Seat upgrade -350z seats

[Captain Obvious]

2 hours ago, HusseinHolland said:

In mine, L& R floor / seat frames are the same

That should make it easier. On my 77, the bump into the interior for the catalytic converter (if equipped) looks larget than what you have on yours.

Here's a  pic of a 75 or 76 with the bump:

And here's a 77-78 bump, hump:

[HusseinHolland]

10 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

That should make it easier. On my 77, the bump into the interior for the catalytic converter (if equipped) looks larget than what you have on yours.

Here's a  pic of a 75 or 76 with the bump:
 

And here's a 77-78 bump, hump:
 

EDIT - that 75 with all that muck (stone chip protection??) sprayed inside makes me shudder 🤪

Ah - I see it now. I do have a bump.  I will have to see what happens when I take  the DS apart to fit it.

Edited December 11, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[Captain Obvious]

I don't know how severe the bump was in 75, but on my 77, the left side was tight dealing with the seat bolster up against the trans tunnel and converter bump.

Some people perform the catalytic converter "hump bash" (technical term). Which, as the name implies... You bash the hump down with a BFH from inside the car to make more room for the driver's seat. 

I put Fiero seats in my 77 and passenger side was a lot easier than the driver's side. I did not perform any hump bash operations because I told myself that I might want to put a pre-muffler resonator in that location some time in the future. That was ten years ago maybe? Haha!

[HusseinHolland]

10 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

I don't know how severe the bump was in 75, but on my 77, the left side was tight dealing with the seat bolster up against the trans tunnel and converter bump.

Some people perform the catalytic converter "hump bash" (technical term). Which, as the name implies... You bash the hump down with a BFH from inside the car to make more room for the driver's seat. 

I put Fiero seats in my 77 and passenger side was a lot easier than the driver's side. I did not perform any hump bash operations because I told myself that I might want to put a pre-muffler resonator in that location some time in the future. That was ten years ago maybe? Haha!

 

Those look great! Very bold to put white seats in a car - would never work for me, I very often forget to change out of (auto) work before getting in. 

I'm going to try & fit the rails without modding the tunnel. Looking at the pics I have, it's had to discern if the gap is enough for the 350Z rail to fit inboard of the stock rail location without elevating the seat. Don't really want to go that route if I can avoid it. Hopefully I can check that out tomorrow.

 

EDIT - do you have a rear strut brace? I'm thinking that may be a necessity.

Edited December 11, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[Captain Obvious]

I do have a rear strut brace, but I won't make any claims as to the functionality / necessity of the brace. I didn't put it in. Came to me with the car from my PO.

Here's a pic of the brace that was taken before I did the Fiero seats:

 

[HusseinHolland]

29 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

I do have a rear strut brace, but I won't make any claims as to the functionality / necessity of the brace. I didn't put it in. Came to me with the car from my PO.

Here's a pic of the brace that was taken before I did the Fiero seats:

 

OK. Another change I see - the seat belt reels are mounted on top of the strut towers? Does that mean there is a belt guide under the 1/4 glass? On my '75 there is a captive nut, probably 14mm, in the sheet metal behind the trim panel. Wondering whether that would be a good location for the Wesco belt, instead of up high where it creates the neck choking condition...

[Captain Obvious]

They moved the seat belt locations around a bunch over the years, presumably chasing safety requirements and comfort desires. By the time they got to 77, the seat belts were mounted to the tops of the rear strut towers. Another reason why 77's are better.   

But seriously, there aren't any belt guides. They just come around the sides of the seats. Not quite as neck choking as previous years, but not that different. Maybe a little lower than what's on yours?

[HusseinHolland]

18 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

They moved the seat belt locations around a bunch over the years, presumably chasing safety requirements and comfort desires. By the time they got to 77, the seat belts were mounted to the tops of the rear strut towers. Another reason why 77's are better.   

But seriously, there aren't any belt guides. They just come around the sides of the seats. Not quite as neck choking as previous years, but not that different. Maybe a little lower than what's on yours?

Much lower-  mine hang off the roof pillar. I was not looking forward to mounting the Wesco's up there. Do you have any pics of the reel mount under the cover? Presumablay adjusted in some way to allow for the strut brace.

I'm thinking I may just make a welded (removable) steel brace. It's not like I don't have the time. I have some DOM tubing I bought & didn't need for the pickup conversion, so I could use that - might be too HD though - I think I bought 1.5" - 2" OD.

Edited December 11, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Took the airbags, seat belt receivers, and cushions off the seats

documenting wiring. I powered the seats, and made sure the seat tracks were set in the rearward position - they were.

track length

16.75"

airbag bracket

4 bolts on each cushion frame.

[HusseinHolland]

Took the drivers cushion apart. Foam is pretty screwed, not sure if I can actually repair this EDIT - found a good DS cushion complete with heater pad (mine is damaged) for reasonable (in the scheme of things) pricing. This one has cracks all over the place. Since it's the outer bolster, it's gonna look like crapola if it's not perfect. I'd have bought a pass side since they are always in better shape, but the DS has a bump out between the legs

wire bolster weld was torn

Fixed that aspect - EDIT - looks like a stress crack below the spot weld ridge in line with the welded bar

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Crack went pretty far. 

Been sided tracked on other stuff - I ordered a better sized compressor for the garage, so I can do my own paint again if I choose. Problem is, there is just too much stuff in my small garage as it is, so I had to make a platform on the back of the garage to house my engine hoist, press & other stuff that I don't need on a daily basis

should work out, eventually

Edited December 14, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[Patcon]

That's a nice sized compressor!

BTW I am so glad you're here posting. Otherwise I would run out of stuff to read and that would be bad!