E30 recaro. Seadan to coupe retrofit

[brockie123 31]

Hey guys.

after hours of searching the internet and asking on different forums, i got fed up and decided to dive in the deep end and convert my 4door recaro sports seats to 2door seats using standard E30 coupe seat parts.

i had seen a set before that had been done but never saw how.

I hope this guide saves someone a lot of time and effort.

Start by laying all the 4 seats you'll need to do this on the ground.

2 regular coupe seats

2 recaro sports seats 4 door.

i've already started at this point but only photo of the whole thing i took.

now remove the backings on both, unscrew the 2 little screws in the bottom corners and slide the backings upward off their clips.

then remove the side plastic round things that hide the seats mechanisms, should unsrew from the middle then simply pop off.

this is what your coupe one will look like when the round side panel is removed

now that you have the covers off the seats inspect the coupe ones and their mechanisms very carefully to make sure the cables take the same paths once on the sports seats.

next take out the screw that holds the seat base to the seat back, you'll need to do it to all the seats and on both sides. make sure it is exactly the same as it was on the coupe seats.

unclip the cable from the latch by poping up the tab and sliding it off.

Now the white square that the cable runs through has a wee tab at the back that you cant see that is locking it in place. If you lift the bit of plastic towards the top of the seat then slide it up you shouldnt damage it.

Next is the little plastic circle thing the the cable slides through that will pop off and shouldnt take ant effort.

heres a pic after removal so you can see where the tabs were.

Now you should be able to pull your cable all the way up to the handel that allows the seat to move. disconnect the cable from the handel and any other cabels ( depends on if it's drivers or passangers)

take the handel you use to tilt the seat off by pulling it. then the plastic left remaining you pop off from the BOTTOM using a flat head. (it's a pain if you break these)

you should be left with just the bare handels and no cables, something like this ( this pic is from later on but shows what i mean by the bare handels)

It's up to you but as soon as I removed the cables from the coupe seats I fitted them to the 4 door seats while it was still fresh in my mind.

remember after fitting the cables to put back these screws

Now grind off those handles!!! make sure you only grind where the factory welded them. if you are like me and only have a large angle grinder then just cut the frames off then put on a bench and carefully remove the handles.

Once your handels are removed and you have layed you'r cabels CORRECTLY examin the 4 door seats and you will see a slot that looks like this (aslo can see where i grinded, this is a coupe seat but the 4door seats have the slot.)

This is where your handle will go so cut out the fabric from that slot. now before you go any further you'll notice your 4door backs wont fit on when the handels go in so take the time now to mark out the slots for the seat backings and cut them too.

Also with the backing you will need to make the handel cover fit. just below the slot you cut in the seat backing you will need to drill a small hole for the tab to lock into.

Once you're cables are in and your slots are cut it's time to line up your handles and weld them in!

Can't seem to find any pics of the welding but it's pretty straight forward. doesnt need too much. just put them in the same place you cut them off.

Once you have welded them and you are happy with them working, reinstall the backs and side covers and enjoy them in your coupe

hope this helps, please add if you feel there is more, or i will if i've missed anything. was kinda in a hurry.

cheers,

Sam

Edited May 16, 2014 by brockie123

[Tristan 338]

Good result! Well done.

[turoa 1]

Ideal write up! Just about to do the same thing so glad you posted this up