So Looking for rare SVT recaro seats on ebay i keep stumbling upon the ST Recaros, with some prices lower then i would have guessed considering how new the seats are and they were like a $2k+ additional option. So wondering if anyone has ever attempted modifying a newer focus seat to install into a Mk1 focus. I'm guessing highly doubtful as I could not find anything when searching.
Focus ST Recaros in SVT?
2002svtfocus
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more pics since i'm picture happy
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It really looks great in there.
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Yep , I was going to buy it myself but he beat me to the punch . For some reason i can't see the pictures you are posting
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Yeah, it's actually leaning really far back in that picture against the rear seats to help me access the connectors. But it does look very new and modern to what i have now. As far as the bolt pattern, only one hole lines up so definitely some custom work will need to be done to mount properly. Referencing the rails, the ST seats front mounting holes are inward from the rails where as the SVT is actually outward with respect to the ST rails. I'lll post better pics onse i figure out this stupid airbag. Also, unless i somehow swap the frames/rails (i think that will be harder) the seats do sit about 2-3 inches higher than the Mk1 seats.
I was wondering if you guys caught this earlier post and could help out, or if anyone else here is electrically savy?
Ok so i started diving into this project. I took the one approach where i started removing everything from the SVT seats with hopes it would connect into the ST seats somewhat. I took off the heaters, seat belt, and seat connector assembly that were attached to the SVT. The only thing that stayed on the SVT seats was the side airbag and the two pin connector that was originally in the connector assembly shown below.
I then put the ST seat in my car and installed the airbag connector from the ST seats into the SVT connector seat assembly. The connector mates perfectly so that was nice, no splicing.
I then turned on the car and of course airbag light comes up. So i start taking some resistance values and here is what i find:
1) The seats by themseleves not connected to anything, if i measure across pins 1 and 2 below i get 0 ohms.
2) If i measure across the connector from the floor that mates to pins 1 and 2 (while not connected to any seat) i get 21.5 kOhm.
3) If i connect the ST seat and measure across pins 1 and 2 i get 2.5 ohms.
4) If I connect the SVT seat and measure across pins 1 and 2 i get 21.5 kohms again.
How would i alter the circuit (like add a resistor somewhere) so i can get 21.5 kohms with the ST seats?
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haha thanks, i think i'm at the point of giving up on using the ST airbags. I am going to try and install my existing airbags from the SVT into the ST seats and see how that goes.
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So pulled out one of the side airbags from the SVT and thankfully it's smaller than the ST and will fit inside the seat area allocated for the side airbag. Big relief for me!
Both bags mount very similar to the seat with mounting posts going through the metal frame in the seat and a 10 mm bolt holding it in place on the other side. The mounting hole locations don't match but i'll be able to easily drill some new ones to match the bolt location for the side airbag. Here are some pics of last nights work. Hopefully get the airbag installed tonight or Wednesday and back at the upholstery place the following day.
The third image compares the drivers ST side airbag to the passenger SVT (i know silly to do that but just wanted to show size diference). I will be removing the drivers side airbag tonight I hope.
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Both bags mount very similar to the seat with mounting posts going through the metal frame in the seat and a 10 mm bolt holding it in place on the other side. The mounting hole locations don't match but i'll be able to easily drill some new ones to match the bolt location for the side airbag. Here are some pics of last nights work. Hopefully get the airbag installed tonight or Wednesday and back at the upholstery place the following day.
The third image compares the drivers ST side airbag to the passenger SVT (i know silly to do that but just wanted to show size diference). I will be removing the drivers side airbag tonight I hope.
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Hi All,
over the last couple days i did the following:
1) Removed SVT driver's airbag and put it in ST Seats. (as you can see it's a smaller airbag than original. I had to drill one new hole in seat to get the airbag posts to go through the seat)
2) Removed the SVT seatbelt and Harness and put on ST seats. (very easy worked well, used ST original bolt)
3) Removed the SVT seat location sensor and Harness and just zipped tied to bottom of ST Seat. This is riveted in so you have to drill those out. Looking at how the sensor functions, it only seems to engage with a metal plate on the Seat when the seat is extremely close to the front airbag. So hoping no light will come on if i have it just dangling in the ST seat. Note: pictures of sensor are still on SVT seats, remaining pictures are of ST seats.
Going to check all the lights this morning and if everything checks out the driver's seat will go to the upholstery shop and then i will finally get to start on what i thought would be the only thing I was going to have to originally do and that is figure out how to get these seats bolted in. haha [?|] It hasn't been too bad though. I am skpping heated seat portion for now, i would like to use the ST's heaters as mine are old and i think both of my back rest ones are broken but I think the circuitry is different so not sure if I'll make that happen. Not a big deal to me as i live in south florida for now.
