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DDrake Member
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I have just started replacing the old original seats in my JH with some seats from a 1987 Pontiac Fiero. The bottom foam was shot and the backrest was showing wear as well ..Local upholstery shops wanted in the neighbourhood of $1500-00 /pair of seats to redo the original seats with fabric .I don't like the black vinyl and want something less likely to burn flesh or I may have used the Delta MS re-upholstery kit So I looked at the alternative which was to source some used seats with good covers ,hard to come across a seat that would fit the car and have a nice cover ! I had started out looking at Mazda Miata seats simply because the seats and new seats skins were so readily available from this car and I did like the idea of speakers in the headrests . I had settled on Mr Mikes as the source for the replacement seat covers as they have a good custom selection and are geared towards DIY kits I called and talked with Mike and he suggested that Fiero seats while getting hard to source were a very good alternative .Well that same evening I found a source locally and picked up the seats for $120.00 /pr Well the fabric was un-torn until I touched it ,seems the UV has done its job but the foam was still good . I spent the day installing the drivers seat and found the fit was tight but not much more than the originals maybe 1/2 " wider . I thought to use the original seat tracks as they worked well ,but the Fiero seats were going to be problematic to adapt to the new seats . I experimented a little and placed the seats in what would be the proper position and found that they fit quite nicely and were not too tall as I had originally suspected .Good thigh clearance under the steering wheel and good seat height I was able to utilize the front mounting nuts by slotting the outside seat mount hole by 5/16th of inch .The rear mounting bolts needed new holes as the runner is about 1" longer than the original and 5/16th wider . If you still have the original seat belt mounting on the inner portion of the rocker panel you will not have a clearance problem .I had moved my seat belt mount to the floor when I installed new rockers a decade ago and had to relocate them to clear the seat back adjuster mechanism The seat feels lower than the original (originally in 73 )and the angle on the seat front worked out great . I plan to drive it this way for the rest of the summer and refinish the seats this winter |
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Sander Member 
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pictures? |
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Robert Janca Member
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I installed Fiero seats in my '72 JH. They fit wonderfully and add more legroom. I'm 6'6" so this is helpful even though these cars have a lot of legroom already. I'll post a picture here sometime when it isn't dark out. |
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allstateguy Member 
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I'm putting Fiero seats in my car also. Attachment: 1a seat in 3-18-17 small.jpg (Downloaded 193 times) |
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Sander Member
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Thanks for posting the picture. Looks good. I've since seen early Miata seats in a JH too. |
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allstateguy Member
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Thanks, I used the Fiero sliders too, rather than modify the JH sliders, which only lock on one side, kinda iffy. I flattened the front of the Fiero tracks to avoid having the thicker cushion put my thighs into the wheel. Also using a slightly smaller (14.5") Nardi wheel on the adapter I made. Made a plate to attach the Fiero sliders to the stock front mount bolts. The rear stock bolts/nuts were too far gone to reuse, so while fiberglassing the floors, I added an aluminum plate on top of the rear seat crossmember, and tapped that at the Fiero rear attachment points. It will go in and out easily now, just slide the seat all the way forward or all the way back and remove the Allen screws from the floor. Attachment: wheel w adapter I made 2-23-17 small.jpg (Downloaded 191 times) |
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answerman Member
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I picked up a set of very nice Fiero seats about a year and a half ago and they went in last winter when I redid my floors.  They look almost period correct and fit nicely in the space available. I took a little different approach: Since the floors were being replaced anyway, I welded two pieces of Unistrut to the floor crosswise in place of the original seat mounting "channels" and then inserted spring nuts into the Unistrut to attach the seat.    Nice things about this approach: (1) the Unistrut is less than an inch high so the seat sits lower and at the correct angle (the seat is already higher in front, so you don't need/want the taller front channel), and (2) the spring nuts allow you a lot of side to side adjustment. Last edited on 03-29-2017 07:37 pm by answerman |
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allstateguy Member
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NICE! |
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Sander Member
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Nice work Last edited on 03-30-2017 09:12 pm by Sander |
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allstateguy Member
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One done. Using MrMike's fiero headless seat kit Attachment: passenger seat 7-2-17 small.jpg (Downloaded 148 times) |
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noomg Member
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This topic I find amazing, it doesn't matter what forum you go to(TR6/7/8, Austin-Healey, MGB, you name it)somebody is swapping original seats for Fiero or Miata seats. I don't get it, I've taken two 1000mi round trips in my J-H and found the seats quite comfortable. |
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DDrake Member
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Well NOOMGI did it because the foam on both the Drivers Seat bottom and back was pretty well done for .The cost to reupholster was prohibitive ,I got quotes of $1000.00 CDN to recover both seats .I picked up a pair of Fiero seats for $150.00 .The Lear seats are extremely comfortable and yes ,I have done long drives with both seats and wouldn't trade for the original seats.As mentioned previously upholstery kits are easy to source for Fiero 's and Miata's ,not so much for JH's Cheers DD |
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DDrake Member
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Looks very nice |
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