Sparco Milano Prestige in 355

Just got a set of these seats from Speedware for a 355 GTS. There will have to be some significant alterations to the car to get them to fit but they are perfect so here we go.

I've contacted a couple of salvage yards for a center console: will need to remove the rear part of it (tray) to allow room for the seat back angle adjustment knob. Plan to have this recovered at Pollard's trim shop in NC. Plan to cover the area of the floor that is bare with some carpet from a salvage car, hold this in place with the same fasteners used to hold floor mats in place. Carpet trim again at Pollard's, fastenrs from Ricambi America.

The emergency brake handle will have to be remounted at an angle, no problem. The cover for the emergency brake will also have to undergo a little modification to allow for the rear part of the seat to fit.

Lastly, the seat itself will loose the adjustment knobs on the outboard side on both sides of the car.

Mounts for the seats, I'll have to make these. Will follow the general pattern in photos previously posted in this forum for 360 sport seats in a 355.

The seats feel stunning, the color of the leather is nearly a perfect match for the saddle interior in the car. After I get some brake dust on them they should be perfect.

I'll post some photos when available. The bottom line is that this is not a simple bolt in seat. If your seats are shot consider buying seats from another maker and having the leather dyed to match your interior.

Ken Wright

 

Lots-o-work to go but thus far:

Picked up a center console from a challenge car. Cut it just behind the ashtray opening after stripping it. Fabricated a new rear cover for it.

Bolted the seats in the car after removing the brake handle and cover. Sat in them and it was good. The seat back is thicker than stock and this will be a problem for anyone over 6 feet, more so if you have a GTS and expect to store the roof behind the seats.

Next step is to get the sliders and seat belt attachment "pans" from my stock seats in Charlotte. The sliders that came with the new seats don't have a verticle mounting tab in the front and I'm not about to drill into the car. Speedware was under the impression that a seatbelt mounting base made for an early 911 was what I needed to mount these in the 355. It turns out that I don't need an adapter at all. The mounting points on the bottom of the Milanos are spaced perfectly the the car.

The recline adjuster knob on the outside of the drivers seat will have to go, plan to fab a small alloy plate and have it covered with leather.


Ken

 

The seats are in and I have photos. Would greatly appreciate someone posting them, something I haven't a clue on.

Ken

 

The seats are in the car. It is a tight fit and not an option for anyone over 6 feet tall unless you own a GTB. This is a GTS car and the roof limits space in the car when off. I’ll look at a Spider ASAP to compare the space available behind the seat when the top is down.

The following modifications are required:

1) The rear section of the console must be removed; this will allow room for the adjustment knobs on the seat. Consoles are available used from several places in the 400.00-1000.00 USD range. Get the cheapest one you can find, it won't matter how good the leather is, and you will be trashing it. It doesn’t matter if it is for a spider or GTB. Cut it just behind the ashtray and fabricate a panel to close the back.

2) The drivers side seat will need the following modifications to allow sufficient room for the emergency/parking brake handle to function: the drivers side tilt knob will have to be removed on the outside. The seat remains adjustable as the tilt knob on the inside remains. The axle this knob is attached to will need to be shortened and a cotter key may be used to keep it in place. The silver cover that is on the outside of the driver’s side seat will also need some minor modifications.

3) Seat mount modification: the Sparco catalog does not list the brackets that are to be used to mount this seat in a 355. I think the reason is that the seat mounts that are in the car are a perfect fit. In order to use them the threaded fasteners must be removed and holes drilled in their place to allow Allen head screws to attach them to the bottom of the new seat. These brackets are about 40.00USD/each. They are far better made that anything I've seen from the aftermarket. They will provide an extremely sturdy mount for both the seat and your seat belts. The factory sliders and the factory slider handle will also be used.

4) Carpet: a small area of carpet will be needed to cover the bare area between the seats. I plan on buying this from GAHH. Will also source the dark brown edging from them and use four floor mount anchors to fasten this to the carpet that is already in the car.

5) Seat modifications: If you are 5'11" or taller you will need to trim some of the foam from the new seat bottom and possibly remove the lumbar adjustment from the back. The factory sport seats don't have lumbar adjustment as far as I know. If you require this a much more space efficient design would be the inflatable bladder type.

I'm fitting the seat to me now and will post more photos of the trimming process and lumber adjustment removal.

Is it worth it? The in my car had leather that was pretty much not repairable, new covers are about 3000.00 USD. These seats offer much better side support for less money. When I first sat in these things I thought they were too tight. They have “memory foam” that gradually loosens up. It is a very nice seat.

This is completely reversible.

Ken Wright
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Details about my car are in the FerrariAds.com section. I've made a mistake and driven another car that I would like to buy and this one will have to go.

Ken

 

It has been awhile....but after these seats went in the car went to a club meeting and an interested 348 owner made a lot of measurements and determined that they would fit in the 348 as well as the 355.

The rear portion of the console has to be removed. The outer adjustment knobs have to be removed and the holes fill nicely with the center caps from the wheels. The seats moount to the stock fasteners on the stock sliders but the fastners have to be repositioned slightly. The area beneath the standard console has to be covered with a small segment of carpet (trin the edges with the same plastic edging and you will not know that it didn't come that way from the factory).

I wouldn't do this in any car other than a berlinetta or a GTS that is driven top off only by someone that is less than 5'10". Some room can be gained by removing some of the foam in the lumbar region of the driver's seat.

The best solution is to get new covers for your stock seats and take them to a shop to have them fitted/foam repaired.

Ken