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over the last couple days i did the following:
1) Removed SVT driver's airbag and put it in ST Seats. (as you can see it's a smaller airbag than original. I had to drill one new hole in seat to get the airbag posts to go through the seat)
2) Removed the SVT seatbelt and Harness and put on ST seats. (very easy worked well, used ST original bolt)
3) Removed the SVT seat location sensor and Harness and just zipped tied to bottom of ST Seat. This is riveted in so you have to drill those out. Looking at how the sensor functions, it only seems to engage with a metal plate on the Seat when the seat is extremely close to the front airbag. So hoping no light will come on if i have it just dangling in the ST seat. Note: pictures of sensor are still on SVT seats, remaining pictures are of ST seats.
Going to check all the lights this morning and if everything checks out the driver's seat will go to the upholstery shop and then i will finally get to start on what i thought would be the only thing I was going to have to originally do and that is figure out how to get these seats bolted in. haha [?|] It hasn't been too bad though. I am skpping heated seat portion for now, i would like to use the ST's heaters as mine are old and i think both of my back rest ones are broken but I think the circuitry is different so not sure if I'll make that happen. Not a big deal to me as i live in south florida for now.
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Looks like it's going very well ! .
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Did the light come on at all ? . I'm re-considering purchasing the ones I seen . A bunch of these seats are popping up locally for sale at like $2000... I even seen some fiesta st seats for $2500 lol .
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When i made sure i used my SVT seat belts, Airbags, and Seat location sensor I did not get any lights. I actually just got back my driver seat fixed back up. So hoping to actually work on fitting them in. Maybe you can beat me to that and tell me how to make it work haha.
I have not had a chance though to check if I can use the ST seat belts. and completely omit the seat location sensor. Which for the passenger side would be really nice. The SVT passenger seat belt with tensioner doesn't really fit properly. I will send some pics when I'm back on my work trip to show you what i'm talking about. SVT drivers fits just fine though.
But ultimately to answer your question, you can remove the SVT airbags and install them into the ST seats and not get an airbag light when also using the other equipment from the SVT.
I also started the beginning of my Turbo project, so i may end up putting off the hardware modificaitons neccessary but will update you if i do get anywhere on that.
I have not had a chance though to check if I can use the ST seat belts. and completely omit the seat location sensor. Which for the passenger side would be really nice. The SVT passenger seat belt with tensioner doesn't really fit properly. I will send some pics when I'm back on my work trip to show you what i'm talking about. SVT drivers fits just fine though.
But ultimately to answer your question, you can remove the SVT airbags and install them into the ST seats and not get an airbag light when also using the other equipment from the SVT.
I also started the beginning of my Turbo project, so i may end up putting off the hardware modificaitons neccessary but will update you if i do get anywhere on that.
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Yes exactly right, you have to be ridiculously close, like I swear you would have to be 5'0" for it to engage that plate. I was so relieved it doesn't monitor the entire track and only engages when you are close and not far away. So I'm not too worried having it just zipped tied to the bottom of my seat if I'm the only one driving.
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Also there is no sensor on the passengers so maybe my year focus only has one stage for passenger?
I actually prefer the EAP's seats over the MKIII ST's, and especially the Fiesta ST's. They're great for a track but for all around comfort the EAP Recaro's are most versatile, not to mention you will find them cheaper and they are a cinch to install.
As people have mentioned over the years, I recommend a few fender washers and a longer M12 bolt on the front mounts of the seat to raise the pitch at the front, as the "power" height adjustment only changes the rear height of the seat, pitching the front. This is a really common mod in the Civic Si, too, which has such a bad pitch angle that it causes poor circulation on longer drives through your leg's.
I wonder when they are going to put physical therapists in these vehicles to give feedback to engineering, because honestly, modern car seats are less comfortable than an 80's Towncar.
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Very valid points, i did buy mine without giving enough thought which is unusual for me. I found passenger seat on eBay and saw it was local. When I called I found out they had the drivers seat with a blown airbag so I got even more excited. When I asked what they wanted for both I was really shocked and I don't think they knew the true value these trade at on focus forum sites. I did want EAP but I have not found any locally plus last I saw they go for close $800- $1000 plus shipping. They are pretty much brand new seats and leather and I Also love the look of ST seats. I have read countless points on st seats not being comfortable so not arguing there and it's a worry of mine. Luckily I don't commute far and using a truck as a DD. Unfortunately no updates on my project as my turbo install has been taking over my car time.
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Any updates on this?
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No sadly, still working on slow turbo project and some fixes to my truck each weekend. I'm hoping in a month or two to get back on this
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Hi All,
So finally an update. The seats are in, i finally just hired someone to do it since i was never getting around to it and new welding would be involved. I had a pretty awful experience with his quality of work and price. This is typical of south florida, everyone (not just weld/fab) wants over $100 an hour and provides poor quality along with lying about their prices up front. Wish i had friends (that i would happily pay) that could weld and i could trust they did a good job. Oh well it's just going to motivate me to take a welding class at a community college and redo it myself hopefully before i get in a wreck and die. haha.....
Anyway here is the details and how to make it fit without making new new brackets.
Referencing the picture below are the notes for how we made it fit.
1) Shown pointing in the green arrows is the Focus ST original mounting feet i'll call them but they are swapped from one side to the other on both seats. This makes up of the 1.5" width difference between the rails. So remove the front two on the recarros and then swap and weld in place with first making sure the bolts holes line up.
