I have a set of GTS Classic LeMans seats but wanted more upper torso support during spirited driving.
I bought these Renegade seats but really don't like the look of the head rests or how they shaped the bolsters. Don't get me wrong, these are both great sets of seats (and may all be for sale) but I want the best of both worlds.

So, rather than mess with these, I figured I may as well try and make my own.

The plan is to start with the stock "frame", build up the bolster area, lop off the head rest section and work out some sort of separate headrest.

As you'll see, the donor seats are pretty trashed so I don't feel too badly about cutting them up. Sorta like the rest of my build!

I'll post as I go. Let's start with pics of the LeMans (black w/grommets and their oval head rest) and Renegade seats (in the classic 'Tan & Tweed!)

Watching with interest as I have a spare pair of seats I've been planning on rebuilding and adding bolsters to. Thanks for documenting your build.

Stocker, pre surgery

I did my best to carefully remove the upholstery and foam since my upholsterer may find the parts helpful in pattern making.

And here's proof that EVEN THE SEATS RUST!

Hey Porsche, nice job getting the foam pieces in there correctly.

(OK, maybe that one piece somehow moved over the past 50+ years. But I dunno, it was still glued on there pretty well...)

Did one 20 years ago. Even sewed up the covers.
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First frame, ready for the hacking up to begin.

Ive wanted to find the time to do this myself. Watching.
Q: why remove the headrest section?

@BIGKAT_83 Bob - of course you did!
- Do you happen to have any pics of the frame, pre-upholstry?
- Did you just build up fiberglass to the desired shape? We need to know details!

@914werke I don't like the blocky-ness of the "all in one with the seat" stock head rest.
The separate head rest is one of the things I like most about the LeMans. The interior just looks "lighter" and less crowded with the separate head rest. In the end, I think it's just a personal taste thing.

Cool thread. I always saw the bare seats as a great base to build up a personal fitting driver's seat. Put 1" of foam in the bottom of a really big trash bag, fill it with liquid mixed 2 part foam, then sit on the bag on the seat frame. The foam will get hot and expand like crazy and form fit around your butt. Then trim and cover in vinyl. Voila...

How limber and/or thin are you? The higher bolsters on sports seats make it more difficult to get your legs under a stock sized steering wheel, as as more difficult to get up and out of the seat. As 70 years fast approaches, my physical ability to easily get in and out of my 914 is diminishing.

The bolsters are aluminum sheet cut to shape and riveted/bolted to the fiberglass. Thick enough not too bend easy but thin enough that they could be "shaped" for wider or narrower folks. The upholsterer handled the new foam. Inserts are stock 914 so you can use a 914rubber tartan kit.

Be careful about getting too high on the drivers side or you'll rub on the steering wheel getting in & out. I think I basically doubled the fiberglass height.

I think when the bottom pad was constructed it was flattened an inch, but that will also change the arch in the back. Felt better for me because I'm 6'0 but YMMV.

Fiberglass isn't going to be strong enough to take the impact of a 11lb noggin against a separate headrest attached by 2 steel rods unless you add a significant steel support structure. In other words I wouldn't bother with it.

Great idea Chris



Here are the seats going into Chucky.
Stock 914 seats with built up bolster sides.


I like the removable head rest idea.

Oscar

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Now this thread got direct in my "subscription" list as I also have the same project. The examples in the last post are awesome! Looking forward to see more and how you do it !
(by the way, love the idea with the foam getting the exact size of my butt, but as I am not tall/quite thin, it might avoid that anybody else can drive my car )

Antoine

Chris,
One of your neighbors over in Napa, Trekkor, did this about 10 or so years back. It looked terrible but his car is a track car so I’m sure looks weren’t high on the priority list. He has a tile company called Trekkor Wills tile. When I have more time I can search for how he did it.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...28&hl=seats

@ConeDodger @tygaboy

@Shivers @ConeDodger Thanks guys! Those pics really help.

