Interior Exterior
Q:
2006 Exige:
List of mods to be completed:
1. Installation of sector111's Scroth 4-pt ASM belts for both seats.
2. Installation of sector111's halon extinguisher and bracket.
3. Replacement of factory BlowChunk speakers with FoCals.
4. Stan's Shifter Mod.
5. Inspection to evaluate my desire to possibly remove some carpet.
I found:
1. Passenger seat rear bolts are 6MM allen head, silver.
2. Passenger seat front bolts are 6MM allen head, black.
3. Driver seat rear bolts are 6MM allen head, outboard is black, inboard is blue.
4. Driver seat front bolts are 13MM hex head, black.
5. Driver seat rear bolts also retain small 'L' shaped brackets into the rails. The long side of the 'L' fits into the rail with the bolt going down through it. The short side of the 'L' sticks out the back of the rail and points towards the centerline of the seat. These brackets function as rear stops for the sliding seat.
Seat Removal:
Removal of all bolts was easily accomplished with a 3/8" drive ratchet, a 24" extention, a universal joint, and either a 6MM allen socket or a 13MM hex socket as is appropriate. I was careful to store the bolts and brackets in such a way as not to forget the proper placement of each prior to reinstallation.
I lifted the seats up enough to remove the outboard seatbelt anchor bolt from the seat frame. This is necessary if you want to pull the seats completely out of the car. I was careful to note the sequence and orientation of the bolt/bracket/bushing combination. The inboard side (where the belt clicks in) can be left on the seat and removed later.
Scroth lap belts:
I got both the driver side and passenger side, and they shipped as two boxes inside one shipping box, along with the sector111 installation hardware I ordered. I was careful to note which was which, and not mix up the lap belts of one side with the harness belts of the other side, etc. They should be oriented such that both seats have the release button closer to your left hip (when sitting in the seat, duh). They are NOT intended for each seat to be a mirror image of the other. They are the same part, and face the same direction.
Now the inboard and outboard side mounts are a little different from eachother, and the outside mounts are different for each seat. The sector111 installation hardware has instruction for 'both seats, inboard,' 'driver seat, outboard,' and, 'passenger seat, outboard.' I did just the inboard sides with the seats completely out of the car. Remember I had to unbolt the outboard seatbelt mount prior to completely removing the seats, so I will get to those last as the seats get reinstalled.
I did retain the factory seatbelts in addition to the new Scroths, so they both get mounted back in the same bracket, just with a different (sector111 supplied) set of bushings and washers. The instructions have good illustrations. Just follow them. It's a bit of a clumsy job to hold the factory belt clip, the bushing, the Scroth bracket, and the washer all in line while sliding the bolt back through them all, but after a couple of times of dropping the washer and having to start over, I got it. Both seats are about the same in this regard.
When I put the driver seat back in later, the outboard side works about the same, although it's a different configuration of bushing/washer/bracket. Just follow the illustration and you'll be fine. I havn't put the passenger side seat back in yet, because I'm moving on the the other mods on the list.
Note: The Scroth installation disk has some PDF files that illustrate allowable bending ranges for their mounting brackets. I did bend the lap belt brackets slightly inwards, toward the seats. Just enough so that the factory parts and the new Scroth parts don't interfere with eachother. The Scroth brackets end up inboard of the factory brackets, and if you leave the Scroth brackets unbent, the factory brackets will loose their ability to swivel freely around the mounting bushings because the Scroth bracket will be in the way. I oriented the Scroth brackets, after slightly bending them inboard as described, as forward towards the front of the car as they can go within the limits of the seat hip notches. If you don't do this, they will actually end up pointing slightly rearwards once the seat is reinstalled. I don't think you want that because during an accident they might rotate forwards and allow extra slack.
Scroth shoulder belts:
One special ASM shoulder harness goes on each seat. It goes on the inboard side of each seat. The outboard sides get the regular belt. They go through the Exige seat harness holes and loop/buckle around the harness bar of course. You just have to trial and error with the length of them until you get a properly usable length for you. I got the length I wanted on the driver side first, since that seat can be moved forward to make any length adjustments easily. Now that I know the length I want, I will set up the passenger side the same way prior to seat reinstallation. Nothing to it really.
Seat reinstallation:
Just the reverse of removal. I've only done the driver seat so far, but I was gentle and did not have any stripping bolt problems. I did attempt to add about 1/4" worth of washers under the front rails to tilt the seat back slightly, but the bolts are not long enough for proper engagement with that extra space, so I pulled the washers back out. In the future I will seek slightly longer bolts, but I did not want to hold up the driver seat installation, because I was excited to go for a test ride! Remember that the outboard harness connection gets installed after you've set the seat back into the car, but before you bolt the rails down.
Misc:
That's it really. I finished changing out all the speakers yesterday. It took a while, but I figure out a way to install the FoCal rear speakers and grills under the harness bar without removing it or the canted plastic speaker mouldings that are unique to cars with the factory harness bar. I also have the fire extinguisher ready to go in along with the passenger seat when I get to it. First I want to pull the center console out and attempt Stan's Shifter Mod. Maybe get to that later this week. I'm still undecided on the carpets. Sorry this post is long and boring. Just figured it might help somebody a tiny bit some day.
xtn
A:
i can't read all that... where are the pics?
A:
Most are still in my camera at home, and are just boring close ups of bolts and washers, etc. If anybody has any specific question like, "How does the passenger seat inboard seat belt bracket retaining spring go in?" then I'll be able to whip out a picture.
This one was yesterday after the driver seat reinstallation, but prior to the speaker replacement and other stuff:
A:
I noticed that if you overtighten the blue bolt (perhaps because it was last in my case), the driver's seat won't move.
The carpets under the seats are glued in place and pretty easy to remove.
Did you happen to notice if you had foam behind the speakers and was it cut to fit around the harness bar?
Here's mine:
A:
Cody that looks sweet. Where did you get the slip-on pads?
Yes there was thick foam behind the rear speakers. The FoCals are deeper than the BlowChunks, so I really had to squeeze them down into the hole to get the screws started. By the time the screws were tight, I suspect that foam was finding it hard to breathe! It did appear to be trimmed out at the harness bar mount locations.
Remind me that next time I take pictures I should have the harnesses properly layed out and buckled instead of twisted and sprawled out of the way. Your cocpit looks MEAN baby!
xtn
PS - I noticed that leaving the passenger seat out just makes the whole car somehow LOOK more racey.
A:
The pads are from HMS Motorsport.
My foam wasn't cut out for the bar or deeper speaker placement and since I had to fit the bar, I ended up leaving it out. I'll eventually redo things just to have it the same as it would have left the factory - not that it matters, it's just that I'm particular that way. The noise level didn't seem to be any different, (at least with a helmet on anyway).
The pads are a necessity if a woman will ever be in the car, or so I'm told.