Porsche 997 DIY: GT3 Seat Install

[Joey]

Credit for this DIY goes to Mike (Carrera Mike). He did all of the hard work, I am simply making a few additions and posting the DIY on this site with his permission.



Tools Needed:

E12 Socket
3/8 Ratchet
3/8 Ratchet 6" Extension
Torque Wrench
17mm Socket
Flat Head Screw Driver


First thing we need to make sure if that the key is not in the ignition. Keep it away from the car during the entire installation. This will prevent the seat belt restraint fail light from getting triggered. An additional optional measure would be to disconnect the battery.





It is recommended to grab a few towels / covers to protect the car during the removal / installation of the seats. As a precaution, put a towel over the center console and the door sill of the side you are working on.



Remove the plastic end caps of the railings. As shown below, while lifting the lock tab, slide the end caps forward. DO NOT PULL ENDCAPS DIRECTLY UPWARDS, LOWER LOCKING TABS WILL BREAK!




Using the E12 Torx socket, remove the four seat rail mounting bolts (2 front / 2 Rear). Ensure that the socket is all the way onto the bolt head to prevent stripping.



With the four mounting bolts removed we can now work on the electrical harness. I found it easier to tilt the seats towards the back with their back rest folded. I used a piece of wood to hold them in position while I work on the electrical harnesses.




Here is a shot of the harness connector mounted to the bottom of the seat.





To remove the connector from the seat bracket simply pinch the two pins, shown below, inward and then slide the whole connector towards the rear of the seat.



A shot of the connector released from the bracket





Now we must split the connector. Locate the locking tab circled below. Pull it outward as indicated by the arrow.



Here is a picture of the tab pulled



With the tab pulled you can now separate the two halves of the connector.




We must now remove the belt restraint sensor from the connector. There's a tiny plastic cover on the other side of the connector that you need to slide off to release the belt wire connector. Cut the wire from the zip tie and then use a small flat head to gently remove the plastic cover.



From another angle. After sliding the tiny cover off, you can now see and access the connector (belt buckle receptacle wire).



NOTE: Driver side will be a Blue connector and the Passenger side will be Green.

You can now pull and slide out the connector (green / blue depending on side) from the main connector. If a black empty connector comes out with it simply push it back in the connector and slide the cover back on.



Another shot of the connector that slides out



We will be using the receptacle on the new seats so it is important we mark the correct position and orientation of where it is supposed to go. I used a sharpy to mark it properly. Failure to install it correctly will result in a seat belt warning light.





You can now remove the seat from the car so you have some more room to work. With the seat out of the car, you can now remove the seat belt wire from the old seat. By looking at the underside of the seat you can view how it is run and held in by the gold clips. To remove the wire lightly spread the clips (red arrow) with a small flat head screw driver.



Remove the belt buckle receptacle from the old seat rail using a 17mm socket. It is advisable to use a six-point socket instead of a twelve-point to avoid striping the head of the bolt.



Removed



Install the belt buckle receptacle with it's wire onto the GT3 Seats!



Courtesy of Kerry. This is the way that spacer should look like before installing the buckle receptacle on top of it. Note that the chamfered side should be towards the bottom facing down.



There will be three small plastic clips under the GT3 seat where you could clip back the wire into place shown below.



After placing the GT3 seat onto its position in the car (do not bolt in yet), tilt it towards the rear of the car to access the seat bottom for the electrical harness connection.

Align the markings you made on the green connector (buckle receptacle wire) and the main connector from the floor and press them lock together. I secured this connection with spot ties as illustrated.



I then secured the whole harness on the floor using existing holes on the floor with spot ties. **WARNING** ensure that the wires will not be chaffing on sharp edges of the floor metal sheets or get caught with the seat forward and aft movement. This can cause fire**



With the connector secured we can now bolt the seats down. Apply thread lock on the mounting bolts and install all four loosely first until they are all lined up in their holes. Apply half of the required torque first in cross pattern. Then the torque them down to the final 48ft-lbs each.



Now we can re-route the seat belts properly (3 point stock harness). Remove belt from their bottom connection and route through GT3 seat outboard upper and lower loop holes and back to it's original mounting spot. Then re-torque bolts.



Last step is to slide the seat rail covers back on. Now you have completed the DIY and can enjoy your new seats. Here is a picture of mine installed.



For reference, here is the difference in weight between the OEM seats vs the Euro GT3 Seats:

Sport Seats with Rails attached= 50.6 x 2 = 101.2 lbs



Sport Seats with Rails attached= 28.6 x 2 = 57.2 lbs



Total Savings 101.2 lbs (OEM) - 57.2 lbs (Euro) = 44 lbs Savings

[Extremesport3]

Nice, that was easy! At least they are OEM and things align and plug in properly. Aftermarket seats are not that easy!

Good Write up by the way, but when are you getting this pig on the road????

[F360C]

Very nice DIY! I don't understand how you guys have the patience to document the whole thing.... every time I say I will write a DIY it never happens. I am always in too much of a rush to go and play with the car.

I only have one point of contention.... is this a 997 DIY? All the pictures of the install are on a 996. I am sure the install is pretty much identical knowing Porsche

[Joey]

Very nice DIY! I don't understand how you guys have the patience to document the whole thing.... every time I say I will write a DIY it never happens. I am always in too much of a rush to go and play with the car.

I only have one point of contention.... is this a 997 DIY? All the pictures of the install are on a 996. I am sure the install is pretty much identical knowing Porsche

As you said this DIY is pretty much identical for various models and platforms (996 / 997. The seat swap was actually really easy and took no time at all. I was eager to sit in them while i was installing them