Q: Recaro Seats for 2000 S281?

[jecarter8]

New Saleen owner here guys and was just curious how to go about getting different seats for my 2000 s281. I believe I read somewhere that Recarro stopped making them?

[Dave]

The optional seats used in the 1998 through 2002 (and some 2003) models were the Recaro "Trend" series of seats. The Recaro "Topline" seats are similar.

You may be correct, neither style may currently be available in North America.


TMI sells seat rebuild kits for OE applications. They have a 2001, 2003-04 SVT Cobra-style interior kit to give your original seat frames a more bolstered look and feel.

You could also pick up a vintage pair of Fox-era Sport Seats and rebuild them into an SVO-style seat with custom covers.

[jim293]

I purchased a set of the Corbeau seats. I am really happy with them. And they are a lot cheaper price wise as well.

[DarkStallion]

Hey all, not mine, but saw this on CL local to me. They look nice.


https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/...296626045.html


Good Luck

[02saleen]

DarkStallion - Thank you for posting the CL add. I just put down a deposit on them and looking to pick them up next Sunday.

[DarkStallion]

Glad to see they are going to a local home. Do you have a convertible as well? I see a coupe as your thumbnail. Are you selling the rear seats? :)

[02saleen]

I have a 2002 coupe. I'm not sure what I will do with my seats. Part of me wants to install the recaros and another part wants to save them since they are so rare. Them I'm like ehh life is short so enjoy them lol.

If I decide to sell them I will let you know

[02saleen]

Finally go the rear seats back from the upholstery shop since they were form a convertible and had to be modified to fit my coupe. I must say I do like the new look.

However, I have a few questions.

• Does the driver seat seem to be higher and further back than the OEM ford seat? I played with the settings and put it as low and forward as possible and still seems further back and higher than the OEM one from Ford.
  
• I might need to take the driver seat to get re-welded as I feel it lifting a little from the rails if I lean back. I assume this isn’t normal
  
• Also, the seat controls assembly seems to be a little flimsy. Will some simple apoxy do the trick?

Wondering what others have done to try and to it right the first time with some of these potential fixes.

[02saleen]

Hey Guys

I wanted to elaborate a little more on my questions after moving the seats a little more yesterday.

• Does the driver seat seem to be higher and further back than the OEM Ford seat? I played with the settings and put it as low and forward as possible and still seems further back and higher than the OEM one from Ford or when compared to the Saleen/Recaro passenger seat. I seemed to notice this as well when installing the seats as accessing the rear bolts was not as easy as with the passenger seat or with the OEM Ford seats.
• I might need to take the driver seat to get it re-welded as I feel it lifting a little from the rails if I lean back. I assume this isn’t normal and might be playing a role in the overall movement of the seat mentioned above.
• Also, the seat controls assembly seems to be a little flimsy. What some of you done in the past to reinforce this? Will some simple apoxy do the trick?

Wondering what others have done to try and to it right the first time with some of these potential fixes.

I am looking to get the suspension redone and hopefully new calipers as well as mentioned in another thread. So I also plan to have the shop look at the seat for potential fixes, but I wanted to see if I can point them in the right direction with some of your previous experience.

Thanks in advance

[DarkStallion]

Wow, very impressive. Super sharp looking. Not sure why Saleen didn't have the embroidery done on all of the rear seats for 94-02. I've only seen them on the 03-04 Saleen leather which are not even Recaros. Really cool that you took a vert rear seat and made the cover fit over the 2 rear coupe cushions. Awesome. Okay back to your question, Recaro driver tracks/seats are known to sit high comparing to passenger seat or stock gt seats. I would try to move the metal on the frame down a half an inch or so on all 4 holes if that is even possible. Or have the track worked on and fabbed a bit. But not uncommon. For the control panel thing yeah however you can attach better with some kind of adhesive or a couple screws should work. Looks like your driver seat is coming out for the "fine tuning," but I am sure you will get them 100%. Again, nice call on them.

[02saleen]

Thank you, I too am glad with how they came out. The first shop I took them to just wanted my time, but the second one showed me the material they would use and I must I am happy with the end result for the rear seats.

I do like that the seats have the Saleen on the rear seats as well. Although I wish they would also say by Recaro like some do (example in link below). Also in the ones below they have the bladder valve for the lumbar support on the outside while the ones I have are on the inside by the center console. It seems they had quite a few different versions with each one having something “better” than others to make them unique.

http://gtcarlot.com/data/Ford/Mustan...-65918835.html

I will update the thread with what the shop does for the “fine tuning” of the driver seat to have as info for others/future reference.

Also, thanks again for posting the CL ad. If I see you at a car show I’ll buy you a beer as a finder’s fee lol.

[DarkStallion]

Ha great I hope to be at FFF this year at Irwindale. Probably not with the car though as it is a bit of a drive. Back to your thread...yes let me know what the solution is as I might consider doing the same to my driverseat. My seats say Saleen by Recaro, but yours are just as fine or better because you got those back seat logos going. Cheers.

[02saleen]

The driver seat needed some work. The braket had a good amount of welding done and now has the same range of movement as the oem Ford seat.

The controls also were reset with epoxy and two screws.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[02blackS∆LEEN]

I put an ad out looking to buy some seats to fit my 02 coupe. He send me pics of 2 types. The leathers have black stitches. Wording in black? Never seen that before. And then also has cloth seats. Another thing I've ever seen come in a new edge saleen cloth recaro seats. I asked if these were custom and made by him and he says no. There are cloth seats in some car's. Was he right? Black stitching and cloth and option??