PCA SDR

My 98 Boxster is getting a driver side race seat installed tomorrow (Cobra Imola Pro). I have seen an online DIY install for a GT3 seat install and have a tool list, check list, and all known parts. Any other airbag/sensor/harness issues I should know about? I would like to avoid airbag issues if possible and um... not falling out of the car in turn 2 at Fontana would be a good thing also.

Experienced seat fitters encouraged to reply.

Dave -
If you're planning on keeping the stock sliders, the BK 907x seat mounts make it a pretty straightforward install, including a threaded boss for the stock seatbelt latch. If you're not using sliders, you can fabricate some floor rails from flat steel bar stock long enough to go from the front mounting points to the rear mounting points, with a little downward bend for the front mounting points, and wide enough to provide a mounting surface for standard seat side plates (you may have noticed that the seat mounting bolts are male torqz/star bolts - it's best to use the correct kind of star socket, available at any auto parts store; using a hex socket will only work the first couple of times). Or you can buy the new BK floor mount adapter in conjunction with the 907x seat mounts(no idea what the cost is). I think several companies sell a bracket so you can still retain the stock seat belt latch.

As far as the seat wiring, you disconnect the car's wiring harness from the connector on the bottom of the seat by pulling the locking slide sideways (it will be on one side of the connector, and has top and bottom edges to grab hold of). Done correctly, pulling the locking slide will cause the two connectors to separate. Assuming you are retaining the stock seat belt latch, you will need to detach its 4-contact connector block from the main connector. If I recall correctly, I think this involves partially disassembling the connector by removing a little sliding retainer, then sliding out the part of the connector which is wired to the seat belt latch (you'll figure it out). To avoid setting the airbag light, do not start the car (or put the key in the ignition position) while the seat belt latch is disconnected from the car. (The seat belt latch doesn't have that much to do with when the airbag fires, the system just wants to be sure that it can see the switch in the seat belt latch, and know whether or not you've latched your seatbelt.) When you install the new seat, plug the small 4-contact connector into the car's wiring harness connector, being sure to get the right location (at the far end with the little pins) and orientation (you've got a 1-in-4 chance of getting it right without looking, so look at how it was oriented in the main seat connector), and hold the connectors/wires together with zip ties.

Finally, if you're using a racing harness and didn't buy the BK floor mount adapter and don't want to drill holes in the floor for the harness sub-belt mount, both BK and Porsche sell sub-belt mounts which will work with either the factory sliders or floor mount rails. The Porsche GT3 one is slighly lighter and cheaper, but the BK one has tabs to mount an extinguisher plate.

Good luck!

Thanks Russell,
The seats are in and all is well. Good seating position, low enough to easily pass a broomstick test and no airbag light . Much more of a PITA than I expected with 5 test fittings and a Pool Cue as a lever to line up all the mounting holes. Whew! There is definitely a learning curve to this but now I know how to do it. See you at Fontana.