welded... I have found the next project.

Stay tuned. I'd rather not destroy my lovely 98RS seats so I'm bothering another friend to get his weak sauce L seat to be the guinea pigs

[Mad Ra88it]

subscribed.

[Letze]

UPDATE!

I'd like to give my self a pat on the back for a "cool story bro!"

Frankly I don't think this will catch on lol though this was a fun experiment.

Lets start with the size comparison, the sti one looks like it may be a bit taller in its main frame but thats because of the different joint for the adjustable back seat, the GC/GM/GF adjustable seats attach differently and wile I did take a peek at my 98 passenger seat this bit surprised me


After turning into a wolverien and ripping every last bit of foam off of that seat, because unlike STi seats the foam is molded directly onto it This may be different on the WRX seats as they were given airbags.

There is also the unsettling idea that this wont work when you notice the width difference, I'd love to say the airbag impact dented it so much but that wasn't going to work here. The RS back would have a good 2 inches in width on the STi frame backing.


Wile things were looking grim I still pressed on! Good news is the extra width wasnt going to cause a huge problem the extra inch on either side could easily be taken out of the foam wile sill retaining proper shape and form! but... the side bolster supports caused another issue. without the fabric I sat in the chair and it was much tighter Wile it was a good thing It seemed to fit my size perfectly! I knew it had its consequences.


Ignore the gigantic hole from the airbag explosion... I'm a bit timid to use a sewing machine as the only one I have is from 1960's I bought in a lot of stuff from a public auction and its liable to start an electrical fire. but you can see the odd contours caused by the different bolster supports.


Those familure with the Sti seats will notice the upper middle is poping up but thats because I didn't re secure those stupid rings so sue me. but all things considered this looks like it will work out. My original plan was to just bang/bend twist the bolster supports to the proper angle but since I'll be welding any way I'm going to grind them off and reweld them at the proper angle so I don't lose any length or distort the angle.


Ok now to the seats... um.. WHO!? WHUT!? thats where I was at on this one... They changed these sooo freaking much. stamped steel grilling pan is the 2000 RS front seat... the nice and slightly bent one is from the STi seat. PROBLEM CHILD PART 2...


Instead of using the bed spring crap in the sti seat the RS seats just have more foam HAZAAAAAHHH!... not too bad it can be fixed... the sides are wider than the STi so they will get banged in vs transferring the bolster supports like I planned oh well. sitting in it is still comfortable I used some of the foam from the back seat to prop it up. and compensate.


the semi final mock up! I doubt many people want my frankin chair but oh well. I'm having to come up with a plan to secure the sides of the seat the fronts and rear of the cover lock up fine, the front has to have 2 pieces of the tab cut out since the RS had three parts, but over all the cover can be reused on an STi and I plan to keep it that way. so the bar the cover attaches to has to be lowered or have something added to increase the length of the side of the fabric or it wont hold snugly.

it looks distorted because the back is at an angle and I only have 2 hands



So whatcha think guys?

[JDMPREZA713]

+1 for be creative and cheap

good diy

[novtec1]

nice sorry you had to do all that work mine dropped right in

[Letze]

rails would have bolted in but the frame was all messed up from the wreck and airbag explosion. so it needed a transplant.

Seats doing fine I've stitched up the side and once my interior looks half way put back together I'll have some shots of it in the car.

[Letze]

Measure Twice Cut once, check... Measure anything before ya weld it? pssshhh fuck that.

this is what happened

[00imprezars]

Originally Posted by Letze

Measure Twice Cut once, check... Measure anything before ya weld it? pssshhh fuck that.

this is what happened

Well at least you have a good air vent for when ya fart!