Meta

After much deliberation about which aftermarket seats I would replace the awful, terrible, no-good, very bad seats in my '02 C5 with, I finally jumped at an opportunity on some nice Recaro EVO 9 seats. Installation was fairly straitforward, nuts and bolts, etc. The problem I am facing now is the fact that the seating position is lower, which is a good thing, but the problem is the stock C5 seatbelt receptacle is too long and does not allow the seat belt to rest on your pelvis, and instead rests too high, more across the abdomen than is proper. The Recaro female receptacle that comes with the seats is the perfect length for the seat, but the male end of the C5 seatbelt does not latch into the female Recaro receptacle. I hesitate to modify the male C5 seatbelt end without some certainty about making it work. The male end goes into the female, just doesn't latch.
Anyhow, I suppose it's possible to shorten the female C5 Receptacle and re-drill the hole for the bolt to mount to the seat, but wonder if this is the best option. Anyhow else been down this road? Any input is much appreciated.
By the way, the seat upgrade is the single best mod I have done to handling, period. I'm connected with the car in a way that was impossible before with stock seats. Highly recommend exploring this further if you're looking for better. The EVO 8,9,10 seats by Recaro offer a great compromise between the confines of a racing bucket and the easy in and out comfort of the stockers.

zwoobah

Here how I did mine. Ground down C6 belts. They've worked great for the past 20,000mihttps://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...de-how-to.html

Meta

Strange, but even though the c5 belt tab is narrower and "fits" into the EVO receptacle, it does not lock/latch into place. Aside from that, even if I did modify the tab to fit the EVO receptacle, I would still be left with a seat belt light on my dash because the seat control module doesn't see a latched belt. I'm still thinking the best plan is to cut down the C5 receptacle arm to the proper length and then drill a new hole for the bolt to attach to the EVO seat. I can still then retain the C5 seatbelt sensor to make the computer happy. Any reason not to go this route? Seems the best option to me.

zwoobah

With the C5 buckle unplugged and completely removed from the car there is no light on the dash. I'd go the C6 belt route, it's a fairly easy swap and gives you more room to move the Recaro.

Meta

No light on the dash even with the seat control module plugged in to retain the telescopic steering column feature? Without the SCM, the telescoping steering column doesn't work. I suppose if I did go with the Recaro receptacle and a modified belt male, whether doing c6 conversion or modified c5 to fit, I could just short the circuit that's looking for a closed seat belt switch inside the buckle. I'm still thinking of just hacking off some of the C5 receptacle stalk and drilling a new bolt hole as the easy solution. As for clearance of seat recline **** and c5 belt, I went with some very slim ***** and cut the spline on the Recaro to shorten it and prevent interfering with the belt mechanism.

zwoobah

My scm is plugged in under the recaro so the column/mirrors/radio memory still works. No seatbelt warning light. This has been the same for the other threads on this issue too. You can just unplug the C5 buckle and forget about it.