S2 seats into an S1 exige

[offshorematt]

Bit of a obscure question but hey, what else is 'Technical' for?...

I've got a set of S2 Exige sports seats in the garage that I've been meaning to fit into the S1...thing is, I believe that the runners changed design at some point? I offered up the S1 runner today and it almost fit - I could probably redrill a couple of the holes to sort it (it's only maybe 4-5mm out at worse). Don't really want to mess around with them though if I can buy the right thing up front. I guess the question is, did all the S2's have different runners or were they changed at some point later in the car's evolution? I don't know the age of the seats so I'm wondering whether they are actualy compatible with the S1 runners and the failure of the holes to line up just reflects different tooling over the years. Seems a bit random that the design change would be moving a couple of holes a few mm...

Anyone shed some light on this? Thanks in advance

[ryallm]

The design of the runners in the S2 Elise/Exige definitely changed at some point. I know this because when I changed my 02 Elise for an 05 Exige I found there was a bit less legroom as there is now a daft angle bracket at the rear of the runners which prevents the seat from going all the way back to the bulkhead. So bought a set of the earlier runners off ebay only to find they didn't fit the seats - the holes where the seats mount to the brackets on the runners were a few mm out. No idea why or exactly when Lotus changed this. I eventually got round the problem with a bit of modification to the later runners so the seat goes all the way back.

Not sure what the solution is in your case - you may have to get hold of the later style of runners. No doubt stupidly expensive if you bought from Lotus, but you could try auto salvage places.

Good luck, and if you don't find a solution I might be interested in the seats if they have harness slots

Mark

[offshorematt]

So bought a set of the earlier runners off ebay only to find they didn't fit the seats - the holes where the seats mount to the brackets on the runners were a few mm out.

Not sure what the solution is in your case - you may have to get hold of the later style of runners. No doubt stupidly expensive if you bought from Lotus, but you could try auto salvage places.

Good luck, and if you don't find a solution I might be interested in the seats if they have harness slots

Mark

Thanks for that - exactly what I needed to know. So the change of design was actually very minor then meaning my runners are the wrong ones... my best bet will be to pick up a set of late runners second hand then. MMC quoted me £267 for a new pair so they can go whistle...If I can't find second hand, I'll modify the ones I've got. A couple of hours with a tig welder and a grinder will sort something out

The seats are the Sport ones with harness holes but I certainly won't be selling them - took bl00dy ages to find a pair second hand