Rear seats installed (pics)

[NSXTC]

OK...No legal bashing please. Sometimes, it's just nice to be able to take the whole family out for a nice cruise down the Coast. Sure, I could have gotten a Turbo, but they are totally different cars. Heck, I can just take the whole family out in my Prius. But that's not the point.

Anyways, these are all OEM parts using OEM mount points. As you can see, all I need to do is throw in a booster seat and using the 3-point harness, they should be in securely.

I'm still trying to see if there's a way to put the back seat rest in. It's an easy job, but the gotcha is the latch point. It should mount to a welded piece on the wheel well on a 997, but that piece does not exist on the GT3. Still trying to source the part #.


The last pic are most of the parts you need. You will also want to replace solid piece in the C pillar where the seat belt loops through. There's a lot of panels you have to take apart to get to the C panel. Having the workshop manual really helped.

*Disclaimer* I assume no responsibilities for your actions or results if you decide to use any information from this post. This is strictly an exercise on my part.

**Edit**
You'll also need the following in addition to the parts shown in pics below:
997 551 526 00 01C (seat-belt buckle cover R)
997 551 525 00 01C (seat-belt buckle cover L)
996 555 545 01 A03 (C-Pillar seat-belt loop cover L)
996 555 546 01 A03 (C-Pillar seat-belt loop cover R)

[chardonet]

Wow, great job! I ordered the LATCH and air bag deactivator, but this is just fantastic! I may PM you when I take delivery if I go this route. Thanks.

[allegretto]

Very good. I know Collin O'Brien did this at the dealer as well. Actually I think it is more comfortable without the seat backs, they make back seat passengers lean a little forward and are not comfortable IMO.

[amaist]

Anyone have DIY instructions for a subwoofer installation?

[CWay27]

Originally Posted by amaist

Anyone have DIY instructions for a subwoofer installation?

Andrei, you are one funny man!!

[MJSpeed]

The second picture is sooo sexy!

[NSXTC]

Originally Posted by MJSpeed

The second picture is sooo sexy!

Only from a hardcore race nut.

[PeterS]

Wow, my dream car is a 997 GT3 with rear seats, simply because I also have a family that fits nicely and the GT3 makes a superb street car.

The one thing I would be careful about is insurance. Since the car did not leave the factory with the rear safety equipment, you may be opening yourself up to issues with insurance coverage and liability should anything happen.

Best,

[NSXTC]

One of the reason why I got the GT3 is the ability to put in rear seats. Otherwise, I could have gone for a 360, Gallardo, etc... Nothing against the 997 TT, but the front with that "golf ball" fog light just kills me IMO and to me (no bashing please), its more of a Sports Tourer. Yes, we've beaten the insurance debate to death and would rather not discuss it here.

I just came back from the Porsche dealer and tried on the Porsche Plus booster seat. This seat fits like a glove in the back. So now I don't need to put rear seat backs as it's a real PITA esp. having to weld a piece for the seat back support. Those stock seat back weighs 8lbs each anyway.

Seems this Porsche should have offered this as an option. I've gotten dozens of PMs saying that they've been wanting to do this. Everyone has the same thought...just to be able to take the family out on occasions in the "Weekend Racer" car.

[funcars]

I hope you won't take this as bashing, but I'd worry about the boosters without the seatbacks.

The britax boosters I have are pretty much "belt locator frames", meaning that they are useful for locating the belts across the shoulder/hip, but are really not structural. They are meant to be installed against a crash-tested car seat. This is the same as all others that I've looked at, but I haven't looked at the porsche ones.

In the pic with the seats installed, the booster is supported about halfway up. In the trim-removed pic, it looks like there is a rather large cross-member that is also located in the middle of the booster seatback. In a rear-end collision, I think that the booster seatback would break back at that halfway point. Spines don't bend that way.

I was considering installing boosters in the back of my 997t and removing the seatbacks to provide a couple more inches of leg room. After seeing this support issue, I left the seatbacks in. With the rear seatbacks, you've got significantly more support for the seatback of the booster.

[NSXTC]

No bashing taken as one of my main concerns was back support. The Porsche boosters have great support for both the head and back in the event of a back and a side crash. The cross-member you are referring to actually supports 3/4 of the booster. I took out the seat bottom to gain another 3".

If you were to use the factory seat back, the head support is not supported by the seat back or maybe a few inches at most.

These Porsche seats are well designed. When they are in there, their heads have very little movement from side to side. My wife mentioned that it looks confined, but the kids tell me it's very comfortable. If you get a chance, stop by your dealer and take a look at the build quality.

[Glen]

Very nice.

[chardonet]

Very, very nice final install and photos. I am driving down there to take a look in person. As a matter of fact, I think I will have you do the work!

[NSXTC]

Originally Posted by chardonet

Very, very nice final install and photos. I am driving down there to take a look in person. As a matter of fact, I think I will have you do the work!

Let me know when you're in town. I was actually up at the Irvine weekly car meet. Should have let you known.

[Shrews]

you might want to look at the "recaro" babyseat, i one for my son, they have a tubular aluminum frame and fit in the back of a 996 quite nicely. probably about the same $$ as the porsche seat.