New S2K intro and BYS Seat Rail Install tips
05-14-2007, 12:46 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
New S2K intro and BYS Seat Rail Install tips
New (to me) S2K owner and recent installer of a Backyard Special seat rail lowering kit. At 6'4" this kit sold me on the idea I could fit into the car, and it arrived last week.
Took about 3 hours to install including a lunch break and a few stops and starts to find a 10mm allen key, but a straightforward job. I haven't seen anyone who bought the rails post the photos of their install so I thought these photos would help give the less mechanically inclined a preview of what's in store for a DIY project.
What arrived in the box: Rails, slide lever, hardware, and license plate frame (thanks BPA).
Seat was easy to remove from the car, 4 mounting bolts come out with a metric socket set, fasten seatbelt sensor unplugs from underneath the seat and is easy to reach to unplug. Take care removing the seat so as not to scrape the steel rails against the car's interior. Heres the underside of the seat once removed.
You need to disassemble the seat back and bottom in the process of removing the stock rails, start with the left side by removing the back rest lever - it slides off with some effort.
Remove the screws from the two boss holes and you can wedge the cover off to reveal the mechanism and side mount bolts. One bolt has already been removed in this picture:
Here's the other side of the seat, you'll need to remove just one bolt from the seat back on this side, and you'll also need to remove the female seat belt connector, taking care to note how the wiring is routed between the seat bottom and frame rail.
When you remove the right side of the seat back from the rail, you will see that the bolt on the stock rail is welded to the rail, and a plastic insert is press fit on the seat back bracket's mounting hole. Leave this insert in place, and note that the BYS rail will re-assemble the seat back with a different configuration of hardware here on your new rails.
Undo the bottom and front sides of the seat from the stock rails, rails separate from the seat in two halves, with a steel wire between then that easily detaches once you have one of the sides undone from the seat bottom.
Here's the BYS rail on the left, and stock rails/wire on the right - the BYS rail is not quite as elegant a design as the stock one, and it is slightly heavier (about 2 lbs.). The rubber mallet was used to tap a tight fitting bolt at one stage of disassembly, but wasn't entirely necessary.
Attaching the BYS rail to the seat bottom was pretty simple, set aside your hardware as you go through each step so you can easily re-assemble the parts. BYS included lockwashers were used on the front side bolts that attach to the outer sides of the seat bottom. Take care to note how the wiring for the seat belt light needs to be routed between the rail and cushion before mounting the seat bottom to the new rail.
Here's the BYS hardware shipped with the seat - the black bolt will require a 10mm allen wrench and thanks to my neighbor I was able to borrow one - you probably don't have one of these lying around and you will need it to reassemble the seat with the included hardware.
You will want to attach the seat back starting with the left hand side, sliding the bolts on the BYS rail through the two holes on that side, then easing the right side of the seat over the steel bracket, taking care not to damage the plastic insert still attached to the seat, while watching out for pinched fingers. The BYS rail was a somewhat snug fit to slide inside the seat back bracket, but not too tricky to get into place.
Start with the left side, sliding the two bolts attached to the BYS rail through the seat back mounting plate holes:
Then ease the inside of the seat back mounting bracket around the outside of the BYS upright bracket - taking care to not damage the plastic washer or your fingers. The BYS bracket did flex just enough to make this possible without too much effort. Here is the BYS 10 mm allen bolt holding the seatback in place on the new rails, just thread the bolt through the washer and into the BYS bracket, re-attach the seat belt connector and this side's done:
The left side of the seat back bracket is now ready to be put together - use the included nuts to attach the seat back to the BYS rails.
Right side BYS rails attached to seat:
Left side BYS rails attached to seat, with cover replaced and handle re-attached:
Note you will need to use the screw in the BYS included hardware to secure the plastic cover on the forward screw only (the shiny one in the photo closest to the plastic set back handle) - and re-use the stock screw for the rear cover mounting point.
Attaching the 'U' shaped lever arm doesn't require any tools - you will need to snap one half in place along the inside of one seat rail as shown and then slightly push the other tip of the 'U' inward to secure it on the inside of the opposite rail. Here's one half of the lever arm installed:
No tools needed, just a simple snap fit between the rails located by the steel guide mounts to keep the arm in place.
Now you're ready to drop the seat back into your car. But be careful:
After you've attached the BYS seat lowering kit to your seat, you may be tempted to set the seat down on the ground and see what it's like to look at or sit in. Be careful - the seat belt indicator plug is now dangling freely 20 mm lower to the ground than before, and if you set the seat down in the wrong spot you may run the risk of damaging the plug - especially if the ground it's resting on is uneven.
