Seat Rails

A seat rail is matched to two things at once: the car's floor mounting points, and the seat that sits on it. A rail that fits the car but not the seat, or the reverse, is no use, so start from the seat.

Keeping the factory seat

Some rails are made to lower the car's own seat, such as Vanner's low-position rails for genuine seats and Back Yard Special's lowered rails. These keep the factory seat and its adjuster and drop the seating position, which suits a taller driver or a car with a high stock seat.

Fitting a new seat: side mount or bottom mount

A fixed bucket seat mounts by its sides: threaded holes in each flank, around hip height, take side stays (brackets) that bolt the shell to the rail. This is how a fixed seat is usually set as low as the car allows, with some choice of angle. A reclinable seat usually bolts down through its base onto the rail instead.

Seat makers' rail systems

BRIDE names its rails by type letters (RO, MO, FO, LR and others), and each BRIDE seat is listed against the rail types that suit it. Some types are made for one family of seats, such as the LR type for BRIDE's LOW MAX reclinable seats, while others take a wider range, including some RECARO and SPARCO seats with the correct side stays. BRIDE's matching tables also give, for each car, how much the rail changes the seat height and how far the seat sits from the centre of the steering wheel. RECARO's base frame rails are made to take RECARO seats bolted through the base.

So the order is: choose the seat, find the rail type its maker lists for it, then the part number of that type for your chassis and side (driver or passenger, left or right-hand drive). Check that the seat shoulders clear the door, since some combinations touch. Other Japanese makers, among them Juran Racing, Kawai Works and Kansai Service, make rails for particular cars and seat mountings.

See seat accessories for side stays and adapters, and the interior range for harnesses.