kdixey Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 After much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands I am please to report that I now have a set of late model Impreza front seats in my 86 GL wagon. The installation was actually easier than I had thought. I took the seat rails off of the GL seats and redrilled holes on the bottoms of the Impreza seats (I'll post pictures later this evening). The Impreza seats have a little raised area where the rails bolt to it. As luck would have it there is space on the raise area and since the GL seat rails are smaller there is room to make a new set of holes. The NEW holes are 12.125" center to center vertically and 17.25" center to center horizontally. I marked the bottom of the Impreza seats with a sharpie, place the GL rails (to make sure) and drilled pilot holes. Then I enlarged the holes (making them a bit larger than needed to make room fopr wiggle (more on that). The GL seat rails bolt right on. You will need a set of nuts as the stock nuts are welded on to the seat bottom. The bolts are 8mm 1.25 30's. Also, the bolts form the Impreza rails, while the same thread use a hex head which doesn't fit well into the narrower GL rails. The bolts from the GL rails have a Phillips head and work better so keep them or get some new ones. I ended up having to go buy one because just as I was finishing I ran into the biggest problem of the installation. I stepped on a mole and when I turned to see what the h*ll was squeaking I kicked the last bolt across the yard never to be seen again. Finally, the wiggle room came in handy as I realized the final seat rail was bent making installation more challenging than all the other three rails put together. The good news is that the seats are in and so far so good. The biggest difference I noticed is that the seats are higher so it feels a bit like a Forester while driving. That being said, the seats are a HUGE improvement and I would recommend the swap. I'm not nearly as adept as most of the people on the board and I managed it without losing any limbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobmater Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 my seats in my 85's suck really bad, my 84's arnt much better, if you post those pics, i really will consider this swap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdixey Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 Here are some photos of the "new" seats. My shots of the drilling process were too dark so I whipped up the diagram in Photoshop to help with the visualizing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 So the Imp seats are actually narrower than the EA81 GL seats? The Legacy seats I put in my Brat were 1in wider than the EA81 GL seats, hence my use of the 2in flat stock. There wasnt enough material on the Leg seat to move it over that 1in I needed. But mine are equipped with hieght adj (drivers seat) and adj headrest:-p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdixey Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 So the Imp seats are actually narrower than the EA81 GL seats? The Legacy seats I put in my Brat were 1in wider than the EA81 GL seats, hence my use of the 2in flat stock. There wasnt enough material on the Leg seat to move it over that 1in I needed.But mine are equipped with hieght adj (drivers seat) and adj headrest:-p The holes on the metal base of the Impreza seats are set closer together than those of the GL and there was enough room on the base of the seat to accomodate the extra width. The seats themselves sit a bit higher (I lost about half and inch of headroom) but also appear to be a bit shorter front to back (I have to sit closer to reach the pedals). Of course no height adjust because I used the stock GL rails. All I know is that they fit and feel waaaaaaay better than the stock ones did. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 I also gained about 1in+ in hieght, which is no biggie for me as I'm vertically challenged:D I also used the stock GL rails, they are bolted to the seat on the inboard side and to the flat stock on the outboard side. I need to take pics, but the seats have to come again if I do:-\ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 What year Impreza are your seats from? The set I'm working on have the inside pivot for the seat back, as part of the inside seat rail. Also the inside seat rail mounts to the side of the seat instead of the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdixey Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 I believe they were from a late 90's Impreza. I didn't see the car they came out of. The stock rails bolted to the seat bottom making the switch to the GL rails pretty straight forward. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 They look to be 1996 Outback Sport seats to me. Same type as in my moms 96 OBS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Toro Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Here are some photos of the "new" seats. My shots of the drilling process were too dark so I whipped up the diagram in Photoshop to help with the visualizing. this looks like a candidate for USRM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davalos Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 I'm lookin' to swap out my Driver's seat in my '90 Loyale Wagon with something that I have NO idea where it's from ... it's a GM seat, hehe. Completely different dimanesoins ... have to fabricate some brackets. Just some flatbar stock to transfer bolt patterns ... I hope! I'll post pics of me tearing my hair out ... hehhe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drsubaru Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Excuse me... i want to swap my 86 loyale driver seat with a 2005 impreza... is it possible and safe? i found one i a junkyard right outside my house - but how will it fit? if i use the stock rails, will it fit me? please answer, as i am really excited , but scared - as i do not want to lose the money for the seat... with thanks David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdixey Posted June 20, 2006 Author Share Posted June 20, 2006 I put the front seats from a 96 OBS into my 86 GL (the first post iin the thread recounts what I did). I used the rails from the GL and attached them to the Impreza seats. It involved drilling new holes in the Impreza seat (the bottom of the seat has got 2 large flat metal edges where the stock rails are attached. I have been driving with them for about a week or so and they are a HUGE upgrade to my old seats (with the caveat that you sit higher so I imagine that tall drivers might not like that). I haven't seen the seats in the 2005 Impreza so I can't tell you if they'll fit. You could pull out the driver's seat in you Loyale and take a look and see how it will match up to the 2005 Impreza seat. It's only held in by 4 bolts (and easy to put back in). I'm not particularly skilled at this kind of thing and I was able to do the swap in a few hours. BTW, if the Loyale seats were like the GL seats I was working with, be careful no to strip the bolts that attach the rails (mine were phillips head). If you strip them it would be a huge pain to sort out. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Excuse me... i want to swap my 86 loyale driver seat with a 2005 impreza... is it possible and safe? i found one i a junkyard right outside my house - but how will it fit? if i use the stock rails, will it fit me? please answer, as i am really excited , but scared - as i do not want to lose the money for the seat... with thanks David. Remove theseat from the 2005 Imp and measure the holes that hold the rails. to the seat. Then remove the seat from your car and measure the same holes. See how close they are to matching. Btw, the Loyale seats are the same as your GL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davalos Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Btw, the Loyale seats are the same as your GL. THAT I did not know ... that's good info! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I just put '00 RS seats in my hatch. the inside front mount needed to be bent down to match the '84 mount angle, and the outside mount had to be cut and bent, and it lined up with the stock mount hole. the rear mounts I just drilled through the floor & tunnel and used seatbelt anchor washers. they are 5000 time better I had to remove a bit of the seat trim on the drivers side to allow for the rear hatch opener.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_dude Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I don't think I could do this swap cuz even with the stock seats leaned back a little, my head almost touches the ceiling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forkspear Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I don't think I could do this swap cuz even with the stock seats leaned back a little, my head almost touches the ceiling... Yeah me too. Is there any way to move the seats closer to the floor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I just put '00 RS seats in my hatch. the inside front mount needed to be bent down to match the '84 mount angle, and the outside mount had to be cut and bent, and it lined up with the stock mount hole. the rear mounts I just drilled through the floor & tunnel and used seatbelt anchor washers. they are 5000 time better I had to remove a bit of the seat trim on the drivers side to allow for the rear hatch opener.... Please post some pics of that.I would really like to see what that looks like.I have been thinking about ditching the idea I had and going with something like that since a friend of mine let me drive his '99 2.5rs and I liked the seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 the seats are identical to these.... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=455896&postcount=13 I'll see if I can get some pics of my multi-colored interior I didn't really want to drill through the floor, but the comfort difference is worth it. the seats are higher. I probably have about 1.5" between me and the headliner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 and today I put a '90 legacy drivers seat into my red brat.... much better now with no metal pieces sticking into my back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 okay, here's the pics of my seats.... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=865 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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