2) Circled in Red is from the original seat bracket of the SVT seats. So cut and use this bracket for the rear inner bracket of both recarros. It is also the rear inner of the SVT.
3) Circled in Blue is the original Outer of the Recarro. This is the one bracket you don't need to cut/weld.
Some general notes so far:
1) Everything sits flush except for one of the mounting points. That is the outer front of both seats. I'm using a longer (grade 10) bolt and about 10 washers. I would recommend for this one welding on a 1/2"-3/4" of steel onto the rails and then weld the front outer bracket to that to make up the height. The idiot just bolted everything to the floor and it was bending the rails. Found this when there was alot of friction in the seat adjustment. Just happy the other 3 points sit naturally flush height wise.
2) The seats does sit high in the Focus. They are probably 2" taller at seat level and they were also designed to have a taller center console to hide some of the seats bracketry on the inner sides. Luckily for the powered driver seat, making it to be at the lowest height setting gets you back to the level of the original SVTs. The passenger side is manual and doesn't look like you can adjust the height so that one is probably stuck as is. Someone fairly tall, over 6'2" and in the passenger seat sitting very upright might have their head touch ceiling. But just reclining even a little gives you more space quickly.
3) The outer sides you couldn't tell it wasn't made for the SVT. Note the plastic shrouds on the Recarros are wide for the SVT so there is a little interference when shutting the door between the door panel and plastic seat shroud.
4) The powered seat for the driver works beautifully and was just a plug and play similar to how i showed swapping the little connectors inside of the big connector. I can go more into detail if someone needs help.
5) i haven't even messed with the seat warmers, the circuitry looks completely different on paper and in wiring. I am skeptical if i can get those to work and i live in south florida so little motivation other than my wife likes them even when it's 50-60 degrees.
6) As mentioned earlier, i have no airbag lights. I did have swap the airbags, seatbelts, and seat location sensor from the SVT seats.
7) I do think they look awesome in there and the gray matches the interior color of the SVT perfectly it seems to me. Sorry i rolled the car back into the garage and completely forgot to take photos. I'll have them at least by Saturday to post.
![Image]()
So finally an update. The seats are in, i finally just hired someone to do it since i was never getting around to it and new welding would be involved. I had a pretty awful experience with his quality of work and price. This is typical of south florida, everyone (not just weld/fab) wants over $100 an hour and provides poor quality along with lying about their prices up front. Wish i had friends (that i would happily pay) that could weld and i could trust they did a good job. Oh well it's just going to motivate me to take a welding class at a community college and redo it myself hopefully before i get in a wreck and die. haha.....
Anyway here is the details and how to make it fit without making new new brackets.
Referencing the picture below are the notes for how we made it fit.
1) Shown pointing in the green arrows is the Focus ST original mounting feet i'll call them but they are swapped from one side to the other on both seats. This makes up of the 1.5" width difference between the rails. So remove the front two on the recarros and then swap and weld in place with first making sure the bolts holes line up.
2) Circled in Red is from the original seat bracket of the SVT seats. So cut and use this bracket for the rear inner bracket of both recarros. It is also the rear inner of the SVT.
3) Circled in Blue is the original Outer of the Recarro. This is the one bracket you don't need to cut/weld.
Some general notes so far:
1) Everything sits flush except for one of the mounting points. That is the outer front of both seats. I'm using a longer (grade 10) bolt and about 10 washers. I would recommend for this one welding on a 1/2"-3/4" of steel onto the rails and then weld the front outer bracket to that to make up the height. The idiot just bolted everything to the floor and it was bending the rails. Found this when there was alot of friction in the seat adjustment. Just happy the other 3 points sit naturally flush height wise.
2) The seats does sit high in the Focus. They are probably 2" taller at seat level and they were also designed to have a taller center console to hide some of the seats bracketry on the inner sides. Luckily for the powered driver seat, making it to be at the lowest height setting gets you back to the level of the original SVTs. The passenger side is manual and doesn't look like you can adjust the height so that one is probably stuck as is. Someone fairly tall, over 6'2" and in the passenger seat sitting very upright might have their head touch ceiling. But just reclining even a little gives you more space quickly.
3) The outer sides you couldn't tell it wasn't made for the SVT. Note the plastic shrouds on the Recarros are wide for the SVT so there is a little interference when shutting the door between the door panel and plastic seat shroud.
4) The powered seat for the driver works beautifully and was just a plug and play similar to how i showed swapping the little connectors inside of the big connector. I can go more into detail if someone needs help.
5) i haven't even messed with the seat warmers, the circuitry looks completely different on paper and in wiring. I am skeptical if i can get those to work and i live in south florida so little motivation other than my wife likes them even when it's 50-60 degrees.
6) As mentioned earlier, i have no airbag lights. I did have swap the airbags, seatbelts, and seat location sensor from the SVT seats.
7) I do think they look awesome in there and the gray matches the interior color of the SVT perfectly it seems to me. Sorry i rolled the car back into the garage and completely forgot to take photos. I'll have them at least by Saturday to post.
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