Re-install tips:
1) Lower the seat back into your car carefully so as not to damage the seat belt indicator plug as it meets the floor. Also, the seat may be leather but the rails are solid steel and can gouge anything they scrape on the way down into your car.
2) After you've placed the seat inside the car, plug the seat belt sensor back into the wiring under the seat first. It's a tight fit underneath (20 mm tighter than before) the seat if you try to do this after you've bolted the seat down.
3) Each half of the slides for the BYS frame rail slide independently of one other, so when you re-install. make sure the rails are locked in a position relative to each other that will correspond with the mounting hole layout on the floor of your car.
Took about 3 hours to install including a lunch break and a few stops and starts to find a 10mm allen key, but a straightforward job. I haven't seen anyone who bought the rails post the photos of their install so I thought these photos would help give the less mechanically inclined a preview of what's in store for a DIY project.
What arrived in the box: Rails, slide lever, hardware, and license plate frame (thanks BPA).
Seat was easy to remove from the car, 4 mounting bolts come out with a metric socket set, fasten seatbelt sensor unplugs from underneath the seat and is easy to reach to unplug. Take care removing the seat so as not to scrape the steel rails against the car's interior. Heres the underside of the seat once removed.
You need to disassemble the seat back and bottom in the process of removing the stock rails, start with the left side by removing the back rest lever - it slides off with some effort.
Remove the screws from the two boss holes and you can wedge the cover off to reveal the mechanism and side mount bolts. One bolt has already been removed in this picture:
Here's the other side of the seat, you'll need to remove just one bolt from the seat back on this side, and you'll also need to remove the female seat belt connector, taking care to note how the wiring is routed between the seat bottom and frame rail.
When you remove the right side of the seat back from the rail, you will see that the bolt on the stock rail is welded to the rail, and a plastic insert is press fit on the seat back bracket's mounting hole. Leave this insert in place, and note that the BYS rail will re-assemble the seat back with a different configuration of hardware here on your new rails.
Undo the bottom and front sides of the seat from the stock rails, rails separate from the seat in two halves, with a steel wire between then that easily detaches once you have one of the sides undone from the seat bottom.
Here's the BYS rail on the left, and stock rails/wire on the right - the BYS rail is not quite as elegant a design as the stock one, and it is slightly heavier (about 2 lbs.). The rubber mallet was used to tap a tight fitting bolt at one stage of disassembly, but wasn't entirely necessary.
Attaching the BYS rail to the seat bottom was pretty simple, set aside your hardware as you go through each step so you can easily re-assemble the parts. BYS included lockwashers were used on the front side bolts that attach to the outer sides of the seat bottom. Take care to note how the wiring for the seat belt light needs to be routed between the rail and cushion before mounting the seat bottom to the new rail.
Here's the BYS hardware shipped with the seat - the black bolt will require a 10mm allen wrench and thanks to my neighbor I was able to borrow one - you probably don't have one of these lying around and you will need it to reassemble the seat with the included hardware.
You will want to attach the seat back starting with the left hand side, sliding the bolts on the BYS rail through the two holes on that side, then easing the right side of the seat over the steel bracket, taking care not to damage the plastic insert still attached to the seat, while watching out for pinched fingers. The BYS rail was a somewhat snug fit to slide inside the seat back bracket, but not too tricky to get into place.
Start with the left side, sliding the two bolts attached to the BYS rail through the seat back mounting plate holes:
Then ease the inside of the seat back mounting bracket around the outside of the BYS upright bracket - taking care to not damage the plastic washer or your fingers. The BYS bracket did flex just enough to make this possible without too much effort. Here is the BYS 10 mm allen bolt holding the seatback in place on the new rails, just thread the bolt through the washer and into the BYS bracket, re-attach the seat belt connector and this side's done:
The left side of the seat back bracket is now ready to be put together - use the included nuts to attach the seat back to the BYS rails.
Right side BYS rails attached to seat:
Left side BYS rails attached to seat, with cover replaced and handle re-attached:
Note you will need to use the screw in the BYS included hardware to secure the plastic cover on the forward screw only (the shiny one in the photo closest to the plastic set back handle) - and re-use the stock screw for the rear cover mounting point.
Attaching the 'U' shaped lever arm doesn't require any tools - you will need to snap one half in place along the inside of one seat rail as shown and then slightly push the other tip of the 'U' inward to secure it on the inside of the opposite rail. Here's one half of the lever arm installed:
No tools needed, just a simple snap fit between the rails located by the steel guide mounts to keep the arm in place.
