Seat swap questions (EF Civic to CRX): Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

Subscribe get a full year for only $23.95 Sample Free Test Drive—no strings attached

July 17, 2010 9:38 p.m. coll9947 New Reader

So my stock CRX HF seats are terrible. Big rips, no lumbar support, etc. I snagged a pair of blue (my CRX interior is blue) EF Civic sedan seats on the cheap just hoping on a whim that the sedan seats would bolt to the CRX rails nice and easy. Of course not. Then I hoped that maybe I could make hybrid slider/rail assemblies from the top/bottom of both sets of rails. Wrong again.

From the driver's seated position, the CRX inboard rail is mounted vertically, the outboard horizontally. Both rails on the sedan seats are flat.

I'm a certified welder with complete access to the shop at the school from which I received my education, so I have no problem making a couple brackets, I'm just wondering if there is a lazier solution.

I'm also worried the sedan seats will end up sitting too tall in the CRX.

Side question, has anyone had a 90s Honda or import seat repadded and reupholstered? What should I expect to pay for a good job?
July 17, 2010 9:39 p.m. 93celicaGT2 SuperDork

Try an Integra of the same time frame.
July 17, 2010 10:00 p.m. oldsaw Dork

Swapping the seat pans may be your best bet.

Do some measuring on both pans and see if some if at least some of the bolt holes line-up. drill holes in the places where the holes don't align.

Don't take anything apart until you compare measurements between the CRX and sedan seats. If the sedan seats won't fit, doing anything else is just silly.
July 17, 2010 10:16 p.m. digdug18 HalfDork

Are you looking for shorter seats with better support? If so check out the del sol seats.

Welding up the slider is the only easy option that I've seen, but its lots of trial and error from what I've heard.

Have you searched at redpepperracing.com to see what they say?
July 17, 2010 10:22 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director

What about CRX Si seats? That's what I have in my car (HF chassis).
July 18, 2010 12:16 a.m. coll9947 New Reader

I would love some Si seats, but in my area they might as well be powdered unicorn whispers. And shipping a set of seats is out of my budget currently.

I like the del Sol seat idea, I'll look into it.
July 18, 2010 1:50 a.m. coll9947 New Reader

Update: Thanks to the link provided by digdug (thanks!) I found a guide to swapping the entire seat pan, rails and all, between the seats. Initial test fitting is good. I just need to transfer one bracket (seat-back anchor) per pan from the sedan pan to the HF pan and I'll be good to go. I'll post pics to the CRX's page detailing the changes for interested parties. I'll weld the brackets on Monday.

The whole point of bothering with the EF sedan seats was to match the blue interior. Had I found black CRX Si seats I would have just gone with it and had them reupholstered in blue to match some time down the line. For a 20 year old car the interior is flawless minus the ripped up original seats, so I felt obligated to go out of my way to at least match the blue.
July 18, 2010 2:07 a.m. digdug18 HalfDork

Funny, del sol seats can come with a blue stripe on them, though the red or white stripped ones are easier to find....

Still, most are $100 for the pair in case you look around.