Say What! I need this done for both but and back.
Where do you get the stuff?


Matt

I like it. I dont think it'll be that hard for at least the frame. Finding a good upholsterer might be alittle difficult but not bad either.

You going to wire frame it and fill it in with fiberglass?

I want a seat heater and electric back massager built in with a beer tap in the dash

Knowing Porsche it was probably pre-plumbed for it at the factory.

I spent some time adding glass to a seat frame for autocross. Of course then you have to sew, which I can do, but my wife does better. At any rate between fiberglass foam and cloth you can make pretty much anything you want from a 914 seat. An interesting thing is that the stock 914 seat is more comfortable for me on long drives than either Honda or Ford could produce in the late 20teens. Heated or not. Gotta give Porsche credit for that one - though I kinda shudder to think of what a modern Porsche seat might be like.

Here's a stock pair that Stephan modified. I think you might be looking to create something with even more upper bolster, but maybe these pics might be of some use.

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Pegasus Racing used to have it, probably still do. Method is essentially a racecar bead seat but much cheaper material. I've made probably 6 or 7. 914 fiberglass shells are perfect for autocross or spirited driving street using poured foam.

@mate914

Creafoam Bead Seat Kit
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productse...sp?Product=4525

I may give this a try, too.

We did this for our Class One buggies back in the day.
Make sure you have lots of support all around you so you can maintain your body in the correct position while the foam expands and sets.

Seems like a lot of work? Your not going for race car... Your going for street car, Why not just regular padding and appropriate bolstering?

You must be new around here.

True... This is one of those things he'll make 6 iterations of. I just dont see race car form fitting seats as something that belongs in this street car... Especially since they look so hideous when done.

BTW, can I have dibs on iteration #5 Chris?

That is pretty funny.

It's nice to have side bolsters, but it also makes getting in and out a real pain. Compromise is a good element to add the this mix. How much time do you spend pulling 1+ G's in corners? I wish my stock seats had a tiny bit more side bolster, but damn, I already have a hard time getting in and out of the car.

To be honest, every corner that presents the opportunity.

Good point, but this is Chris. I'm expecting a George Jetson style integrated occupant insertion/extraction assist.

During the restoration of a 356SL by a local specialist, my shop formed some of internal seat tubing (Drivers side) for the car; Factory entered 1951, LM24hr class P1 car currently owned by Cameron Healy. It's the silver #46 car that you might see here and there.
The final upholstery on it was black canvas, as the original werkes built car used this material to help keep the driver from sliding around
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@AzBanks @bbrock @andyrew OK funny guys, you got me. Not that my, ahem, "process" doesn't invite it...

But let's get back to the build. Today, I started on the carnage stage. What I dislike most on the 914 seats is the head rest. I used a pneumatic body saw and lopped it off.

I figured I could remove the top-most area, section it and reuse it as the "new" top edge of the seat back.

Then it was slice things up until I got the initial fit to be good enough to prove that I could make this work. You can see I've only rough cut the area between the new top level and the outer corners. I'll need to get a final fit on the center part then work the shape outward.

There's not really any stress on this area of the seat so I "should" be OK to 'glass this section in and connect it to the outer/upper corners.

Now to noodle on how I might attach a separate head rest. I have a couple ideas...

One of my local Glendale buddy's stuck a couple of headrests to the Targa glass and called it a day; these were donors from a Mini. I can't imagine the results in a hard impact

@Maltese Falcon - I think I can come up with a safe way to attach the head rest to the seat. If not, I'll scrap the idea. I'm with you in not liking the idea of attaching the head rest to something other than the seat. I've see them tied to the chassis but then you're talking about something that's optimally safe only when the seat is in a particular location.

Sandwich the glass with some metal plates to spread the load incase of impact. Two vertical tubes that retain rods from the headrest all of which can probably be sourced from another vehicle at a junk yard. Just find one you like the look of.
How big are the headrest from the Mercedes?