Now you're ready to drop the seat back into your car. But be careful:
After you've attached the BYS seat lowering kit to your seat, you may be tempted to set the seat down on the ground and see what it's like to look at or sit in. Be careful - the seat belt indicator plug is now dangling freely 20 mm lower to the ground than before, and if you set the seat down in the wrong spot you may run the risk of damaging the plug - especially if the ground it's resting on is uneven.
Re-install tips:
1) Lower the seat back into your car carefully so as not to damage the seat belt indicator plug as it meets the floor. Also, the seat may be leather but the rails are solid steel and can gouge anything they scrape on the way down into your car.
2) After you've placed the seat inside the car, plug the seat belt sensor back into the wiring under the seat first. It's a tight fit underneath (20 mm tighter than before) the seat if you try to do this after you've bolted the seat down.
3) Each half of the slides for the BYS frame rail slide independently of one other, so when you re-install. make sure the rails are locked in a position relative to each other that will correspond with the mounting hole layout on the floor of your car.
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08-12-2008, 01:16 PM
#3
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I was thinking about buying on of these seat rails. How much does it actually help? I am about 6'5" and I have to lower my head to see stop lights. I also have to move my knees out of the way when I have to turn the steering wheel a lot. Does it help these problems?
08-13-2008, 05:33 AM
#4
It helps alot, better that most anything else you can try. I'm about 6' 2" and I could not see the tach. Now I can easily, and when going down hills, I don't have to crane my neck to keep a safe viewing angle.
I highly recommend getting the rail, and if you still need more drop try the seat cushion mod found on this forum afterward. I personally didn't need any more drop afterward - but you will never get what you want for good viability with lights. The lights that I couldn't see I can now - and some of the ones I could I now cant. Its not like this car has the visibility of a Subaru....
My knees used to touch the wheel during heel-toe, now they don't. That part depends a bit more on if you can put your seat back more because you are lower. I don't like that so its the same for me.
Oh, and nice choice of color and year El3ments
Bananas unite!
I highly recommend getting the rail, and if you still need more drop try the seat cushion mod found on this forum afterward. I personally didn't need any more drop afterward - but you will never get what you want for good viability with lights. The lights that I couldn't see I can now - and some of the ones I could I now cant. Its not like this car has the visibility of a Subaru....
My knees used to touch the wheel during heel-toe, now they don't. That part depends a bit more on if you can put your seat back more because you are lower. I don't like that so its the same for me.
Oh, and nice choice of color and year El3ments
Bananas unite!
08-13-2008, 07:37 AM
#5
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Haha. Thank for the compliment. It was extremely hard to find a 2002 Yellow S2000 in my area. Even harder to find a decent price.
Seeing the lights is kinda annoying but not a big deal. My real problem has been getting control of the car during a slide because my hands hit my knees when I turn. I can barely heel-toe at all and I have to prepare myself to do it or I slam my knees.
If this helps me just to heel-toe then I will be extremely happy. Thanks for the input. I wish we could get a better price on this. Perhaps this will be something to save up for during the winter! Along with my new carbon lip.
Seeing the lights is kinda annoying but not a big deal. My real problem has been getting control of the car during a slide because my hands hit my knees when I turn. I can barely heel-toe at all and I have to prepare myself to do it or I slam my knees.
If this helps me just to heel-toe then I will be extremely happy. Thanks for the input. I wish we could get a better price on this. Perhaps this will be something to save up for during the winter! Along with my new carbon lip.
08-14-2008, 06:19 AM
#6
Have you tried the obvious solution for your hitting knee with hands problem?
Shuffle Steering Wheel Technique (note the descriptions)
[Insert image of Hammond doing the limp wristed steering shuffle here] - From the newest season of Top Gear. I'll make an animated GIF for you if I remember.
Shuffle Steering Wheel Technique (note the descriptions)
[Insert image of Hammond doing the limp wristed steering shuffle here] - From the newest season of Top Gear. I'll make an animated GIF for you if I remember.
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08-16-2008, 09:01 AM
#10
I found a few videos, but again I do not recommend it as your primary driving technique. I recommend you find a safe area like a parking lot and do lots of turns, and then stop and identify what you just did, how effortless you did it, how safe it is, and what you can then improve. You then identify yourself what methods you are best at and use them everyday, and also identify how fast you can actually go while maintaining the highest level of safety.
http://www.truveo.com/Steering-methods/id/2480452916
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62dbS8PhIFw
On Top Gear, Hammond makes the motions as if he is turning the wheel like an elderly person would be while doing this maneuver. I couldn't find a link to that.
http://www.truveo.com/Steering-methods/id/2480452916
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62dbS8PhIFw
On Top Gear, Hammond makes the motions as if he is turning the wheel like an elderly person would be while doing this maneuver. I couldn't find a link to that.