Shifter boot/Front seat interchangeability?

[SirFireWolfe]

Hi everybody,

I'm looking to improve the interior of my EA81 hatch before/as I convert it to electric, I've already got some parts ready to swap out like an uncracked dashboard and some new interior lights, but one main piece I'd like to take a look at is the shift lever (and seats too but I'm keeping my eyes peeled for some Escorts and Probes in the usual places).

For the most part it's fine but the (vinyl? pleather? I'm not sure) stock shifter boot is just torn to pieces and I'd like to just outright replace it. I've been eyeing up manual 3rd gens because of their relative plentifulness in my local junkyards, but it looks like their boots are a different design, more like the accordion boots out of early legacys or imprezas. Are they interchangeable into ea81 machines, or would I be better off looking elsewhere?

Edited October 29, 2022 by SirFireWolfe
Changed title to better reflect discussion topic

[el_freddo]

They’re probably different. Do some measuring and compare - or just make your own replacement with some material of your choice. 

Seats - go for BRZ/86 seats. They’re hot items over here and can be quite expensive to get a set. You can get heated seats too - I’m not sure if this is standard or only on selected models though. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[SirFireWolfe]

Thanks for the reply Bennie, sadly that's what I figured, I may try to adapt a boot off of a loyale or early impreza/legacy anyway but I guess for now what I have works.

On the seats- do BRZ ones work alright in a Leone? To be honest I don't want to break the bank I just want ones which aren't falling apart at the seams. Heated ones would be nice but also once it's electric that's just another drain on the battery, y'know? I figured I'd go with whatever is the easiest to retrofit and sorta matches the interior color

[SirFireWolfe]

Sorry to double post, but I'd like to gather some community knowledge about seat retrofitting for EA81 cars while my mind's on it. From what I've seen, front seats from the following cars can be easily retrofitted to go into a 2nd gen (no welding and minimal drilling out):

Mazda Protege/323 (also rebadged as Ford Escort and Mercury Tracer stateside, Ford Laser in Europe), Mazda MX-3, and I believe the Ford Probe as well. If anybody else knows better or has other models they know fit well into an EA81 wagon/ sedan/ hatch/ etc. please add to the list!

As for myself I think I'll keep an eye out for mx3 and Probe listings given that they should come forward enough to still access the back seat of my hatch (actually if anyone has any clues as to a good donor for rear seats for a gen 2 hatch that would be another great addition!)

 

[Steptoe's photos]

I have done three or four different seats into the EA81 2 door body and happy to say the last was the easiest and most straightforward ( though it took me three years to make a small improvement on things  )   Almost same family Su....zuki Swift. I got 2007 model, and lucky for us they seemed to make the same thing, likely with subtle differences that might upset those flogging the front seats - for what seems a decade. I finally saw why I was a little too close to the hood lining in the mornings and now have heaps of air above at nearly 6'2"

Simply remove Suzuki sliders, bolt Subaru slider on at the front in order to mark hole for rear, using factory Subaru slider fitting hole - making sure your centres will match the factory  centres of bolt holes in floor as there is a few 3-5 mm difference. I got some wriggle room from filing a flat out of thread of bolt between Subaru slider rail and Suzuke seat holes mate.

Once sliders mounted, use height adjuster to get to lowest setting. The line where Subaru meets Suzuki, is where you must trim the side skirt plastic from front to back on the outer side. So, looking from top side, the skirt is flat, vertical, then takes a 45 ish degree chamfer outward. This is close approx or where you trim, is quite a bit...

On the inner side, I quite crudely removed Suzuki plastic skirt where the seat belt stalk mounting was hitting seat, making install tricky. Very comfortable.

 

Dont forget to post up your battery conversion steps

 

As for your shifter boot - go see an upholsterer ?

Edited October 29, 2022 by Steptoe's photos

[SirFireWolfe]

1 hour ago, Steptoe's photos said:

...last was the easiest and most straightforward ( though it took me three years to make a small improvement on things  )   Almost same family Su....zuki Swift.

Oh, great! I wonder, if a Swift's seats are so easy to retrofit, is it possible that the Cultus has a similarly compatible design? There's a whole lot of Geo Metros in junkyards around...

1 hour ago, Steptoe's photos said:

Dont forget to post up your battery conversion steps 

Yeah, I do plan on posting my conversation on here, once I start it most likely at the start of next year, I'm eyeing up some totaled Nissan Leafs at my local insurance auctions for donor cars. I've seen some talk on here about EV conversions but almost all of it is over a decade old and the landscape of electric cars has changed drastically in that time.

1 hour ago, Steptoe's photos said:

As for your shifter boot - go see an upholsterer ?

I suppose I could get it reupholstered, but honestly now I'm starting to like the idea of having an accordion boot instead of the vinyl one. I think I'll keep that in mind as a backup in case I can't get a rubber one to work.

[SirFireWolfe]

Okay, update: I've just stopped by the Denver UP&P and picked up shift boots for a Loyale and a pre-facelift Justy, hopefully in the next few weeks I can find time to test them