Will a seat from another vehicle fit Metro?

[bambambam]

96 LSi here. 45 mile commute to work, each way. 2 hours in the car. No lumbar support in the seat. Back really aching after a long ride.
Will a seat from some other vehicle fit? Or perhaps one that doesnt' require much modification? Metro seats just weren't designed for comfort....
Bam

[geozukigti]

Well, once they're worn out they are pretty bad. I personally like the seat from a Suzuki Swift GT. They bolt right in to your car(unless yours has the new style seat rails, which I doubt).
http://www.angelfire.com/co/swiftGT/feature.html
There's a pic of one on there. It's a touring seat

[stamar]

id be totally interested in this as well.

my seats arent worn out at all. they are just ridiculously uncomfortable.

Im thinking more along the lines of just a seat from any car. I mean I have a extra captains chair from my camper van even

what connects the seat in a metro?

is it unique to a metro or will the seats from like a um mazda protege fit?

Im unaware of this answer still. I mean a junkyard has a billion seats which ones will fit in a 94 metro?

[geozukigti]

Well, there's 3 parts to a seat ...
1. Floorpan mounting points(bolt holes)
2. Seat slider rail
3. Seat mounting holes (where the rails bolt to the seat)

Each car has a unique width, length, and area that they bolt their seat rails to on the floorpan. Also, different seats sit at different heights. And to make things more complex, the metro's seatbelt attaches to the slider rail, not the floorpan. So, you will need to find a low sitting seat that's not too wide, and somehow adapt it to bolt to the metro's rails. It's pretty in-depth, and requires some fabrication

[stamar]

well, seeing as i already have 2 metro seats

wouldnt it be easier to somehow put the bottom of my seats on the seat from some other car?

I mean... Im not spending a whole lot on new seats lol i have a metro because im a cheap sob.

And add to it ok, that ill take your word that the suzuki gti seat is better than the metro seat.
But I have a feeling its pretty crappy too.

this seat is just made with a geometry that is not made for my body.

[geozukigti]

I wouldn't call the GTi seat crappy. It was built under license and design from Recaro. Recaro makes some niiiice stuff. I've used them in all my convertibles, because they're a much nicer seat, and adds a lot of side support too. Not to mention they sit about 1-2" higher in the car. Remember what the GT means "Gran Turismo" or Grand Touring. A GT car is not a sports car, as much as it is a touring car built to be sporty, and comfortable for long road trips(Similar to a Honda CBR vs a Honda Goldwing). Just like GS = Grand Sport, GL = Grand Luxury, LS= Luxury Sport, and so on... The Metro convertible seats are pretty comfy too, and have a lot more support, and adjustable headrests. If you talk to t3ragtop on the teamswift forums, he put some Acura Integra seats in his convertible, and they looked really comfy.

[stamar]

Ive been thinking about this a lot.

what connects the seat to the floor? These rails, can they be taken from another vehicle?

Are they welded to the body?

Ok if so, can the rails that are on the metros seat, can they be attached to another seat?

Ok, what is going to be the easiest way to rig another seat to a metro body? Im actually thinking leather seat from a junkyard.

[geozukigti]

The "easiest" way is to use the metro rails. But, it will take a few mock up rail adaptations to get it to sit right. All 4 corners of the metro seat are not level, so you'll have to mess with it to make it sit right, and you'll have to find the best way to make the adapter you make to keep the seat in the center. From my experience using universal racing seats, using large seats greatly diminishes the space between your knees and the steering wheel. I built some adapters for my APC seats in about 2 hours. It's not real hard, but it took 2 weeks of taking them out, adding spacers here and there, adjusting this and that, to get them to sit centered and straight.

[stamar]

ya well im trying to not only rise, meaning get my knees higher than the pedals more, and then i also want to fall back, i want to be farther away from the pedals.

Now almost all seats other than this metro are higher up. Never seen one this low before but if it is its like a miata ford festiva or something. I want a seat from a mazda protege or up. acura integra is excellent. now as far as going farther back... now i dont need wider but thats fine. If its so wide now that its hard to close the door.... thats fine too.

what you describe about seatbelt I dont understand. the seatbelt in the metro is entirely independant from the seat, no parts connecting. new seat, old seat belt no imcompatibilities.

Well screw the rear seat passengers. There never has been a rear seat passenger and there never will be. I want to seat to touch that rear seat if it has to.

If there are rails, Im going to brake off the part that stops it from going back and let the rear seat tell the front seat when its time to stop.

[geozukigti]

In all the metros I've been in, the seatbelt clip is attached to the seat rail itself, not the floorpan. It may have changed in the mk4's(thank god, seatbelts attached to the seat are a BAD idea). Should be a fun venture though. Try to keep to seats from smaller cars, or the seats will be wayyyy too tall. Perhaps an MR2 seat would work good, or a toyota camry.

[stamar]

Im not afraid of it touching the roof as far as height. I do have to talk to this acura integra person though.

You must be right then, the seatbelt is on the seat? I havent taken it out yet but it doesnt look like it to me.

i mean, the belt is actually part of the door.

[carpenter_jai]

the seatbelt clip is attached to the seat rail itself, not the floorpan. It may have changed in the mk4's

Unfortunatly it did not change. The seat belt clip is attached to the rail in the MK4.

A side note. There is a positive change to the MK4. I am too tall for the first three generations (my head hits the roof) but I have room to spare in the MK4. I am 6'2'' if anyone wants to quantify that. What I don't know is if the seat is designed differently, or if there is a greater distance from floor to roof.

Jai

[Aeroscout]

Something else you can try is putting in a seat cushion. I had the same problem with my back and I put one of those ventilated, plastic-covered, spring cushions in my 94 convertible. It actually added pretty good support to the entire seat.

Until I come across some cheap GT seats I am making do with this $8.00 fix.

[stamar]

Originally Posted by Aeroscout

Something else you can try is putting in a seat cushion. I had the same problem with my back and I put one of those ventilated, plastic-covered, spring cushions in my 94 convertible. It actually added pretty good support to the entire seat.

Until I come across some cheap GT seats I am making do with this $8.00 fix.

well what I put on their now are seat covers that have some built in cushion.

That moves my butt higher an inch but also forward some too.

Im not sure if its better yet because its still not tolerable. It might actually be worse. Thats actually a problem right now Im just not positive where the new seat has to be.

I obviously need to be higher up and farther away from the pedals. As I get there though I have to make sure im not too far from the shifter.

I mean in general this set up was made for someone whos body is not like mine and the solution needs a little more time than im putting into it yet.

[Waterboymp]

I've heard about someone putting seats from a Honda Civic in a Metro.
There are lots of them on Ebay because folks like to customize their Civics.
Minor mods like bolt patterns I suppose.