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Would anyone here be interested in a write up for the installation of 4th gen Honda Prelude seats?
I picked a pair up locally for $50 and they have great side bolsters compared to 3rd or 4th gen seats. They also weigh only 27lbs (compared to my 38lb 4th gen seats) and seem like they'll be very comfortable for street driving. The ones I got are cloth, but you can find the same ones in black leather.
The downsides are that they raise the seating position by a bit, but I'm 6'3" and it seems like I'll still pass the broomstick test. They are also going to reduce the legroom in the back seat by a couple inches, but that isn't a big deal for me since I rarely have more than one passenger.
Never been in a Prelude, even though I've known people who had them. From the pics on Google, they look nice. I'd be interested to see it as there's a few of them at the local yards I could pull seats from.
Okay so this has been quite a learning curve for me so far. I've never mounted aftermarket seats before and I honestly thought it would go a lot more smoothly than it has, although I've got no access to a machine shop which has probably been my biggest hang up so far.
I fiddled with a couple different brackets made from 1/8" cold rolled steel plate and settled on the design I've attached below. The 3/8" slots are for the mounting the seats and the 1" holes are just for reducing the weight of the brackets (not really necessary). The prelude seat rails are a few inches wider than F-Body seat rails and the bracket I used allows for some adjustability side to side.
I used hardened steel washers to make the seats sit slightly reclined. All of the hardware I used was M8 because both the Prelude seats and F-Body seats already had M8 fasteners.
The pictures of the seats in the car were just a test fit, I've only got the passenger seat swapped out so far, but you can see they fit really well. I'll dye the fabric black once I'm done tinkering with the initial install.
This is basically how the F-Body rails (blue) attach to the Prelude seats (green). The holes in the Prelude seats have to be drilled in place (3/8" or 10mm).
As you can see, the Prelude seats don't have symmetrical mounting points. This is what the passenger seat looks like on the bottom, the driver's seat is a mirror of this.
How is the fit of the seats in the car? Any interference with the center console or seat belt mount? The brackets look easy enough to make if that is all it takes.
The way I have it now, they are VERY close to the seat belt mount. It couldn't be more than a millimetre between the the plastic on the seat and the seat mount plastic.
If I remember correctly, the bolster very gently rubs on the centre console, but it doesn't effect comfort or function. The seats can still go all the way forward and backward without any issues.
Thanks. The first pair of seats I swapped in were from an 84 Scamp, and they looked good and were comfortable, but had no side bolstering and I could only slide them a few inches because they hit the seat belt mount pretty bad. I have 4thgen leather seats now, but I don't really like them. Plus, they are tan and my interior is going to be red & black so they look terrible.
Alright so I got them fitted exactly how I wanted and these are an awesome improvement from stock or even 4th gen seats.
I've never sat in car seats that feel plush, but also as supportive as these. Went for a three hour cruise in them and they feel great, more comfortable than my daily driver actually!
The head clearance was reduced, but not my much. It could be reduced by about 1/4" if you designed better brackets, but I like the seating position. I'm 6'3", sit as straight as the seats go and I still have 2-3" from the T-Top glass.
As you can see in the pics, they fit about as snug as possible, but there's clearance on both sides. There is clearance between the seat belt mount, but it's probably less than 1/64"! (The steering wheel isn't centered in the stock seating position, so I have it as far left as I can).
Anyway for $50 and a few hours of work, I got some weight reduction and gained comfort. I'll call this a win in my books!
They look great! I definitely need to find me some. One question though, what is the lever for on the side, about shoulder height? Does it tilt the headrest?
They look great! I definitely need to find me some. One question though, what is the lever for on the side, about shoulder height? Does it tilt the headrest?
08-01-2016, 06:26 PM
