1983 Recaro Seats

[GaryBe]

Good day everyone. Newbee question: Does anyone have any info on the Recaro seats used in our cars? Style number or part number or any type of identifier? Also, the seats were made in "Eagle Ottawa #7307 Tan Leather" as is the entire interior.

[pantera928]

Have you removed one and looked at the bottom for a tag?

[GaryBe]

18 minutes ago, pantera928 said:

Have you removed one and looked at the bottom for a tag?

No. That will be a last resort.

[Gunslinger]

I believe it was an Avanti exclusive seat for Avanti Motors...at least that's what they told me when I purchased a used set of Recaros from a later Avanti I installed in the '70 I owned.  Some parts may be more or less universal for Recaro seats but that's about it...and they were about the most comfortable and supportive auto seats I've ever sat in.

Recaro does not have sliders or bases anymore.  The sliders are more or less universal and go with Avanti-specific bases.  If sliders and bases are what you want information on...contact Wedge Engineering.  They have sliders and the Avanti-specific base design and can whip up bases in short order.

[GaryBe]

46 minutes ago, Gunslinger said:

I believe it was an Avanti exclusive seat for Avanti Motors...at least that's what they told me when I purchased a used set of Recaros from a later Avanti I installed in the '70 I owned.  Some parts may be more or less universal for Recaro seats but that's about it...and they were about the most comfortable and supportive auto seats I've ever sat in.

Recaro does not have sliders or bases anymore.  The sliders are more or less universal and go with Avanti-specific bases.  If sliders and bases are what you want information on...contact Wedge Engineering.  They have sliders and the Avanti-specific base design and can whip up bases in short order.

Thanks Gunslinger. These seats are in fantastic shape and I was just wanting info on them so I can get a proper fitting cover for them and maybe some extra Leather for any future re-do (if need be). I did find out that the company who makes this particular Leather is still in business, so that's a huge plus. 

[Gunslinger]

Mine were in bad need of recovering when I purchased them.  The upholstery shop I used for many years had trouble finding matching leather for them.  Ultimately they found what I wanted from an aircraft upholstery supplier.  The shop did a superb job recovering them.

I doubt if you will ever find ready to go covers but if you find matching leather you're ahead of the game.

[pantera928]

I have had a panel replaced on one of mine. The upholstery shop came up with an almost perfect match. That being said, my local PPG auto paint store has done a good job of matching the leather covers on other cars for me.

Also, Leatherique can assist with dye matches

[WayneC]

There was a post about upholstery for Avanti Recaro seats about 5 to 7 years ago on this site, but I was not able to find it (I think older posts have been dropped from this website ...kinda sad since lots of good info was lost with those deletions).

In short, an Avanti owner contracted with a Texas shop for new seat covers for his 1980 Avanti. The covers were in turn farmed-out to a company in China. The Avanti owner supplied his old covers as patterns (front Recaros and the rear seat). The process took 3 or 4 months, I believe, but he was happy with the results. The middleman was leatherseats.com

[WayneC]

Here's a website that advertises Recaro replacement leather covers: https://www.lseat.com/categories/genuine-leather/recaro.html

[GaryBe]

2 minutes ago, WayneC said:

Here's a website that advertises Recaro replacement leather covers: https://www.lseat.com/categories/genuine-leather/recaro.html

Thanks Wayne. As I stated, I don't need nor want them re-done.

My main purpose for this thread is/was to find info about Recaro seats used in our cars and to see if their was any Part# or style# or any identifier for these seats. Also, as stated, I have the source for the leather for this particular style, but I am looking for a "cover" for these to try to save these seats from future wear and tear. 

Thanks  

[SCPO-PD]

Check out the BMW E21 RECARO seats....  They look very similar.

With that being said, I am about to remove mine to get them reworked in a local shop and I will see what markings I can find.

 

Edited February 10, 2024 by SCPO-PD

[ronmanfredi]

I had to do some work on mine and the parts were from a 1980 BMW Recaro seat.  I have the same interior color as yours but wasn't able to find a supplier of the OEM leather, so I repaired the leather and did a dye on the entire seat.  It's close, but you can't match to the color variation of the OEM leather.

 

[John D]

my 79 is a "'63 tribute" car. Part of that involved removal of the headrests and hardware before recovering them. I sure would like to find a pair that will fit in the cavities... will check out all the vintage Beemer hulks in the local junkyards lol.

[Geoff]

For the seat brackets, Wedge Engineering handed-off to Corbeau, and they now make the brackets:
https://corbeau.com/avanti-seat-brackets/
The sliders are now meant for Corbeau seats. I speculate if you were to unbolt the sliders you could make Recaro seats work instead.

As for the seats, I have recently seen 1980s Recaro advertisement pages. There was the N, LS, KR, KRX, KRS, Model C, and Orthopedic models. The best I can figure, it was the KRX seats which blended bumper Avantis used; KRX have that backside upper plastic shell. And what about earlier cars? Those could be N, or KR model seats.

That mesh headrest was kinda popular back them, I definitely recall them on foxbody Saleen Mustangs, though I believe the headrests are as easy as sliding off one version and sliding on another.

[SCPO-PD]

On 2/9/2024 at 3:02 AM, Geoff said:

For the seat brackets, Wedge Engineering handed-off to Corbeau, and they now make the brackets:
https://corbeau.com/avanti-seat-brackets/
The sliders are now meant for Corbeau seats. I speculate if you were to unbolt the sliders you could make Recaro seats work instead.

As for the seats, I have recently seen 1980s Recaro advertisement pages. There was the N, LS, KR, KRX, KRS, Model C, and Orthopedic models. The best I can figure, it was the KRX seats which blended bumper Avantis used; KRX have that backside upper plastic shell. And what about earlier cars? Those could be N, or KR model seats.

That mesh headrest was kinda popular back them, I definitely recall them on foxbody Saleen Mustangs, though I believe the headrests are as easy as sliding off one version and sliding on another.

 

Much Thanks for the information.  Especially the bracket contact.  I managed to get t of the 8 bolts broke free after soaking them down w/ penetrating oil.  i used the rest of the can on a second soak with the remaining 6.....

[Geoff]

12 hours ago, SCPO-PD said:

Much Thanks for the information.  Especially the bracket contact.  I managed to get t of the 8 bolts broke free after soaking them down w/ penetrating oil.  i used the rest of the can on a second soak with the remaining 6.....

Sure, no problem.

I hear your bolt frustrations. I'm also dealing with major rust issues.

[SCPO-PD]

23 hours ago, Geoff said:

Sure, no problem.

I hear your bolt frustrations. I'm also dealing with major rust issues.

Well I managed to get a total of 5 of the 8 bolts off after spending several more hours on the effort yesterday.  I finally broke down and went to the store to get a impact wrench and angle grinder....  The impact wrench did NOTHING and I wasn't able to find a angle grinder...  Anyway a friend made mention of some EZ Out Sockets...  so I have a set being delivered from Amazon tomorrow.  We will see if that works!

[SCPO-PD]

On 2/7/2024 at 7:10 PM, SCPO-PD said:

Check out the BMW E21 RECARO seats....  They look very similar.

With that being said, I am about to remove mine to get them reworked in a local shop and I will see what markings I can find.

 

I finally got the seats out and I didn't see any markings on the base.  Admittedly it was a quick look but nothing caught my attention.  I will look closer when I load them up for the upholstery shop..