[ngwuf]

Hi all! I am in the process of removing the previous owners' Recaro Specialist M seats and replacing them with OEM seats. I believe I am missing a part and wondering what my options are.

Below are some photos of the railing & bracket that came out of the car (huge thanks to this forum for even enabling me to get this far...). Based on what I can gather from reading other threads in this forum, I believe the railing is OEM but the bracket where the seat attaches to is not OEM, but it would really help if someone could confirm!

The OEM seats cannot be installed to this bracket -- the front holes line up, and the rear holes are about 1/2" too high for the seat to line up. There are no middle holes. I am a total noob here -- do I need the original OEM part to connect the OEM seats back to this railing, or are there 3rd party solutions?

(Based on this link that I found in another forum thread, it looks like the brackets are not sold separately from the entire assembly, and the entire assembly is not even available )

I am hoping there is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to get the OEM seats back into this car. I would hate to have to buy the entire railing/bracket assembly, or be forced into aftermarket seats :/

Separately but related, the OEM drivers' seat has a free wire dangling underneath. Does anyone know what this is for, and what the process to reconnect it to where it needs to go would look like?

 

[rkberta_3844]

Several owners have put in different seats and rails so should be some oem parts laying around. The two wires snapped into two connectors under the seat. One was for seat belt that would buzz if not connected and other as I recall was weight sensor to indicate someone was in the seat.

 

[Alfanut]

Several owners have put in different seats and rails so should be some oem parts laying around. The two wires snapped into two connectors under the seat. One was for seat belt that would buzz if not connected and other as I recall was weight sensor to indicate someone was in the seat.

Would the real RKBerta please step forward? This username bares too close a resemblance to one of our Moderators so, if this isn’t you Bob, I request that you change or delete your username and start again. If this isn’t RK, you have until the other moderators respond to my DM, however long that may be. Cheers.

 

[ngwuf]

After doing some research, I think I might have answered my own question here...

It looks like there are lots of relatively inexpensive options for side-mount seat brackets, I just need to find a pair that fits without needing to drill holes. I bought a super cheap pair from Amazon to play around with, and also got in touch with Alfa9 Supply and another company that sells Sabelt side mount brackets (thinking that since our seats are Sabelt, I'll have better luck) to see if their aftermarket seat brackets could work with OEM seats.

I'm going to forget about trying to find a bracket that fits the middle hole on the sides of the OEM seats...

 

[ngwuf]

I also just realizing something else…comparing my photo above to this photo: https://www.4c-forums.com/attachments/alfa-seat-bolts_li-jpg.61570/

I think I have the OEM bracket, just with the top half sawed off. The installer must have done that to get the Recaros to fit onto the stock bracket.

This means that I should be able to get the OEM seat to fit with what I have…will give this a try tomorrow.

 

[Max Tayant]

Wires air airbag’s seat proximity sensor. Looks like stock brackets that have been cut off like previously mentioned

 

[Docron]

Yeah, looks like stock brackets that were cut.
This is a pic of the stock brackets.

 

[Docron]

I dont think youll find an aftermarket bracket with the 3 point mounting like the OEM ones. All aftermarket race seats only have the rear and front mounting points.

 

[Docron]

2016 Quote from my Parts Manager:
Driver side - 68245674AA - $1735.00
Passenger side - 68245642AA - $1735.00

I mean… we could trade the Recaros for the brackets??? 😉😜 j/k

 

[ngwuf]

Thanks guys for all the help here!

Alas, there's no way I can use these brackets to connect the stock seats, so I will need new brackets.

@Docron -- that's crazy pricing! It looks like the parts include the whole railing / track mechanism, which I don't need -- I just need the 4 brackets, and it doesn't look like I can get just those from Alfa. I will post a WTB for just the brackets

 

[Knievil]

Why cut the cable? It has a connector for a reason FFS!

F’n installer. Reminds me when I had a new exhaust “professionally” installed on my 2007 VW R32 as I watched the installer cut the vacuum line to the flappy actuator. F¥€k!

Makes my blood boil - apologies to the OP for my rant 🤬!

 

[ngwuf]

Why cut the cable? It has a connector for a reason FFS!

F’n installer. Reminds me when I had a new exhaust “professionally” installed on my 2007 VW R32 as I watched the installer cut the vacuum line to the flappy actuator. F¥€k!

Makes my blood boil - apologies to the OP for my rant 🤬!

oh no! So sorry to hear about your exhaust.

I went under the drivers’ seat (still attached to the car) to go see what the cable situation was…I unearthed the stock seat belt buckle, attached with plastic ties underneath the seat, wire perfectly intact (phew!) but still plugged in! So I can only assume that the aftermarket seat belt buckle currently installed is not connected to the car at all. So weird… I am now wondering how the car knows that the seat belt is buckled.