Those seats still sit high, I removed the back mounting tabs on the floor,fabbed my own brackets and bottom mounted with reinforcements. The top of my seat sits well below the roll bar.I still had to bang the tunnel though, but it allowed just enough room sitting lower in the rear to let the door shut with slight contact

Such a phenomenal video, thank you for showing your process! I was between these and the Sparco Pro 2000s. Seeing how you fit (we're almost the same exact size), I'm going to be ordering these for sure. Silly question, but how hard was it to access those rear bolts? Did you bolt the seat to brackets before you put in the car or did you mount brackets in car then bolt in seat? Hope that makes sense, thanks again!

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

Hey Matt, I'm glad the video helped! It was a while ago so it's hard to remember but I'm pretty sure I had the seat mounted to the bracket before I mounted the bracket in the car. I may be getting mixed up because I had the same seats in a Corvette. I remember that I had to grind down a hex wrench so that it would fit and allow me access to loosen/tighten the bolts that held the seat to the bracket. I'm sure you'll figure it out once you're in there.

How did you mount the backing plates for the back two bolts of the seat?

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

I used these reinforcement plates and some high-grade bolts and washers: www.summitracing.com/parts/hsa-srsg39 The plates go underneath the car. They're threaded so it's pretty easy to bolt them up.

@stevean8999

2 жыл бұрын

Nice can I know the details on how you installed the seatbelt buckle I’m kinda stuck on that part

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

@@stevean8999 I used an eye bolt for harness mounting to pass through the factory buckle and screw into the reinforcement plate, so it was something like this: Eye bolt > lock washer > factory buckle > washer > hole drilled in transmission tunnel > reinforcement plate.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your height and inseam? I'm about 6'1 with a long torso and I'm trying to see if I can pass the broomstick test without a drop pan. I have the bell mounts already and was considering this seat.

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

I am 6'1" and 32" inseam I believe. I don't think you're likely to pass the broomstick pass without dropping the floor unfortunately.

@reaganmurray8858

2 жыл бұрын

@@JoshVanVeld Thank you! That's what I was expecting

Were these QRT’s the 2019/2020 redesigned version or the older ones? Supposedly the newer version is slimmer.

@JoshVanVeld

12 күн бұрын

Good question, I'm not sure. Seats were originally purchased for my C5Z sometime in 2019 I think.

Awesome video! Would you say you got yourself centered to the wheel or are you still offset with where you ended up even after bashing the tunnel and trimming the bracket? I also remember in a later video you mentioned that you had to stop using the factory 3 point belts due to a safety issue you realized, but I don't think you ever elaborated or discussed a solution and were just driving on the street with your harness. Could you give me more insight on this? I'm wanting to just run the 3 point belts on the street.

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Unfortunately it was a while ago and my memory is getting fuzzy. I don't remember feeling like the offset was significant, I had the seat pretty tight to the tunnel, to the point of it being really difficult to get a hex wrench in there to access the bolts that held the seat to the side brackets. I think when I did the passenger side I realized that I probably could have trimmed the bracket more and not really needed to hammer on the tunnel, so the passenger side was a lot faster to install and also didn't require me to mess with the door card to get the door to close. I can't remember all of the specifics with the three point belt, but I think my concern was largely with the way the belt was up against the left side of my neck, rather than over my shoulder, due to how the belt routed over the seat. I may have also been concerned with the receiver for the buckle, but I can't remember what I did there... The main reason I stopped running the 3-point belts was that the belt chafed my neck and it was a pain to get it buckled. It's really one of the big problems I keep running into with track-focused cars and driving them on the street. The harnesses aren't safe for street driving without a helmet and HANS device, but it can be a huge pain to run a 3 point belt and a set of harnesses at the same time, especially with a bucket seat. I've found that my track cars typically don't get driven much on the street (just to and from the track) so I end up being careful and just running the 6-point harnesses on the street. It is hard to beat the sense of security and confidence that comes from being strapped tightly into a racing bucket with harnesses, and that also translates into your butt's g-meter being better calibrated because you're not sliding around at all. Bottom line is there are always going to be compromises if a car is going to do double duty. If you're going to spend a lot of time on the track, you want a dedicated race car. If you're only doing a few track days each year, it's probably not worth the effort, expense, and hassle of installing a bucket seat and harnesses. In the case of the NB Miata I might make an exception because tall people just don't fit. Sorry for the long essay, I hope you get something useful out of it :)

@collinrobinson3085

2 жыл бұрын

@@JoshVanVeld Thanks so much for the great response Josh, this was extremely insightful! I've been struggling quite a bit with identifying what exact route to go, as there really is no clear cut easy path for seats / belts etc. in these cars to get ample room. It really is an endless loop trying to put racecar equipment into a street car safely and it's much easier to just avoid it all together. Unfortunately as you mentioned, this car wasn't designed with people our size in mind. My 2000 SE will see the track every once in a while but ultimately will be a street car, so maintaining 3 points is important to me. Thanks again and keep up the great content!!

Great video. What roll bar do you have?

@JoshVanVeld

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! The car had the hard dog roll bar when I got it, I added a hard dog harness bar.

I have a na and I this was one of the seats I was interested in. If you don't mind me asking what is your waist size?

@JoshVanVeld

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Jacob, sorry I missed your comment. I am 32-33 inch waist and I have some room to spare in this seat.

@mb6473

2 жыл бұрын

@@JoshVanVeld do you think a 38 inch waist would be alright in it

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

@@mb6473 Hey there. I think 38 inch would probably fit but it would likely be uncomfortably snug. If there's any way to test a seat before you buy it, that's always the best path. I will say this - I have lost 15 lbs in the last few months by exercising more, being more careful with my diet, and cutting out alcohol. Research your target BMI (body-mass index) for your height and find out what your target weight range should be. If you're overweight, it might not be as hard as you think to get down to a healthy weight. Sorry if that's too much un-asked-for advice :)

@mb6473

2 жыл бұрын

@@JoshVanVeld :o i am offended!! aha just kidding and im from a smaller town so we dont have stores that have seats on display :( ive been searching all over the net for reviews on reviews some say yes some say no, aha so its just going to be take a chance i guess

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

@@mb6473 In that case find an online retailer that has a good return policy (i.e. no restocking fee, etc.)

Hey man I think you missed that you typed recaro instead of sparco in your title 😄

@JoshVanVeld

3 жыл бұрын

Ha, that’s a big derp on my part, I’ll fix it. Thanks!

@thomassiegl

3 жыл бұрын

No worries!

Ffs it's such a pain in the ass trying to find shit that just fits... I don't have the time or interest in doing a bunch of mechanical work and none of the tuning shops around here are free for a couple months. Even with as much research as you have done you still ended up needing to drill and what not. Boggles my mind with how common this basic of a mod is there isn't more clear cut information easily available.

@JoshVanVeld

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah it can be annoying for sure. With Miatas and Corvettes there is a lot of info out there to help but there is still a lot of guesswork and trial and error. I'm sure it's even worse for platforms that don't have much aftermarket support at all.