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Is fitting seats from another car legal?
glenroy - December 16th, 2011 at 03:37 PM

Just wondering if I make a few mods to my seats like remove/welding runners to fit alternative seats from another make car, is it legal in NSW?

snitz - December 16th, 2011 at 04:19 PM

If an engineering signatory signs off on the modifications, then it is legal..Or say for instance you have fitted ADR approved seating by Velo or Recaro and the workshop that fits this is licensed to carry out seating modifications then that is legal aswell.Best to speak to an engineer..if you are an owner/modifier..

Bizarre - December 16th, 2011 at 09:41 PM

also best to fit the seat to original runners

I have Recaros in mine
The seats fit to a modified VW frame and the fram fits the standard VW runners

shaihulud - December 26th, 2011 at 01:46 AM

I agree with Bizarre.

If you keep the original VW runners and weld the new seats to them you should be O.K.

You may find that this lifts the seats a bit too much and you will need to cut a bit out of the runner frames to lower them.

As I undersatnd the rules, it's O.K. to modify a seat but don't modify the car's chassis, or in this case the floor pan. That can lead to all sorts of problems that will require an engineeers report.

Joel - December 26th, 2011 at 11:04 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shaihulud
If you keep the original VW runners and weld the new seats to them you should be O.K.



You gotta be real careful doing that, as you may end up with seats you can't fit.

Almost caught me out.
Because the VW runners need to be slid forward off the rails the seats need to be skinny enough to slide passed the pillar.

Not many car seats are as narrow as VW seats, thats why it's better to make them bolt to the runners.

ragged - December 26th, 2011 at 06:54 PM

Yes. But only if they bolt straight in, without modification and meet or exceed the safety standards of the vehicle they are being fitted too.
Alternatively, I have a pair of SAAS seats that came with a kit that had plates of steel that bolted to the original seat frames, and then the SAAS seats bolted onto the plates.
These were engineered by the seat manufacturer, SAAS and sold as a kit in addition to the seats.
Any manufacturer that does not do this will provide you with a disclaimer stating that they are for "off road use" or not intended for "Hiway use".
The bigger the company, the more they have to lose in the form of compensation if somebody decides to sue them! Never heard of anybody sueing somebody with no money...
Dave