Swapping out 308 seats/MOMO?

My seats are in good condition but, I really don't like them that much. I really like the look of the Momo seats. I really don't care about keeping the car stock at all. In fact I like having a bit of the custom look. I don't use my car for shows, I just use it to drive. I was considering a Momo replacement seat. From what I understand Sparco's are better but, I have a Momo steering wheel and shift know so I kind of what to stick with the same. Any thoughts on what I am about to do? Has anyone done this? Ease of job? Is it cheesey to go with a 5 point harness?

Any input appreciated - just no bashing - lol.

-Sam

 

Sam,

Did all that, see the archives for many deatils.

Basically be careful for the seat back HEIGHT. Get the Momo LOW mounting bracket and 'build' the seat inside the car during installation.

Might i humbly suggest you go with a 4-point harness with available 5-way option. This is why i went with Schroth. Schroth also makes the ONLY DOT legal harness (and asm to avoid sub'ing). Momo makes good seats and all, but if you go full race buckets with high sides, getting in and out will be a MAJOR pain in the...

Here is what i did after A LOT of careful planning and research:

TWO SPA-951 Sparco Roadster Seat(s) -Black

ONE SCH-20070 Profi II-FE ASM/Right Side (Driver) - Black
Lap, Bolt/lap, pull up adjust, bolt, FIA

ONE SCH-25070 Profi II-FE ASM/Left Side Passdenger) - Black
Lap, Bolt/lap, pull up adjust, bolt, FIA

TWO SCH-49006 Single anti-sub - snap in. - Black

TWO SCH-01323 Bolt kit

TWO SCH-00209 Schroth harness pads w/zipper opening, 3" Black



FYI: Called MANY dealers and this guy was the best to deal with:

Auto Toy Store/Motorsport
8058 Kentucky Avenue
Bloomington, MN.
(952) 944-2381
http://www.autotoystore.com/

NOTE: am in no way connected with Auto Toy Store, just a very happy customer.

 

wow!!! Just th info I was looking for - thanks! Looks great too!

 

Steve how did you mount the 4 point belts. Did you bolt through the firewall and did you use tubing or angle iron or large steel washers? Or did you mount the tube framework behind the seats . I assume that the mounting points for the shoulder belts are directly behind our shoulders. Also how is the padding in the seats and are these seats tilt type or fixed. Nice job

 

That was my next question. Fixed seats are much cheaper but, I do like the option of reclining to fit me. Adjustables are usually twice as expensive. Did you use a fixed seat? If so, do you have any trouble with the targa top?

 

The seats are fixed so no more storing the top behind the seats. REMEMBER: you do have seat angle and length from pedals mounting choices when you bolt up the seats.

The lap belts use stock locations.

The shoulder uses a steel tube mounted to where the shoulder straps were. The shoulder straps themselves are, in turn, mounted to the bar. Have had quite a few folks in the know look at the setup and they say it looks fine. You COULD go with having bolts attached to the firewall behind the seats if you so choose. The problem i see there is that the belt angle is DOWNWARD and in a crash i choose to NOT have my back COMPRESSED. By using the shoulder strap/bar situation the shoulder straps are very slightly downward to nearly level verus much more downward if i went with firewall moutning. Therefore there is MUCH less to zero back compression.


NOTE: Seats belts are a very important safety feature and i ALWAYS suggest you have a professional opinion/installation before/during/after the work. No matter what is said, i take ZERO liability accordingly. Any changes you make to ANY safety feature is at your own risk.

Ok, legal stuff over. Darn lawyers.

As for the comfort of the seats: they are MUCH MUCH more comfortable than the stock units. No, they do not tilt. Debated getting seats that tilt, but that would have added about 20 lbs and, personally, found NO need to tilt as the seats are all driving day good. ALSO seats that tilt seem to NOT have good side support during tight turning.

Naturally your priorities may be different than mine. i am 5' 10.5" high, weight 170 lbs, 32" waist, 32" leg (pants) length.

 

I sat in Steven's car this weekend and those are very comfortable seats. I agree with Steven that if you are the only person driving your car, you probably don't need adjustable seats. Just get them in a comfortable position, bolt 'em down, and leave them there. Most people probably never change the position of the seat once they find a good spot, except to work on the car. The only thing I would miss is being able to slide it forward and back in order to work on the car. I have short legs so I have mine slid up a bit to drive, but then I slide it back to work under the dash. However, I would assume that you tall guys have the seat all the way back when you drive anyway.

 

Wow...32'' waist....I remember those days.LOL!!!!

 

Birdman and Bernard,

Yes, the seats are all the way back and i can do the contortionist thing to work under the dash without problems. Worst case scenario, i remove the steering wheel (as you know it is a simple 3 minute job). You are also right in that once the seat is mounted for my personal preference i NEVER change it. Only drawback is i can not store the roof, but i could not do that with the stock seats due to my preference for a 'distant' long-arm driving position.

Also, since the seat cushions are simply Velcroed in, one can easily make custom cushions made to perfectly fit one's body.

 

Is there a substancial weight saving with these new seats.

 

You have to slide the seats to get your change back!

It's how I buy my coffee in the mornings............

 

Seats weight stock is about 40 lbs including mounting brackets, Sparco Roadster is 20 lbs including brackets.

Total savings = approximately 40 lbs. ... or four gallons worth of gas weight.

Would love to lose about another 150 lbs more off her and in 2005 will decide where to best invest in this task.

 

Coffee??? BLECH!!!!!!!!!! Might i humbly suggest you get a Rituale by Isomac (http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/home/espresso/rituale) and some Cafe Do Ponto (http://www.brazilyellowpages.com/brastudonewbebidas.html). It is like the difference between just having sex and passionate love making

 

What was the total cost of this if you don't mind me asking?

 

Around $2,000 or so. Depends on the bolts you use and shoulder/lap bracket costs. This setup used quite a few bolts (Grade 12) and i had to fabricate the shoulder bar for the harness and also a bar for the 5th-way harness. If you do it yourself it is about that price, if you have a full pro do it add $$$ accordingly.

It is WELL worth it!!! If your stock belts are over 10 years old they are LONG overdue for a change. i would NEVER, EVER trust those stock belts ever again after using this setup. Also, you no longer will slide around in the seats and this allows you better car control (per se) and to concentrate on the task at hand... versus sliding about in the stock seats.

 

How about those stock belts? Mine will get a grip on my body making a hard turn going up-hill, no other seat belt did that to me.

Peter

 

For you perhaps, but for me (relative thin body at 32 inch waist, and NOT making any comments about your size of lack thereof) the stock seat belts were lackluster.

Always use the 4-way harness and am VERY MUCH strapped in. Also, seat belt webbing DOES have a finite life. The Schroth has 'asm' technology to not only keep you from sub'ing during an accident, the inner shoulder harness gives a bit more to move your body INTO the vehicle. The Schroth belts also have a special webbing to slow down sudden impact, therefore causing less harm to your body during a fast stop (accident).

My apologies for defending my choice, yet have studied the choices and Schroth easily won over Sabelt, Sparco, and others.

 

Steven, I was only making a statement that I never had that happened to me by other seat belts ( Getting hugged while making turns while accelerating) And yes I agree with you about life spam
Peter

 

Peter,

Fully understand my friend. Speaking only for myself, when taking turns aggressively the stock belts were horrible and the seats did not keep me in place. According to my data acquisition system, this would be turns at about 0.6G or so on upward. (Will see if i can pull over 0.9G once the new rims and tires arrive and with alignment tweaks)

Also would agree that this more proper race-inspired setup is far beyond what many 'Only On Sundays During Good Weather And Clean Roads' folks would need.